Good but reasonable price beach for 4 hours, on our own getting of cruise.

[Jgarriso]

We are looking for a beautiful,   fun beach to visit when we get off the ship,  then come back for a few hours of shopping before leaving.      Not interested in all-inclusive unless its about the same price as just renting a chair and umbrella.  Mostly just want that clear azul beautiful water for a few hours.     SUggestions.  We used to go to Buccanos but with their new hours they aren't really an option  until afternoon.      DOn't want to pay Mr Sanchos 50$ for all inclusive but want a nice maintainded beach.

 

Thoughts?  (Thanks)

[sandinmyshoes]

We've rented a car or taken taxis to the east side of the island in the past.  It is much quieter and the water is so much prettier.  Several nice beaches with restaurants, clean bathrooms, loungers etc with no real entrance fee.  They usually want you to spend $5/person on drinks or food to help with maintenance of the property.  

This was pre-covid though, so I'm not certain if anything has changed.  This is where we plan on going on our next cruise.  They usually have several taxis waiting to take people back to town/ships.  If there aren't any they will happily call one.

[lifes-a-beach]

Buccanos opens at 10 so if you’re off the ship early it’s still an option.  They did go up to a $20 pp minimum f&b.  You pay the $20pp upon entry and it goes toward your bill.  We’re headed there is a couple of weeks.   There’s not much else left that isn’t AI and anything in a beach close to the port definitely lacks the azul water you refer to.  We used to love Paradise Beach but don’t bother trying to go there now since it’s always full of AI customers.  Maybe someone else will know a hidden gem.  

[JohninDC]

No beach, but a great view and no cover charge at Money Bar.  Good food and drinks, lots of loungers, good facilities and good (not great) snorkeling from the shore.

[c-leg5]

Not sure about Azul water on Cozumel but you could try Palancar?

 

not sure about change of hours changing at Buccanos either but there is Play Azul next door, similar pricing arrangement. We stopped going to  Buccanos on cruise ship days when they started to discriminate against cruisers. I understand they have gone back to one charge system for all but they have increased the price. 
 

If you don’t need an actual beach, just a view - Hemingway’s, Money Bar or Sky Reef. 
 

if you don’t need to actually go in the ocean east side beaches ( providing No sargassum and you pay for taxi to stay)- Punta Morena, Chen Rio, El Pescador. I wouldn’t rely on a taxi waiting and available on a cruise ship day  (YMMV) and limited cell phone service,we just keep the taxi and bar hop.

[lifes-a-beach]

Here’s a link to Buccanos that shows their hours and cost.  Since it’s $20, I’m reasonably sure the hours are current.

 

https://www.buccanos.com/en/activities

 

Oh, and that’s Cozumel time, not ship time.  That might get you an extra hour.

[Jgarriso]

Thank you guys. 

 

Yeah,  i'm wanting to think the last time we went  Mexico had already started Daylight Saving before us and they were 2 hours difference which causes all kinds of issues.  I'll check again.   

 

Although no beach i do love the Buccanos facillities.

[Jgarriso]

Man this gets confusing.  They open at 10am,  which is the same as Eastern time (At the moment),  But we are leaving From NO  so that will be an hour earlier.  We will arrive at 8am,  which will be 7am there. I guess we could do some shopping or something.

 

Side question,    Is there an old town cozumel that is worth visiting away from the port.  I have never done anything but beach days there.

[c-leg5]

1 hour ago, Jgarriso said:

Man this gets confusing.  They open at 10am,  which is the same as Eastern time (At the moment),  But we are leaving From NO  so that will be an hour earlier.  We will arrive at 8am,  which will be 7am there. I guess we could do some shopping or something.

 

Side question,    Is there an old town cozumel that is worth visiting away from the port.  I have never done anything but beach days there.

You don’t say when you are traveling, or which cruise line so unclear which port.

 

Cozumel is EST year round.

 

Assuming you are cruising before daylight saving and docking time is ship time ( CST and captain hasn’t announced a time change), 8am CST will be 9am EST. Use a manual watch or do not allow automatic time updates on your watch so you know what time all aboard is.

 

San Miguel is the main town. Some ships dock there - it depends in which cruise line. Interesting to walk around lots of shops although mostly the same as you will find at each port, old church, town square, mercado further back in town, lots of restaurants, coffee shops, museum with upstairs restaurant. Lots of sculptures if you walk ocean side in downtown and lots of street art if you google for locations. Really depends on what you are interested in.

 

lots of vendors hustling you into shops on main Melgar, much quieter a block or two back  from the ocean.

 

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by c-leg5

[Jgarriso]

Carnival Valor,     Next Wed    1/11.

And yes,  i always set my phone to manual once i get on a ship so i am always on ship time.   Scared i will always get back to the ship 1 hour late.

[Cruise till you drop]

We usually go to Paradise beach for $18 pp

[c-leg5]

1 hour ago, Cruise till you drop said:

We usually go to Paradise beach for $18 pp

What is the $18 for - the water park pass?

 

Recent reports are that Paradise Beach is very crowded and almost exclusively AI now.

[Cruise till you drop]

8 hours ago, c-leg5 said:

What is the $18 for - the water park pass?

 

Recent reports are that Paradise Beach is very crowded and almost exclusively AI now.

Yes it’s for the water park pass and thanks for the heads up about being crowded.  We may consider Buccanos instead

Edited January 4, 2023 by Cruise till you drop

[mzhibbs]

On 12/29/2022 at 4:27 PM, sandinmyshoes said:

We've rented a car or taken taxis to the east side of the island in the past.  It is much quieter and the water is so much prettier.  Several nice beaches with restaurants, clean bathrooms, loungers etc with no real entrance fee.  They usually want you to spend $5/person on drinks or food to help with maintenance of the property.  

This was pre-covid though, so I'm not certain if anything has changed.  This is where we plan on going on our next cruise.  They usually have several taxis waiting to take people back to town/ships.  If there aren't any they will happily call one.

Is the sargassum as bad on the East side of Cozumel as it is on the mainland?

[aliciam]

We've been to Paradise Beach within the past year and it wasn't crowded at all. We did pay as you go and it was very minimal for the chairs.

[c-leg5]

13 minutes ago, aliciam said:

We've been to Paradise Beach within the past year and it wasn't crowded at all. We did pay as you go and it was very minimal for the chairs.

Thanks for reporting. I was wondering if that was the case again after initial surge when cruising resumed and capacity was restricted due to government regulations. 
 

There never used to be reports of it being full on a regular basis so I wondered  how they  were selling out now with AI. I can understand at busy periods or perhaps when sargassum is bad on the mainland, but not routinely.

 

website states entrance is now $10pp and $10pp minimum consumption was that waved?

[Cruise till you drop]

We just got back from our cruise including a Cozumel stop.

We had intended to go to Paradise but the taxi service people convinced us to go to San Francisco beach (literally right beside Paradise). They said Paradise’s day rate went up to like $50 and SF was $20

 

We got put in like the 4th row of chairs in SF and not really a good view.  Place just feels more dirty, crowded and trashy (hard to explain).

 

We did walk by Paradise and there weren’t as many people there and it just seemed more clean and spacious 

 

My reflection is we should have ignored the taxi guys advice and spent the extra money and went to Paradise.  Lesson learned

[texswamper]

We are going back in late February and are going to book Nachi Cocom because they limit the number of people per day to 130.  Paradise Beach has many more people but we aren't traveling with any kids or grandkids.

[c-leg5]

10 minutes ago, texswamper said:

We are going back in late February and are going to book Nachi Cocom because they limit the number of people per day to 130.  Paradise Beach has many more people but we aren't traveling with any kids or grandkids.

 

Big difference between Nachi and Paradise and who it appeals to. 

 

Nachi is fine if you want AI but isn’t really what the OP was looking for.

 

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by c-leg5

[Softball20]

We always get a cab and head straight to the east side of the island.  It's about a half hour each way and the drivers will negotiate and be there to pick you up.  Last year we paid $70 round trip for two of us.  The beaches are smaller and much less crowded. We like Coconuts and Chen Rio.  No charge to get in, other than what you eat and drink.  They may or may not charge for chairs, but it's nominal.  Looking forward to going back there next month!

[jbrinkm]

On 1/21/2023 at 8:56 PM, Cruise till you drop said:

We just got back from our cruise including a Cozumel stop.

We had intended to go to Paradise but the taxi service people convinced us to go to San Francisco beach (literally right beside Paradise). They said Paradise’s day rate went up to like $50 and SF was $20

 

We got put in like the 4th row of chairs in SF and not really a good view.  Place just feels more dirty, crowded and trashy (hard to explain).

 

We did walk by Paradise and there weren’t as many people there and it just seemed more clean and spacious 

 

My reflection is we should have ignored the taxi guys advice and spent the extra money and went to Paradise.  Lesson learned

 

They tried to pull this scam on us in April when we were in Cozumel. I think San Francisco Beach Club must give them a kickback for anyone they bring! If you scroll down in my short trip report from our cruise, you can see the description of what happened to us in our first taxi in the Cozumel section:

 

Please, anyone interested in doing Paradise Beach, just call them in the morning to ask if they have room for PAYG that day. I believe they also put on their website when they are sold out.

 

@Cruise till you drop did they tell you about the other place before you got into the cab? Or was it just the taxi driver once you were on your way?

[Cruise till you drop]

8 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

 

 

 

@Cruise till you drop did they tell you about the other place before you got into the cab? Or was it just the taxi driver once you were on your way?

Both.  They told us about the other place (SF) before we got in the cab.  When we got in, we thought we were still going to Paradise but found out we were going to the other place instead (SF).

 

Honestly because it’s Mexico, we decided to go with the flow and try it .  Big mistake but they really didn’t care to honor our wishes but didn’t think we had much recourse 

Edited January 30, 2023 by Cruise till you drop

[Joeybun]

I recommend Playa Palancar. We were there off the ship last week. $25 taxi each way. $12 for two loungers with an umbrella if you choose or you can sit at the tables for free. There's a minimum food and beverage of $10 pp. We also chose to do 1 hour massages in their cabana that was only $70 and it was awesome! Highly recommend!

[c-leg5]

1 minute ago, Joeybun said:

I recommend Playa Palancar. We were there off the ship last week. $25 taxi each way. $12 for two loungers with an umbrella if you choose or you can sit at the tables for free. There's a minimum food and beverage of $10 pp. We also chose to do 1 hour massages in their cabana that was only $70 and it was awesome! Highly recommend!

How busy was it?
 

It used to be a more relaxing, quieter location due to distance from port but pre-covid it had become much busier and got crossed off our list. It is certainly popular with land visitors trying to avoid the cruise crowds.

[Joeybun]

42 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

How busy was it?
 

It used to be a more relaxing, quieter location due to distance from port but pre-covid it had become much busier and got crossed off our list. It is certainly popular with land visitors trying to avoid the cruise crowds.

We were there all day and it was not crowded, especially in the morning. Afternoon got busier, but nothing crazy. When we arrived most of the loungers were available and we walked around and chose ones down the beach to the right. There were four ships that I saw in port that day too.

 

Edited February 1, 2023 by Joeybun