Beaches in Cozumel

[carmel]

I have spent some time over in the POC boards trying to find a good beach in Cozumel.

I thought I had it narrowed down to the beach at Chankanaab Park but the more I read about Paradise Beach, the better it sounds!

Here are the criteria I am looking for. THANK YOU so much for anyone who can offer up a good beach for me.

1) As little wave as possible. Will be there with my daughter and my folks. Don't want either of them to get knocked over.

2) Clear water - my daughter loves to snorkle (in the very shallow part) and look for shells.

3) Soft sand/ white sand - don't want to have to wear aqua sock to get in the water

4) Shady places for my folks to sit.

5) Places to change and shower

6) Somewhere where we can get drinks (the 'fun' kind and also non alcoholic)

If any of you have been to Coki or Le Gallion beach in St Martin, this is the ideal beach I am looking for.

Thank you soooo much for your help!

[Hawaii697]

Last year a group of us took a ferry over to Playa del Carmen and hungout at resort called Barceló Maya Beach Resort. For $50.00pp it included food and drinks (alcoholic and non), use of resort (including shower facilities) and the resort was geared towards children. The beach was beautiful and there was some snorkeling areas as well. Checkout their website at [url]www.barcelo.com[/url] and search for Maya Beach Resort. Enjoy!

[cruisinqt]

We were in Chankanaab just four months ago. It had beautiful white sand, lots of free lounge chairs to sit in, good snorkeling, very few large waves, lots of shade, restaurants, drinking, and a place to change. The only problem was most of the beach was rocky with cliffs and there were steps to take you down into the water. There was one very small sandy beach area for the kids to walk directly into the water and play in the sand. If you want to snorkel this is your place. If you have children who want to play in the sand or go into the water and look for stuff, this isn't your beach. The beach area was very small and crowded. All of the families with kids were in that spot. We have a 5 and 7 year old. We didn't feel comfortable letting them go up and down the stairs into the deep water for snorkeling. We wanted a nice smooth beach. Don't get me wrong. It's beautiful and the snorkeling is fantastic. But if you have kids my advice would be Paradise Beach.

Paradise Beach has free hammocks, free lounge chairs, sandy white beaches, umbrellas to sit under, free snorkel gear, free floatie mats, and a water trampoline. It is also free to get into. Chankanaab charges $10.00 for adults. I think the kids were free but I can't remember for sure. There are also places to shower and change. The food is highly recommended and they serve all of the "fun" drinks you want. The waves aren't too big, there's lots of sandy beach area to play on, and the water is clear enough to do a little of snorkeling. I hope this helps. Enjoy your cruise.

[Randy & Carmen]

[b][size=3][color=navy]Paradise is DEFINTELY the way to go.......Tell Tom I said hi and look for us in Oct.......but yes I love Coki beach and I'd say Paradise is that and BETTER.....[/color][/size]:D[/b]

[teedee]

[b][font=Comic Sans MS][color=blue]Haven't been to Chankanaab (sp?) but we had a wonderful time at Paradise Beach. Food and drinks good and cheap. Not a lot of waves and nice sandy beach. Spent a wonderful day there, we hated to leave![/color][/font][/b]

[b][font=Comic Sans MS][color=#0000ff]Terri[/color][/font][/b]

[Cotton]

[b][size=3][color=indigo]Carmel, if your daughter wants to snorkel, even Tom at Paradise Beach says the snorkeling is NOT good. [/color][/size][/b]
[b][size=3][color=#4b0082][/color][/size][/b]
[b][size=3][color=#4b0082]What I plan to do next cruise is do Chankanaab for snorkeling, and then go the coupla miles down to Paradise Beach for the rest of the day. [/color][/size][/b]
[b][size=3][color=#4b0082][/color][/size][/b]
[b][size=3][color=#4b0082]Chank now charges $12pp, and there's no entry fee (as Tom says "at this time") at PB.[/color][/size][/b]
[b][size=3][color=#4b0082][/color][/size][/b]
[b][size=3][color=#4b0082]It's a shame that there isn't ONE single park/beach that has ALL we're all looking for in one place, isn't it? You get 'either' good snorkeling or 'good beach'.[/color][/size][/b]

[carmel]

You guys are totally great. Thanks for the info!

We were in St Martin two weeks ago and I just fell in love with the clear water and sandy bottom. I got my daughter to go snorkling with me and she loved it.

Sounds like Paradise is the way to go.

Thanks everyone!!!!

[StaceyM]

I was just at Paradise beach last Wednesday and it was the highlight of our trip!! I would highly recommend it and it is very family friendly. The restaurant is awesome and the wait staff were great. We had Fernando as our waiter and he took gret care of us. Tom was great also! Just tell him you are from Cruise Critic and he will probably but you a drink. We brought him milk and twizzlers and he was very grateful!! Very nice place to spend the day!