paradise beach or chakannab

[sm76]

we have heard great stuff about pb but I also heard that chakannab(wrong spelling:o ) is great for kids. My boys don't are too much about water toys. We want a nice play to relax, play with the sand amd maybe have great food. (clean:eek: ) my dh would also like to snorkel. can I get some advice about which would be better for us. Thank you:)

[kajohn]

You will get a lot more response from going to the cozumel destination boards.

 

We just were at Paradise beach Thursday, it was our second visit and it was WONDERFUL!!! The food is excellent, very clean, nice changing rooms, etc.

 

I would highly recommend it. My kids didn't spend a lot of time on the water toys, they enjoyed just playing in the sand etc. I can't say enough about what a great day we had there!

[Candleonwater]

What's the best way to get to Paradise Beach? Same for Chankanaab.

 

We leave in just over a month, and so much of Cozumel was closed last year when we were there. DD wants to see the dolphins at Chankanaab... are they back?

 

How about snorkeling? Last year we heard the hurricane had wiped out much of the underwater scenery.

[kruzerci]

We have been to Paradise Beach and Playa Mia in Cozumel, never to Chakkannab (sp?). We always see signs for it but have never been. I really like Playa Mia, we usually go there, but I also like Paradise. I don't have much to tell you except that we really like Playa Mia and Paradise. They have monkeys at Playa Mia, its pretty cool ;)!

[MichaelinME]

Paradise beach , hands down!!

 

Excellent snorkeling, food, services, beach chairs, umbrellas.

Forget Chakannab, waist of time. Except if you want dolphin encounter.

 

 

Been to all the beaches in Cozumel!! Paradise is nice!

 

Playa Mia very dirty.

[masterbaker]

Paradise beach , hands down!!

 

Excellent snorkeling, food, services, beach chairs, umbrellas.

Forget Chakannab, waist of time. Except if you want dolphin encounter.

 

 

Been to all the beaches in Cozumel!! Paradise is nice!

 

Playa Mia very dirty.

 

I respectfully disagree. Paradise beach is NOT excellent snorkeling. It's a beautiful sandy beach with sand seabottom. The food and service are good, and there is an iceburg tethered out in the deeper water to climb, and floating lounges both included in the wrist band price.

 

Chankannab on the other hand, has ironshore and a nice man made beach area to sunbathe on but the sand does not naturally transition from beach to ocean. It is quite rocky at the shoreline and the hard and soft corals are just begining to regrow after taking a terrible beating during hurricane Wilma. Because of the structure of rocky coral bottom this area attracts more fish, but is still not excellent snorkeling due to the hurricane damage in the shallows. I suggest a reef snorkle excursion or possibly choosing another port to snorkle at if you want to shore snorkle. It is going to be many years (if ever) before the shallow water corals in Cozumel are able to recover from Hurricane Wilma and the diversity of sea life that is attracted to the protection they provide. Excellent snorkeling = diversity of sea life and healthy growing corals.

[TennisLover]

We were also at Chankanaab last Thursday. This is the place to go if you want to swim with the dolphins (reserve your time ahead on their website) or if you have small children who want a great pool. This is NOT the place to go for a great beach.

 

I've been at Paradise Beach (12/06) and Playa Mia (2/05) and both were preferable for a "beach day."

[kruzerci]

We were also at Chankanaab last Thursday. This is the place to go if you want to swim with the dolphins (reserve your time ahead on their website) or if you have small children who want a great pool. This is NOT the place to go for a great beach.

 

I've been at Paradise Beach (12/06) and Playa Mia (2/05) and both were preferable for a "beach day."

 

Tennislover, HOW WAS IT?!? I'm so anxious to hear if you liked Navigator! Please post!

[Natanni]

I would really appreciate more info on these beaches as well!

 

We did Chankanaab in 2004; Hubby and son snorkled, and I hung back at the beach. They loved the clarity of the water and fish, but the beach left some things to be desired. I paged through RCCL and would love to know more about Paradise Beach--is this a private beach? We prefer low crowds, good snorkle and a nice place in the sun. Has anyone done Paradise Beach with the ship excursion? It was unclear to me if RCCL offered a free beverage or not, or if it was just basically a ride to the beach.

 

Many Thanks for this post!

[kruzerci]

I would really appreciate more info on these beaches as well!

 

We did Chankanaab in 2004; Hubby and son snorkled, and I hung back at the beach. They loved the clarity of the water and fish, but the beach left some things to be desired. I paged through RCCL and would love to know more about Paradise Beach--is this a private beach? We prefer low crowds, good snorkle and a nice place in the sun. Has anyone done Paradise Beach with the ship excursion? It was unclear to me if RCCL offered a free beverage or not, or if it was just basically a ride to the beach.

 

Many Thanks for this post!

 

I don't know about Paradise, we did that a few years back on Carnival. We have been to Playa Mia quite a few times and we booked through Royal Caribbean. If you book through Royal Caribbean you get an open bar, all the alcoholic or non alcoholic drinks you want, including bottled water. It's a real good deal.

[masterbaker]

I would really appreciate more info on these beaches as well!

 

We did Chankanaab in 2004; Hubby and son snorkled, and I hung back at the beach. They loved the clarity of the water and fish, but the beach left some things to be desired. I paged through RCCL and would love to know more about Paradise Beach--is this a private beach? We prefer low crowds, good snorkle and a nice place in the sun. Has anyone done Paradise Beach with the ship excursion? It was unclear to me if RCCL offered a free beverage or not, or if it was just basically a ride to the beach.

 

Many Thanks for this post!

 

Royal Caribbean does not offer Paradise Beach as a ship excursion. (at least not when we last sailed in January 07) It's a private beach club which was moderately crowded, and is located just a little further than Chankannab and was a $12 cab ride each way from the International Pier. Paradise has a $10pp minimum order on food and drinks. (The food and drinks were very good in January) The beach chairs and umbrellas are included. If you want to use any of the other beach toys they have available you need to buy a wristband. I think I covered the snorkeling enough already. If you want to snorkle over sandy bottom and see a few fish that are around and call it good, go to Paradise. Chankannab has been totally rebuilt since Hurricane Wilma. If you do a search on the Cozumel board, you will see that on land they have made great improvement in the facilities at Chankannab. Mother nature doesn't work as fast as man does. Hurricane Wilma sat directly over Cozumel for a full day of 150 mph winds. The resulting surf really damaged the shallow ocean bottom all around the island. Only time will repair that. Serious snorklers and divers take a boat out to the reef which was protected by deeper water.

[TennisLover]

I would really appreciate more info on these beaches as well!

 

We did Chankanaab in 2004; Hubby and son snorkled, and I hung back at the beach. They loved the clarity of the water and fish, but the beach left some things to be desired. I paged through RCCL and would love to know more about Paradise Beach--is this a private beach? We prefer low crowds, good snorkle and a nice place in the sun. Has anyone done Paradise Beach with the ship excursion? It was unclear to me if RCCL offered a free beverage or not, or if it was just basically a ride to the beach.

 

Many Thanks for this post!

 

We went to Paradise Beach in December 06. Our ship was in Cozumel from 1-7 pm, and tendering took a long time, so we didn't get to the beach till close to 3 pm. It was very crowded but as the other ships left before ours, the crowd lessened. The margaritas at this beach were great. I have a few pictures of this beach on WebShots -- http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2584552150100111171ciKaNZ.

 

We were at Playa Mia in Feb. 05 and that was crowded too (if you're from NY, think "Jones Beach on a hot summer day.") There were some fun activities if are into them -- water trampoline, rock climbing out in the water.

 

We did both of these on our own -- just took a cab from the port. No reason to do it through the ship if they offer it.

 

Another beach we passed by is San Francisco Beach -- I don't know anything about it though. Perhaps you can post on the Cozumel board looking for a quiet secluded beach.

[akcruz]

If you are looking for a very quiet beach day, try Passion Island. You can only get here through a ship sponsored excursion, which there are usually varieties of. This is an unspoiled, uncrowded beach. As was mentioned previously, the snorkeling is not optimum close to shore, and definitely not worth it here, but if you are looking for a nice quiet beach can't be beat.

 

We did paradise beach last year and while it was very nice, it was VERY crowded. My son who was 11 at the time and is very athletic got bounced off the iceberg due to other VERY rowdy kids. Came back with a nice bruise on his side due to this. While they have a nice location, good food and drinks, and a good variety of activities, if you are looking for a quiet beach day definitely not the place to go.

 

Haven't been to the other so can't comment on them. Hoping to try Chankkanab ourselves next time through.