How far are beaches from Carib ports?

[Angela4cruiser]

We are doing our first cruise with the family of four kids and we would like to know if we don't book any excursions ahead of time and we just want to get of the ship and look around--how far are beaches nearby--are any within walking distance, eg Cozumel, Georgetown, Costa Maya, on the Explorer of the Seas Western Caribbean trip. We don't want anything complicated- we have a five year old up to 15 years and it is hard to please them all!

[VickiVSN]

It varies by port. For the most part, the beaches are at least a cab ride away. The main exception I can think to this is St Maarten. But it should be easy enough to find transportation to the nearest beach. It will help if you do some research on your ports to see what beaches you are interested in. If you leave it up to the cab driver you may find that you went to the farthest away, less desireable beach on the island. The ports of call board here are a great reference for getting reviews and transportation ideas on the various beaches.

[cruisinqt]

I haven't seen many nice beaches really close to the pier, there is usually lots of shopping right by the pier though. When you go to the Cayman Islands you might want to try the Stingray tour. You take a boat out to an area about waist high in water and hand feed very tame stingrays. Everyone raves about it and there are tons of tours going there. We just booked Soto's tours for just $24 per person and that includes transportation, they meet you at the pier and return you to the pier.:D Their website is at www.sotoscruises.com. Our tour includes the stingrays, a stop at coral gardens, and a stop at the barrier reef. They will even drop you off at 7 mile beach after your excursion if you want them to. And 7 mile beach is only about a five minute ride from the pier, so the price of a taxi to the pier shouldn't be much.

 

In Cozumel, there aren't any beaches right by the pier. But Paradise beach is only six miles from the pier. There are lots of taxi's at the pier and at the beach to take you back. Paradise beach has lots of freebies including free entrance to the beach. Other free things are: lounge chairs, umbrellas, snorkel equipment, floatie mats, water trampoline, kayaks, and the space walker:D . For more info. you can go to http://paradise-beach-cozumel.net.

 

I can't help you on the other port you menitoned. But you could look it up in the ports of call section here on the boards. That is where I got a lot of my info. for the ports I am going to. I hope this helps. Enjoy your cruise.:)