palmar estATE BEACH CLUB?

[lpglarry]

iT STATES THAT IT IS A NICE BEACH, FREE ENTRANCE, CHAIRS,TOILETS,RESTAURANT, ANYBODY EVER GO THERE? WHY IS THERE NO THREADS ON THIS?HELP LARRY

[jlines]

We had planned to go there in June but when we arrived it was closed with no explanation given. Its across from the beach and since we wanted to snorkel we just stayed at the beach area. The snorkeling was just OK but the tide pooling was great. Its a rocky area with not much sand and there is a covered area with a restaurant. While we were disappointed that our original plans didn't work out, we enjoyed our day. Next time I'm in Cozumel, I will probably opt for Paradise Beach.

[lpglarry]

thanks for tip, i will avoid it too, go to pb instead,

[ScubaMare]

We've been to PalMar Estate Beach Club and think it's great! The grounds are very clean. No crowds. Great food and drinks. Very nice staff and Sherri's a super hostess. The snorkeling across the street at Dzul Ha is great.

 

I know PalMar was closed at one point during the summer because of roadwork. I'm sure it's probably open now.

 

Keep in mind, if you want a smooth sandy beach with a soft entrance you can find that in Cozumel but the snorkeling is not going to be good at those beaches. Fish like the coral and rocks. Your beach choice really depends on what you want.

[montgomeryfamily]

We've also been to Palmar Estate Beach Club and had a wonderful time. The Beach Club itself is quite lovely and has a freshwater swimming pool and jacuzzi, American style (and very clean) bathrooms, changing rooms, free lockers with keys, chairs with umbrellas, and snorkel equipment rental. There is a bar that serves alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages and also various snacks and plate lunches are very good.

 

Sherri, who owns it, is very nice and the manager and staff are very helpful and friendly. A website address for Palmar Estate Beach Club is http://cozumelinsider.com/palmar. There is a $5.00 admission to the Palmar Beach Club, but you usually can find a coupon on the Cozumel Insider.com which will give you free admission and nachos. The Palmar Estate Beach Club is open from 9:00 to 5:00 Monday through Saturday. You can contact Sherri for any additional information. She is very friendly and has always responded promply to our emails.

 

They do own a beach which is directly across the street. it is a part of the Dzul Ha beach area. Dzul Ha is considered the best beach snorkeling area on Cozumel. We have snorkeled in the Dzul Ha area several times and thought the snorkeling was excellent, including the snorkeling at the portion of the beach associated with the Palmar Estate Beach Club. And we have snorkeled throughout the Caribbean.

 

ScubaMare is correct--you need to decide what it is you want to do when deciding on a beach. Smooth, sandy beaches are not for snorkeling. Even Paradise Beach Tom recommends coming to Dzul Ha if you are interested in snorkeling.

 

 

Kathy

[montgomeryfamily]

If you search, you will find some threads regarding the Palmar Estate Beach Club on the Cruise Critic board. There were quite a number of threads on the old boards.

 

As for Jlines experience, Jlines posted on June 25 in the Cozumel port board a review of Cozumel and snorkeling at Dzul Ha. Jlines noted that, during their June 14 stay in Cozumel there was flooding, even noting that "The taxi seemed like a boat on wheels for awhile.". It was in this review that Jlines said that they went to Palmar Estate Beach Club and it was closed. Apparently Jlines never contacted Sherri to ask why the Club wasn't open.

 

However, the statement that Jlines posted on June 25 about the Beach Club being closed that day was picked up by others, who were saying that sometimes the Beach Club was closed. Tessparker1 then emailed Sherri at Palmar Estate Beach Club and asked her about this. Tessparker1 posted on July 5 and stated that Sherri said that the Palmar Estate Beach Club was open from 9-5 on Monday through Saturday and that the Palmar Estate Beach Club was closed one day when the island was flooding. So obviously this is why the Palmar Beach Club was closed on the day Jlines visited, as even Jlines commented on the flooding in the review Jlines posted. (I'm sorry I don't know how to post the links, but with the dates and poster names, you can search the Cozumel port board and confirm these statements.)

 

I don't have any association with the Palmar Estate Beach Club, although I've been a guest (during cruise ship visits) there. I'm posting this information because I don't think it is fair that Jlines statement above might get picked up again by others and used to characterize the beach club as sometimes being closed, without any mention of the flooding and Sherri's response abou the Beach Club being closed due to the flooding. If you want to confirm that it will be open when you are planning to go, you can always email or call Sherri and ask. A website address for Palmar Estate Beach Club is http://cozumelinsider.com/palmar.

 

Another reason Jlines may not have had a good snorkeling experience at Dzul Ha is the flooding (and storms). Flooding will increase the turbidity of the water and reduce visibility. However, the entire island will be affected--not just Dzul Ha.

 

 

Kathy

[jlines]

So sorry, I don't have any intentions of hurting Pal Mar's business. It looked like a lovely place to spend the day and we were disappointed that it was closed. However, the Dzul Ha area was NOT flooded - just San Miguel. The point I wanted to make was that it was closed with no notification. There was no sign stating hours or why it was closed. I had contacted Sherri before going and that was another reason we were so looking forward to it. I didn't contact her upon returning because I figured there was no point. I don't want to discourage anyone from going there, I just wanted people to be aware that perhaps this might not be what they are looking for. As for Dzul Ha snorkeling, the water was not turbulent at all and visibility was pretty good, there just wasn't much to see on that day - not much coral and very few fish. To be fair though, we have snorkeled in Hawaii which is fabulous so maybe that's where some of our disappointment stems from. There were 11 of us and we all felt the same about the snorkeling. We were trying to decide between here and PB - unfortunately (at least for June 14) it seems like we made the wrong decision for us. I do want to mention again though that we still had a nice day tide pooling and relaxing.

 

I would encourage anyone who just wants to lounge at a pool all day and perhaps do some interesting tide pooling and a bit of snorkeling without crowds to contact Sherri just before going and make sure Pal Mar will be open. If you just want a fun beach day then you might want to check out Paradise Beach.

[montgomeryfamily]

Jlines, thanks for explaining that your intentions toward posting about Palmar Beach Club weren't negative. I understand why you were disappointed that the club was closed when you visited. The only point in contacting Sherri to find out why the club was closed would have been to obtain the explanation as to why so that instead of repeatedly posting that the club was closed with no explanation given, you would have known the reason.

 

(Sherri did say that the club was closed one day due to flooding. This might have been the day you were there. Regardless, it seems an explanation may have eased your mind about it.)

 

I'm glad that you enjoyed relaxing and playing in the tide pools at Dzuh Ha. I'm sorry that your experiences in snorkeling at Dzul Ha were disappointing. You must have just been there on a bad day. When we have been there, we have always seen a lot of fish.

 

We first found out about Dzuh Ha because that is where several of the cruise ship excursions take guests to snorkel and we went there on one of them. That area is very crowded when the cruise ship excursions come. We were glad to find out about the uncrowded areas along the same beach and the Palmar Beach Club where we could enjoy the snorkeling and relax without the cruise ship excursion masses.

 

Kathy

[lpglarry]

I did e mail Sheeri, waiting for her response, we really wanted to relax at a beach with shade, does it have that there? thanks Larry

[montgomeryfamily]

The Palmar Estate Beach Club does have a lot of shade and umbrellas. However, the beach is across the street. There are some trees there, so there is shade. But this is really a snorkeling/swimming beach and is somewhat rocky. When we went, there are no chairs over there, so you would have to spread out a towel to sit on. You would have to check with Sherri about that chairs on the beach.

 

What we do is go to the Beach Club, relax for a while, change clothes, snorkel at the beach and then come back and use the pool and jacuzzi and eat/drink/relax at the Club before we shower and change clothes to go back to the ship.

 

On another part of the Dzul Ha area is a bar with some chairs and umbrellas on the beach where you could just relax on the beach. IMHO, if you don't intend to snorkel and just want to relax on a beach, you should go to one of the sandy beaches with chairs and umbrellas and not go to the Dzul Ha area. Some people go to Dzul Ha and snorkel first and then go to one of the sandy beaches afterward.

[carbon]

Would there be enough time to snorkle at Dzul -Ha and then go to a sandy beach? Maybe Paradise Beach, how far apart are these locations?

[CozSally]

Yes, Carbon, many people choose to do just that, a little snorkeling and then head to a sandy beach. The distance between Dzul Ha and Paradise Beach is about 3-4 miles.

 

Enjoy!

[p2lockhart]

That's what we did the 9/29. We snorkeled Dzul Ha as soon as we could get off the ship and get our rental car. We then went to Nachi Cocom for the sandy beach, food and drinks, chairs, palapas, etc. We will probably do the same 11/27 when we return.

[NewCruzer1]

We just returned from Cozumel 10/7 off of Carnival's Holiday. We would have stayed all day at PalMar if we could! Unfortunately, the Holiday's port call was short -- 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

We taxied to Dzul Ha, crossed the street to stow our gear in a locker at PalMar, where we also rented equipment. Then snorkeled. Much to see even close to shore. My companion, who'd never snorkeled before, loved it. (Hint: enter the water at the stone steps between the palapa bar and its seating area.)

Afterward, we settled in at PalMar, for which we had an online coupon (http://www.cozumelinsider.com) for admission and free chips/salsa. We were the only ones there the whole time besides Juan, the snack bar/pool attendant, who was friendly and attentive while remaining unobtrusive. We lolled in the beautiful pool -- a whirlpool cascading into the deeper pool, overarched by fountains and backed up by a wonderful 5-bedroom villa which was vacant at the time. We had several soft drinks and watched the tour boats arrive at the same spots we'd just snorkeled. (I suspect those tours charged as much per person as we paid in total for two, including taxi fare.)

When we had to leave, we hailed a taxi (actually, the driver hailed us!) just outside the beach club gate, and arrived back at Puerta Maya with shopping time to spare.

In short, the PalMar was a highlight of our trip.