Paradise Beach, the Good and the Bad...

[sddiver]

I was in Coz in September on a dive trip and had the opportunity to visit Paradise Beach on a couple of occasions. I thought I would share some of my impressions with the board as well as Paradise Beach Tom.

 

 

The Good,- well it’s mostly good to be honest. This was our 5th trip to Coz diving, so we are familiar with the island. We were favorably impressed with PB. The first visit was on a Sunday and we were expecting very few people as there are no Ships in Cozumel on Sundays. However there were a number of people there to our surprise. In chatting with a few(mostly local expats) it was apparent that PB is popular with some of the local crowd(Big plus in most locales). The facilities were very nice, the beach area excellent and the food though not cheap by island standards was very good. The staff was very pleasant. Though it’s a cultural thing that they are more unobtrusive than their American counterparts. A lot of Americans are not used to waiters that keep their distance unless needed. Tom perhaps a little training for the staff to come by and ask if anything is needed more often. I know you could have sold me a couple more beers if the guys were around more often. Having at one time or another visited most of the beach clubs in Coz I must admit that PB compares very favorably. If they could whip up some waves and teach the bartender to mix a margarita like they do at Mezcalitos they would get top billing by a long margin.

 

 

The Bad…. This is for the cruisers as well as Tom. The second day we visited was a weekday. There were several ships in town that day. What most people to visit the Island maybe don’t know is that the southwest coast of Cozumel from just south of the southern cruise ship dock to the southern tip of the island is a National Park. I was disturbed when we arrived in the parking lot and discovered a star fish, recently alive, discarded on the ground next to a parking spot. This did not bode well. The beach was not crowded and the people were spread out so it was a very pleasant day at the beach. Though I need to bring to the cruisers attention as well as Tom’s that I saw a number of people handling/collecting/playing with the sea life/shells/ect. The cruisers must be educated to the fact that this is a National Marine Park and that it is actually against the law to harass or take anything out of the park. This includes shells, many small marine organisms use those shells for protection. I know there is sign at the entrance to PB that points out the existence of the park. However I can guarantee that most tourists walk by it without noticing it. Tom- Perhaps some signage near the water front telling the tourists about the park and what the laws are. Most tourists especially Americans I think would be happy to comply if it was a little mere obvious. I’ll be back in January, hopefully to enjoy another afternoon at PB.

 

 

Tom- Comments??

 

 

Enjoy

 

 

Rich

[cruisinqt]

Thanks for the heads up sddiver, I hadn't really thought about PB being a National Marine Park. ;) I had read about it being a National Marine Park but had forgotten about it altogether. Even though I have taught my kids to not handle the sea life like the star fish or other living organisms, I have not really given much thought to the sea shells. I guess it didn't really occur to me that some sea creatures rely on these shells for shelter. :eek: Even though PB Tom and others on the island could put up signs and try to educate the public, I think the cruise ships could do much more about this too. The cruise lines put a lot of thought into their port talks and cover everything from shopping to places to eat. Why not take an extra five minutes to make sure that the cruisers are aware that a good deal of the island is a National Marine Park? Everyone goes to those port talks, it's very crowded. Why not add a little info. about how to behave while in a National Marine Park? I think a suggestion to the cruise lines in this area would be a great idea.

[purplefrog1111]

thank you so much for that info. we'll be sure our kids don't disturb the marine life in any way and also pass on the info to our fellow cruisers.

[NinaCO]

Thanks for taking the time to post your opinions. :) I'm still trying to decide whether to visit Paradise Beach or take a ship's tour to Passion Island.

 

I've been reading the Cozumel board for months and failed to pick up on the fact that PB was in a national park. Thanks for making us aware!

[bruce-r]

I've been reading the Cozumel board for months and failed to pick up on the fact that PB was in a national park. Thanks for making us aware!

 

Not just PB, but all the beach clubs along the west side that are south of the cruise docks.

[Cozumel_Tom]

OOPS!! missed this thread, but I will respond tomorrow! Gotta go to a dinner now, didn't want you to think I was avoiding this...hasta manana!

[Cozumel_Tom]

sddiver...absolutely disgusting that someone would discard a starfish and leave it to die like that in the parking lot. I will draft up some signage and ask the boss for approval when he gets here next week. As you said, the Marine Park has a big sign at our entrance, but it doesn't really do the job in getting it's message across.

I'll also remind the waiters to circulate a little more...Sundays are 90% locals who don't usually order as much/often as tourists, but that's no excuse!

Our food prices are very competitive compared to the other beach clubs in the area. That's who our competition is, not the restaurants in town. We checked their prices before we made ours, so I know this is true.

Glad you enjoyed your day with us, and hope you'll introduce yourself when you're back in Jan....hasta la vista!

 

cruisinqt...cruise ships taking a precious 5 minutes away from their diamond sales pitch?? That would be nice!!