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beaches walking distance from western caribbean ports


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I will be taking my first cruise later this month (hubby loves cruising!), and we are taking my 10 month old with us. Many of the excursions are either out of our budget or don't allow babies. We are looking for beaches or other baby-friendly things to do within walking distance of these ports, any tips?

-Carnival Miracle-

Cozumel (I believe docking at puerta maya, how do I find out for sure?)

found an older thread that recommended La Palapita- any idea if this is still open?

Belize City (we might stay on the ship for this one unless anyone has good suggestions)

Mahogany Bay, Roatan

Grand Cayman

It is very important to us to find something to do within walking distance, we don't want to take a taxi. Even if that means not experiencing as much. Thanks for any help you can offer!

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Hello,

 

First, I am glad to hear that you are cruising with the baby! That will be exciting, and could certainly start a life long tradition of travel with the kid. Might as well get them used to it early!

 

Question: Why are you particularly opposed to taking a cab? Is it a matter of cost, safety, or something else? You will find significantly better rates for cabs than in the United States, and you don't necessarily have to book them cold turkey. Granted, it may require some forethought on your part, but http://caribya.com/cozumel/taxis/ 987-872-1130 is the number they provide, so if you get a phone plan (a worthwhile thing to do in each of these places at a miniscule 5$ a day (shouldn't make a dent in the budget, really), doing so would allow you to experience excursions at a much more cost effective rate than you otherwise would.

 

I get what you mean about excursions being out of budget. Taking a basic city drive tour or going to a beach they'll charge 60$ each for, which is highway extortion/completely insane. Luckily, there are other options. Of course, once you disembark, there will likely be a fair number of independent operators in the port seeking for you to go with them, and the cost of that will likely be well under half what you would pay otherwise. Of course though, booking in advance might be more comforting. I have found fantastic deals on this site on a number of occasions: https://www.getyourguide.com/s/?q=cozumel&lc=l309&searchSource=4&p=1

 

They should have a page guide for each port. Unfortunately, perhaps because the non cruise tourist economy isn't quite as built up here as it would be some place like say Berlin, the deals aren't as good as they normally are. Still though, they are better than what you will find from the cruise itself, most likely.

 

Now, to the ports:

 

Isla Roatan: When we were here, it was a rainy day. We took a boat ride in the harbor and then took a scenic drive up into the mountains (which was nice, because the other ports were relentlessly flat). However, that of course was guided, price wasn't terrible, but it would certainly be more than you're looking to pay ($70). I'll be honest though, the town wasn't much to look at, and outside of the main plaza where you disembark, even as someone who is somewhat more intrepid, I would not feel particularly safe wandering too far. This looked cool though, across the way from the port though: http://www.jungletopzipline.com/packages.php These prices are likely better than you would find from the cruise, at least maybe for the 25$ pass as a cool venue to hang out on shore for a few hours.

 

Belize City: As a town, I found this to be the most interesting one. It felt quite safe and walkable overall, and it's helpful that those in town speak English as well. I'm not going to say it's some massively interesting city center, but it does have somewhat interesting shopping that is more local in nature, and some cool historic buildings. It was actually capital of Belize (British Honduras), until 1970 when the capital was inland to Belmopan due to hurricane damage. It does look like there is still some colonial influence in the architecture cool museums, streets etc. near the port in spite of much being damaged during the hurricane. About the town, think: not unlike Nassau, though not as large, but perhaps more authentic overall. But, according to Wikitravel, the area north of the river (clearly identifiable when looking at the town on a map. No reason to stray more than about a half mile from the port anyway really, as that is where the National Museum is) is considered to be quite dangerous (north of the river though, again, felt fine. Just use your judgement, but you shouldn't have any problems, and as long as baby doesn't mind you guys walking around some, it doesn't hurt to at least get off and explore the Fort Street Village which is heavily westernized/Disneyfied at the front. No beach near town though, that I know of at least. The Belize Barrier Reef/Blue Hole are considered among the 7 Underwater Wonders of the World, and best place for diving in the world aside from the Great Barrier Reef... That said, most likely won't be in your budget unless you find a good deal. It may be worth splurging and figuring out later in one of these ports though... We did crystal spring cave tubing (an hour inland) and it was incredible.

 

Costa Maya: Based on what you guys are looking to (walk, or easily get to a beach from the port), this in all likelihood may suit your tastes best. There's a very pleasant shopping area when you get off the ship, one of my favorite ones in a Caribbean port. However, when you get to the end of that (ask/monitor around). You will find a shuttle tram that takes tourists over a couple miles to the beach area, which is strikingly beautiful. That was free, and I believe they have a return option though I think we took a 5$ cab back since we didn't check where that was when leaving. So, again, you may not be as intrepid as we are, but a man approached the boat when we were near the beach resorts drag (super cool, kind of a 2 mile boardwalk lined with little hotels, shops, cafes etc. like a SoCal Beach town in Mexico), and asked if people would want to disembark and eat at his restaurant, and that, if we did, we could have a shaded hang out area, and free equipment rental (bikes, kayaks) all day. We did, and it was lovely. We had probably the best tacos of our life to that point, along with super fresh and tasty margaritas and other snacks, all for about 20$ for both of us. We took the bikes and rode up and down the main drag, kayaked out into the gulf (while my wife relaxed at shore), and generally just enjoyed and soaked in the atmosphere on a beautiful beach day. I believe there actually is even a closer beach to the port here, but with that said, I don't know if it is quite as smooth or pretty though. This town admittedly had a bizarre, Pripyat type vibe in that there was plenty of nice resorts built up, but the town had never really came through in the tourism dept, yet there was nothing else around either. But, it felt very safe and enjoyable anyways though!

 

Cozumel: Can't tell you much here, as this was last stop of honeymoon, and wife and I went to Tulum ruins on this day (FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE, though understandably maybe not for a 10 month old : )). We got back to port in time to walk around for a little bit though. There are numerous little shops and restaurants around in the port area, some are more welcoming than others. I suppose the town is safe enough and has some sights, perhaps even safer feeling than Belize City as a whole. Not excessively interesting or walkable in that way, though, has a bit of a tacky tourist vibe in main parts though I suppose that is to be expected. But, unfortunately, a beach here is going to be a drive from the center of town.

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Oh no, didn't realize you'll be hitting Grand Cayman instead of Costa Maya. Disregard the description of there then, apologies!

 

Grand Cayman is in all likelihood the safest island in the whole of the Caribbean. One could possibly refer to the main area upon disembarking as a bit sterile, but I don't know that's fair, it is a decent place to walk around for a couple hours, maybe have a coffee or something while in port. Again though, you likely aren't going to find any beaches at walking distance here. An Eastern Caribbean route would likely be better for that, esp. if you aren't much for cultural attractions, with a 10 month old in tow.

 

That being said, I suppose since you're mainly in it for the cruising aspect anyways, you should have a pretty good experience overall anyways. It should be a nice and relaxing week, and I hope you enjoy.

 

By the way, I am assuming you will likely be leaving for the trip from Tampa beforehand, so let me know if you need any suggestions for there, esp. if you guys are foodies at all. I live about 40 minutes south, and so I probably spend more time in Central Tampa and Saint Petersburg than in the town I actually live in : )

 

Edit: Note on Belize City, meant to put the area south of the river. Sorry for any confusion. The main port area is quite busy and well monitored. Since it is English speaking, if you need recommendations, and want to hit a local museum for a bit while in town (Museum of Belize is a little less than a half mile north, I believe) I believe they will have people in the shops and perhaps a visitor center within the Fort Street Tourism Village that would be happy to address them.

 

Note: https://www.frommers.com/destinations/belize-city/walking-tours Self Guided Walking Route, which you can feel free to follow all, some or none of. Cheers : ) If you do this walk, I am certain, it will be unBelizeable. lol

Edited by ucfchuck
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Thank you so much for your help!! This is wonderful information!

 

To answer your question, our reason for avoiding taxis is a safety concern. We won't be bringing a car seat. While I know the locals might simply hold their child, and the chance of an accident may be small, it's still not a risk we are willing to take at this point. We feel we can still have a great vacation. Right now our daughter will be fascinated by anything, maybe if we cruise more as she gets older we will re-evaluate what we plan to do in ports.

 

Thank you for the walking tour link also, we may do that! I feel we are 'middle of the road 'adventurous, we have traveled quite a bit and like experiencing the people/culture. But it's a whole new ball game with a baby so we are taking it easy this time. She is great with us walking quite a bit, either her in the stroller or in a carrier on us. If we don't do some of your recommended activities this time, I will definitely store them away for possible future cruises!

 

And yes we are huge foodies- any tips you have for Tampa would be great! Our favorites are asian foods, vietnamese korean, thai, japanese, and any craft breweries.

 

Also another quick question for Tampa- we are driving there since we only live about 6 hrs away. Can you recommend a good place to park our car for the week? Again because of the car seat issue we were hoping for a lot either walking distance to port, or with a shuttle to port. Or public transportation like buses? We know we may end up just parking at the port but if there's a better option..

 

Thanks so much!

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That makes complete sense! It would be difficult to lug around a car seat just for a brief taxi ride, and I don't know there is anything so fascinating (beach or otherwise), more so than in the port that a brief taxi ride would even be necessary. Unfortunately, I'm not certain if any of these ports have a beach that is within a mile or so but hopefully someone can come around and correct me otherwise : ). There are still nice things to look at in the main port areas, and of course, you have the pool and every other form of entertainment on board the ship as well.

 

I didn't realize it was your first cruise either, you are certainly in for a treat! It's very difficult to be bored with all the events they have on the ship during the day, I actually have to make it a point sometimes to just take out time from all the different activities on ship so I can get a work out in, read a book on deck, other things like that!

 

Good to hear! I can certainly understand that as well as my wife and I will be having kids at some point soon, and I am sure we will be very cautious at first also :):): ) If nothing else, the main tourist shops at Belize City's port I found to be a little more local in nature than at some of the other ports, where you just see diamond shops, etc. off the gate (not that there is anything wrong with that either, and there are some of those, too!) There was a place in Belize City, and also in other ports maybe, where we saw little tiny fish biting off dead skin on people's feet, kind of like a cleanse/massage or something. I know it sounds really weird, but it actually looks kind of cool.

 

Like I said, don't go expecting a grand European-esque center like Buenos Aires or even San Juan, but with that said, it's nice because people are really friendly and you shouldn't be more than 15 minutes walk from the ship at any of those places. I found people there to be among the friendliest I've seen. If you can find anywhere selling clay pot coffee, or fresh squeezed juices while out, make sure you try-they are out of this world.

 

Absolutely! So, as far as Craft Beer goes, probably the most significant/esteemed place in the area is gonna be Cigar City Brewing. It's a large venue but I believe quite family friendly. If you're looking for something smaller in nature, there's a place called Dunedin (it's a bit out of town to the northeast), but it is nice, has a charming little town and several smaller/more creative breweries.

 

As far as significant places in the area-Columbia Restaurant, which does Spanish and Cuban food, is very well known. My go to is the Spanish Bean Soup and 1905 Salad, but you can find many great things there (even just the bread, and the mojitos are amazing). They even have a flamenco dancing show inside the restaurant for free in the early evening. It is in an area called Ybor City, just east of Downtown Tampa. It's sort of like the French Quarter in terms of the architectural style, though newer, but one that hasn't been quite as successful at attracting tourists (so, not a place to go after dark off 7th Street, the main drag). But, there's some cool historic buildings, you can get authentic Cuban cigars (as Tampa was and arguably still is a global capital of cigar production), and there's unique shops/boutiques (notably, Dysfunctional Grace, sort of quirky/bohemian). The restaurant there itself is beautiful, and it's the oldest restaurant in FL (Theodore Roosevelt dined/drank there before going out with the rough riders to fight the Spanish-American war). Or there's another location on the water (nearly walking distance from the terminal, near the arena). Another local place I'd recommend would be Oxford Exchange, if you guys like coffee/tea/pastries/brunch. It honestly looks like something out of Harry Potter, and has cool shopping to see too. I've been on two cruises out of the home port (Tampa), and we spent both mornings before hanging out in there, reading the paper, playing board games they had, etc. before heading over to board. Right next door is a beautiful park space (University of Tampa with great city views).

 

Sorry, now to Asian food-So, there are a few options. If you're here (disembarking or boarding) on a Sunday morning, Wat Mongkolratanaram Temple (about 15 minutes east of town), is an active Thai Buddhist temple that has a market with a variety of food, produce on display, and a pretty waterfront area to eat it. Prices are quite good. There is also the just newly opened Heights Public Market about a mile north of downtown, which has a variety of different restaurants, ethnic and otherwise. I had ramen while there and enjoyed it quite a bit.

 

 

https://www.bestparking.com/tampa-parking/

I just checked this site, since we previously were dropped off when we were on our previous cruises, and I don't have that much experience with long term parking. What I found, is that there are options, though of course call to make sure they accept that. I think many of the garages downtown max out at $9.50 per day, so I suppose you can park as long as you like, and pay the fee upon leaving. In looking, it appears that the William F Poe garage, which is right across the street/river from the UT building/Oxford Exchange place I was telling you about, would be about $55 for a week, when compared to $120 a week right at the cruise terminal, so right there, you likely save 65$. From there, you have two options for getting to the cruise terminal:

A) Take the streetcar line. It starts not too far from where you parked at William F Poe. It starts about a half mile from there, and I believe is $2.50 for a one way fare.

B) Even better (free), download the Downtowner App. I am not sure if you have this company in your city, but it is an electric powered... wouldn't exactly call it a car, but more like a shuttle type thing, but smaller (and not super fast moving). Just put in where you want to go (the cruise terminal, then your car), and they will take you there. The only problem you might run into, is that while during the week they run from 6 AM-11 PM, on the weekends, it is only 11-11. That wouldn't be a problem getting on, but could be getting off, to the point where you may want to just take the streetcar/walk on your way back.

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I didn't realize it was your first cruise either, you are certainly in for a treat! It's very difficult to be bored with all the events they have on the ship during the day,

 

This^ I can't wait to experience cruising, and I figure if we don't do as much in the ports because of your little one, we will get around to it eventually. I'm sure we won't have a lack of things to do, no matter what!

 

Thank you so much for the wealth of information, very helpful! We hope to check out the brewery and the markets you mentioned. We also travel to Tampa area later this year for a couple of events, so hopefully we can check out everything you mentioned at some point or another. I can't thank you enough for the info, and for the friendly chat. Because of your tips we have found a much better deal on parking too.

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Hello!

My family and I just got back from cruising to Cozumel in March of 2018. We took a 3-5 minute cab ride to Money Beach Bar & Resort. It is very close, not overly crowded by tourists and we felt really safe. There is no entry fee and we snorkeled for free right there and they have a rental shop (pretty cheap prices) If you need to rent equipment. Their food is AMAZING! And very reasonably priced. My family of 4 ordered the Chicken Nachos (HUGE portion), Chicken fettuccine Alfredo (ENORMOUS portion) with a HUGE side of french fries and it was only $40. They have a sandy area and many lounge chairs. Waiters attend to your every need and the bathrooms were super clean. Cab ride was $10/each way. I highly recommend this resort, especially if your a first time cruiser.

If you don't want to take a taxi, there is a beach right off to the side of the pier where your ship docks. You may be bothered by vendors trying to sell their wares, but really, we thought the vendors were very laid back and not aggressive at all, especially compared to Progreso; so you may be fine. There are many shops to walk around and through in that area too.

 

 

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I should also note that this was OUR first cruise too! And we were travelling with our 5 year old daughter and 8 year old son and were VERY nervous about the taxi ride as well. Side note: The driving in Cozumel is helter-skelter at best, They "take turns" on who is driving on what side of the road at what time. Not sure how they make sense of it all. Our taxi driver was friendly but certainly...."pro-active" in driving...but aren't they all??? :)

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