Nachi Cocom vs. Paradise Beach vs Palm Beach?

[chocolots]

Thanks! For all your help! Tom seems like a good guy. But some people will give a less than honest review in lieu of not hurting feelings. Plus the bickering is kind of a turn-off. Cause I'm ready to partae!!!!!

Thanks Again,

Janet:)

[GoinCruisin]

Hmmm, I have not seen that to be the case, LOL... on these boards most people don't hold back :D We love PB, but if I ever had a problem there, I would not hesitate to let anyone know about it... which is the great thing about these boards. Have a great time.... wherever you choose! It's a shame hubby doesn't like crowds, CNC's is definitely the place to PARTAE :D

[staylor]

Thanks to all....especially Mark......Great comparisons...much appreciated!:)

[Jimbo]

Anyone here been to any of the 3 places when there was 7 or 8 ships in Cozumel on the same day? Meaning can any of these places handle the huge amount of people evading on these places all at one time? or are these places better to try with less ships in town?

 

Jimbo:)

[chocolots]

The EXACT ???? I have! We'll be in port with 8 ships.:eek:

Janet

[GoinCruisin]

Did a search on the Cozumel board and the same concensus... 8 ships, it's going to be crowded just about everywhere.... that is around 18K people. Expect crowds at any place geared towards tourists... you may want to search on that board and see specifics... I know the week before we were at PB, they had 8 ships and other CC members said PB was crowded, but very bearable...

[CruiseMark]

Here's my advice (for what it's worth) if 8 ships are in town. I'd do one of two things:

 

1. I'd hire Adrian. He's a local restaurant owner who also does tours of the island and will basically take you anywhere you want to go, plus show you things many tourists will never see. The tour is totally personalized and worth every penny. He'll take you to beach clubs that are far less crowded than the ones most cruise passengers go to. You can find his info here: http://www.cometocozumel.com/english/sub/activities-pips.asp

 

2. Remember, Cozumel is an island. Frankly, it's tough to get lost for long. I'd suggest renting a car and driving around, looking at any beach club that catches your fancy. If you see one that looks good and isn't too crowded, you can stay for as long as you like. More info on car rental here: http://cozumelinsider.com/CarRent

 

Whatever you do, please DON'T rent scooters. Many tourists get injured or even die doing this every year. Heed Cozumel Sally's reasons here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=121525

[dsclark]

I have been to Nachi , Dul ha and Paradise. I was only at Nachi to wait for a snorkel trip, but hey, I was there. In terms of facility and beauty, Paradise was better.

I spent four hours at Paradise. My wife raved about the bathrooms "They are the cleanest I ahve ever seen in Mexico!".

I can't think of a bad thing about Paradise. It was beautiful, they had reasonably priced yummy drinks, a parrot to feed, lots of things to do there. Next time I am in Cozumel, I'll go back there. My vote is for paradise beach.

[Micktooth]

We were in coz last feb and there were many ships in port at several terminals. I can't remember the exact number. We went to Nachi and it was fine. Not too crowded at all.

[MRIrene]

Boy were we lucky!! We were at PB in December and practically had the whole beach to ourselves. It was great. Like having our own private beach. :D

[Inshape]

Sorry folks, I am thumbs down for the day at Paradise. It was so crowded with the lounge chairs filling every bit of sand space. After buying the wrist bands for the 4 kids, they still needed deposits and id cards each time they took out the kayaks, the life jackets, the snorkeling stuff. I felt i spent more time running around signing and then retrieving. They bothered us the entire time to buy more things. After spending the cost to get there, we rented a jeep, which was cheaper than taking a cab with 6 people, we felt we spent a enough., and the wrist bands for 4 people. We had packed lunch from the ship to eat there,a nd we were told we can not do that. well I went to speak to the management and got pemission. But I felt nickeled and dimed. Free is not free. We spent 20 for the wrist bands, and I was not going to be drinking on the beach with kids and then driving. As far as the beach, I have seen nicer. It is small and the pier to the left was being worked on so the noises from the machinery was very irritating. I would go to the other one --did not know there was a pool there. The water here was clear, but no snorkeling and it was colder than i have ever had in the same week we have cruised for 4 years. I know that cannot be controlled.

[Jimbo]

Inshape...............how long ago were you there and had this experience?

 

Just did some checking I see that you were just there on the 20th of January, you were on the January 16th sailing on Miracle. There were 9 ships there in Cozumel when you were there..........Thanks for the info, we will be staying clear of Paradise Beach, sounds a little to crowded for us to have an enjoyable day there.

 

Thanks again for the info on that place. These boards are great for finding out updated info.

 

Jimbo:)

[Guest Time2gocruzn]

After spending the cost to get there, we rented a jeep, which was cheaper than taking a cab with 6 people

 

Sorry..a little OT here..Please please tell me Inshape..it sounds like you meant you had 6 people in a jeep, right? We are 4 adults and 2 small kids (2 and 4) would a jeep wrangler be okay for all of us? Did you have kids sitting on laps? Thank you so much! Sorry to ask in this thread but this is the first person I have actually come across here that has rented a jeep with more than 2 people in it! lol!

[Inshape]

We made sure we got the 5 seater jeep. We had 2 adults, 2 17 year olds and 2 kids, ages 10 and 8. The 3 were able to sit on the seats with the youngest on a lap.

[GATravel]

LOVED Palm Beach... the best part was that all the kids were over at P.B. Palm Beach had great food and great drinks!

[SuzieQK]

Just got off the Miracle on Sunday. For those of you who dont drink that much and want to snorkel my suggestion is save your money, after you get away from the ship walk 10-15 minutes to the left, on the main street. You have beautiful snorkeling right off the road. You can see all the snorkel excursion boats out there with paying customers and you can do it for free. Ok you either have to bring your own snorkel gear with you or rent it for the day from the shore excursion desk for a nominal fee. If you go a little further down the street there is a public beach that might even rent snorkel gear. Paradise beach was ok to just sit and drink with friends. Its $5 for a wristband to use kayaks, float mats, igloo, trapoline in the water and snorkel gear but the snorkeling was horrible-very cloudy couldnt see a thing.

[BettyB2]

Nachi Cocum was the best for 11 of our group of 38 who cruised on the Conquest in February. Service was GREAT, drinks and were GREAT and the beach was GREAT! When we got back to the ship and met up with the rest of our group it became unanimous that the ones that didnt join us all wished that they had. There were (I believe) 6 ships in port that day and we never waited for anything. Jacuzzi and swim up bar was very nice also. Mexican buffet around 1pm was very good also..... I have some pictures of it if you follow the link to food and fun. Very pretty and not crowded:D

WIsh I was there:( ..and we will go back
Have fun!!

[JrMafia90]

I would go with Nachi Combi.

[Guest Time2gocruzn]

[quote name='djklove']It is so funny you posted this...because I have been researching this exact same thing for a while!

I know there is lots of great info on the Coz board...but honestly it ALL seems to be about PB. I REALLY want to know more about some of the other places (besides the 1 or 3 that seem to be the main topics over there) and can't seem to get that info on that board. There is an interesting recent thread over there about the "truth" about the Nachi all inclusive deal, but no one in our party drinks enough to make it worth it. I guess you can also go there w/ out buying the all inclusive but IF the beach is getting too full they will close the gates. I would be miffed if I had to pay for a taxi way out there and the gates were closed!! PB seems to be getting very popular...and I have to take into consideration that there are 6 other ships in Coz the day we are there,([url="http://www.cruisecal.com/dnn/"]http://www.cruisecal.com/dnn/[/url]) so I am guessing PB will be crowded. PLUS I want to snorkel from shore here too, but of the beaches I am considering neither has decent snorkeling. Arrgh!

SO, lol, since I am unable to get any info about any of the other places...I have pretty much decided that we are going to stop at Dzul HA and snorkel for a bit then make our way to PB. IF it is too crowded we will go on to Nachi. I also want to have lunch at Coconuts.

Have you checked out the cozumel insider site? [url="http://www.cozumelinsider.com/"]http://www.cozumelinsider.com[/url]
There is a good beach chart there that says what each beach offers. Also if you click on the name of the beach you get to read a little more info about it...but I like to hear from people who have been there, KWIM?

This is also a good site with Beach info. It is an interactive map..scroll down on the main page. [url="http://cozumelmexico.net/Cozumel-Beaches.html"]http://cozumelmexico.net/Cozumel-Beaches.html[/url]

Not sure if Palm beach is on either of those sites. It is a new beach/business. Used to be called something else...saw it on the Coz board but can remember for sure! GL! I am a planner and having to "wing it" in this port is driving me crazy, lol:eek: :)[/QUOTE]

Hey, I posted this b4 we cruised and we are back, so thought I'd give you a follow-up, lol. We were in Coz the week of 3/6. We DID end up going to PB. I figured there must be a reason everyone was talking about it, right? When we were in Coz I think there was 6 or 7 ships in port that day. I was expecting a crowd at PB so we got off the ship asap, skipped the port area shopping and headed straight for PB. We got their at probably b4 9am, and were almost the first people there. It was extremely clean and well maintained. It DID get crowded, but not till much later around 1 or 2, and we were ready to leave shortly after that anyway. Keep in mind that although all though there may be many ships in port, some do not get there till the afternoon. Since we got there first, we took seats right by the water so I could keep en eye on the kids. When it got more crowded, staff would carry lounge chairs for people looking for a spot. In fact, they set some right in front of us....:rolleyes:

There were MANY toys to play with for everyone. I am sure you have read what they have. We did have to buy a wristband, but a deposit was not required for anything other than snorkeling epuipt. I though the drinks and food were a bit high priced but they were good, service was good too. Very beautiful here. We asked for Tom and he was in Canada that day.

When/if we go back to Coz, I will probably not go to Paradise beach. It was a little too beach club/commercial for me. I like more rustic/relaxing type places I guess. However, I am sure that it is exactly what others are looking for as it is a very nice place. I also expected this to be a relativley inexpensive day since it was a "beach day" and I was wrong, lol. Next time we will probably rent a car and see more of this beautiful place. After all, cab fare to and from PB cost us approx $30 including tip. We could have rented a car for twice that and seen [u]many[/u] more places. Sounds like a good excuse to go back to me!!:)