Best excursions for 9yr olds to 18yr olds.

[6Travel]

In March of next year, we are arriving in Cozumel via Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas. We are looking for the best excursions for a group including 9 kids ranging in ages from 9 yrs old to 18 yrs old.

 

Please include the websites and/or private companies you recommend with your suggestions. Thanks.

[JohninDC]

I would skip the excursions and pile into a couple of cabs (about $10 per cab for up to 4 in a taxi - $3 each if you pile a bunch into a van cab) and head to the Money Bar for great snorkeling from the shore; after an hour or two (and maybe a few margaritas for the adults :D) Then I would pile back into a couple of cabs and head to Paradise Beach - $2 admisison fee, huge beach club, great facilities, HUGE pool, good food/drinks/service and water toys to wear the kids out for another $12 each.

 

Here's a link for the Money Bar and another with info on most of the beach clubs on Coz:

www.moneybarbeachclub.com

http://cozumelmexico.net/Cozumel-Beaches.html

Good luck! :)

[6Travel]

Thanks, JohninDC. Great ideas.

[JohninDC]

If they are not that into snorkeling and you do not want to be reaching for your wallet every time they want a coke, you might look at Mr. Sanchos - all inclusive for about $45 per adult, less for the kids. Smaller than PB but still has the water toys, pool, etc. You'll just need to be careful about what drinks your 15-16 year olds will be consuming! :eek:

[MrChocoholic]

My 10 year-old daughter loves two things (among many): Mexican food and cruises. She chose to take a cruise to Cozumel instead of the Bahamas because she wanted "to eat real tacos in Mexico." Aboard the Liberty of the Seas, two culinary shore excursions were offered, only one suitable for children. Ignored them. Josefina's Cocina Alma was recommended on TripAdvisor, so I booked it. Alfredo Rojas and Carey Sutton at cozumelmycozumel.com were SO good about instructing me on how to pay using PayPal and find a taxi to the location. We learned about how the Mayas used flowers, seeds and roots to color and flavor food. We watched as bright red pods became achiote. The no-shows were hardly missed as Josefina escorted us to the market where we saw a cow head walk by, several unidentifiable cuts of meat, the most brightly colored papayas, oranges and chiles imaginable. Then on to a little hole-in-the-wall tortilla factory before heading back to the house to start cooking. We made poc chuc, nopales, salsa verde, an amazing salad with grapefruit mango and ground chiles, frijoles negros refritos, all the while chatting, learning and singing along to Josephina's Beatles songs on her MP3. As the dishes were cooking she introduced me to the fine art of margarita making using an ingredient I'd seen used to make the famous "ti punch" of St. Lucia, but not in a tequila-based drink. Que rico! Naturally the food we ate was divine in every way--fresh, full of texture and flavors of Yucatan like pickled onion, achiote, chile habanero, pumpkin. We were stuffed! Then, to cap it off, because it was just my daughter and me, Josefina and Alfredo arranged for and accompanied us on a private tour of the Kaokao Chocolate factory in San Miguel town. The owners were exceedingly gracious and informative, and my daughter was treated beautifully throughout this experience by people who understand children. This was exactly the kind of immersive Mexico experience that reinforces my kid's first-year-Spanish and gave me a chance to show off mine. Pricing was equivalent to similar shore excursions offered by Royal Caribbean. I felt inclined to buy Josefina Luigi's cookbook (2 copies, actually) and quite an assortment at the Kaokao factory store. You will get back to the ship on time. Outstanding in every way!

[mominva]

I also recommend Paradise Beach. Last summer, we took our 3 children, ages 12, 14 and 15, to Paradise Beach. When we were walking through the port terminal, there was a sign that had all of the cab rates to various beaches. We got a cab for 5 and headed to Paradise Beach, probably 15 minutes from downtown. You pay $2 per person to get in and it was empty when we got there. I got my pick of the loungers and got in the shade. We paid an additional $12 for each of my kids so that they could play on the water toys. This included a water trampoline, balance beam, iceberg, slide, paddle boards, kayaks and floats. They played for a couple of hours and had a ball. The snorkeling was not great, so if that is what you want, go somewhere else. The landscaping is so nice and the bathrooms are clean and roomy. There is also a large pool. It really never got crowded. That day, there was one other boat in Cozumel.