Ocean Swimming at Amber Cove?

[Mustsea]

We are leaving this week and I'm considering booking a beach excursion with an outside agency for our Amber Cove day. However, I've seen pictures of the over-the-water huts and there is a roped off area for swimming. Even though we didn't rent a hut, are we still allowed in that area to swim? Thanks!!

[lizardhowson]

The beaches within range of Amber Cove leave a lot to be desired. If you are visiting any other islands, much better swimming beaches can be found (like Grand Turk or St. Thomas)

[Mustsea]

Much appreciated. Not thrilled to be stopping there and just having the pool...but hoping to be pleasantly surprised. Our other stops are Grand Turk and San Juan so we'll definitely be beach goers at those stops. Thanks again, you saved me time and money!:cool:

[BETSY DOLL]

We went to Amber Cove right after it opened. One of my favorite places! The pool area is very nice, you can walk in on a slope if needed. Zipline overhead for minimal cost. Water toy rentals- this is a Bay Area. No beach here. Swim up or eat in area. Cute shops, walk up the hill for awesome views of the ship.

Huts are rented, nice but not necessary.

Go straight to pool area, get chairs for free, they have bar and food service with menu. Reasonable price- tip your waiter.

A great stop in my opinion- I am sailing on my 26th Carnival cruise in October.

Have fun!!:cool:

[Mustsea]

Thanks, Betsy for all the info! I hope we enjoy it as much as you did!

[Uhfolks]

Sounds like you may be on the Magic with us! Amber Cove is the only port we actually booked a Carnival excursion in. We did the Ocean World/dolphins thing, there were some all-inclusive resorts that looked pretty fun too. Every other place, we found local things to do.

[evandbob]

Amber Cove is a great port to stay on the ship. There are no beaches in the immediate area, unless you want to rent an atv or go on an atv excursion that briefly stops at a beach.

 

The closest beach is in Puerto Plata, which is lined with 1950's styled 2 star hotels. A bit further down the road are Sosua and Cabrete, which have decent beaches and restaurants. I stayed in Puerto Plata for a week maybe 15 yrs ago, and never returned to that part of the DR, choosing Punta Cana instead.

 

We stopped in AC for the 1st time on the Horizon in June, and we enjoyed an uncrowded Serenity Deck and no wait for the Sky Ride. If we weren't sailing for the ship, I wouldn't even book an itinerary that included AC. Some people dislike Belize, Nassau, or Jamaica, my boo port is AC.

 

JMO, YMMV.

[HectorAchilleus]

In our opinion, Amber Cove is not a good place to find a beach. The sad thing is that many itineraries have substituted Amer Cove for one of the nicest beaches - Half Moon Cay.

 

We will not even consider an itinerary that includes Amber Cove.

[LuvCruiSun]

We liked our ocean cabana at Amber Cove, but the water was muddy looking and you couldn't see below the surface. We jumped in once to cool off and quickly got out and rinsed off.