Ocean Cay Marine Reserve for yacht club guests

[NCteacherlovescruising]

I’ve been reading about and seeing pictures of the rocky beach for suite guests. Should we bring water shoes to get in the water?  Would we be better off going to a different beach there?  

[mackfam]

Water shoes or waterproof sandals definitely make it much easier getting into and out of the water 

[Two Wheels Only]

We always bring our water shoes for that beach. The rocks aren't particularly sharp but they can be annoying. You can/should also use the same shoes when walking on the Yacht Club sundeck. THAT surface (when hot) causes more pain than the rocks on the beach. 🥵

[MsTabbyKats]

12 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I’ve been reading about and seeing pictures of the rocky beach for suite guests. Should we bring water shoes to get in the water?  Would we be better off going to a different beach there?  

We left the rocky beach and went right across the road to another beach. 

[NCteacherlovescruising]

21 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

We left the rocky beach and went right across the road to another beach. 

Are there chairs over there?  Was it crowded?

Edited May 20, 2023 by NCteacherlovescruising

[NCteacherlovescruising]

23 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

We always bring our water shoes for that beach. The rocks aren't particularly sharp but they can be annoying. You can/should also use the same shoes when walking on the Yacht Club sundeck. THAT surface (when hot) causes more pain than the rocks on the beach. 🥵

I’ll bring flip flops for the pool deck. 

[sammee]

1 hour ago, MsTabbyKats said:

We left the rocky beach and went right across the road to another beach. 

I should have done that. Getting  in was brutal until you cleared those rocks. 

[MsTabbyKats]

1 hour ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

Are there chairs over there?  Was it crowded?

Yes....chairs.  Not crowded at all.  Unlike the YC beach, if u want an umbrella you could rent one 

[morpheusofthesea]

2 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

Are there chairs over there?  Was it crowded?

Here is a photo of "the other beach".

[NCteacherlovescruising]

2 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Here is a photo of "the other beach".

Thanks!  I believe your photo was the one I’d seen of the rocky beach across the street. Would a pair of Chacos work on the rocky beach?

[morpheusofthesea]

3 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

Thanks!  I believe your photo was the one I’d seen of the rocky beach across the street. Would a pair of Chacos work on the rocky beach?

My photo was taken from the YC beach taken from the last pergola (#13?) of the YC. Pictured is the pergola (#34?) of the "Other Beach". Have no idea if "Chacos work", perhaps the fashion police can be more helpful.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

4 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

My photo was taken from the YC beach taken from the last pergola (#13?) of the YC. Pictured is the pergola (#34?) of the "Other Beach". Have no idea if "Chacos work", perhaps the fashion police can be more helpful.

Chacos are just hiking sandals that are waterproof. 🤪

[morpheusofthesea]

2 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

Chacos are just hiking sandals that are waterproof. 🤪

"Hiking sandals" ?  What will they think of next ?

[MsTabbyKats]

38 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

Thanks!  I believe your photo was the one I’d seen of the rocky beach across the street. Would a pair of Chacos work on the rocky beach?

It's rocky...but NOT like the YC beach.  DH couldn't enter the water in YC beach; he went into the water on this one.  It was even hard getting on the the YC beach.  There's a "towel guy" at the entrance and he had to help me down a small hill (for the sake of transparency...I'm not the most agile person).

Next time I'll find a gentle lagoon.........

[Georgia_Peaches]

Water shoes for YC beach are a must if you plan on getting in the water. The other beach nearest the YC has nicer sand, not crowded, no shade at all. 

[Av8tor]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Water shoes for YC beach are a must if you plan on getting in the water. The other beach nearest the YC has nicer sand, not crowded, no shade at all. 

And there is no YC drink service at the other beach...

[NCteacherlovescruising]

8 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Water shoes for YC beach are a must if you plan on getting in the water. The other beach nearest the YC has nicer sand, not crowded, no shade at all. 

I may bring a pair of my Chacos for this. We don’t seek the shade too much at the beach. I like working on my tan. Although after a few hours I may want some.  
 

7 hours ago, Av8tor said:

And there is no YC drink service at the other beach...

You would think they would move us to the nicer beach across the street and provide the drink service there. I’ve also heard it’s rough water at our beach. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

7 hours ago, Av8tor said:

And there is no YC drink service at the other beach...

True. TBH, I got no drink service in the YC area the last time we were there. I’m hoping it was an anomaly. Will find out in two weeks. 

[rikitikitavii]

11 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I may bring a pair of my Chacos for this. We don’t seek the shade too much at the beach. I like working on my tan. Although after a few hours I may want some.  
 

You would think they would move us to the nicer beach across the street and provide the drink service there. I’ve also heard it’s rough water at our beach. 

Depending on weather and wind direction, the water can be rough at YC beach.

To me, the better beach/ water, are the beaches that surround the lagoon. (Disregard the red circle)

Edited May 21, 2023 by rikitikitavii

[NCteacherlovescruising]

7 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

True. TBH, I got no drink service in the YC area the last time we were there. I’m hoping it was an anomaly. Will find out in two weeks. 

That would be truly annoying!!  Please come back to update. 

[NCteacherlovescruising]

2 minutes ago, rikitikitavii said:

Depending on weather and wind direction, the water can be rough at YC beach.

To me, the better beach/ water, are the beaches that surround the lagoon. (Disregard the red circle)

Maybe we’ll go to the yacht club until lunch and then move over to the lagoon. Is it walkable or would we want them to drop us off there?

[rikitikitavii]

6 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

Maybe we’ll go to the yacht club until lunch and then move over to the lagoon. Is it walkable or would we want them to drop us off there?

It is very walkable, there are very good walking/ cart paths on the island.

[Georgia_Peaches]

13 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

Maybe we’ll go to the yacht club until lunch and then move over to the lagoon. Is it walkable or would we want them to drop us off there?

We never took the shuttle.  The island is walkable.  For some, the distance can be daunting but we enjoyed the exercise and got to see all the nooks and crannies of the island.  Walking from the ship to the YC, it took us about 20 minutes at a very medium pace.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

3 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

We never took the shuttle.  The island is walkable.  For some, the distance can be daunting but we enjoyed the exercise and got to see all the nooks and crannies of the island.  Walking from the ship to the YC, it took us about 20 minutes at a very medium pace.

We enjoy walking so we’ll do that. 

[mnpurple]

I know it's been mentioned before, and hopefully it won't happen for your cruise, but keep a realistic expectation about the possibility of not being able to dock there. We weren't able to on our cruise at the beginning of Feb.  I was disappointed, but very aware it could happen, so probably  not as let down as many others on our sailing.  Most of our 11 day sailing was very windy, so I expected it by the time we went there.