Cozumel - what to see and do

[Diznut84]

I'm waiting for the 2009 dates to be released, so I'm in the very early planning stages. Xcaret sounds great! Can anyone tell me if this is a good choice with kids? My boys will be 7 and 10 at the time that we travel.

I've been to Xcaret many times with my kids prior to Wilma, but have not been since then nor when on a Disney Cruise. So I can't help you with the "getting there" questions.

Xcaret is a GREAT choice for 7 and 10 year olds. There is a swimming beach, snorkeling area, underground river, and LOTS of wildlife on trails throughout the park. Unfortunately, one of the highlights is their extraordinary evening show which you won't be able to see because you'll need to return to the ship.

There is a lot to do. We've usually arrived at opening and left after the evening show. It is great!

 

[icehawkmom]

Has anyone done the Discover Snorkel thru Disney? Does this involve a boat or is it from shore? I am looking at this for my family. We have snorkeled before. Thanks for any information.

 

[tiggerluva4]

What are the best things to do do you know? Sorry if you dont but i am just curious because i am going on the 7 day 08 thanksgiving cruise and i wanted to know what will be in store?

 

[GotDisney?]

We are also on the Double Dipping Traveling Turkeys cruise! I'm busy searching for something just perfect for our day at Cozumel, especially since my DAunt who is joining us will be celebrating her 60th birthday on the same day.

 

[Aurora_Magic]

Does anyone know if Paradise Beach is now known as Playa Mia? Or has the Beach Break tour been relocated? :

I'd appreciate any feedback on that trip? Thanks...as the wind in howling snow around right now...thoughts of blue water and white sand is getting me through!

 

[Evans Family]

I've been to Paradise Beach twice on two different Disney cruises. I've never seen a Disney sponsored excursion there.

 

[Mom24Princesses]

Does anyone know if Paradise Beach is now known as Playa Mia? Or has the Beach Break tour been relocated? :

I'd appreciate any feedback on that trip? Thanks...as the wind in howling snow around right now...thoughts of blue water and white sand is getting me through!

I can only help a little.
Paradise Beach-Cozumel has a website. It has been Paradise Beach on Cozumel for many years. I do not know if DCL had a excursion there in the past. PB gets good reviews on most sites that post that kind of thing. Check out their website for more. Our family will be doing this on our own in about 7 weeks. On our Eastern in 06 we did all our own excursions.

I figure that we will spend around $200 for everything and be on our own time table. For 6 of us DCL would be a lot more to Playa Mia and we will be ordering what we want off a full menu at Paradise Beach.

 

[Family Loves Disney]

Has anyone done a tour of the Mayan ruins? How was it?

 

[crystald]

We too did the dolphin swim on our own. The foot push made it all worth it!!Highly recomend!!!!

 

[cats mom]

Also, is it quicker to get there if we do the excursion on our own? DH's family is from Mexico and he is fluent in spanish, so it wouldn't be a problem to travel on our own, if it will get us there quicker.
Thanks!

We have not been to Xcaret, but have taken the ferry over to Playa del Carmen on our own. It's a short walk from the Magic to the ferry dock and it's very easy to do.

The biggest thing to be aware of is that there are two separate companies that provide ferry service. They try to outsell each other and will likely try to get you to buy round trip tickets. That might save you a dollar or two (at the most) over buying one way passage; but if you do that, you'll have to wait for the right company when you're ready to head back.
We just buy one way and then can catch the next available ferry back at the end of the day and not have to worry about whether it's the right company/ticket or not.

As for whether it's faster or not, I'm not really sure. I guess it depends on what time the Disney excursion is scheduled for. We were on the first ferry that left after the Magic docked and there were no DCL groups, so I imagine you might get a bit of a head start.

 

[mom_rules]

Someone asked about the mexican cuisine workshop-PM me and I'll tell you all about it!

Fabulous excursion (though not child friendly!)

 

[cntkg1]

Just say NO!!! This expensive excursion was terrible. The dune buggies were old and broken (we had no accelerator pad in ours). It was rushed and dirty. No working restrooms in any of our stops. The hosts were rude and pressured us for tips. They actually told us how much we should be leaving them. They ran us late and then took us through the most horrible part of town to return to the lot. We had locals running up to our buggies begging for money. We had to run all the way back to ship and made it back with only moments left. Good thing it was a Disney excursion or our entire group may have been left behind.

I wrote to Disney just to let them know what was going on and we received an apology letter and phone call from the cruise line.

 

[Susanbee]

We did the Jungle Hike excursion, booked through DCL. We were picked up as a group and taken to a small bus. It was air conditioned and nice. The ride tok about 30 minutes and it was really interesting to see the island off the main port area. The ranch where you hike is right beside San Gervasio (sp). Actually San Gervasio used to be part of this ranch. They have lockers for you to use and bathroom facilties that are ok, nothing fancy. They have back packs with snacks/water for you to use or you can use your own. They even had some walking sticks you can borrow.

This ranch does bike tours, 4 wheeler tours and hiking tours. The terrain is pretty rocky but there are very few hills but there is a TON of dust if it's dry. If you 4 wheel, you will get absolutely filthy--but it looked liked fun! They have nice paths and we were taken to 2 ruin sites. Unlike here in the US they let us walk all over them, not sure this is a good idea really. Iames or James gave us our tour and he did a great job talking about the Mayans.

We stopped at one ruin site for snack. They had a cooler with Cokes and Sprites (so yummy in Mexico) and there were a lot of snacks in our bag. Cheetos, crackers, cereal bar, banana, some cupcakes with no icing that remind me of pound cake...plenty to eat. We took the extras back with us. Just remember you can't bring the banana back on board the ship!

After we hiked back to the locker area, we boarded the bus back to the port. They let us out in the parking lot across from Margaritaville which is a couple of blocks from the ship. We had lunch there and it was good. They had a great band playing. My only concern was the ice in the drinks, but we had no problems and everyone eating there were tourists so I figured it was ok.

I would highly recommend this tour. It's too rocky for a stroller but the terrain is moderate. No one is our group had trouble.

 

[jodifla]

We did Nachi Com beach club in February and just loved it. We practically had the place to ourselves!


They have a web site, you should check out the pictures. We liked it because it had a beach and a pool. And a 3 course meal, with GREAT Mexican food.

 

[disneyfan551]

We did Nachi Com beach club in February and just loved it. We practically had the place to ourselves!


They have a web site, you should check out the pictures. We liked it because it had a beach and a pool. And a 3 course meal, with GREAT Mexican food.

We went to Nachi Cocum twice last year, and it was fantastic each time!! I wholeheartedly recommend this excursion!

 

[jjgarv]

has anyone done Playa Mia on their own? The DCL excursion will cost us aroun $166 fro the three of us...figuring on about $30 for roundtrip taxi service...I am trying ot find out how much the deluxe package( open bar and buffett will be on our own for DW, DD and myself) Any other feedback on Playa mia is appreciated...have been to Paradise beach..was not impressed witht ehbeach itself..and it was crowded.

 

[cyndid]

We are all going to go to Chankanaab. DH and one DD are going to do the Dolphin Discovery in the afternoon and the other DD and I are going to go horseback riding. With the back and forth with taxis, would it make sense to get a rental car? If you have done the rental car thing, do you have any recommendations/suggestions? Thanks.

 

[rylisal]

We went to Nachi Cocum twice last year, and it was fantastic each time!! I wholeheartedly recommend this excursion!

We're off to Nachi Cocum when we're at Cozumel soon...So many great reviews on it, can't wait 'till we're there!!

 

[cmom]

WE did Cozumel on our own last Dec and loved it. We rented a van and drove all around. We went to the ruins which were more then expected. We really enjoyed seeing them.

This Nov we will be there again and thought about doing the Discover Mexico and Chanauuab ( sp?) park combo through Disney. It is much cheaper actually through Disney then on own but what all is involved? What to do , see, anything for non swimmers or will we be paying to just sit on the beach?

Some will snorkel if worth it but my mom does not swim and I'm not sure if I will or not.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Chankanaab is lovely. There is a botanical garden and some replicas of ruins to walk around and look at. But with a view that Chankanaab offers, sitting on the beach isn't all that bad either. They have a very nice snorkel lagoon and a swimming pool as well.