Paradise Beach vs Nachi Cocom

[Karissa]

Suggestions on which has the better beach? We are looking for a nice beach to relax on during our Cozumel excursion....pretty water, nice sand and maybe a little shade for our 2 year old!

Thanks

 

[tina4_98]

Bump! Im also interested in hearing feedback.

Ive heard great things about Paradise Beach

 

[Karissa]

They both get great reviews on Trip Advisor...we are leaning more towards Nachi Cocom, just because it seems more laid back and they only allow so many guests...plus my daughter is too young for all the big inflatables at Paradise....although it sure looks fun!

 

[ekatiel]

Nachi is our favorite beach in Cozumel, and possibly the entire Caribbean . About the only thing that paradise has going for it over Nachi is the water toys. If you're looking for a relaxing day, Nachi is the way to go. They limit it to 100 people per day. It seems like no one is there. You can sit under your palapa while your little one plays in the sand a few feet off and not have to worry about hordes of people between you and your little one. A picture speaks a thousand words:

With all that being said, we'll be in Cozumel on a Sunday for our Feburary DCL cruise, and Nachi is closed on Sundays . We're going to Paradise beach with all the crowds. We will have a good time, but I really wish we could go to Nachi. --Katie

 

[Karissa]

Thank you so much! You just made my decision for me! Loved the pics!!

 

[ilovetexas]

Thank you so much! You just made my decision for me! Loved the pics!!

Nachi is horrible!! Don't go there!! Just kidding, it's my favorite and I don't want anyone else to know about it

We were there in May (I had been before but DH hadn't) and DH, who has a stressful job, spent two hours making little sand castles on the beach. Funniest thing I've ever seen him do; he's usually such a stick in the mud. It was a wonderfully relaxing day, which we both needed. Enjoy!

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[redgrapes2]

Trying to make this decision myself for our first cruise! I need to ask a question though... with some of these excursions, do you take a taxi? I have two small boys and am wondering about carseat safety traveling to/from Nachi. What has your experience been? Thanks in advance!

 

[Karissa]

Trying to make this decision myself for our first cruise! I need to ask a question though... with some of these excursions, do you take a taxi? I have two small boys and am wondering about carseat safety traveling to/from Nachi. What has your experience been? Thanks in advance!

That is a great question...i've heard it's a 15-20 min cab ride from port....but I was also wondering about whether or not Taxi's have car seats, as I will have a 2 year old that I would prefer be in a seat....anyone???

 

[FabFivePA]

We went to Nachi in 2011 and had a great day there.
To specifically answer the taxi question, there were no car seats and we weren't even all seatbelted to be honest. This could just be our experience.

While waiting in the taxi line we saw larger groups going into vans/larger vehicles, when it was our turn for a family of 5, kids all under 10, the man pointed for us to get in the regular taxi sedan. I asked if we could have a larger vehicle because we needed at least seatbelts for all of us. And he pointed again and just said, 'Get in!! They're small.' We almost didn't, but in we went. I would say 20 minutes sounds about right. The taxi on the way back was the same, and she was FLYING. We all still talk/joke about it, but at the time I will admit I did feel unsafe, and was happy at least my youngest was asleep in my lap.
Not sure if you can force the issue or find another taxi service, but this was our experience. I can't say we wouldn't do it again, but it was unsettling for sure.

The drivers themselves were very nice. I know some people from meet groups that are all going to the same place go in on a taxi together, so maybe with a larger group in one of the vans it would be better, not sure.

 

[hilarys]

We are on the Fantasy for Easter and am also trying to decide these two with the DCL beach excursion thrown into the mix too. For anyone who has been to Nachi recently, what is the beach/shore like. I read one review on Trip Advisor that implied that there was a pretty steep drop off. My kids are perfectly happy playing in the water all day long, but it will be most fun for them if there is a fair amount of shallow water before it gets too deep. They are 10 and 8 and both strong swimmers, but really just love to splash around on beach days. I am sure my DS10 would be all over the water toys at Paradise Beach though.

Thanks

Hilary

 

[Cackyschmackers]

We are on the Fantasy for Easter and am also trying to decide these two with the DCL beach excursion thrown into the mix too. For anyone who has been to Nachi recently, what is the beach/shore like. I read one review on Trip Advisor that implied that there was a pretty steep drop off. My kids are perfectly happy playing in the water all day long, but it will be most fun for them if there is a fair amount of shallow water before it gets too deep. They are 10 and 8 and both strong swimmers, but really just love to splash around on beach days. I am sure my DS10 would be all over the water toys at Paradise Beach though.

Thanks

Hilary

We were just in Nachi Cocum last week. It was perfect. My husband is THE most picky person alive (and a little stressed out by work) and he said probably 35 times how awesome a day it was. It looks exactly like the pix the other poster put up. If you've never been to a beach in Mexico, you need to know the "sand" is actually coral; so it's a little coarser but we love it since it doesn't stick to you, and ALSO has an added bonus of having a bult in SPF, so it doesn't burn your feet (we're used to Jersey beaches). They only allow 100 people a day, and that's the main reason we chose it. And they really do mean unlimited beverages... I think we put that to the test LOL. Delicious Mexican cuisine for lunch; start w/the guacamole/nachos w/a slushy drink and take your time w/the menu. My three daughters 10, 6, and 6 had a ball w/no "inflatables" necessary. There were floating anchored huge rafts, but tour girls were having the time of their life running back and forth between the beach and the gorgeous pool. Plenty of lounge chairs and palapas everywhere. Hammocks and those pool "beds", too. Cute restaurant to sit at if you wish (we ate at our palapa). The gift shop was so cheap; check it out. We turned down the $12 (turned to $10) family portrait taken upon arrival, although it was cute. The cab ride was ~15 min and $25 for five of us. NO car seats of course, and driver went way fast, but we survived. Everyone is super friendly, and it really was a perfect day. Oh, you can rent foam chair pads for $2 and they are rafts for swimming as well. We turned down all the water sports; we really were there just to enjoy the gorgeous beach. There was a weird little drop off; nothing like in St Thomas, which was very sharp and hidden w/mough rougher shells kind of cutting you a lot. This was just a bit sloped, but not rough like St Thomas and chrystal clear, so you could see where you were walking quite easily. I walked out quite a bit and it was up to my mid chest quite a ways. I'd say very calm and safe for kids. Enjoy!

 

[klepton]

I've never been to Nachi, but we were just at Paradise last week so I'll give you the low down there.

Paradise does have a ton of water toys, trampolines, slides, kayaks, snorkeling, paddleboards, etc. All of that was included in a $12 bracelet. Use of the facilities (restrooms, loungers, pool, etc) was $2pp. So for $14pp we had the run of the beach, I was a little surprised it was all so cheap. The water was also fairly calm when we were there, though I'm sure that will vary. Beer was reasonable ($16 for a bucket of Sol), food was what I'd expect to pay at a Mexican restaurant in the states ($9 for a plate of nachos).

Now the bad... it was very crowded! We had 6 other ships besides ours in Cozumel that day, one of them being Oasis of the Seas. Lots of kids that made it a little tougher for my 7yo to enjoy the toys. She still had fun though. Like I said though, a lot of ships in port, so YMMV. The entry was fairly shallow, but it was rocky.

As far as shade, we asked for an umbrella and were told they didn't have any. We had our 4 month old, so we found the shadiest spot we could under the big rows of trees towards the back of the beach, and had no problems at all keeping the sun off of him.

The pool is pretty nice, and you get to use it too with the $2 fee. But it was pretty crowded the day we were there.

 

[TXDCLfan]

I've never been to Nachi, but we were just at Paradise last week so I'll give you the low down there.

Paradise does have a ton of water toys, trampolines, slides, kayaks, snorkeling, paddleboards, etc. All of that was included in a $12 bracelet. Use of the facilities (restrooms, loungers, pool, etc) was $2pp. So for $14pp we had the run of the beach, I was a little surprised it was all so cheap. The water was also fairly calm when we were there, though I'm sure that will vary. Beer was reasonable ($16 for a bucket of Sol), food was what I'd expect to pay at a Mexican restaurant in the states ($9 for a plate of nachos).

Now the bad... it was very crowded! We had 6 other ships besides ours in Cozumel that day, one of them being Oasis of the Seas. Lots of kids that made it a little tougher for my 7yo to enjoy the toys. She still had fun though. Like I said though, a lot of ships in port, so YMMV. The entry was fairly shallow, but it was rocky.

As far as shade, we asked for an umbrella and were told they didn't have any. We had our 4 month old, so we found the shadiest spot we could under the big rows of trees towards the back of the beach, and had no problems at all keeping the sun off of him.

The pool is pretty nice, and you get to use it too with the $2 fee. But it was pretty crowded the day we were there.

And the Oasis counts as 2 ships in my opinion. I have started to look at the port schedules to see what ships/how many are in port before I book a cruise. We were at paradise beach this past July with only 3 ships in port and there was maybe 50 -60 people at the beach.

 

[MarineFam]

We are going on the Fantasy on April 13th and would love to go to Nachi-Cocom and were wondering how much the Taxi price was. We have 10 in our group. Thanks....

 

[ilovetexas]

We are going on the Fantasy on April 13th and would love to go to Nachi-Cocom and were wondering how much the Taxi price was. We have 10 in our group. Thanks....

The last two times I've been it was $15 each way. One of those trips was 4 of us crammed in a little car, one was two of us in a van. They might up the price for 10 of you but it shouldn't be too much.

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[MarineFam]

That's not too bad. Really thinking about doing that then. Thanks

 

[klepton]

We are going on the Fantasy on April 13th and would love to go to Nachi-Cocom and were wondering how much the Taxi price was. We have 10 in our group. Thanks....

Somewhere, and I don't remember where, I recently saw someone posted a picture of the taxi stand sign that listed the prices to all the different locations. It may have been over on cruise critic. If I run into it again I'll post here.

If I remember correctly, cabs are a flat rate up to 4 people. More than 4 is an extra $2pp, but there are fewer cabs that can take more than 4 people. You'd probably be best served getting two cabs rather than trying to get one big enough for all 10 of you.

 

[aymekae]

Our day at Nachi Cocom was one of the best on our cruise. We added a couple's massage, which was cheaper than the one on board. DH rode a jet ski for 30 min. Food was excellent, and so were the drinks. There were 2 other cruise ships in port, but we didn't even have 100 people at the beach. In fact, the other two ships left earlier than us, so around 2 PM, there were maybe 10-15 people left. We enjoyed the pool/hot tub all to ourselves for awhile. I don't even recall going in the ocean, maybe my feet, but spent a lot of time laying around relaxing. It was a beautiful day and I would do that again in a heart beat.

That said, the taxi rides were truly frightening to me. I had no idea that functioning seat belts were optional until we got in the taxi. Apparently lanes and speed limits are more like suggestions than rules. I just held on to my DH's hand and tried to keep my head down. I don't know what I'd do in the future when we bring kids.

 

[jacobsmommy]

At Nachi Cocum do you order your food off a menu? How was the food selection? My dd and I are both pickier eaters...

 

[Jensyfert]

We are on the Magic in April and going to Cozumel. I want to book the excursion at Nachi Cocum but I don't see it on the list to book online through the Disney website. Is it called something else or is everyone just doing this in their own? TIA!