Cozumel Excursion... Or not?

[goofy4prez]

We have a cruise for this December on the Dream and this will be our second time in Cozumel. The first being back in 2019. For that cruise we tendered to the mainland and did an incredible excursion; Caves, Caverns, and Paradise Lagoon. We did not get an opportunity to see any of the island on that cruise. This time around, even if there are excursions to the mainland, we plan on staying on Cozumel.

We are thinking of doing one of two things. Either do the Salsa & Salsa excursion (CZ55) or just walking around downtown, do a little shopping, and find a local restaurant. Has anyone done this excursion before? If so, how did you enjoy it? Also, if we decided not to do an excursion, how easy and safe is it to just walk around downtown from the dock and do your own thing? Thanks in advance.

 

[brentm77]

My two cents - I wish we had done an excursion last time, or planned to take a taxi somewhere. We didn't love the port area. It was a lot of shops selling similar tourist stuff and we had a member in our part who wasn't real comfortable as we started getting further out if the port center. We didn't end up doing much at the port and were back on the ship more quickly than I would have preferred.

On a previous non-cruise visit, we went snorkeling and had a good lunch. But the port area just didn't seem very appealing to us this time. Maybe we just didn't walk far enough out of it.

 

[Minniemoo15]

I’m debating this as well for our cozumel stop. I have been to Cozumel a long time ago but nobody else in our party has. I was considering an excursion but am now leaning towards exploring the port on our own and then returning early to enjoy the ship.

We may do the 4hr jeep tour .. we are a large enough group that the price is reasonable and then we have someone to take us to see the sights ..

 

[MillauFr]

I didn't think Cozumel was sketchy at all. Better than most American towns. We walked to Josefina Cooking Class. It was the highlight of our cruise. Our family still talks about it.

 

[brentm77]

Y

I didn't think Cozumel was sketchy at all. Better than most American towns. We walked to Josefina Cooking Class. It was the highlight of our cruise. Our family still talks about it.

You are right. It's actually safer than many US cities. But there has been crime against tourists in the city. Some of it violent. Some of it against cruisers too. You want to stay observant and keep your wits about you like you would in any city.

The port area wasn't our favorite. We liked other areas we visited more when we came on a non-cruise visit. That's why I personally recommend an excursion or plans outside of that area. But the cooking class sounds really fun.

 

[AZMermaid]

We plan to take a taxi to Paradise Beach beach club. They have a huge pool, beach, beach inflatables etc. We plan to parasail there for half the cost of Castaway Cay. I havent been there before, but the reviews are good.

 

[KashasMom]

We plan to take a taxi to Paradise Beach beach club. They have a huge pool, beach, beach inflatables etc. We plan to parasail there for half the cost of Castaway Cay. I havent been there before, but the reviews are good.

We love Paradise Beach! The pool is awesome. Good food as well.

Another great excursion, especially with kids, is the baby sea turtle rescue. Out of 100+ excursions, it remains one of our favorites.

 

[onesam319]

The excursion we took in 2016 was to the Mayan ruins on the island. It took most of the day and was one of the best excursions we have ever taken.

 

[BrokeMack]

We did the snorkel/dune buggy tour in Feb. Other than the cyclist who tried to split our convoy then got mad at me about it, it was a great trip. I didn't find the port area very appealing, just another port town with cheap touristy stuff and a Senor Frog's.

 

[Wendy Darling CA]

We took a short taxi ride to Chankanaab park. Entrance ticket is inexpensive (like $25). We snorkeled and had lunch (not included) and explored the park. They also have options for animal encounters (dolphin & sea lion). It was pretty and relaxing and did not take up the whole day. Had time to shop in town before boarding.

 

[Carohs]

We took a short taxi ride to Chankanaab park. Entrance ticket is inexpensive (like $25). We snorkeled and had lunch (not included) and explored the park. They also have options for animal encounters (dolphin & sea lion). It was pretty and relaxing and did not take up the whole day. Had time to shop in town before boarding.

We did this too and had fun. It was definitely family friendly and had plenty of time to see the port shops and get back on board.

We did Salsa and Salsa in Cabo. This was at the beginning of COVID sailings so we had to book an excursion or the kids couldn't debark. The kids still talk about it so they had a blast but I felt the whole thing kinda cheesy. The margaritas were not as free flowing as they would have you believe. Well I mean they would give you more but you had to flag waiters. And you definitely wanted more cuz they weren't very boozy. They had jamaica (hibiscus tea) for the kids and the margarita making bit was akin to lemonade for them. On the other hand, as a Mexican I was always too embarrassed to admit I didn't know how to make salsa and now I do so win/win. Oh we thought the appetizers would be enough for lunch but nah barely a snack. We ate once back on the ship. But the apps and the salsa were definitely delicious just not plentiful. Overall we had fun but didn't feel like we got value for dollar.

 

[disneyfunfamily4]

We did salsa and salsa in Cozumel in March and LOVED it! We’d do it again. We did go to the beach as part of the excursion after (we had the option of the beach or going back to shop). The “beach club” they took us to was a little ghetto. In hind site we should have used that time to shop. But the Salsa and Salsa portion was so much fun!

 

[SJSloan]

We did the Stingray excursion last week and I was a bit disappointed. We were supposed to get 60 minutes of beach time but we weren't directed to a beach after snorkeling, so we just ate lunch instead. If I were to do Cozumel again I would have just gotten off to get a few souvenirs and hoped back on the ship. But I have a 4 year old that can't do many of the excursions so that definitely impacts my travel options.

 

[goofy4prez]

We did salsa and salsa in Cozumel in March and LOVED it! We’d do it again. We did go to the beach as part of the excursion after (we had the option of the beach or going back to shop). The “beach club” they took us to was a little ghetto. In hind site we should have used that time to shop. But the Salsa and Salsa portion was so much fun!

I sent my request to my TA (hats off to Chris @ Dreams Unlimited) for the Salsa & Salsa excursion along with all our plans. He'll be sending it to the concierge at 12:01 am tomorrow. I like the beach, but we will get our fill at Castaway Cay and hopefully in a cabana. The Salsa & Salsa looks fun and I'd also much rather spend an hour or so shopping than the beach in this port.

 

[Bellechin06]

On my first trip to Cozumel, we did parasailing and went to a Chocolate making place called KaKao. This was back in 2015 tho.

I will be visiting Cozumel again in October and wanted to book the caves excursion but its not available I'm wondering if we should just go to Playa Del Carmen on our own and take a taxi to the caves ourselves.

 

[melissa723]

We did Mr. Sanchos and loved it. It's about a 15 minute taxi ride from the port and then it's all you can eat and drink for about $60.00 a person once you're there.

 

[DCLCruiseFan09]

We plan to take a taxi to Paradise Beach beach club. They have a huge pool, beach, beach inflatables etc. We plan to parasail there for half the cost of Castaway Cay. I havent been there before, but the reviews are good.

This is a second for Paradise Beach. We were there this past Nov 21 and had an amazing time. Food was great, pool was in great shape. This one is nice because they will let you purchase the obstacle course separately instead of it being "included" and raising the price for people that don't want to use it.

 

[lilsonicfan]

We plan to take a taxi to Paradise Beach beach club. They have a huge pool, beach, beach inflatables etc. We plan to parasail there for half the cost of Castaway Cay. I havent been there before, but the reviews are good.

We went to Paradise Beach in March and had a great time. We spent way more time at the pool than at the beach... my kids didn't really want to try out the big inflatables. It was a really nice, relaxing day. The most annoying part was getting a taxi there, b/c everyone wants to take you, but then you have to negotiate the price, when PB has on their website what the standard rate should be. Dislike. I'm not sure I drink enough to really make the price "worth it" but it was a nice way to spend a hot day in Cozumel.

 

[foolish-mortal]

I've been to Cozumel many times and was kind of "over it" even though I've always enjoyed it. We ended up going on our last cruise because it was changed from Easter Caribbean to Mexico at the last minute. We went to Paradise Beach and completely fell in love with it! It really was paradise to us. I'd go back to Cozumel again just to go to Paradise Beach. It was fabulous!

 

[Chica1581]

we are contemplating the dolphin encounter at discovery cove. Does anyone have any experience with this excursion? It is worth it? We will have by DD10 and DS4.