A couple of Downers about Castaway Cay

[CVW]

Okay, now I've got your attention.

Castaway Cay was fantastic. Really one of the best things I've ever experienced on a vacation that I can discuss publicly. But there were a couple of things that I did not pick up from the boards before my 10/11 cruise.

1) THE "THERE'S PLENTY OF CHAIRS" MYTH.
It's essentially true that there are plenty of chairs, but we pushed it to the extreme. We went parasailing first thing, then leisurely picked up the kids from Kid's Club, and had an early lunch before heading to the beach. By that time, nearly every chair had been "collateralized" with towels, shoes, books, mouse ears, promissory notes, and prosthetic limbs.

We dragged a baby, two young kids, and two old grandparents to the very far end of the beach before we found two chairs. Then my seven year old and I walked back a couple of hundred yards to get to to the diving platform out in the water.

In short, don't rush, but don't dally.

2. THERE'S NO WAVES!!
No big deal, really. In fact it's an advantage in some ways. There's a large barrier a couple of hundred yards offshore that breaks up the waves. It gives the family beach an almost swimming pool-like calm. It's great for the youngsters. But keep in mind, if you like having waves crash on your feet, or listening to the waves while catnapping, you ought to do it in Cozumel. (I recommend Mr. Sancho's Beach. I'll post a separate thread on that later.)

 

[PizzieDuster]

Don't worry.... Be happy.....


Just because you walk up to the beach and see all the lounges an umbrellas taken.... don't fret.....

I saw many guest take loungers and chairs from the far back of the beach and move them directly to the shore....... no chairs are there... you can do this! I thought this was brillant! They moved them from the back to the shore... they were closer to the shore then us with the lounges and the umbrellas and hammocks! --- and better yet... you get to sip yummy drinks while your toes dig into the white sand.......and they just moved them back when they wanted to. Now that's the tip!

 

[CVW]

Great tip. Moving the chairs is the almost perfect solution to people who save more chairs than they need.

I say almost, because the umbrellas don't move. My mom was a little medium-rare by Friday, and wanted to stay back under the only umbrella we could find.

 

[DMOMof3]

.. you get to sip yummy drinks while your toes dig into the white sand.......

Thanks for the visual, I can't wait !

 

[Dreamer04]

Originally posted by CVW
Okay, now I've got your attention.

Very cute! It worked, I opened the thread as soon as I saw it!

On Castaway Cay, my family is planning to "do their own thing"!

Including me and hubby---cabana massages!!

 

[jrabbit]

Even on the Adult side of the island (Serenity Bay) there is not much wave action and that's without the barrier/break water off shore. The waters around there just seem to be very calm. And one time we were there about a week before a major hurricane came through.

 

[lrmillen]

i know where you're coming from as far as the chair thing goes, we were lucky to get 2 and an umbrella that we shared with about 15 other people in our family. my only gripe is that the island has no shade. the temp was in the 80s and we were melting, not to mention burning.

 

[alexandrew]

we always situate in family beach area near DJ booth - we've never had trouble getting 4 good chairs and an umbrella as long as we've arrived by 9:15.....

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Even on the Adult side of the island (Serenity Bay) there is not much wave action and that's without the barrier/break water off shore. The waters around there just seem to be very calm. And one time we were there about a week before a major hurricane came through.

This is not always the case. Now while you might never see waves you can ride a surf board on, we have seen the water get pretty rough. We like to go snorkelling off the adult beach, but the last trip we took, the sea was so rough that visability was about 20ft (water motion kicking up the sand), and you would loose you snorkel buddy in the waves just 10 ft away.