Cozumel- Mr Sanchos or DCL Playa Sol excursion?

[awatt]

We're going to do one of these two in Cozumel. They seem similar.Any big differences and do you prefer one over the other?

 

[dheller97]

I'm curious too. Hoping the concensus is Playa DelSol since that is what we booked.

Dean

 

[cjsmith]

Mr Sanchos is something that you do on your own. There is no charge to use the beach and the facilites, you only pay for your food and drink while there. You'll have to pay to take a cab there, should be about $15 each way for up to 4 people.
If the other is the DCL excursion, it's costly, but doesn include transportation, food and unlimited drinks.

 

[babsmv]

We went to Playa Del Sol 2 years ago when we took a Carnival cruise. We had a great time. The beach is wonderful. There were hamacks to relax in (get there early), drinks were served to you right on the beach. They had a water trampoline & a huge inflatable iceburg to climb & slide down in the water. Only draw back with that was they were pretty far out. They had floats & kayaks you could use by leaving your license. There was also a nice pool & swim up bar & a restaurant. We didn't eat there as we had some snacks from the ship with us. They were also doing massages on the beach, but I can't remember the cost. There was another trampoline on the beach that hooked you to bungie cords & you flew sky high. It was $5.00 a ride. My son loved that. One of the ship excursions that was a party boat came by & let quite a few people off. They were only there for about 1.5 hours. I hope you booked just the beach because you will love it. When the party boat was there they were looking for people to play beach games. There was also a small zoo you could walk thru. I would definatly go there again, it was wonderful!! If someone can tell me how to put up pictures I'd be glad to post a few. Enjoy!
Barb

 

[babsmv]

In response to the above reply. I know it was 2 years ago, but we paid I believe $19 for adults & $13 for kids. It included the beach for the day & unlimited drinks. You had to take a taxi there on your own but could stay as long as you liked. You could also purchase tickets when you got there if you didn't want to do it thru the cruize. They have a website

http://www.playasol.com.mx/


We went in November & when we got there we were the only ones on the beach. It filled up with the cruise party boat, but then when they left it emptied again.

 

[Grumpy's Mom]

We went to Mr. Sanchos' last week after our daughters did the swim with the dolphins booked privately. (This was one of those once in a lifetime experiences, and they will never forget it!)

We took a cab from Chak... Park to Mr. Sanchos. You will read elsewhere on the boards that the taxi drivers in Cozumel are not always on the up and up. What we found to be more the case was that the "door men" who hail the taxis for guests are not always on the up and up - which left me wondering if they get a cut. We knew (from reading the boards) approximately what it should cost to get from Chak.. Park to Mr. Sanchos. The "door man" tried to get us to take two cars (we had met up with another Dis family) and wanted to charge us $20 each. We said no, we wanted a van, for $20. Finally got the van, and at $20, but only after direct conversation with the driver.

Mr. Sanchos was awesome - wished we had had more time to just hang out there. Some other Dis friends were there waiting for us and had snagged a table in the front row at the water's edge. They were relaxing on plastic formed loungers which sat directly on the sand, were full length and looked like they were really comfy. They had had a good lunch ($35.00 for mom, dad, 2 teen DDs and two beers). We had printed off the coupons on the internet for free margaritas or ice cream, which they used for ice cream. It was fairly warm when we arrived at 2:30, and since there were 8 of us, we decided to move back a row to the thatched roof tables (thatching in the shape of an umbrella - very charming). We waited a short bit for someone to bring us menus and take our orders. When the waiter came, we told him we had coupons for free margaritas. He said we had to order lunch and then get the margaritas, which was fine. He left and another waiter came, and we ordered lunch and margartias. the first guy came back later, and looked at our margaritas and told us those were not the free ones. We didn't really know what to say, but I told him we had ordered lunch like he said, and then the free margaritas. We didn't expect that there would be a difference in the "free" versus "paid for" margaritas, so didn't think about mentioning it a second time. I assumed the second guy had been sent by the first to take our orders, etc. Anyway, the margaritas were good, the food was delicious, and the bucket of Dos Equis the boys had was great! There was a water trampoline which several of the kids had a great time on, but it closed at 4:00 --

The beach was really nice, clean, and there were several families. I noticed two cabanas for massage. There are several stores out front with typical tourista merchandise, none of which we bought.

I don't know exactly how the margarita thing was resolved, as I was outside dealing once again with the taxi cab drivers. It was late, close to sundown, and we were probably the next to last party to leave - The "door man" once again was trying to charge us an exhorbitant price, but we wanted a van so we could all ride together. He wanted us to take separate cars at $30 per, but I knew the cars should not cost more than $15 each. Regardless, we wanted the van, and finally one young man stepped up and asked me if I wanted a van - I told him yes--but for $30. He agreed. He maneuvered his van out of line (he was about 8 back) and brought it up. I repeated $30 for all 8 of us to the port and he agreed. He took us, got us there safely, was polite, and glad for the fare - as he left 7 others in front of him and about 10 behind him waiting to take the one or two other parties left.

All in all, I would definitely go back. The atmosphere was like a party - we chatted with other guests nearby, the kids were safe and happy, and it was a beautiful setting -- bets of all, cheap!!



I don't know what happened with our bill -