cozumel: paradise beach or playa mia

[bfamilyx4]

Hi there. we will be in cozumel next month. right now we have playa mia booked thru disney but with the canadian $ so low, I am thinking of cancelling and just doing our own excursion to save $$. I've been reading about paradise beach on this board, would you recommend it for a young family with a 4 and 5 yr old? we will also be travelling with my 66 yr father. do they have a splash pad/water park? my kids love to play in shallow water and also love making sand castles. my father likes to drink, are beer/alcohol prices reasonable? any advise is greatly appreciated!

 

[wallawallakids]

I haven't been to Paradise Beach, but if you have questions about Playa Mia, I would be happy to answer them for you. Drinks there are included and they have a nice splash pad and pool. Both were very clean. Beach was nice as well. I am sure you will have no problem getting answers on Paradise Beach, people love it there and I have heard a lot of great things about it, we just haven't been. Good luck op!

 

[astronautmom]

following

 

[MC0810]

I am debating between these two as well.

I was dead set on playa mia..but for the same price (except food) I could go to typhoon lagoon at disney for the WHOLE DAY compared to 4 hours at playa mia. for those that have gone...how much time exactly did they give you at playa mia?

same with the dolphin excursions i see in the carribbean..for just a tiny bit more I could go to Discovery Cove in Orlando and spend the whole day there plus includes seal world and aquatica admission.

In the past..I am always quick to just buy excursions..but this time it has me really thinking about the costs..

my boys will be 4 and 7 and we will also have our toddler niece

 

[ladyandthetramp2]

Playa Mia is outstanding! I would highly recommend it. It's worth the $

 

[bfamilyx4]

I haven't been to Paradise Beach, but if you have questions about Playa Mia, I would be happy to answer them for you. Drinks there are included and they have a nice splash pad and pool. Both were very clean. Beach was nice as well. I am sure you will have no problem getting answers on Paradise Beach, people love it there and I have heard a lot of great things about it, we just haven't been. Good luck op!

are sand toys (shovel/bucket) included or should we bring our own? what about towels, will disney provide them for you? if you booked thru disney, how much time did you actually spend on the resort? it will cost us >$400 cdn for this excursion and i'm just wondering if there will be enough time spent to enjoy all that the resort has to offer.

 

[wallawallakids]

are sand toys (shovel/bucket) included or should we bring our own? what about towels, will disney provide them for you? if you booked thru disney, how much time did you actually spend on the resort? it will cost us >$400 cdn for this excursion and i'm just wondering if there will be enough time spent to enjoy all that the resort has to offer.

I don't know if they sold sand shovels and buckets at the stores there, but we brought our own. (We used them on almost every stop, so it was worth it for us to pack them). Disney does provide you with towels. We spent a good amount of time there. I want to say around 5.5 hours or 5 hours. Something like that. We got off the ship around 9-ish, I think and our bus left at 3:30. We took the first bus out, there was a second one a bit later. We paid a lot too (there are 6 of us and my two oldest children are adult price: Over 10) but the price they have on their website with transfers and food/drinks was almost identical to what I paid Disney. What I liked about it was that it was VERY clean. I was also worried about taxis in Cozumel because I had heard it was hard to get seat belts. This excursion uses VERY nice and clean buses. Think Disney Magical Express type busses. Also they had seat belts. The driver was very nice and so was every employee we met there. Very friendly. They go get you drinks if you are on the beach and bring them to you. The pools were super clean. The only negative, is the food. It is your cheap buffet type. I didn't eat much but I brought snacks for me. My husband and kids ate. (My crazy son went up 3 times. So clearly I am the picky one) It was tacos, chips, salsa, mac and cheese etc. They had some small bottles of water and drinks for the kids as well. Two pools, though we mostly stayed in the one by the splash pad because my twins stayed in the splash pad the whole time. The bathrooms were also clean. I thought it was a LOT of money to spend and it was our most expensive excursion ever. Probably the thought of "is it worth it" is subjective, but on a whole I thought it was a very nice place and I would go there again.

 

[E ticket rider]

Hi there. we will be in cozumel next month. right now we have playa mia booked thru disney but with the canadian $ so low, I am thinking of cancelling and just doing our own excursion to save $$. I've been reading about paradise beach on this board, would you recommend it for a young family with a 4 and 5 yr old? we will also be travelling with my 66 yr father. do they have a splash pad/water park? my kids love to play in shallow water and also love making sand castles. my father likes to drink, are beer/alcohol prices reasonable? any advise is greatly appreciated!

www.paradise-beach-cozumel.com/

I've been to Paradise Beach twice. Once before the pool and once with the pool. It is clean, the prices are very reasonable. It costs $3 per person to enter (gets you an assigned lounge chair and they will let you pick where you want to sit based upon availability). The pool is 4 feet at its deepest point. The "fun pass" for the water toys etc. costs $15 per person (if you want it). They also have wave runner rentals and massages etc for a fee (again, if you want to). There is a $10 per person F&B minimum that will easily be used up by lunch and adult beverages. It is roughly a 10-15 minute taxi ride from the pier. IIRC, the cost from the pier to PB is on the taxi board and there are taxis on stand-by at PB for your return trip to the ship. Oh, and I highly recommend the Volcano Nachos...

 

[MUN]

Hi there. we will be in cozumel next month. right now we have playa mia booked thru disney but with the canadian $ so low, I am thinking of cancelling and just doing our own excursion to save $$. I've been reading about paradise beach on this board, would you recommend it for a young family with a 4 and 5 yr old? we will also be travelling with my 66 yr father. do they have a splash pad/water park? my kids love to play in shallow water and also love making sand castles. my father likes to drink, are beer/alcohol prices reasonable? any advise is greatly appreciated!

We liked Paradise Beach quite a bit. Our kids were 14, 12, and 8 when we were there. The water toys are geared more for older kids, I would say 7 and up. The beach is great, but the water is a bit rocky. The pool was fantastic! Also, the food and drinks were reasonably priced. They talk about a per person minimun charge for food/drink, but that is more of a suggestion rather than something they enforce.

MUN

 

[Savikins]

Haven't been to Paradise Beach, but my bf and I did Playa Mia this December while on the Wonder. We had a GREAT time. The water obstacle course was a ton of fun. The price you pay also includes rentals of sea kayaks, paddleboats, etc. There's also really good free wifi there, an added plus for when you're just hanging out with some food and a drink.

If you're going to utilize the open bar, I'm sure you'll get your monies worth. We definitely did!

The buffet was pretty good, nothing fancy, hot dogs, chips and salsa, mac n cheese, some sort of fish. The entire facility was very clean, all the staff was super friendly. Guests from the Disney Wonder excursion had an area of beach chairs flagged off exclusively for us.

 

[bfamilyx4]

thanks everyone! we've decided to keep our booking with disney. can't wait to go to playa mia! here' hoping the cdn $ will go up by next month.

 

[KerryCruise]

We went to Playa Mia last January and had a great time! Kids were almost 7 and 4 1/2 at the time. Kids played in splash pool for a while, were too scared for fun water slide, and pool was super pretty and clean but too cold for me. Ocean water was awesome. Kids played in sand for a while and then the 4 of us swam out to the water trampolines and played on them for a while. There is also playground equipment and a toddler area. My husband got a massage and liked it. I thought the food was ok, drinks were great, ice cream bar, and hammocks. There were also non-motorized ocean toys but I think it was too windy for most of them that day (kayaks, etc.)

 

[bfamilyx4]

We went to Playa Mia last January and had a great time! Kids were almost 7 and 4 1/2 at the time. Kids played in splash pool for a while, were too scared for fun water slide, and pool was super pretty and clean but too cold for me. Ocean water was awesome. Kids played in sand for a while and then the 4 of us swam out to the water trampolines and played on them for a while. There is also playground equipment and a toddler area. My husband got a massage and liked it. I thought the food was ok, drinks were great, ice cream bar, and hammocks. There were also non-motorized ocean toys but I think it was too windy for most of them that day (kayaks, etc.)

how much was the massage?

 

[KerryCruise]

I don't remember, sorry. I'm thinking around $50 but will see if he remembers for sure!

 

[mareed]

I see bfamilyx4 has decided against Paradise Beach which I feel was the right decision with kids that young. I've been to Paradise Beach 4 times and will go back, but it was with teens. The inflatables in the water would not be accessible to kids that young, and I think the "sand" is crushed coral and not really good for building sand castles as it's not very fine. I like it because it doesn't stick to everything as much as fine sand though.

 

[MrX]

If you go to playa mia take a look in the water under the inflatables. We found lots of fish and took some great underwater pics of them. The fish were really one of the highlights of the day.

For my kids wearing goggles we brought to look out in the water was easier than snorkel and mask.

My family (kids 9, 7, 5) liked playa mia. They made virgin frozen drinks the kids liked. I thought the buffet was below average although there were plenty of seats in the shade to sit in. There was a soft serve ice cream tucked away near the buffet we did not notice initially. It was below average soft serve.

We had enough fun we wanted to stay longer than our excursion officially stayed so we arranged our own transportation back.

 

[savage1117]

Is it safe for me to take my DD to paradise beach by myself? Our next cruise it will be just myself & her. Are taxi's ok to take? Scared to venture out 2 ladies on our own in a city we are unfamiliar with.

 

[bfamilyx4]

If you go to playa mia take a look in the water under the inflatables. We found lots of fish and took some great underwater pics of them. The fish were really one of the highlights of the day.

For my kids wearing goggles we brought to look out in the water was easier than snorkel and mask.

My family (kids 9, 7, 5) liked playa mia. They made virgin frozen drinks the kids liked. I thought the buffet was below average although there were plenty of seats in the shade to sit in. There was a soft serve ice cream tucked away near the buffet we did not notice initially. It was below average soft serve.

We had enough fun we wanted to stay longer than our excursion officially stayed so we arranged our own transportation back.

thanks! my kids would enjoy seeing all those fish!

 

[CaliforniaMama]

Is it safe for me to take my DD to paradise beach by myself? Our next cruise it will be just myself & her. Are taxi's ok to take? Scared to venture out 2 ladies on our own in a city we are unfamiliar with.

Yes, there is a taxi line with posted prices. We shared a taxi with another family to Playa Mia (just me with my two young kids), and took one back on our own. I felt completely safe. Don't forget to bring enough cash ( I think it was 18 each way). I forgot and panicked until I thought of a solution ( I bought someone's admission on my credit card and they gave me cash). Also, you may need ID/passport to get back on the ship. They didn't ask us for it, but the sign says you need it.

 

[wallawallakids]

Yes, there is a taxi line with posted prices. We shared a taxi with another family to Playa Mia (just me with my two young kids), and took one back on our own. I felt completely safe. Don't forget to bring enough cash ( I think it was 18 each way). I forgot and panicked until I thought of a solution ( I bought someone's admission on my credit card and they gave me cash). Also, you may need ID/passport to get back on the ship. They didn't ask us for it, but the sign says you need it.

You most definitely need a photo id to get back on the ship PLUS your KTTWC. They will check your ids and your cards. Just an FYI. They will also remind you a 1000 times before getting off the ship so it isn't that hard to remember to bring it.