Just back from 8/17 Magic--any questions?

[Bob Noble]

Thanks Ruth, your experience conflicts with that of several others. Sorry it did not work out for you. Most posts here and on other sites indicate NO charges for beach use or lounge chairs, umbrella etc. Just charges for water rentals. That is if you are patronizing the bar restaurant and it sounds like you were.

Did they have a trampoline in the water for kids? Did anyone in your group snorkle? How much did your taxi ride cost? Were the wave runners expensive? was there an age limit, my DS is 14 and would love to do them.

Thanks for your input. I guess it shows that no matter what past experience or reports indicate, there is never any guaranty of how your adventure will turn out at any excursion.
Bob

 

[Doctor P]

Thanks for all the great information!

 

[Rootee]

Bob. it was my understanding that there was no charge for chairs or umbrellas either. However, my dh went up to the hut where they rent wave runners to ask some question or another when we arrived. The chairs and umbrella we claimed were in front of the hut. He came back and said "here - both of these chairs and the umbrella - $10 for all day". I didn't press the issue because at that point I was SO grateful for the shade! Now I'm wondering if he actually asked the young man at the hut if there were any charges and he basically got "taken". It wouldn't surprise me!

About the wave runner charges - they were $55/half hour. My dh and ds (16 yo) went tandem - with my son doing the "driving". If they had taken two wave runners, it would have been double the charge. There appeared to be plenty of children in the 6-12 age group riding the wave runners with their parents and grandparents. I'm not sure what the age restriction would be to ride solo.

The wave runners (and Stingray City at Grand Cayman!) were the highlights of my son's trip.

Ruth

 

[Rootee]

oops, sorry - missed some of your questions.

Our taxi ride was $15 for all 3 of us one way (plus tip). I was under the impression before that it was about a 10 minute taxi ride - it was probably closer to 20 minutes. Once you go down the escalator from the pier area "mall" and walk out a bit toward the street, you will see a large taxi area with a sign that has all the popular destinations with their fares posted. A manager asked us where we were going - we confirmed the price - and he called a taxi over. We then confirmed the price again with the driver. We also confirmed the return price before we entered the taxi on the way back. I'm glad we did that because I overheard another family of 3 or 4 at Mr. Sancho's say that they had been charged $45 one way!

The trampoline was "broken" last week. I'm not sure when or if it will be working again.

We snorkled at Mr. Sancho's, but after experiencing the snorkling at Grand Cayman, it didn't seem too exciting at Mr. Sancho's.

By the way, there were many. many people on the beach in various styles of bathing suits, and very many children. We ended up sitting next to a topless middle aged woman from Spain. She was the only one so I think this was the exception rather than the rule. Nobody seemed to be giving her much attention. Trust me - it was not a very memorable sight - even according to my dh.

Ruth

 

[Bob Noble]

Thanks a ton Ruth for your reply. We too are going to do stingray city. Have booked the full day trip with Capt marvins. That was one reason we were looking to spend the day on the beach in Cozumel and not be rushed around on an excursion.

Did you visit any other beaches in Cozumel?

All the best

 

[Mama2sean]

Hmmm... very interesting....as stated in previous post we were not charged for the tables/chairs and umbrellas. When we arrived on the beach, I asked the man who led us to the table (who also turned out to be our waiter) if there was a fee and he told us no, however, he did just smile and say "tip" at which point we gave him several dollars. We ordered drinks and a little food throughout the afternoon and he ran a tab for us. When the time came to pay we asked him if they accepted creditcards and he told us NO. Come to think of it, when we got the total for food/drinks, it was not an itemized bill just a flat price written on a slip of paper quoted in USD. In hindsight, the amount we paid did seem a BIT high, and hubby and I discussed that in the cab on the way back to the ship. We went over the prices of what we ordered (quoted in pesos on the menu), did our best to convert them to USD and figured we were overcharged somewhere around $5 or $10 dollars. If our children weren't cranky, tired, hot and crying we would have questioned him and requested an itemized bill but we needed to get out of there quick. Guess he built his tip into our tab Even with that said, I would still go back to Mr. Sanchos', I'd just be more careful next time. Overall our experience there was very good and it was not nearly as crowed at Playa Sol just down the road. Guess there are no uniform rules/policies there and they must make there own as they go, just be careful not to be taken advantage of too! Anyone else with similar experiences?

 

[SusanMouse]

Hi! We also went to Mr. Sanchos on the August 17th cruise. There were 9 of us so we took 2 taxis. We also checked and double checked the price. $15.00 each way. We were concerned that the price might be higher on the return trip but no problem. The taxi ride was WILD , our 2 taxis stayed together , no matter what! I can't even count how many other cars we passed! But it was actually fun!!! As everyone else has said, the beach is free. (we made sure of this before we got in the taxi). We wanted a peaceful area so we skipped the area with the tables and the restaurant. We went to the right on the beach and had a large area all to ourselves! The water was gorgeous and we had a great time. It was extremely hot and we wished we had some shade but we wanted the peace and quiet more. So lots of sunscreen and we stayed in the water most of the time. We brought our own snorkel gear and enjoyed the snorkeling. In our backpack we brought lots of water to drink and snacks. We skipped lunch and were good and hungry for our 5:30 dinner. It was a great day and we would go there again. We had originally planned to go to Chankunaab (?sp.) but changed our minds when we were told there was a $10.00pp charge to get in. We wanted to spend as little as possible!

 

[mmouse37]

I think I can shed some light on the Mr. Sanchos quandry about paying for chairs.

The tables and chairs under the thatched umbrellas are free, the sun loungers that are in the sand are free, but the chaise lounges with the cushions/beach umbrellas are extra. They are rented by the same people that rent the water sports stuff. It is a private vendor, not really part of Mr. Sanchos. Mr. Sanchos does not take credit cards, but this private vendor does for the chaise lounges/umbrellas and water rentals.

This is what our attendant/waiter at Mr. Sanchos told us. I think I have a picture with one of the "free sun lounges" and the thatched umbrellas and tables over on the trip report board under 8/3 Magic Western - lots of pics heading. There are two albums, I think the pics of Mr. Sanchos is on the Page 2 album.

Hope this helps.

MJ