My Review - Chankanaab Natl Park & 7 Mile Beach

GoofyDisney

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We just returned from the 7-day Magic and I wanted to post my reviews of these things. I did so much research on them before we left, and I gained so much info from what other people posted that I wanted to give back a little. I will be doing an entire trip report later, but jsut wanted to post these two things on the main board. We did both of these trips on our own and not through an excursion.

In GC - DH did the Atlantis tour in the am. He loved it! When he returned at 12:00, we ate lunch on the ship, and went took the tender to GC where we picked up a cab/van. We read on the boards that the HOliday Inn was a good place to go. It was $4 p/p to the Holiday Inn. the entire beach is 7- mile beach. (just like it sounds) So, you want to know exactly where you are going. It is about a 10 minute cab ride. We asked our cab driver to return for us at a certain time, which she did. Everything was just as people on the boards had said. There were free chairs. The beach was clean. There were restrooms easily accessible. DH and BIL rented jet skis and had a good time. We snorkeled (we travel with our own equip). Spent four hours here. The snorkeling was not spectacular. We saw very few fish. We played on the beach. But we would return to this beach for all its conveniences. THe people in the cabin next to us told me they went to the Hyatt and had excellent snorkeling. I did not ask about the other amenities there. We would do this again.

We had time to go to the Hard Rock and buy shirts and then get back on the boat in plenty of time to sail.

Then in Coz, we did Chankanaab National Park! We got off the ship in no hurry, walked down the dock, went left and picked up a cab to Chankanaab. (Note: I read on the boards about "going left" on the docks and that was the key! We had to pass a lot of people selling their tours and "rides" but we kept walking till we found a line of about 100 cabs waiting for us. It was very safe and controlled when you go to the cabs. It is only a block to get to them, but if I hadn't had the notes from the board, I might have made a big mistake. )The cab ride was $10 for all of us in the cab (not $10 p/p). There were four of us, me & DH & DD(3 yr) and another guy who heard us talking at breakfast and saying that we were going to CNP and asked if he could come with It is about a 10 mintue ride. Admission to the park is $10/person and children under 7 are free. You could spend the entire day at CNP. It is awesme!!!!!!!!!!! There are plenty of restrooms, and places to get a drink (even though you don't want to drink anything other than SEALED bottled water). There are chair-things under straw umbrellas all along the beach. There were no shortages of places to sit on the sand, and plenty of stairs down unto the water. No spot was a bad spot. You could rent snorkel equip. for $5. The snorkeling was excellent!!! Water was warm. Fish and underwater life were plentiful. There were iguana lizards everywhere. There were small shops and fake ruins and an agricultural tour and diving caves. You could have spent your entire day here.

On the way out, we bought a t-shirt for $10. So, in total, we spent $40 for our day. The cab (we split with the guy who went with us), entrance into the park, and a t-shirt. We spent 4 hours here. We would do this again!

Then, we went back to town and we went to C & Cs for a few hours. Back to the shipp to clean up and back to C & Cs till 10:00pm!

We did take a cab ride to the Hard ROck in COz. I usually buy a city in every hard rock. THis was a waste of time and money. The cab cost us $4 p/p. And we got there and I didn't even want a shirt. THe selection and sizes were limited. THe HR was far. THere were very few other tourists. not worth our time and money.

Coz was our favorite port!!!!

DCL pounds it into your head over and over not to miss the boat. So, no matter what you do, make sure you are back in plenty of time. Don't drink the water anywhere in Mexico. Only sealed bottled water. Do not drink ice in your drink. Our server told us to stick with bottled beer. Don't drink so much that you lose track of time. Do not have a salad or fruit or veggies that have been washed in water.

Let me know if you have any other questions, I would be happy to answer.
 
Thanks for the detailed info, GoofyDisney! :)

We've been thinking of doing 7-mile beach in GC; you just tell the cab driver you want the beach by the Holiday Inn, correct?
 
We will be going to Chankanaab on next week's Western.. I had read that children under 10 were free. Has this changed?

Linda
 
I read on someone else's thread that children under 7 were free. OUr DD is 3, so I just figured she was free and didn't confirm the age. Maybe someone else could answer this better than I could. Have a great cruise!
 

We went to Chankanaab in Sept. with a 7 year old and an almost 6 year old. No one asked the kids' ages. Both kids were free.

If you go to Chankanaab and have children, I highly recommend seeing the sea lion show. It's a fun show, and the kids really loved it. The cost is $5 per adult. Kids were free. After the show you can pay to have your picture taken with a sea lion. The cost was a very reasonable $5 for a 5X7 picture. The kids got to pet the sea lion, get kissed by the sea lion, and also feed him a fish. These are some of our favorite pictures from the entire cruise.
 
I'm glad that hubby liked the Atlantis Excursion. Will be doing that in Grand Cayman and an overall tour offered by DCL that highlights the island.

Thanks for the tips!
Tina
PS: It appears you guys liked Charlos and Charlies. Fun!
 
Michelle - sorry I didn't answer your question earlier. Along 7 mile beach, the cab drivers know the spots according to hotels, so you can just tell them, "Holiday Inn" or "Hyatt" or whatever. THe HOliday Inn is a little farther than some. It is at the top of 7 mile. For the most part, the beach is on the left side of the road and the hotels are on the right side. So, rather than driving us to the front door of the Holiday Inn, when we said "Holiday Inn" she dropped us at the walkway to the beach on the left side of the road and the Holiday Inn was across the street. The section of the beach we were at had an outdoor showerhead so that when we were done, we could shower off bodies and equipment and feet before getting back into the cab.
 
Bump....I am bumping because I wanted to make sure you saw my response Michelle. I felt really bad that I didn't answer right away.....
 
Thanks GoofyDisney, that's exactly what I needed to know! :)
 
Michelle, I am so glad. You do so much for the boards. Thanks for everything!
 
We are going to book the Dolphin Swim with the park directly (Disney only offers the encounter). Did you happen to see where this takes place? The price we are paying includes admission into the park and sea lion show. Were there many times for the seal show? My daughters two fav animals are the seals and dolphins. When she finds out she will be swimming, playing, etc with the dolphins AND petting, kissing, feed Seals...... well, she is just going to freak out! I am soooooo excited for it!
 
I would not be the best person to answer this question... but I will add that we talked to people from other cruise ships who were trying to get into the dolphin swim in the afternoon and it was all booked up.

Maybe someone else could answer the question about booking the dolphin swim on your own. Good luck!
 
GoofyDisney

Thanks for the great summary of CNP. We have been uncertain as to what to do, but the posts such as yours on the park have convinced me. Seems very reasonable for cost too.

2 Question for you. I must have missed the "Go Left Young Man" pointer -- could you be specific as to how far you go and where you go. From past experience the circus and zoo of cabs that sometimes forms just off the gangplank is a bit overwhelming and i wouldn't mind by-passing this. Is this another line of cabs waiting in line for pick ups on a specific street or area near the pier?

And - is there a charge for the chairs/umbrellas at the park?

Thanks for any info.

Dave in the Frozen North
 
Dave...i love your name.....is it already frozen there???.....i'm lookng out my window at the sunny blue sky.....85 degree weather.....now i remember why i don't miss the weather there.....
i wonder how long it takes for you to thaw out once you hit warmer climes.....:)
 
It is indeed already VERY frozen here. It was a lovely minus 29 Celsius with the windchill last night and we had a mini-snowstorm yesterday. Winter hit early in our area of northern Ontario and the permafrost is already sinking deep (my garden plants look pathetic).

This also means my winter crankiness has set in early. We are counting the days and hours to our January trip. Yes, it does take us Canucks a day or two to thaw out. I don't know about other Canadians or northern US residents visiting Fla in the winter but its my pale, sun-deprived skin (lots of which is on my big bald head) that takes a beating once I emerge into that great southern sunshine. Last trip, I could have been the poster-boy mascot for Red Lobster! ("Use the sunscreen Dave - that's what it's for" says my wife)

But a trip to WDW in January.....is the best thing in the world. (Now don't ask me about coming BACK - thats always the part that really hurts)

Dave in the Frozen North.......but wanting to be where disneyholic family lives.
 
*laughing*...
well actually no frozen Dave....i doubt you'd want to live where we live, except perhaps for the weather......
it takes us forever and a day to get to the happiest place on earth (WDW of course).....and that includes crossing the atlantic ocean.....which generally means getting into one of those scary metal tubes that go 5 miles up in the sky.......yikes...
at least you could drive to WDW if you were so inclined.....we used to live in detroit.....after enduring the torture that is the US domestic flying experience this past summer i can say without qualification, that if we lived in america now we would drive EVERYWHERE....no matter the distance.....even bill gates' bank balance wouldn't get me to board one of those domestic planes......nope....never......

as for bald heads in the hot sun......do what my husband does year round here.....baseball style hat......he never leaves home without it...:D
 
We leave on the Western this week and will be doing the Dolphin Swim at Chankanaab. We booked it directly. I'll let you know how it went when we return. We were on a waiting list for several months and finally got in. We are scheduled for 2pm. Our kids don't know about this yet so they'll be very surprised. I dealt directly with Marian Davies at Dolphin Discovery via email (mdavies@dolphindiscovery.com.mx). She was always very responsive and pleasant to work with.

Linda
 
LOVETHATMOUSE,

I don't remember the exact times of the sea lion show, but I think there were about 3 or 4 shows per day. The times were something like 11, 1:30, 3, 4:30. The dolphin area is very close to the sea lion area, so you may be able to see the sea lion show right before or right after the dolphin encounter. Your daughter is going to have a wonderful time!
 
Dave in the Frozen North -

I am glad this was helpful to you. I know how I was when I researched these locations for our trip.

First, (backwards) the chairs and umbrellas are free. They are these one-piece body contoured hard plastic chair thingies. They do the job, believe me! And there are many of them parked under numerous straw umbrellas.

Second, the cabs. The dock in Coz is a large cement 'L'. The end of the long part dead-ends at the street. There are two ways out of this spot.

1. You take an escalator up to a bridge that takes you over the street to the shopping area, Carlos n CHarlies, the main street. On the other side, you take an escalator down and then you can walk right or left down the main street.

2. At the end on the 'L', you walk left behind a cement security building. Once you walk past this, you can walk down a block or two (depending on construction at the time) and cross the street if you just want to go and do some shopping.

Still on the same side of the street, not much past the pedestrian crossing (which may vary), you will see the long line of white cars with red stripes. THere are about 100 drivers there waiting for your fare. There was a main guy who directed us to whose turn it was next.

You will see, in Coz, one side of Main street is the water and the other side is the shops.

The entire length from when you leave the end of the cement 'L' to the cabs may be 100 yds. But to get to the cabs, you must walk past all these guys with folders showing you pictures of where they can take you and asking if you want to go snorkeling. Head straight for the cabs and say CNP.

I had a printed a post from someone who wrote that you must go left, and I held onto it tightly until I found the cabs. I was much relieved that someone had written this in a post and told me to go left to the cabs, otherwise I might have fallen for one of these "DO you want to go snorkeling?" guys.

Happy to answer any more questions!
 
DuncanLL - when did you try and book the excursion? I emailed them and said that they are taking ressies for 9/03 now. We are going 12/03 and I most likely will book it within the next few weeks. I'm looking forward to hearing about your time with the dolphins. If it isn't a problem, could you please also tell me how you got to the park? Did you see the show too? What would be the best time to do the swim.

Thanks - LOVETHATMOUSE.



TxJasmine - thanks for the info! I wrote it down in my handy cruise notebook :)
 

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