NON-DISNEY COZUMEL EXCURSION IDEAS

[ForMyBoys]

Hi All! We are a family of 5, Parents and 3 boys, Ages 5, 9 and 12. We are looking for some non-disney operated excursion ideas. We know we want to hit a nice beach for at least 1/2 the day and enjoy some good food. I saw there was a chocolate factor 60 min tour, but not sure it would keep my kids interest or how far it is from the beach.

We have our own snorkel gear so if anyone knows which beaches have the best snorkeling.

Any other ideas? Would love personal experience. Even if you have some great non-beach excursions you have done w/ similar age kids I'd love to hear it.

Thanks!

 

[Heard02]

Right across the street from port there is a place to rent a jeep....go to Carlos N Charlies Beach Club....eat and drink on the beach and there are water activities and beach for the kids. Took our 8yr old at the time and she loved it!!!

 

[CesD]

Hi All! We are a family of 5, Parents and 3 boys, Ages 5, 9 and 12. We are looking for some non-disney operated excursion ideas. We know we want to hit a nice beach for at least 1/2 the day and enjoy some good food. I saw there was a chocolate factor 60 min tour, but not sure it would keep my kids interest or how far it is from the beach.

We have our own snorkel gear so if anyone knows which beaches have the best snorkeling.

Any other ideas? Would love personal experience. Even if you have some great non-beach excursions you have done w/ similar age kids I'd love to hear it.

Thanks!

Our kids age 5,8,10 loved the KaoKao chocolate tour. We took a taxi $15 one way I think. It is a small place. The kids get to grind the cocoa beans into a paste to make chocolate discs. You get to take the discs home to make your own hot coco. Then you go into another room where you get a quick history lesson on chocolate. Then you go into the small gift shop where u can try different chocolates and buy some if u wish. They just told the taxi driver who brought is there what time to come back and he was there waiting when we were done. It is a small place and we got great service. We got off the ship fairly early and we were the only ones on our tour. Other families came after also. After the Kao Kao activity we headed back to the ship and enjoyed the pools and slides on a fairly empty deck.

 

[GooniesAndy]

We did an excursion that ended up at Playa Mia, which is a private beach club with pools, water slides, restaurant and probably more that I didn't even have time to see. I noticed that they had a chocolate tour, too. If I was going back, I would skip the excursion and just hop in a cab to Playa Mia, do the chocolate tour, and hit the beach. There were plenty of cabs waiting in the parking lot.

 

[ForMyBoys]

Right across the street from port there is a place to rent a jeep....go to Carlos N Charlies Beach Club....eat and drink on the beach and there are water activities and beach for the kids. Took our 8yr old at the time and she loved it!!!

that sounds super fun! Did you reserve the jeep in advance? How much was it? Is it a stick shift or automatic? And then how far was the drive to Carlos? Did you take the Jeep option so you could other stuff in additional to the beach (vs. a Taxi?) Meaning did you also do an island tour? This is intriguing to me because it gives us more options to explore. Was driving around the island easy? And do the Jeeps fit 5? Sorry for so many questions!!!

Our kids age 5,8,10 loved the KaoKao chocolate tour. We took a taxi $15 one way I think. It is a small place. The kids get to grind the cocoa beans into a paste to make chocolate discs. You get to take the discs home to make your own hot coco. Then you go into another room where you get a quick history lesson on chocolate. Then you go into the small gift shop where u can try different chocolates and buy some if u wish. They just told the taxi driver who brought is there what time to come back and he was there waiting when we were done. It is a small place and we got great service. We got off the ship fairly early and we were the only ones on our tour. Other families came after also. After the Kao Kao activity we headed back to the ship and enjoyed the pools and slides on a fairly empty deck.

Thanks for the additional info. We port at 8:30. Do you know how long it took for you to get to the chocolate place? I see they have a tour at 9. If we did that we could prob get to a beach by 10:30 and hang until 3:30 (boat leaves at 4:45).

 

[ForMyBoys]

We did an excursion that ended up at Playa Mia, which is a private beach club with pools, water slides, restaurant and probably more that I didn't even have time to see. I noticed that they had a chocolate tour, too. If I was going back, I would skip the excursion and just hop in a cab to Playa Mia, do the chocolate tour, and hit the beach. There were plenty of cabs waiting in the parking lot.

How did you like Playa Mia. Is their only option an all inclusive option? My only reservation on Playa Mia is that it seems to have lots more than just a beach and really we just want a beach, ocean, decent food and clean bathrooms. I don't ask for much!

 

[GooniesAndy]

How did you like Playa Mia. Is their only option an all inclusive option? My only reservation on Playa Mia is that it seems to have lots more than just a beach and really we just want a beach, ocean, decent food and clean bathrooms. I don't ask for much!

There's a package that's just admission, then you can add on buffet, open bar, and other random things like tours. We just did the beach and the pools, plus a quick stop for a snack (a la carte, not buffet). The bathrooms were very clean and I thought it was a really nice place. I wish we'd have had time to do some of the other stuff they list on their website, because it looks like a lot of fun, but we were on a tight schedule since it was just a chunk of our DCL excursion. My boys REALLY wanted to go out to the water park thing they had, but I hadn't worn my bathing suit (I know, I know) and I wasn't letting them go out alone. I think it's in the $30 per person range if you just do basic admission (which seems to include a TON), a tad less for kids.

 

[emilymad]

We love Paradise Beach.

 

[ForMyBoys]

We love Paradise Beach.

I've seen it mentioned a lot. Is it close to port, easy to get chairs and food/drink? We also like local retailers.... I know some would like to avoid but I
Enjoy that. Would love to get my hair braided...

 

[scootch]

We love Paradise Beach.

How long of a taxi ride? Taking my daughters without hubby so a bit scared of going on our own.

 

[vinotinto]

I also have to echo Paradise Beach Club. We went there in April with our kids (ages 7 and 10 at the time) and it was a really excellent choice. It is not far from the port. I can't remember how long the taxi ride was, but it wasn't long (maybe 10 - 15 minutes?). When you come in, you pay a very small amount (I think it was $3 per person?) and that includes your chair and umbrella and use of pool and facilities (bathrooms, etc.). They give you a wrist band. We had no problem getting 4 chairs (there are umbrellas between chairs). We paid an extra fee (I thin it was $15 pp?) for the use of the inflatable toys (extra wristband). The older one really loved it. I need to figure out how to post a pic of it. The younger one had some difficulty climbing on the inflatables, but she enjoyed the floats. Cost for food and drink seemed reasonable and everything was served in our chairs on the beach. The pool was large and very, very nice. We spent about 4 hours and it was a lot of fun. I think with the cost of the taxi, food, drink, and wristbands we spent around $150 - $180 for the 4 of us, but we could have spent less if we had opted to not use the inflatables or ordered some food and drinks.

 

[Trera]

We spent the day at Nachi Cocum when we were in Cozumel. They limit the number of people per day, have a nice beach just south of Playa mia, and included the drinks and food. Very quiet and peaceful with No Water Slides.

I would definitely do that again.

 

[engle]

Hi All! We are a family of 5, Parents and 3 boys, Ages 5, 9 and 12. We are looking for some non-disney operated excursion ideas. We know we want to hit a nice beach for at least 1/2 the day and enjoy some good food. I saw there was a chocolate factor 60 min tour, but not sure it would keep my kids interest or how far it is from the beach.

We have our own snorkel gear so if anyone knows which beaches have the best snorkeling.

Any other ideas? Would love personal experience. Even if you have some great non-beach excursions you have done w/ similar age kids I'd love to hear it.

Thanks!

Check out Liberty Tours. Trip to Blue Hole recently was amazing, one of the best non ship excursions ever! Google it and then check them out on trip advisor and other cruise forums. They come highly rated and recommended.

 

[Trera]

Check out Liberty Tours. Trip to Blue Hole recently was amazing, one of the best non ship excursions ever! Google it and then check them out on trip advisor and other cruise forums. They come highly rated and recommended.

thought that was in jamaica??

 

[LSUfan4444]

Another for Paradise Beach. It's NOT all inclusive (like Mr. Sanchos) so the crowd is a little different than what you will find there so it works out better for us with our 6 year old. BUT, like Sanchos they have the water park area which also works. We liked Nachi Cocum but doesn't have the "water park" options so I would probably suggest Paradise beach for those with kids and Nachi Cocum for those without who want something "low key" and Mr. Sanchos for those without kids that want something a little more "lively".

 

[Trera]

We had just our 2 year old DD, so the lack of water slides was not missed by our party. Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[Heard02]

that sounds super fun! Did you reserve the jeep in advance? How much was it? Is it a stick shift or automatic? And then how far was the drive to Carlos? Did you take the Jeep option so you could other stuff in additional to the beach (vs. a Taxi?) Meaning did you also do an island tour? This is intriguing to me because it gives us more options to explore. Was driving around the island easy? And do the Jeeps fit 5? Sorry for so many questions!!!
.

We rented when we walked off the ship and had no advance reservation. I believe it was $85 and we drove around the island a little....we ended up having too much fun at Carlos N Charlies and my daughter wanted to stay on the beach. We had 4 adults and 1child in the jeep and were comfortable and easy to get around. We had an automatic transmission...

People are mentioning Playa Mia, which was also a fun experience.......

When we go back, we will do the jeep thing again.

 

[ForMyBoys]

Another for Paradise Beach. It's NOT all inclusive (like Mr. Sanchos) so the crowd is a little different than what you will find there so it works out better for us with our 6 year old. BUT, like Sanchos they have the water park area which also works. We liked Nachi Cocum but doesn't have the "water park" options so I would probably suggest Paradise beach for those with kids and Nachi Cocum for those without who want something "low key" and Mr. Sanchos for those without kids that want something a little more "lively".

Thanks for categorizing it that really does help!

We had just our 2 year old DD, so the lack of water slides was not missed by our party. Good luck with whatever you choose.

So.. I prefer low key. My 12 year old, hubby and I are all book worms. Seriously we love hanging by the beach, reading, occasional swim while watching our 9 and 5 year old dig away in the sand. THAT is a perfect day! I will look into Nachi Cocum, it sounds wonderful. Did you have to book this in advance and if so how did you book it? Thanks!

 

[ForMyBoys]

Heard02, for some reason it isn't letting me quote you! Please tell me more about Carlos N Charlies... Seems there are lots of great beach options.

 

[niccikatie]

We also love Paradise Beach! We just got back from the EBPC last Friday. It was our second time (well, DD and I - DHs first) and it was fantastic again! We like that it's not all inclusive. The food is good, drinks are not too expensive, and the beach and pool are wonderful. It's about a 15 min cab ride, very easy to get a taxi at port. Just keep walking until you're out of the port shopping area and there will be cabs waiting. We've been to both ports at Cozumel and it was easy at both ports.