Paradise Beach (Cozumel) with little ones

I am booked on the Carnival Valor W.Carib. for April break. We have a 3.5 year old daughter and I thought that Paradise Beach looked fun. She loves the idea of the in water trampolines. My question is: has anybody been during a peak week and is it crazy crowded? Can you get chairs? Are the trampolines just packed or can you still get on safely?

I am booked on the Carnival Valor W.Carib. for April break. We have a 3.5 year old daughter and I thought that Paradise Beach looked fun. She loves the idea of the in water trampolines. My question is: has anybody been during a peak week and is it crazy crowded? Can you get chairs? Are the trampolines just packed or can you still get on safely?

The water trampolines (there are 2 of them) will be ok as long as you realize they are out aways. They do have life vests there and an adult could jump and play with her out there ... but the adult may want to have a life vest as well so they could "float out" to the water trampoline.

As far as "crowds", this always depends on how many ships are in port. We have been there with 4 ships in port and no crowds at all. Check on cruisecal.com and see how many ships are scheduled to be in port on your day.

Getting a chair has never been a problem and we have been there 5 times in the last 12 months. Even when we went in March last year...it was not packed. That was during Spring Break.

Also remember that if for some reason Paradise Beach is to crowded for you, there is CarlosNCharlies beach within "spittin" distance. And it is free as well.

San Francisco Beach inbetween them charges for their chairs. (hit and miss)

WE went to Paradise Beach last year with our just turned 5yr old DD and we did not like it at all. It was SO crowded. The lounge chairs touch each other - they are that close and the beach is really thin. There is no where around your lounges that your daughter could play in the sand. The only open space is my the beginning of the water so unless you get one of the front spots, you won't be relaxing at all because you can't see ahead of you to watch any kids.

The 2 trampolines were attached to a walkway that you have to balance yourself on and it was about 30yrds into the water. It was nothing but teenagers and adults going crazy running from one side to the other trying not to fall off - the entire 2hrs we were there which was early morning ws like that. Be realistic that your daughter won't get on there. It was just WAY too crazy for any kids under 10yrs old. There were about 7 kayaks and a line of 15 people to use them. The water had a ton of coral in it so bring water shoes.

If we ever go back to Cozumel I will be sure to go to one of the undiscovered beaches. This was just too crowded and commercialized for us. We wanted to relax and play on the beach and in the water and maybe get a frozen drink or two. This was not the place we were lookign for.:(

Thank you both for your honest opinions about Paradise Beach. I really appreciate you taking your time to let me know your thoughts on it. Wow, I have never seen two reports so contrasting. I guess I will have to weigh out what is important to me and go with the flow if it does end up getting busy. I am traveling with my Mom and 2 younger sisters as well (11 and 16) and I have a feeling that they will love Paradise Beach. Thanks again!

Elecia

We are cruising with our 3.5 year old granddaughter in March and I went

to the Cozumel boards and asked a question on the Paradise Beach thread

about the child using the trampoline there. Tom, the manager wrote back to say she is too young to use that but that she would had fun

playing on the beach. Very informative thread you should read.

We decided on Chankanab (sp) Park in Cozumel. I think it is better for

the younger age children. There is a thread on the Coz boards about

this place too.

Lots of great reviews on both Paradise and Chankanab along with other

beaches on the Cozumel board.

Joyce

We decided on Chankanab (sp) Park in Cozumel. I think it is better for

the younger age children. There is a thread on the Coz boards about

this place too.

 

I agree. We left Paradise Beach to go to this park to do the Dolphin Encounter. I truly wished I would have looked into this as an all day place. Not only was there some beach areas, but a young kids snorkel area, playgrounds, outdoor restaurants, gift shop and fresh water pools. I had no idea all of that was there and we spent the rest of the day there wishing we just spent all day there. Paradise Beach just appeals to the families with preteens/teens and young single adults. It was not family friendly. Definitely do your research first - you might change your mind!:)

I was in Paradise Beach last month with my 2 year old daughter and a group of family members, and we had a great time. It was not overly crowded when I was there. I chose lounge chairs right next to the restaurant because they were shaded, and there was plenty of space for my daughter to play in the sand both in front and behind the chairs. There were several other preschoold and toddler aged children there too.

I imagine if it were very crowded our experience may have been quite different, but my group really enjoyed Paradise Beach. Their food, especially the nachos and guacomle, was delicious too.

Elecia,

I am cruising next week and will be in Cozumel on 1/23. I have an almost 3.5 year old son (3 years 4 months) and am planning on going to Paradise Beach. I'll post back regarding our experience there (or wherever we end up) when I return.

I took my 3yo and 6yo to PB in November. With 6 ships in port, it was predicted to be crowded. Since we docked late (10am), we decided to head to the beach after lunch. It was crowded when we got there, but we were still able to get 4 chairs together and a couple of umbrellas. After about an hour the crowds really thinned out. We got two floating mats and swam the kids out to the tramps on those. They both loved the trampolines.

If you're going at a peak time (spring break) or there are many ships in port, try going in the afternoon if you can. I think it's generally more crowded before lunch.

I took my 3yo and 6yo to PB in November. With 6 ships in port, it was predicted to be crowded. Since we docked late (10am), we decided to head to the beach after lunch. It was crowded when we got there, but we were still able to get 4 chairs together and a couple of umbrellas. After about an hour the crowds really thinned out. We got two floating mats and swam the kids out to the tramps on those. They both loved the trampolines.

 

If you're going at a peak time (spring break) or there are many ships in port, try going in the afternoon if you can. I think it's generally more crowded before lunch.

This is good to hear, as we don't get in until 1:00 pm.

We've been to PB a couple of times, including this past Easter break. The beach is a little crowded, but the tramps have never been. We were just there last month and they've added a real trampoline on the beach and climbing tower.

You'll love it!

Thanks again everybody for your posts on this. I will check out Chankkanaab (sp?) too and see which is best for us. I know some people say that the preschooler set is too young for the trampolines and then others say their young children have done them. Perhaps I will contact that Tom guy and see how strict the rule is and when we get there we could play it by ear.

Elecia,

I am cruising next week and will be in Cozumel on 1/23. I have an almost 3.5 year old son (3 years 4 months) and am planning on going to Paradise Beach. I'll post back regarding our experience there (or wherever we end up) when I return.

We ended up going to Paradise Beach. We took a taxi ($15 USD each way), and it took about 10-15 minutes to get there. Our child sat in the back seat with a seat belt on. We got to PB a little after 2:30 ship time (1:30 cozumel time). It wasn't that crowded. There were plenty of chairs available. There were 5 or 6 ships in port when we were. The beach was nice, clean, and the water was calm. They have nice bathrooms and changing rooms. Our son loved standing in the calm water and playing with the sand on the beach. We stayed about 2.5 hours. (our typical beach time length). We were in the water for most of that time. Taxis were waiting right at PB, so didn't have any trouble getting a taxi back. I will definitely go back again.

We ended up going to Paradise Beach. We took a taxi ($15 USD each way), and it took about 10-15 minutes to get there. Our child sat in the back seat with a seat belt on. We got to PB a little after 2:30 ship time (1:30 cozumel time). It wasn't that crowded. There were plenty of chairs available. There were 5 or 6 ships in port when we were. The beach was nice, clean, and the water was calm. They have nice bathrooms and changing rooms. Our son loved standing in the calm water and playing with the sand on the beach. We stayed about 2.5 hours. (our typical beach time length). We were in the water for most of that time. Taxis were waiting right at PB, so didn't have any trouble getting a taxi back. I will definitely go back again.

Thanks so much for getting back about your experience at PB! I appreciate it! I did end up contacting Tom from PB and he said that with supervision (of course!!!) our 3.5 daughter could go on the water trampolines. I think that since we are traveling with a herd of teenagers too, this will be the place for us this time. There are only 4 ships there the day we are in Cozumel, so if it wasn't too bad with 5-6 ships we should be okay.

Glad you had fun! Did your son enjoy camp carnival? I am anxious to see how my daughter does with it. She does preschool for 2 mornings each week, but that took some adjustment time...

We went to Paradise Beach with grandkids 3,4 5 & 5. It was not particularly crowded that day; I guess that just depends on how many ships are in port. We were able to find chairs in the front row near the beach to watch the kids in the sand and water. They had a great time.

With a 3 year old you probably are not going to be able to really relax on any beach, since someone is going to have to be right by her at all times. We brought the kids' swim vests, but still felt the need to be close by. They mostly just played in the sand and paddled in the water.

Chanakaab (sp) sounds like it would be nice because it has more variety, with pools and a playground, etc., but we haven't used it. We'd go back to Paradise Beach again, or give the other one a try.

The water tramp is ok for older kids but not really usable for the younger set unless an adult is with them. Even then I'm not sure how much they'd like it. We actually had one here on our lake, and it's just not as much fun as a land tramp, especially for little kids who don't weigh much. Also, if older kids and adults are on it, it's kind of rowdy/bouncy and could be scary. The sand and the water is the main thing for pre-schoolers.

The day we were there an adult male kind of took over the trampoline, using it as a sun bed and getting upset if kids actually dared to jump on it. Eventually someone reported him to management and he got off in a huff.

 

Glad you had fun! Did your son enjoy camp carnival? I am anxious to see how my daughter does with it. She does preschool for 2 mornings each week, but that took some adjustment time...

Our son took a while to adjust to Camp Carnival. The first time we dropped him off, he only stayed 10 minutes before they paged us. The next 2 times he stayed 2 hours each time. He goes to preschool 3 mornings a week, but needs adjustment time since he didn't know anybody and it was different. I think if we were on a longer cruise, after the 2nd time there he would have been ok for longer periods. He really took a liking to Funship Freddy and even wanted the little stuffed one and the Funship Freddy book.

One of the "problems" we had with Carnival was you could only get "kids menu food" at the dining room or if your child ate dinner at camp carnival. We couldn't do the dining room because our son can't sit still that long (we tried), and he didn't want to eat at camp carnival without us. So he survived on fruit, yogurt, rolls, milk, some pasta and a variety of other things. He didn't eat the best meals while on the cruise.

So glad I came across this.. I was toying with going to Paradise with our 3 yr old ds, but I'm going to check out other options now.

I love Paradise beach. Here is the website:

http://www.paradise-beach-cozumel.com/

I've been to Paradise Beach numerous times and would say it's not ideal for small children. The property is primarily a large pool surrounded by concrete. The beach area is packed with lounge chairs with only a thin strip of sand between the chairs and the ocean. The water toys (trampolines, rock walls) are fun but challenging and not suitable for young children. As previously stated it's about a 30-yard swim to the main trampoline and it's always in use with bouncing teens/adults.

The pool is clean and the bathrooms are immaculate so if your kids are content with swimming in a nice pool it’s a fine place to spend an afternoon and the food/drinks are reasonable.