Progreso - What are some good beaches?

It is better than Galveston!! If you sit at a table with chairs the restaurants across the street will want you to order something to eat/drink. We just had cokes and they brought chips, salsa. Lots of people will want to sell you stuff, just say no, or barter on prices, they always go down. Where the shuttle drops you off, there is a double decker bus you can take for $4 or $5 that will take you all around town, point out the different sites. You will see the beach and the restaurants across from it on this tour.

Queenie enjoys Progresso a lot more then commercialized Cozumel.

Queenie enjoys Progresso a lot more then commercialized Cozumel.

I love the Queenie pics! What a novel idea! :D

We have never paid to use chairs at the main beach just off the pier in Progreso.

We never paid for chairs but rather went to the tables on the beach across from Buddy's. We then bought food and drinks from Buddy's. So, I think if you try to sit a chairs/tables/lounges that are NOT associated with a bar across the street, they probably ask you to pay for them.

We have been to Progresso a few times. We sit on the beach, I guess ran by a restaurant. We order drinks and the shaded table was included each time. When our kids were younger, they enjoyed playing in the sand. They did not actually get "in" the water though. Just their feet. You can buy knock off purses in the market areas really cheap. We bought pirated DVDs while on the beach. I think 5 for $10. Only 2 were in Spanish lol. Like any vacation...it is only fun if you make it fun. :D relax and enjoy wherever you are. Sorry, I forgot about your original question....we went to the beach that was closest to where the shuttle bus drops you off. I cannot remember exactly the name of the restaurant.

We have taken 2 beach excursions from Progreso-once to the Reef Club and the other to Technotel. Beaches were ok, not crowded and no vendors.

We just got off the Elation which stopped in Progreso on Wednesday, 3/19/2014.

The pier is about 4 miles long. You cannot walk to shore, but there is a free Autoprogreso shuttle to the town of Progreso. Once we arrived, we were given a sales pitch for other tours from Autoprogreso that sounded fun and were more reasonable than shore excursions. We opted to just get off the bus.

It drops you off in a little open air market/flea market with all kinds of stuff. You just walk a short distance to get to the free beach.

Once we were there, we walked down the beach and was approached by Arturo. (I'll try to post a picture below). He works for a restaurant named Le Saint Bonnet and was on the beach in front of this restaurant. The restaurant has a surf board in front of it. He set us up on 4 lawn chairs and a table with umbrella and chairs. ALL FOR FREE. There is an expectation that you will buy drinks and/or food from him (I assume. He never said it, or implied it, nor pressured us) but that is well worth it. Mixed drinks were delicious and were 5 dollars in a large glass. Buckets of beer were 12 dollars for 5 beers. (Sol or XXX). We bought chicken nachos to share for 9 dollars and they gave us free chips and salsa.

They also have an outdoor bar at their restaurant and restrooms.

Yes, there are alot of vendors selling everything from cigars to baskets to kites. But, they were not insistent. They accepted a "no thank you" with a smile and it did not create an undue burden.

It was a great, reasonably priced day on the beach and allowed us to have our own schedule. We meandered back past shops and through the market again on the way to the bus, which runs every 20 minutes until the time you are supposed to be back on the ship.

As others have said, this isn't as nice of a beach as Cozumel. But I'll take 5 beers for 12 bucks over the 4 beers for 18 and paying for lawn chairs, etc. like we did at Cozumel the next day.

I'll pay attention to this thread in case there are any questions for me while the memory is still fresh. . . . So, not very long. . :)

But, I highly recommend you find Arturo. He will take care of you. A super nice guy. Look for the yellow shirts. He and the waiter had those on.

Thanks.

(my post was blocked. I assume due to pasting the picture in here. I'll have to figure out another way later if this works.)

We just got off the Elation which stopped in Progreso on Wednesday, 3/19/2014.

 

The pier is about 4 miles long. You cannot walk to shore, but there is a free Autoprogreso shuttle to the town of Progreso. Once we arrived, we were given a sales pitch for other tours from Autoprogreso that sounded fun and were more reasonable than shore excursions. We opted to just get off the bus.

 

It drops you off in a little open air market/flea market with all kinds of stuff. You just walk a short distance to get to the free beach.

 

Once we were there, we walked down the beach and was approached by Arturo. (I'll try to post a picture below). He works for a restaurant named Le Saint Bonnet and was on the beach in front of this restaurant. The restaurant has a surf board in front of it. He set us up on 4 lawn chairs and a table with umbrella and chairs. ALL FOR FREE. There is an expectation that you will buy drinks and/or food from him (I assume. He never said it, or implied it, nor pressured us) but that is well worth it. Mixed drinks were delicious and were 5 dollars in a large glass. Buckets of beer were 12 dollars for 5 beers. (Sol or XXX). We bought chicken nachos to share for 9 dollars and they gave us free chips and salsa.

 

They also have an outdoor bar at their restaurant and restrooms.

 

Yes, there are alot of vendors selling everything from cigars to baskets to kites. But, they were not insistent. They accepted a "no thank you" with a smile and it did not create an undue burden.

 

It was a great, reasonably priced day on the beach and allowed us to have our own schedule. We meandered back past shops and through the market again on the way to the bus, which runs every 20 minutes until the time you are supposed to be back on the ship.

 

As others have said, this isn't as nice of a beach as Cozumel. But I'll take 5 beers for 12 bucks over the 4 beers for 18 and paying for lawn chairs, etc. like we did at Cozumel the next day.

 

I'll pay attention to this thread in case there are any questions for me while the memory is still fresh. . . . So, not very long. . :)

 

But, I highly recommend you find Arturo. He will take care of you. A super nice guy. Look for the yellow shirts. He and the waiter had those on.

 

Thanks.

 

 

(my post was blocked. I assume due to pasting the picture in here. I'll have to figure out another way later if this works.)

Thanks for the info! This is exactly the kind of thing we would like to do in progreso. Hope you are able to post pics!!! Thanks again.

Here is a picture of my daughter, her friends and Arturo on the beach in Progreso.

We had a nice time on the Elation, and I hope you do also.

Thanks for the info! This is exactly the kind of thing we would like to do in progreso. Hope you are able to post pics!!! Thanks again.

This is what we want to do also. Looks like Arturo might be a popular guy!

One word of advice. Don't eat the salsa.

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One word of advice. Don't eat the salsa.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Why? Too hot?