Tell Me about Coco Cay!

I am excited to see this private island. I've been to Disney's version and just loved the day there. Tell me about this one, please!

If we have our own snorkel equipment can we snorkel right from the beach? Is everything included just as it would be on the ship...food, etc. Are there several beaches or just one main area? Any special things for children?

Any charges we should plan for that day?

Lucky you!! Coco Cay is one of our favorite ports. It's beautiful sandy beaches (there are several all over the island, all within an easy walk) The only thing you need cash for is trinkets that the locals sell (shirts, carvings,etc.) Most of the time you can barter with them. You can rent jet ski's, go parasailing, snorkleing. If you bring your own gear, I believe you still have to "rent" a life vest from RCCL. Lunch is prepared by the chef's onboard and includes burgers, hotdogs, ribs, veggies, desserts lemonade and iced ice as well as water. There are several bars where drinks can be purchased and make sure to try a "coco loco"!!!!! Have a blast, I'll be there Memorial Day weekend.

Yes, you are required to rent the snorkel vests, but I was glad we did. You can inflate them to the degree you want and it's nice to have that extra security as there was a pretty good current running the day we were there. For the kids, there is a "water park" that cost, I think, $10 for 50 minutes. It had an inflatable climbing "iceburg", a water trampoline and several other water toys (see-saw, things to run along, etc.). I went in with my granddaughter but couldn't pull myself up onto anything (don't have a lot of upper-body strength). She had a great time, though. I just floated around in my fully-inflated snorkeling vest and enjoyed watching the kids. The water is beautiful and there is an airplane that they sank out in the deeper water to snorkel out to if you want. We saw quite a few fish and some queen conchs. You can stroll around the island or just lounge in the hammocks under the trees. Lunch is served. Punch, lemonade and ice tea are free with lunch or you can buy cokes or alcoholic drinks on your room card. A most enjoyable day!

What is the vest rental fee? I have them for my younger children with our equipment, but not for the bigger "kids." Disney also required them, but thye were free and readily available.

Will more than one ship be there at a time?

Oh..one more question. Are there plenty of hammocks and lounge chairs for everyone, even if you don't get a lucky early tender?

Coco Cay is very nice. Better than Labadee in our opinion. There are a variety of beach areas if you are willing to walk a little. They will supply a map. Lounge chairs are not a problem; they seem to have more hammocks than they used to, but they are a little more difficult to get than chairs.

You will be the only ship there. The only thing that can mess you up is the weather!:cool:

Last time I was in the sand on CoCo Cay there were SAND FLEAS and oh boy they were baaaadddd! There were also JELLY FISH in the ocean washing all the way up to shore! grrrrr.... Some of our group ended up in Sick Bay for either the flea bites or the j.fish stings! (not to be confused w/bed bugs :D ) This was early September and of course, everything has a season, so I guess this was it! Another time whilst tendering to CoCo Cay - it got dicey when the tender motor died and the crew didn't have the common sense to cast out the anchor .. we got very close to crashing onto the rocks! I have happy memories of this island as well....;)

Does your soda card work on Coco Cay?

Maggie

I was going to ask about the soda card too! Does anyone know the fee for the required snorkel vests?

Coco Cay is great IF you get there. We have been that route 5 times and have only been to Coco Cay twice - seas get rough ( even if day and sky are nice the waves can be too high ) They aren't able to tender you over and back so they just skip the island. This is very disappointing if you did not visit the beach in Nassau and are looking for beach "time". But if you do get there, there are plenty of chairs nad hammocks fro everyone. Make you way past all the commerical stuff to the back side ofthe island where no one generally goes and it's nice, quiet and private with plenty of hammocks and chairs. We swam in the ocean for hours ( I guess they don't require vests for thagt because we never had to use them ). Saw sting rays but they didnt bother us and vice versa. It's nice - but a bit "commerically" as it's just an extension of the ship. It's fun to find a private spot and RELAX!!!

Yes, your soda card works. And I have read here that renting the vests is roughly $6. :D

a little more. The beach areas were a little nicer and the layout was better. Not as much walking.

The beaches, for swimming, were all pretty shallow. Lots of seaweed. But shells aplenty. DD loved scavengering for the different shapes and colors.

The water was cold. Even though it was quite warm and sunny, but I guess that's just April.

The water park is no longer there. We were told because of the hurricanes it was destroyed and they haven't "rebuilt". My BIL walked the island and didn't see any trampolines or the iceburg or anything. Can someone say where on the island it should have been?

We got to the island about 9, we started off by the Snorkel Beach, but decided that down the beach farther, toward the Watersport Beach would give us more to watch. There were only a few hammocks, most of which were being used when we were there.

After lunch, which was just okay; there were burgers and dogs, bbq chicken and ribs, and a couple salads (pasta, potato); we went further around the island to the Wanderers Beach. BIL said there were a lot of empty hammocks and he was right. Atleast a dozen. DD and I snuggled up and napped awhile in the sun. Absolutely wonderful.

The beach was really shallow here, although BIL went out a couple hundred yards and did a little snorkeling. Saw a huge school of fish. The pelican that we watched diving into the water apparently saw them too.

Two young boys found a fairly good sized conch shell. Never did find out if dad let them take it home.

DD did not using AO this day so we didn't get to the Light House side of the island, and we never ventured down to Coconut Willies.

All in all, it was a nice, relaxing day, although we did a quite bit of walking. And unless you really want a CocoCay t-shirt, I'd save your browsing time for the larger straw market on Nassau.

I know that RCI has floats at Coco for $10 for the day, but can you bring your own, too? Thanks.

Sara

what age is required to wear this? Can we also bring our own mats? We are taking MOS and it looks like they just changed the ports to include CocoCay, and skip Nassau stop. That is fine by me as long as we get to go there since on Jan 22, 2006 that cruise only has 3 ports: CocoCay, St Thomas, and St Marteen!

Sara, I don't see why not. The ones on Coco are these - Sorry guys, swimsuit model sold seperately.

Inshape, we were told everyone is required to wear a vest. :)

I was at Coco Cay on Wednesday. We brought our own snorkle gear and paid the $6 to rent the vest. We saw the shipwreck and the plane wreck. Pretty cool. There were lots of fish there. The water was chilly at first but you quickly adjust to the temperature.

The whole day on the island was so nice. This is my favorite place. Lunch was good and we had no problem finding an available hammock. There's nothing better then laying on a hammock on an island in the middle of the Caribbean.

I'll try to answer any other questions if I can.

Are there bathroom facilities or porta-potties there?

They are regular bathrooms. The bathrooms farther down the beach were very clean.

Are there beach towels on the island or do we take towels from the ship? Can the kids with soda stickers get pop on the island or not without an additional charge?

Do they just charge the snorkel vest to your card?

How many shops are here? Can you just rent the mats on the island or do you need to on the ship? Thanks

does anyone know if there are lockers to store stuff in?

I know that CC members have posted maps of Labadee, or links to a map. Does anyone have access to the layout of CocoCay?

Carol

I know that CC members have posted maps of Labadee, or links to a map. Does anyone have access to the layout of CocoCay?

 

Carol

Nevermind. Link didn't work.

Sorry.

On Webshots do a search for Coco Cay Map, should be able to pull it up.

Loved Coco Cay!!! We went to the island on our first cruise, and would go back in an instant. My husband enjoyed the snorkeling and we both really enjoyed the kayak excursion.

Is there a charge to get from the ship to CocoCay, or is all included?