Half Moon Cay Review

[steveholtam]

The final stop of our cruise was Half Moon Cay. My eleven year old daughter and I were really looking forward to this stop and we were not let down. We did not purchase any excursions, which was good since almost all of them got cancelled. This was part of our troubles getting on to the island.

 

The island looked beautiful from the sea, but was even nicer from the beach. Just amazing. There were no chairs available from the playground section all the way down past the bar that looks like a ship. We walked over to the other side of the island and saw the Rays. There was nobody there, and we probably could have just jumped in with them. But we did not. :-)

 

We returned to the main beach and looked again for any chairs near the center bar where the activities would be. My daughter likes watching the games. I like the music. With no chairs in sight, I switched to porter mode, and hauled two chairs from the empty end to exactly where I wanted them. No big deal. We made camp and went swimming. The water was really nice and there were some fish to look at. Down by the rocks was a bit better, but not worth going all the way over for the slight difference.

 

We had lunch, and as advertised, the jerk chicken was very tasty. My daughter had seconds, and thirds! Just as we finished lunch, it started sprinkling. Within moments, about a third of the people ran back to the ship. It was really funny. An older couple sitting next to us ran for it as well. After about 10-15 minutes, the rain went away and it was back to an awesome day. The people next to us returned because the line was long to get back to the ship.

 

A few hours later, another rain storm passed us. And this was a full on down pour. This sent another third running. Including the people next to us. My daughter and I just ran into the ocean and had a great time swimming and laughing at the people trying to not get wet, yet on the beach. This rain storm also passed after a few minutes. At this point, two-thirds of the people had retreated to the ship. This left the beach very much empty. Perfect. Oh, and the older couple next to us returned again because the line was again long. Lol. They were clueless.

 

We spent as much time on this beach as we could. We boarded the last tender back to the ship. It was really a great day. The trouble getting off the ship was forgotten as we looked back at the beautiful beach and wished we could have stayed another few hours. This was also a nice day as it didn't cost anything except for a few souvenir coconut drinks which we always get. Good times.

[JoAnn&Mike]

Love your review!!!! We'll just bring an umbrella and wait out the rain storms...lol

[TGHRS]

[FloridaGram]

 

I share your sentiments!

 

O/P gave me an idea, I am going to take a plastic bag next time I go to put my towels in if it rains. I too will be on the last tender back to the ship. Unless there is lightening no reason to leave the beach.

[JoAnn&Mike]

I share your sentiments!

 

O/P gave me an idea, I am going to take a plastic bag next time I go to put my towels in if it rains. I too will be on the last tender back to the ship. Unless there is lightening no reason to leave the beach.

 

Good idea!! We will be there next weekend....can't wait!!

[Keith1010]

Thanks for sharing your review.

 

Keith

[SimoneT]

Just got back from there. A couple of things I wanted to mention. If you get a bucket of beer you might want to bring your own bottle opener otherwise you'll have to keep running back to the bar to have them open one.

 

The other thing is that many asked to use our shower and we got the cabana for privacy. We finally put one of the water mattresses across the shower and people stopped asking. We kind of thought it was nervy of people to ask since it says "PRIVATE" cabana right in the front and we did pay a pretty penny for that privacy. I would have never had the nerve to ask people that myself.

 

And lastly, people were complaining about the long wait to get back on the tenders at the end of the day. If you're going to wait for the last one(s) expect a bit of a wait in the hot sun...no big deal to us but one woman was trying to rile everyone up with her complaints. I just rolled my eyes at her basically. Why ruin our good time with her complaints?

 

It was our favorite day of the cruise!

[Armedaneian]

The other thing is that many asked to use our shower and we got the cabana for privacy. We finally put one of the water mattresses across the shower and people stopped asking. We kind of thought it was nervy of people to ask since it says "PRIVATE" cabana right in the front and we did pay a pretty penny for that privacy. I would have never had the nerve to ask people that myself.

 

I would never intrude on anyone's "privacy", nor would I expect them to be kind enough to share their water with me... but, if those people were really "nervy", they wouldn't have asked you, they would have just used your shower. ;)

[SimoneT]

I would never intrude on anyone's "privacy", nor would I expect them to be kind enough to share their water with me... but, if those people were really "nervy", they wouldn't have asked you, they would have just used your shower. ;)

 

Can't argue with you there, Arme! I guess there's different levels of chutzpah.;)

[JoAnn&Mike]

Good idea!! We will be there next weekend....can't wait!!

 

Ok....we went the weekend of June 30th...and had an absolutely wonderful time!!! And we've booked another cruise just so we can go back again!!!

 

There's a sign on the island that says "I wish I could stay here forever" and I really do wish I could stay there forever!!!

 

We are booked on the Fascination out of Jacksonville, FL at the beginning of September ... Had to get in one last time before the water gets a little chilly..... This time we were lucky enough to get a cabana ...very lucky....we got the last one!!! I am really looking forward to this since it really got hot in the afternoon this last time...almost too hot to stay on the beach...in the water was the only option.

 

Can't wait!!!!

[kcep02]

We will be there next week and we can't wait. We have a cabana reserved, where do we go to reserve the cabana we would like to get, we will be on the Fascination.

[cruiser4four]

You and your daughter sound exactly like me! I try to squeeze as much time on the beach as I can get. Glad to hear you had a great time.

 

Question: can you (or anyone else in this thread) tell me a bit more about the Rays?

- Where exactly do I have to walk to go see them?

-How close can I get? Are there fences, etc?

-How long is the walk?

-Is the path to go see them sandy? Rocky?

-Are there a lot of them?

 

 

Thanks in advance.

[shunt66]

I was told so many times on here that the Bahamas has nothing to see and to not bother trying to snorkel! What a mistake that would have been! I've never seen such beautiful sea life. It was awesome. I wouldn't pay for an excursion here. Just snorkel from shore. Also, a lot of people told me not to buy snorkeling equipment, and to just rent it. Well, never again! It was $20 per person, so we just rented one set and shared. My kids had goggles, which were terrible in comparison. Anyway, here are my recommendations: Buy and bring your own shorkeling equipment. Fins are optional, but I highly recommend them. It is a big place and it is much easier with them. Also easier to get to the bottom in the deep, as that is very hard to do. Secondly. When you get there, you walk down a walkway toward the beach. When facing shore, go to the left of the walkway. Then, when you are facing the water from shore, snorkel on the left-hand, man-made wall. It is really long, with sea life all over it! Incredible stuff! You could also stand up there. When you venture away from the wall, where it is like 9' deep, there are these round, volcano-shaped things on the bottom. There are like 3 sets of 3 of those. There is where you will find the much larger, beautiful fish. The wall had some larger fish, but it looked like the nursery of baby fish. Don't get me wrong, the babies were my favorite to look at. They aren't as afraid. This was the best port! Gorgeous - every inch of it!

[shunt66]

The wall seemed to be a secret because there were only like 3 other people over there. You can also watch your children if you have little ones because there is a water playground right there at shore.

[NCTribeFan]

OP, you may want to post this over on the Private Islands board. Although HMC is in the Bahamas, it is included in CC's Private Islands board under the Caribbean heading.

 

There's lots and lots of info over there.

 

I'll be returning for my 6th visit in October. I'm not even a beach person but, as so many do, I fell in love the first time we called there.

 

To everyone else, you can find the answers to your questions over on that board. They all come up fairly frequently.

[canjay95]

We were there last week and we all just kept commenting that it is the prettiest beach we have ever been to and we've been to several. I can't wait to go back! I just wish ships from New Orleans and Galveston went there. We had a perfect day; rented a cabana and loved every minute of it.