Occidental Grand Day Pass

[happychippy]

Anyone have any information on the Occidental Grand Day Passes in Cozumel. Leaving Saturday on Carnival and was hoping to spend the day here. Very affordable for an All Inclusive Resort away from the crowd. Hope it's as nice as it looks. First time in Cozumel, so I was just hoping for some information on how far from the pier and how much a taxi might cost, do the taxi drivers accept US currency? Thanks in advance.

 

 

http://www.cozumeldaypasses.com/Occidental-Grand-Day-Pass-Cozumel-Excursions-p/czcoog-cdp.htm

[12reca]

On Shore Excursioneer website we found a special child rate for the Occidental Day Pass. We ended up booking Papitos but that would have saved us big time...

[happychippy]

I went ahead and booked the Occidental Grand with CozumelDayPasses.com very friendly customer service and I liked that they were US Based. I'll give a great review when I get back next Thursday. If anyone has any questions about the resort I'd be happy to check while I'm there.

[mykindaparty]

Review please when you return looking for an all inclusive for April

[soonergirl15]

Would love to see a review also. I am a first time cruiser and looking at going in Dec with my husband and 2 kiddos. I would love to know if its really worth it, if the water is clear and the sand is soft like it say's.

[happychippy]

I just returned from the Carnival Paradise Sailing. We docked in Cozumel from 11:00A.M to 8:00P.M I pre booked the Occidental Grand Day Pass with http://www.cozumeldaypasses.com for $60 per person. Docked at the Puerta Maya pier and it was about a 12 minute taxi ride from the pier. Taxi rate was $8 per person. The Occidental Grand was a nice choice to avoid the overly crowded Cruise Beach Excursions. Check in was a breeze, had to present my printed confirmation, pay my balance and present an ID to show I was over 18 for drinks. Then I followed the sidewalk path down to the pools and beach areas. The first pool I came to was more of an adults only, there was a very large Iguana just lounging under the palm tree. The resort owner said they have a Reserved Natural Area which was nice to walk through on the way down to the beach. The Beach pool had a DJ, restaurant, and beach side Cabanas that were first come first use, I used the beach cabana for the day. It was perfect. Beach side and pool side service and drinks were served in fun coconuts. Lunch was served inside the restaurant on the beach, nice fresh selection. They have snorkeling equipment, and other equipment like kayaks and windsurfing. The waves were high so I didn't chance trying something new. The Beach was really nice, no rocks, very soft sand. I would recommend and do this excursion again.

[c-leg5]

Glad you enjoyed your day! It certainly seems like they pulled out all the stops for you - I just spent two weeks there in December and wasn't once offered a coconut drink, nor do actually remember seeing anyone else with one! In general I agree with your review and assessment but would like to add the following points:

 

The resort is reasonably well-maintained and certainly the grounds are well landscaped. It is supposedly due for major renovations under the new management company. I have no idea of timing but may be something to consider when making long term plans.

 

I would caution anyone with limited mobility,or young children, that it is a long walk from the main hotel lobby complex to the beach. There is a golf cart but we saw it used very rarely (actually only on a very wet day) so I think you would need to make special arrangements to use it. Since the resort is so linear there is a big disconnect between the hotel and beach area - if you are caught in more than a passing shower on the beach there is really only the restaurant to shelter at. At some point you will need to take the walk back to the lobby for taxi.

 

The food in the buffet is reasonable but it is often the only place offering food, unlike other AI we have visited that have had buffets and snack bar areas available. If the day is very showery the buffet is set up at the buffet restaurant in the hotel complex - so yes, you have to take that long walk back and forth! (As a day visitor you probably wouldn't be choosing to do a beach day on a day like that.)

 

I agree the beach and pool area are nice, and the adult pool very relaxing. Families with young children would probably find the sister hotel Allegro more suitable, which we have done as a day pass with similar check-in procedure described above. Towels included at both resorts. Prices for taxis are for up to 4 people so I am assuming OP had only 2 people in the taxi, should be $16/17 each way.

 

I would not return as a hotel guest as we prefer to stay in San Miguel to enjoy the different restaurants and go to different beaches each day. I might return as a day guest, depending on circumstances, but $60pp, plus return taxi, is at the top of our budget for a beach day in Mexico.

[cjmx]

Hi Happychippy,

Glad you liked Occidental. We are considering it after going to the beaches on the strip at carlosncharlie area.

 

Can you tell me if they clean up and Remove" the sargasso (seaweed) on the beach, and were you happy with the color of the water? If you have any more pics of the beach that would be great!!

 

In the area we were at , this is just not plain weeds, but ping pong size semi -clear balls mixed in the weeds that when stepped on or touched , I have a really bad reaction to.

 

thanks

cj

[happychippy]

No seaweed last week when I was there. They had a lot of staff members available so it's possible they have a morning clean up crew. While it was a long walk from the front desk to the actual beach. Attached a couple more pictures, I left my camera on our cabana on the beach so it wouldn't get wet. It was a great day for us.

[c-leg5]

Hi Happychippy,

Glad you liked Occidental. We are considering it after going to the beaches on the strip at carlosncharlie area.

 

Can you tell me if they clean up and Remove" the sargasso (seaweed) on the beach, and were you happy with the color of the water? If you have any more pics of the beach that would be great!!

 

In the area we were at , this is just not plain weeds, but ping pong size semi -clear balls mixed in the weeds that when stepped on or touched , I have a really bad reaction to.

 

thanks

cj

 

No seaweed during our two week stay in December. That said this is not the predominant coast for seaweed deposits in Cozumel. if there is there has probably been a particularly storm or current that has brought it in so not sure how quick it would be removed in that case. There was plenty of seaweed during the same two weeks at Rasta's.

 

There was lots of seaweed that was being actively removed during our two week stay at Occidental in Playa earlier in the year because that coastline is affected too so I am sure they would address it.

[cjmx]

Thanks so much, those pics and being thee is so helpful.

 

Do you remember how much it costs to get there and back?

 

thanks again

 

cj

[c-leg5]

Thanks so much, those pics and being thee is so helpful.

 

Do you remember how much it costs to get there and back?

 

thanks again

 

cj

 

Depends which pier - around &18 for 4 ppl each way.

[HarborHermit]

Thank you for the reviews and the pictures.

[barb17476]

Absolutely will go there again. Upon arrival, their credit card service was down. They eventually found the manual slider for cards and got us going. Resort is beautifully landscaped and very clean. You first come to a secluded "quiet" pool that looks very inviting. We went to the main pool. It is more lively with activities every hour or so. Pool temperature in Jan was quite comfortable. A number of umbrellas around the pool if you prefer shade. Beach sand was fine white and awesome. Adequate loungers available. Lunch was a buffet at the beach and at peak time we waited about 5 minutes to be seated. Food was average for a buffet but you won't be dissatisfied - good variety, fresh, clean. Staff was 100% there for your pleasure. Drinks were easy to come by.

[Ocean Spirit]

I'm glad people enjoyed this day pass but we did not. The booking company was fine, had no problems with them. The resort wasn't for us.

First of all when we went, it took them about 15 minutes to check us in. No one else was checking in. We weren't aware of the LONG walk to the beach. The grounds were nice but the first smaller pool would have been great but your in the middle of the woods.... I can do that at home. The pool at the ocean was a nice pool but we had to wait in lines to get drinks and then they weren't good. I was wanting a relaxing day but then they decided to have bingo by the pool. I'm a recreation therapist... I don't want to be floating in the water and hearing B10 G50 for 30 minutes.

 

This resort was the 1 of 10 we've been at on cruises and it was our least favorite. For calm, go to Nachi Cocum, party Mr. Sancho's, close to the pier Ed Cid

[c-leg5]

I'm glad people enjoyed this day pass but we did not. The booking company was fine, had no problems with them. The resort wasn't for us.

First of all when we went, it took them about 15 minutes to check us in. No one else was checking in. We weren't aware of the LONG walk to the beach. The grounds were nice but the first smaller pool would have been great but your in the middle of the woods.... I can do that at home. The pool at the ocean was a nice pool but we had to wait in lines to get drinks and then they weren't good. I was wanting a relaxing day but then they decided to have bingo by the pool. I'm a recreation therapist... I don't want to be floating in the water and hearing B10 G50 for 30 minutes.

 

This resort was the 1 of 10 we've been at on cruises and it was our least favorite. For calm, go to Nachi Cocum, party Mr. Sancho's, close to the pier Ed Cid

 

Was this a recent visit since Barcelo took over?

 

Just trying to assess if it has changed since our visit two years ago?

[Fnigro07]

I just returned from the Carnival Paradise Sailing. We docked in Cozumel from 11:00A.M to 8:00P.M I pre booked the Occidental Grand Day Pass with www.cozumeldaypasses.com for $60 per person. Docked at the Puerta Maya pier and it was about a 12 minute taxi ride from the pier. Taxi rate was $8 per person. The Occidental Grand was a nice choice to avoid the overly crowded Cruise Beach Excursions. Check in was a breeze, had to present my printed confirmation, pay my balance and present an ID to show I was over 18 for drinks. Then I followed the sidewalk path down to the pools and beach areas. The first pool I came to was more of an adults only, there was a very large Iguana just lounging under the palm tree. The resort owner said they have a Reserved Natural Area which was nice to walk through on the way down to the beach. The Beach pool had a DJ, restaurant, and beach side Cabanas that were first come first use, I used the beach cabana for the day. It was perfect. Beach side and pool side service and drinks were served in fun coconuts. Lunch was served inside the restaurant on the beach, nice fresh selection. They have snorkeling equipment, and other equipment like kayaks and windsurfing. The waves were high so I didn't chance trying something new. The Beach was really nice, no rocks, very soft sand. I would recommend and do this excursion again.

 

 

Thank you for your review! We will be there in a couple weeks and are debating about booking it. Wasnt sure if it was worth the money!

[Sparetiming]

Did anyone snoekel at the Occidental? Was there any fish?