anyone tried Sol Y Mar?

[sunsetme]

is this the "best beach"? how does it compare to others?

[c-leg5]

On 3/21/2019 at 2:24 PM, jdechter said:

is this the "best beach"? how does it compare to others?

 

“Best” is very subjective and depends on what you are looking for and the facilities you require.

 

if you use the search engine for this forum you will find reviews from myself and others. Sol y Mar is a fairly  new, spacious beach club which is convenient for Coxen Hole and saves the long ride (traffic and poor road) to West Bay. There are multiple day passes and people are in different areas of the resort. Sand is coarse and i prefer water shoes although not a necessity.

 

unlike West Bay (most popular area) it is an individual resort and no vendors.

 

Any specific questions? There are lots of other locations available - where do you want to compare to?

[Guest 2000]

1 hour ago, c-leg5 said:

 

“Best” is very subjective and depends on what you are looking for and the facilities you require.

 

if you use the search engine for this forum you will find reviews from myself and others. Sol y Mar is a fairly  new, spacious beach club which is convenient for Coxen Hole and saves the long ride (traffic and poor road) to West Bay. There are multiple day passes and people are in different areas of the resort. Sand is coarse and i prefer water shoes although not a necessity.

 

unlike West Bay (most popular area) it is an individual resort and no vendors.

 

Any specific questions? There are lots of other locations available - where do you want to compare to?

 

I do not remember if I asked or not...  were you in the water?  Is it swimmable from the shore?  I thought this place was in Sandy Bay and most of the water is very shallow and mucky for some distance from the beach. Most accommodation have a pier to get past the shallows. 

 

I love the idea of quiet.  

Edited March 28, 2019 by Guest 2000

[c-leg5]

3 minutes ago, Guest 2000 said:

 

I do not remember if I asked or not...  were you in the water?  Is it swimmable from the shore?  I thought this place was in Sandy Bay and most of the water is very shallow and mucky for some distance from the beach. Most accommodation have a pier to get past the shallows. 

 

I love the idea of quiet.  

 

Water was fine when we were there. I wore water shoes but then i generally do! It was not the soft sand that you prefer but it was fine for our needs on the day and certainly convenient compared to trekking  to and from West Bay and its vendors. 

 

We didn't try snorkeling,( I am sure that probably didn't compare). It was quiet in as much as not being bothered - there was quite loud music and occasional dance session near our location but that didn’t bother us. Probably could have found quieter area.

 

lack of shade (which we sorted), and being told to sit in certain areas were our biggest negatives. We would only do PAYG but that is our preference.

[Guest 2000]

20 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

 

Water was fine when we were there. I wore water shoes but then i generally do! It was not the soft sand that you prefer but it was fine for our needs on the day and certainly convenient compared to trekking  to and from West Bay and its vendors. 

 

We didn't try snorkeling,( I am sure that probably didn't compare). It was quiet in as much as not being bothered - there was quite loud music and occasional dance session near our location but that didn’t bother us. Probably could have found quieter area.

 

lack of shade (which we sorted), and being told to sit in certain areas were our biggest negatives. We would only do PAYG but that is our preference.

 

Thank you, either I am wrong about where this place it, wrong about the mucky shallows in Sandy Bay or just not asking the right question.    I will have a look when next I am on the island. 

 

Oops, loud music.. ya gotta wonder why anything thinks that is a good idea. 

[connolk]

For C-leg5:  We are getting our transportation from the cruise ship on 5/28 by Victor Bodden, going to West End Village before the beach.

I was also thinking of Sol Y Mar, and after researching several beach club options, it's even harder to decide!  I've read that some are hotels, so chairs are "reserved" by guests early in the morning and there might not be a good selection left. 

We are only going to swim and have lunch and a few drinks, so we don't need any water sport rentals, snorkeling, or anything like that.  The most important things for us would be lounge chairs in the SHADE, (we've both had skin cancer)  and a clean place to change before going back to the ship.   Would also prefer a nice fish lunch, not burgers or food that I can get anywhere. 

 

Your suggestions would be most appreciated to help us decide! 

 

[c-leg5]

3 hours ago, connolk said:

For C-leg5:  We are getting our transportation from the cruise ship on 5/28 by Victor Bodden, going to West End Village before the beach.

I was also thinking of Sol Y Mar, and after researching several beach club options, it's even harder to decide!  I've read that some are hotels, so chairs are "reserved" by guests early in the morning and there might not be a good selection left. 

We are only going to swim and have lunch and a few drinks, so we don't need any water sport rentals, snorkeling, or anything like that.  The most important things for us would be lounge chairs in the SHADE, (we've both had skin cancer)  and a clean place to change before going back to the ship.   Would also prefer a nice fish lunch, not burgers or food that I can get anywhere. 

 

Your suggestions would be most appreciated to help us decide! 

 

 

Sorry I am not the best person to give advice on Roatan. I don’t share the warm fuzzy feeling many have for the island. It sounds like your requirements for the day are very similar to ours. Unfortunately I don’t have any great restaurant recommendations although I am still waiting to try Temporary Cal’s but that would be the opposite direction to West End. It has a good view as it is high up, but not beach side.

 

That is not to say we haven’t enjoyed our days on the island just have never found anywhere outstanding that i would highly recommend. Sol y mar was convenient, we enjoyed and we would return but I thought shade was difficult to find and the food was typical.

 

We like West End and enjoyed Ginger’s last time and Ronny’s Barefoot bar previously but both are very low key, rustic bars and a lot of seagrass at both for swimming. There are a lot of eating places in West End which i would like to try but you would have to go off TripAdvisor recommendations.

 

West Bay is too busy for me but I wouldn't mind trying Paradise Beach Hotel and they seem to have shade in their pool area and umbrellas on the sand but no guarantees as with everywhere in the Caribbean whether you are actually able to find somewhere unoccupied and of course hotel guests have priority.

 

We enjoy quieter places heading east but it has been a while since we went that direction. We have also enjoyed the convenience of Maya Key from Coxen Hole.

 

I am sure others will have other suggestions. I hope you find somewhere enjoyable and report back!

[connolk]

Thank you very much for the reply!  We've decided to take the ship excursion to Maya Key as well - more expensive than "do it yourself" but we just couldn't make up our minds with all the other options. 

[firemanbobswife]

I’m currently at Sol Y Mar. it’s not a cruise ship day so I have the whole place to myself. Feel free to ask any questions. I’ll prob be here another couple of hours. The sand is soft, no water shoes needed. There are spots that look like they have turtle grass, but plenty of spots that don’t. There are a couple swings and volleyball net in the water.