Best white sand beach?

[chickychick]

For our 1st cruise, we'll be leaving from Galveston (Carnival) in December or January.  Looking for something similar to the pure white sands & clear water of the FL Gulf coast. Which of the following ports would you recommend?

Cozumel, Montego Bay, Grand Caymen, Ocho Rios, Mahogany Bay, Belize, Costa Maya? Appreciate any & all help.  Thx.

[JaxsMama]

Of the ports listed I think 7 mile beach in grand Cayman is the nicest.

[BNBR]

Cozumel and Costa Maya both have ridiculously good beach clubs that will make you forget about white sand beaches. Cozumel is pretty good for clear water and a nice beach though. But yeah, Grand Cayman probably has the nicest sand but I'd take Maya Chan and Mr Sanchos all day, every day. 

[chickychick]

Haha, a few decades ago, I'd go w/your recommendations, but nowadays I just want to sit on the beach & look at the water.  ;) 

 

[chickychick]

13 minutes ago, JaxsMama said:

Of the ports listed I think 7 mile beach in grand Cayman is the nicest.

Is 7 mile beach an excursion or can we walk or a short taxi ride?

[asalligo]

LOL, my wife and I were just discussing the same on our cruise last month. Our tour were all unloading for a beach in Antigua and we decided to skip it once we saw it after a long tour anyway. Someone said, how can you skip this beautiful beach? I said, please come see Seagrove Beach near Destin. If a beautiful beach was your only objective, you could have stayed in Florida.  

 

I have yet to see any beach that rivals the Western Florida Gulf Coast, the Caribbean islands just do not have beaches like that. 

[JaxsMama]

4 minutes ago, chickychick said:

Is 7 mile beach an excursion or can we walk or a short taxi 

It is a short taxi ride or the bus. We walk a few blocks and hop on the bus for around 2.50 each. But my husband is cheap lol. I wouldn't do an excursion, just come and go at your pace. There are plenty of chairs to rent and bars serving food and drinks.  

[jimbo5544]

5 minutes ago, JaxsMama said:

It is a short taxi ride or the bus. We walk a few blocks and hop on the bus for around 2.50 each. But my husband is cheap lol. I wouldn't do an excursion, just come and go at your pace. There are plenty of chairs to rent and bars serving food and drinks.  

Agree or a 5 dollar taxi.  But Way to far to walk, although I know some have.  

[BNBR]

13 minutes ago, asalligo said:

LOL, my wife and I were just discussing the same on our cruise last month. Our tour were all unloading for a beach in Antigua and we decided to skip it once we saw it after a long tour anyway. Someone said, how can you skip this beautiful beach? I said, please come see Seagrove Beach near Destin. If a beautiful beach was your only objective, you could have stayed in Florida.  

 

I have yet to see any beach that rivals the Western Florida Gulf Coast, the Caribbean islands just do not have beaches like that. 

 

The Bahamas has the best beaches, by far. It's really not even close.  I'm a Floridian to a fault, but yeah, you can find the best beaches in the world in the Bahamas. 

 

Though for me, I would agree with you that if you just want a nice beach, Florida has that. Which is why I prefer the beach clubs with food, drinks, massages, private palapas, etc. Not getting that in Florida. 

 

And the Mexican ports have the best all inclusive beach clubs by far, and really inexpensive. 

Edited March 26, 2019 by BNBR

[chickychick]

5 minutes ago, asalligo said:

LOL, my wife and I were just discussing the same on our cruise last month. Our tour were all unloading for a beach in Antigua and we decided to skip it once we saw it after a long tour anyway. Someone said, how can you skip this beautiful beach? I said, please come see Seagrove Beach near Destin. If a beautiful beach was your only objective, you could have stayed in Florida.  

 

I have yet to see any beach that rivals the Western Florida Gulf Coast, the Caribbean islands just do not have beaches like that. 

Ok, you got me there.  It's a 9 hour drive to PCB for us. 1st objective is relaxation, (no driving), 2nd is no cooking/cleaning, 3rd is food & then beaches.  I'm thinking Southern Caribbean has the better beaches so that's in the future (unless you know an all inclusive resort in the FL Gulf region ;)

 

[jimbo5544]

20 minutes ago, chickychick said:

Haha, a few decades ago, I'd go w/your recommendations, but nowadays I just want to sit on the beach & look at the water.  😉

 

In cozumel you can take a taxi (or rent a car) to the atlantic side.  Spectacular beaches and a restaurant and bar at each, pretty rustic, but spectaculr views

[jimbo5544]

7 minutes ago, BNBR said:

 

The Bahamas has the best beaches, by far. It's really not even close.  I'm a Floridian to a fault, but yeah, you can find the best beaches in the world in the Bahamas. 

 

Though for me, I would agree with you that if you just want a nice beach, Florida has that. Which is why I prefer the beach clubs with food, drinks, massages, private palapas, etc. Not getting that in Florida. 

Not to wander off to far, but the best beach in the Caribbean is on Anguilla

[BNBR]

Just now, jimbo5544 said:

Not to wander off to far, but the best beach in the Caribbean is on Anguilla

 

Depends. Are we considering the Bahamas in the Atlantic for this discussion or Caribbean due to political affiliation? 

 

Nothing competes with the Bahamas. I'd take Treasure Cay over Shoal, easily. And there are thousands of other comparable, if not better spots than that all over the country. 

[brookeq]

Grand Cayman will have the picturesque type beach you are describing.  

West Bay beach in Roatan had the best shade of blue for water I have seen.  But the beach gets crowded esp with vendors.   We stopped there when we docked at Mahogany Bay.

In Belize -- Goffs caye is very pretty.  Its just a small island /sand bar in the middle of the ocean.   

 

The prettiest beach i have been to is half  moon cay (bahamas/private island).  And I have been to most in Florida and many in Caribbean(East/West).  Hoping to try the Southern Caribbean next.   

[Remus2010]

9 minutes ago, brookeq said:

I have to agree with brookeq.  half moon cay is one of my favorites.  Grand Cayman's 7 mile beach is that very white sandy beach you think of from the photos.  

 

The prettiest beach i have been to is half  moon cay (bahamas/private island).  

 

[jimbo5544]

50 minutes ago, BNBR said:

 

Depends. Are we considering the Bahamas in the Atlantic for this discussion or Caribbean due to political affiliation? 

 

Nothing competes with the Bahamas. I'd take Treasure Cay over Shoal, easily. And there are thousands of other comparable, if not better spots than that all over the country. 

lol, wow thousands....

[Aplmac]

1 hour ago, chickychick said:

 I'm thinking Southern Caribbean has the better beaches

so that's in the future ......

(unless you know an all inclusive resort in the FL Gulf region 😉

.

Southern Caribbean means places like Barbados

where you might find...beaches like these..

.

[chickychick]

YES! 1st time out wanted to drive to Galveston & not spend time & money on airfare & hotel. Thx for the pictures!

Definitely going South next time!!

 

[JaxsMama]

Southern also gives you Aruba, my fav!

[brookeq]

3 hours ago, Aplmac said:

.

Southern Caribbean means places like Barbados

where you might find...beaches like these..

.

exactly why i want to do a southern cruise next 🙂

 

[cb at sea]

The most gorgeous beach I've been to was on St. John, just off of St. Thomas....the sand isn't "fluffy" in the Caribbean...it's more of a crushed shell sand, than crushed rock like we have in the USA.  Makes it much firmer and easier to walk on.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

23 hours ago, chickychick said:

Cozumel, Montego Bay, Grand Caymen, Ocho Rios, Mahogany Bay, Belize, Costa Maya?

out of these Grand Cayman is it.

Costa Maya is decent, but not Cozumel.

Usually brownish unpretty sand in Jamaica.

 

Haven't been to beaches in Mahogany Bay and Belize.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

22 hours ago, asalligo said:

 I said, please come see Seagrove Beach near Destin. If a beautiful beach was your only objective, you could have stayed in Florida.  

Amen.

I think Aruba comes very close, and it has palm trees.

 

 

I don't know how anyone can say that Cozumel's beaches are nice. They've obviously haven't seen NICE beaches. Well, if you load up on alcohol and food, and you don't really care about the actual sand on the beach - maybe.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

22 hours ago, BNBR said:

Which is why I prefer the beach clubs with food, drinks, massages, private palapas, etc. Not getting that in Florida.

and we actually do want PRETTY, WHITE, SOFT SAND to play with our kid in, and don't care about the food, drinks, massages or private palapas. That's why we love Panhandle FL beaches, and that's exactly what OP is asking about.

[BNBR]

4 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

and we actually do want PRETTY, WHITE, SOFT SAND to play with our kid in, and don't care about the food, drinks, massages or private palapas. That's why we love Panhandle FL beaches, and that's exactly what OP is asking about.

 

Yes, we know. Anything over $4 and you are out. You have made that clear in many threads.

 

You can get nice sand and water almost anywhere in Florida and the Caribbean. To some, it's just not a big deal. Amazing service, food, drinks, massages, shade, and an overall experience is much more important to some of us than the sand being one shade lighter.  I would take the not sk perfect water in Costa Maya with the outstanding service over sitting in blazing sun with no amenities on a public beach in Grand Cayman.  Don't care about the sand being slightly whiter and the water a slightly different shade of blue. 

Edited March 27, 2019 by BNBR