Port Recommendations for Cozumel and Jamaica

[MrsBergs]

Looking for excursion recommendations for Cozumel and Jamaica. There is 6 of us going - 5 adults ranging from 42-65. I was thinking that my daughter may like a dolphin interaction.

Thank You

 

[Minnie368]

Dolphin discovery at Chankanaab is a great choice for Cozumel. We booked on our own through their website and saved a ton of money. We did the Tranopy tour in Jamaica which was the sky ride, bobsled, and zip lining. We enjoyed this a lot too. Booked it through DCL because for Jamaica it just felt safer. Both included lunch.

 

[DisMommyTX]

Dolphin interactions are great in Cozumel. Chankanaab is a destination a ways out of town, good choice if you plan to spend several hours. They have a decent beach area, sea lion show and snorkeling as well. Dolphiinaris is another option in town on the way to the shopping areas. Both offer good interactions, but Chankanaab is set up out in open water with fenced in pens. Dolphiinaris is more sheltered with built in rock structures separating each interaction area--more like a deep swimming pool. My kids felt more comfortable in the enclosures at Dolphinaris. Both places offer ridiculously expensive photo and video upsells, which I highly recommend as these have been some of our best memories.

Jamaica is not a port where I would recommend venturing out on your own. Choose a reputable tour group to climb Dunns River Falls or take a taxi directly to one of the all-inclusive resorts for a relaxing beach day.

 

[MrsBergs]

Dolphin interactions are great in Cozumel. Chankanaab is a destination a ways out of town, good choice if you plan to spend several hours. They have a decent beach area, sea lion show and snorkeling as well. Dolphiinaris is another option in town on the way to the shopping areas. Both offer good interactions, but Chankanaab is set up out in open water with fenced in pens. Dolphiinaris is more sheltered with built in rock structures separating each interaction area--more like a deep swimming pool. My kids felt more comfortable in the enclosures at Dolphinaris. Both places offer ridiculously expensive photo and video upsells, which I highly recommend as these have been some of our best memories.

Jamaica is not a port where I would recommend venturing out on your own. Choose a reputable tour group to climb Dunns River Falls or take a taxi directly to one of the all-inclusive resorts for a relaxing beach day.

We were planning on spending a few hours at Chankanaab. Is there a lot to do there? Do you have any recommendations for what we could do afterwards? Is there things to do at Dolphinaris besides the dolphin swim.

In Jamaica could you recommend a beach or an excursion that would be fun for a 7 year old.
Thank you so much

 

[RedStars]

We did Dolphin Discovery last Nov and had a lousy experience: the water was WAY too rough and they didn't cancel. My kids, 9 & 6, (AND husband) were having issues staying above water level due to the swells. And I cut my hand from clinging to the fence (while trying to keep my 6yo's head above water). I made us all get out for fear of our safety. After filing a health report (due to my cut hand) and disputing with my credit card, I got a full refund. My kids still talk about it.

FWIW: we could all swim. And had life vests on. But I still didn't feel safe.

3 years previously, we had a good experience at Dolphinaris.

 

[MichelleCanada]

We did Dolphin Discovery last Nov and had a lousy experience: the water was WAY too rough and they didn't cancel. My kids, 9 & 6, (AND husband) were having issues staying above water level due to the swells. And I cut my hand from clinging to the fence (while trying to keep my 6yo's head above water). I made us all get out for fear of our safety. After filing a health report (due to my cut hand) and disputing with my credit card, I got a full refund. My kids still talk about it.

FWIW: we could all swim. And had life vests on. But I still didn't feel safe.

Due to the closed in pools we did not have this experience in August at Dolphinaris. Our DS7 loved it. Lunch was included as well as drinks and it was fine. You can stay as long as you want after your encounter as there were constant shuttles going back to the ship. Eat and drink as much as you want! We booked through DCL as it was only about 15% higher than booking on our own. We have never been to Cozumel so we found it convenient to book with DCL.

You can haggle a bit for the pictures. They brought our price down and included more images in our photo package when we looked interested and then started to walk away.

 

[ForMyBoys]

We also did the dolphin encounter at Chankanaab. We really enjoyed it, but more then that I enjoyed snorkeling at Chankanaab. There are beautiful things to see snorkeling there. Next time I think I'd just do a beach day.

I really enjoy Jamaica. We have done our own excursions there with no problems. Last time we did a tubing excursion and had a blast.

 

[CamColt]

We have gone to Paradise Beach in Cozumel multiple times and enjoy it. We also did the Tranopy Adventure (bobsled and zip line) in Jamaica. I was very glad we did it, and enjoyed it, but I probably wouldn't do it again just because of the time and cost. We are usually more 'stay on the ship" type of cruisers but doing this once was well worth it.

 

[jrabbit]

Climb the falls at Dunn's River in Jamaica.
Zip line at XPLOR park in Cozumel (Playa del Carmen on the mainland)

Next year is my first anniversary of turning 59 and I will do these again in the future.

 

[KashasMom]

We also did the dolphin encounter at Chankanaab. We really enjoyed it, but more then that I enjoyed snorkeling at Chankanaab. There are beautiful things to see snorkeling there. Next time I think I'd just do a beach day.

I really enjoy Jamaica. We have done our own excursions there with no problems. Last time we did a tubing excursion and had a blast.

I second both of your recommendations. We did the dolphin swim with manatee visit on Chankanaab and had a blast. Next month we're doing the Sea Lion encounter and snorkeling. Really looking forward to spending some time on the beach and snorkeling there.

We did tubing on the Rio Bueno in Falmouth and loved it. Doing it again next month.

We've also done the Falmouth Heritage Walk, which was excellent as was our day at Paradise Beach in Cozumel.

 

[Carol Greenblatt]

We did Chankanaab in Cozumel 2 years ago and loved it - we went with friends who wanted to swim with the dolphins and our experience was great!!!
We climbed Dunn Rivers Falls in Jamaica and loved it so much we are doing it again this Feb when we go again!! I highly recommend it!!

https://magicaladventureswithdrmom.com/

 

[MousseauMob]

In Jamaica we did Green Grotto Caves then they took us to a beautiful beach for a very nice lunch.

 

[Jess_S]

In Jamaica we did Green Grotto Caves then they took us to a beautiful beach for a very nice lunch.

Was this through the ship or with another tour co? The caves were on my short list of options for Jamaica (along with Good Hope Estate and Resort for a Day).

 

[MousseauMob]

Was this through the ship or with another tour co? The caves were on my short list of options for Jamaica (along with Good Hope Estate and Resort for a Day).

It was through the ship.

 

[CinderellaDream]

We've enjoyed the Chankanaab dolphin encounter and Playa Mia at Cozumel. Chankanaab we did on our own and arrived much earlier than the cruise groups. Playa Mia was through DCL and it was also a great experience.

In Jamaica, we did Dunn's River Falls through DCL. I was nervous to venture out in Jamaica on our own and with the distance from Falmouth to Dunn's River I just felt more comfortable going with the cruise group. I would say Dunn's River Falls is a must see if you're visiting Jamaica.

 

[MickeyD]

In Jamaica we did Green Grotto Caves then they took us to a beautiful beach for a very nice lunch.

Would you mind describing this excursion a little more? How long was it? What did you see? Is it very active, or easy to do? How is this for people with claustrophobia LOL Also, all I see listed on the DCL website is the Green Gotto Caves Express, and it does not say they stop at a beach, it says you go right back to the ship? Thanks

 

[MousseauMob]

Oh how sad, it looks like they no longer have the excursion we did with lunch. I went to the Disney site to find it and couldn't find it. The one we did was Green Grotto Caves with Lunch (FA47) we first went to the cave, which is huge!

Claustrophobia: They used to do concerts in it, which drove out the bats and the mosquitoes took over, so they stopped the concerts so bats would come back and take care of the mosquitoes. The cavern areas are really large, not claustrophobic at all. There was one small passage my daughter decided to try - it's tight, I went around the more open path and met her on the other side.

Bats: We like bats, but I know some people are not fans. They really weren't around through the vast majority of the cave. We did go into one cavern/lake area that was a bit crowded with everyone trying to see where we could see the bats sleeping above across the lake. Once this cleared out of everyone trying to see at once, it's not really a small area. It just seemed crowded due to the number of people wanting to see at once.

Mobility: There were a fair amount of stairs around a section, if I recall correctly it was to get to the area where you could see the bats. I can't recall now, if they had some type of transport for handicapped. But I'm not in great shape and was able to do it all fairly easily.

Lunch: This was really lovely. An amazingly breathtaking beach and a yummy meal. The best jerk chicken I've ever had. We weren't there too long, just enough for everyone to eat, and play a bit in the water/beach.

All total I think it was around 4 hours and we all really enjoyed it. I hope this helps!

 

[MickeyD]

Oh how sad, it looks like they no longer have the excursion we did with lunch. I went to the Disney site to find it and couldn't find it. The one we did was Green Grotto Caves with Lunch (FA47) we first went to the cave, which is huge!

Claustrophobia: They used to do concerts in it, which drove out the bats and the mosquitoes took over, so they stopped the concerts so bats would come back and take care of the mosquitoes. The cavern areas are really large, not claustrophobic at all. There was one small passage my daughter decided to try - it's tight, I went around the more open path and met her on the other side.

Bats: We like bats, but I know some people are not fans. They really weren't around through the vast majority of the cave. We did go into one cavern/lake area that was a bit crowded with everyone trying to see where we could see the bats sleeping above across the lake. Once this cleared out of everyone trying to see at once, it's not really a small area. It just seemed crowded due to the number of people wanting to see at once.

Mobility: There were a fair amount of stairs around a section, if I recall correctly it was to get to the area where you could see the bats. I can't recall now, if they had some type of transport for handicapped. But I'm not in great shape and was able to do it all fairly easily.

Lunch: This was really lovely. An amazingly breathtaking beach and a yummy meal. The best jerk chicken I've ever had. We weren't there too long, just enough for everyone to eat, and play a bit in the water/beach.

All total I think it was around 4 hours and we all really enjoyed it. I hope this helps

wow, this is perfect, thank you! Sure wish they still offered the lunch option though with the beach.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

along with Good Hope Estate and Resort

We did that on one of our Western's and neither DW or I were impressed. Lots of schlock, very little awesome.

 

[Jess_S]

We did that on one of our Western's and neither DW or I were impressed. Lots of schlock, very little awesome.

That's very helpful to know. Did you do one of the activities there, or just visit the estate. We were looking at the excursion called Tubing and Adventure Falls because I thought my son might enjoy the swimming area and aviary.