Be a Pampered Castaway on Cocoa Cay

Ever dreamt of being a castaway? How about being a pampered castaway for a day… on a small Caribbean island with a plethora of white sandy beaches, a sea of lounging chairs and hammocks to relax in, scenic nature trails, several water activities and sports to participate in, and a BBQ lunch served at noon? Sound too good to be true…? Well, welcome to Royal Caribbean’s Cocoa Cay!

Royal Caribbean’s Private Island ~ Cocoa Cay

Many cruise lines own their own small, private island in the Bahamas, for use as a day stop during their Caribbean cruise itineraries.  Royal Caribbean’s is called Cocoa Cay, and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who’s been there, who did not absolutely love it.

Although I posted a less than glowing review of our Royal Caribbean cruise experience overall, our day spent at Cocoa Cay was by far the best part of our trip.  It was absolutely fantastic.  We were there from 9AM – 5PM.  Take a look at some highlights and what to expect.

Royal Caribbean’s Cocoa Cay ~ “Tendering” & Getting There

Even before our visit, I anticipated our day at Cocoa Cay as a highlight in our cruise itinerary.   Chatter onboard the ship included rumors that “20% of the time they can’t tender, so they have to skip Cocoa Cay”, and had me a little worried.  But despite the breeze that day, we did ended up getting to spend the day on the island.

If you’re not a cruiser, I’ll explain.  When there is not a large enough port to dock the huge cruise ship in, it becomes a “tendered” location.  This means the ship will throw an anchor down and hang out close to the island, while a smaller boat shuttles passengers back and forth.

Actually, two cruise ships may anchor and port their passengers over to Cocoa Cay, which was the case for us that day.  Our boat had about 3,000 people on it, and the other Royal Caribbean ship that joined us that day looked to be the same size.

It was definitely less crowded in the morning, but there’s enough space and activities on Cocoa Cay that I didn’t feel it was unpleasantly overcrowded during the day.   (Although I wouldn’t want to be there with many more than 6,000 cruisers at one time.)

Anyways… The down side of tendering?  If the wind is up, and the waves are too choppy for them to get the tender boat close enough to load and unload passengers from the cruise ship – you will not be stopping at Cocoa Cay.  It’s pretty crazy how they do this… they basically open a huge hole in the side of the ship, down at water level, for the smaller boat to come up alongside.  Again, I’ve heard (and read) that up to 20% of the time, the waters are too rough to do this safely.

The upside of tendering?  Because you cannot easily run back to the ship to eat lunch… they have a delicious barbeque buffet set up to feed you mid day, right on the island.

And if you’re into that kind of thing (which I am), when the wind picks up towards the end of the day, and you still need to get back to the mother ship… it’s a pretty exciting ride and re-entry.   Booo-yaah!

Royal Caribbean’s Cocoa Cay ~ Activities & Fees

Cocoa Cay is small enough to walk around the entire island by foot.  To help disperse the crowds and keep everyone entertained, they set up activities in different areas… snorkeling, a floating water park, wave runner tours, and kayak rentals to name a few.  There are maps to help you seek out specifically what you’re interested in, or you can just stroll and see what strikes your fancy.

Towards the entrance to where you first walk on to the island (and throughout the rest of the island), there are signs to help you easily navigate.

Note that most of these activities carry an extra charge, so having your Sea Pass handy is a good idea.  You could also book and pre-pay ahead of time, if you choose to go that route – either on the Royal Caribbean website prior to your trip, or with the ship’s concierge.

There may still be smaller things with a fee along the way throughout your day, such as renting a locker to hold your things, purchasing sunglasses straps for water sports, or renting a floating mat, etc.

Although we pre-paid for a wave jet tour excursion ahead of time (more on that below), for smaller things unlikely to sell out, such as renting a floating mat, we waited and played it be ear on the day of our visit.   This approach worked well for us.

I preferred to stay in the sun, so we did not take advantage of the hammock clusters available.  But if you need a shady spot to read that book or just nap… check out one of these enticing spots.

There is a fee for using the floating water park, but it does look like fun.  If we’d had our kids along, we probably would have given this a try.

Many of the water activities are considered Royal Caribbean shore excursions, and you can read about them ahead of time.   If you decide on something you want to be sure and try, it’s a good idea to book before your day at Cocoa Cay – thus reserving your spot, and helping you be aware of the cost up front.

We did find the [free] nature trail and check out a portion.  It’s not long, but has been improved in recent years and runs down the center of the island.

It was fun to see a little of the vegetation and landscape of a typical Caribbean island.

There are also colorful shopping booths, positioned so that you pass them on your way back to the tender boat, at the end of the day.  I imagine you could seek them out at any time during the day, if you wanted to make sure and have plenty of time to do so.

These feature touristy goods similar to what you find during your stop at Nassau, Bahamas:  t-shirts, tote bags, swimsuit wraps, and general souvenirs.

Now on to our excursion.  The “Cocoa Cay Wave Jet Tour” was an absolute must for us!

Cocoa Cay Wave Jet Tour

I was so certain that I wanted to try the Cocoa Cay Wave Jet tour excursion, that I reserved and paid for this online, prior to even taking our cruise.  I selected a fairly early time (mid-morning), as I was told this can also secure you a seat on one of the earliest tender boats over.  We wanted to have a full day on the island.  This worked nicely, and I highly recommend it.

If you’d rather be more laid back and play it by ear, for which excursions you want to do that day, you certainly can.  I would just caution you that the most popular ones (like the wave jet tour) definitely fill up and sell out.  You probably won’t be able to mosy up there in the afternoon and still find an open slot.

Two people can elect to share a wave runner (official name: Sea-Doo personal watercraft), and when they do so – there is a smaller charge for the passenger.  Most wives & girlfriends in the group rode along with their man.

No way, Jose… I wanted to drive my own.

Safety orientation from a Herculean-sized Eastern European instructor kicked things off, along with repeated warnings of this being a high speed wave jet tour.

No dilly dallying.

No veering off or exploring on your own.

We were to follow our leader in a line, and if we couldn’t handle speed and subsequently keep up… we needed to accept our refund and bow out gracefully now.  Please and thankyouverymuch.

Then you head down to the dock.

Oh, heck ya!  LOOK AT THAT AMAZING WATER!!

So I’m thinking to myself, “I’ve jet skied before.  I love water!  I love speed!  Surely I’ll be a front runner here”.  Or not.

I soon found out that our instructor Hercules wasn’t just whistling Dixie with his little up-front Speed Disclaimer. We burst away from the docks at what I found to be a shocking and breathtaking speed!

We’d zip along for a certain distance, in a line with designated positions, then the leader would stop so we could all catch up, catch our breath, and group together again.   If you were putzing behind, you got demoted further back in the line.  There were about 12 of us, and I started the tour out at 3.  I ended up an 8.  Bah!

Oh, well.   🙂  (My husband, BTW, was Mr. Cool Guy #1 spot for most of the tour…)

If it was a good location to do so, Hercules would let us hang out a bit and swim during one of our breaks.  If there was a shark in the vicinity (as was spotted at one location on our tour), we’d go ahead and skip that part!

Then it was off again likka shot!  Onto our next leg of the journey, at the speed of light… through sparkling turquoise Caribbean waters.

Eventually our tour route took us completely around a nearby island, and then back again to Cocoa Cay.

Suffice it to say:  this South Dakota River Girl got a little schooling on the Caribbean Sea that day.  Hello… it’s the ocean.   In addition to the speed factor, these are much larger waves than I had ever driven a personal watercraft on before.

So now you know, when you see the Cocoa Cay Wave Jet Tour described on the Royal Caribbean site as an “exhilarating high energy tour“… it’s the straight up truth, yo.

Although I was surprised that day, I quickly adjusted, and this entire experience was absolutely fantastic.  I wouldn’t have changed a thing.  My husband and I both loved it.

And I was still very glad I had been a driver, and not a passenger.  😉

Royal Caribbean’s Cocoa Cay ~ Drinks, Food & BBQ Lunch

A grilled lunch is served mid-day on the island, so you don’t have to return to the ship.   This is free of charge (well, I mean it’s part of your cruise fair), and although the desserts weren’t anything fancy or impressive… the food was plentiful and very good.  BBQ ribs, grilled burgers, assorted breads, and fresh salads.

There is a central area with a kitchen and buffet serving tables set up for the BBQ lunch, with plenty of picnic table seating.

For additional food and drink options, you will also find other locations spaced around the island where snacks are for sale, and full bars are available.  But if you aren’t there for that type of thing, we found the lunch was sufficient sustenance (and we were there all day).

I ate a lot on the cruise, so for me this day was more about playing!  And you are back on board typically by 5 PM, where you once again have access to buffets and dining galore.

One thing I would advise is to bring your refillable soda mug from the ship with you.  The bartenders will fill them free of charge (even with ice water, which was a nice option), and this can help cut back on extra costs that day.

Cocoa Cay ~ Our Day of Adventure

For a rough idea of our schedule:  we kicked our day off first thing with the wave jet tour, had BBQ lunch afterwards, and then slowed things down for an afternoon of Caribbean island relaxing and exploring.

The island definitely was much more crowded during the afternoon… we were glad we came early and made a full day of it.

Mainly I loved that beach.   Again, there are different soft white beaches you can stroll to or hang out on, and lounge chairs set up everywhere.  It was so beautiful, and so incredibly relaxing.  The bright turquoise water was unlike anything I’d ever seen.  Although January, the water was plenty warm even for temperature wimps like myself.

Cocoa Cay was amazing, and was a wonderful way to spend our 10th Anniversary together!  I truly wish I could take a vacation in that very spot, for multiple days on end.  It’s *almost* enough to get me to cruise again.  😉

 

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Have you been to Cocoa Cay, or had another “cruise island” experience you’d recommend?