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Hi Gina. If you've been lurking around here then you know there's no such thing as a stupid question.

Some places you can just beach it.

In Cozumel we went to Playa Corona one time. It is a little, out of the way beach bar with some pretty good snorkeling right off the beach and coming from me that's a good complement since I prefer snorkeling off a dive boat. About $5 in a Taxi each way and you pay $5 for a table and use of the showers, etc. You can rent snorkel equipment there for pretty cheap too and there is a restaurant if you want a snack. We enjoyed it mostly because it was out of the way and not crowded like most beaches and, again, the snorkeling off the beach is not bad at all. We saw schools of fish and lots of coral. Not much of a sandy beach at Playa Corona but the swimming and snorkeling was jsut fine. We stayed several hours in the morning and went back to the ship for lunch and then did some shopping in the afternoon. The link below will show you a number of Cozumel beaches and you'll have to scroll all the way down to see Playa Corona. Mr Sancho's is also a popular spot but when I went there the beach snorkeling wasn't that hot.

http://www.caribbeanportreviews.com/CozumelWestBeaches.htm

In the Bahamas I suggest Cable Beach. It is about $10 in a taxi each way. Cable Beach is on the Ocean and is probably the best beach to go to. Most taxis want to take you to Paradise Island. There are some beaches there but they are on the harbor and not the ocean.

Roatan has some nice beaches but I am not to familiar with them as the one time we were there we had a snorkel trip scheduled. The best beaches on Roatan are on the leeward side of the island which is the other side freom where the cruise ship docks. Not sure about the transportation cost there because it was included in our snorkel package.

Belize City itsself did not impress me one bit. Beach property in Belize is somewhat scarce because the barrier reef off the country's coast blocks many of the mineral deposits needed to form sandy beaches. This means that Belize is not the ideal spot if you plan to lounge on expansive white-sand beaches. For Belize, if you don't take a tour out to one of the Cayes and do some snorkeling out on the reef you'll really be missing out on the best that Belize has to offer. Save your pennies if you can and do an excursion in Belize. My credo on a vacation is no "Woulda Coulda Shouldas". Here are two really great excursions in Belize.

This one was our favorite...
http://www.coralbreezetours.com/Belize/manatees/cruise/tour/current_category.15/Product.150/tours_add.html?t_product=150

We loved this one too.
http://www.shoretrips.com/common/search4.asp?rcode=CAR&lcode=BZE&tcode=029491

Hopefully one paid excursion on a four port cruise will be doable for you. IMHO it would be a shame to stay on the mainland in Belize.

=funsign or your cruise =sailor

<blockquote data-quote="Mbandy" data-source="post: 1240584">Hi Gina.&nbsp; If you've been lurking around here then you know there's no such thing as a stupid question.Some places you can just beach it.&nbsp; In Cozumel we went to Playa Corona one time.&nbsp; It is a little, out of the way beach bar with some pretty good snorkeling right off the beach and coming from me that's a good complement since I prefer snorkeling off a dive boat.&nbsp; About $5 in a Taxi each way and you pay $5 for a table and use of the showers, etc.&nbsp; You can rent snorkel equipment there for pretty cheap too and there is a restaurant if you want a snack.&nbsp; We enjoyed it mostly because it was out of the way and not crowded like most beaches and, again, the snorkeling off the beach is not bad at all.&nbsp; We saw schools of fish and lots of coral.&nbsp; Not much of a sandy beach at Playa Corona but the swimming and snorkeling was jsut fine.&nbsp; We stayed several hours in the morning and went back to the ship for lunch and then did some shopping in the afternoon. The link below will show you a number of Cozumel beaches and you'll have to scroll all the way down to see Playa Corona.&nbsp; Mr Sancho's is also a popular spot but when I went there the beach snorkeling wasn't that hot.&nbsp; <a href="http://www.caribbeanportreviews.com/CozumelWestBeaches.htm" target="_blank">http://www.caribbeanportreviews.com/CozumelWestBeaches.htm</a>In the Bahamas I suggest Cable Beach.&nbsp; It is about $10 in a taxi each way.&nbsp; Cable Beach is on the Ocean and is probably the best beach to go to.&nbsp; Most taxis want to take you to Paradise Island.&nbsp; There are some beaches there but they are on the harbor and not the ocean.Roatan has some nice beaches but I am not to familiar with them as the one time we were there we had a snorkel trip scheduled.&nbsp; The best beaches on Roatan are on the leeward side of the island which is the other side freom where the cruise ship docks.&nbsp; Not sure about the transportation cost there because it was included in our snorkel package.Belize City itsself did not impress me one bit.&nbsp; Beach property in Belize is somewhat scarce because the barrier reef off the country's coast blocks many of the mineral deposits needed to form sandy beaches. This means that Belize is not the ideal spot if you plan to lounge on expansive white-sand beaches.&nbsp; For Belize, if you don't take a tour out to one of the Cayes and do some snorkeling out on the reef you'll really be missing out on the best that Belize has to offer.&nbsp; Save your pennies if you can and do an excursion in Belize. My credo on a vacation is no &quot;Woulda Coulda Shouldas&quot;.&nbsp; Here are two really great excursions in Belize. This one was our favorite...<a href="http://www.coralbreezetours.com/Belize/manatees/cruise/tour/current_category.15/Product.150/tours_add.html?t_product=150" target="_blank">http://www.coralbreezetours.com/Belize/manatees/cruise/tour/current_category.15/Product.150/tours_add.html?t_product=150</a>We loved this one too.<a href="http://www.shoretrips.com/common/search4.asp?rcode=CAR&amp;lcode=BZE&amp;tcode=029491" target="_blank">http://www.shoretrips.com/common/search4.asp?rcode=CAR&amp;lcode=BZE&amp;tcode=029491</a>Hopefully one paid excursion on a four port cruise will be doable for you.&nbsp; IMHO it would be a shame to stay on the mainland in Belize.=funsign or your cruise =sailor</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mbandy, post: 1240584"] Hi Gina. If you've been lurking around here then you know there's no such thing as a stupid question. Some places you can just beach it. In Cozumel we went to Playa Corona one time. It is a little, out of the way beach bar with some pretty good snorkeling right off the beach and coming from me that's a good complement since I prefer snorkeling off a dive boat. About $5 in a Taxi each way and you pay $5 for a table and use of the showers, etc. You can rent snorkel equipment there for pretty cheap too and there is a restaurant if you want a snack. We enjoyed it mostly because it was out of the way and not crowded like most beaches and, again, the snorkeling off the beach is not bad at all. We saw schools of fish and lots of coral. Not much of a sandy beach at Playa Corona but the swimming and snorkeling was jsut fine. We stayed several hours in the morning and went back to the ship for lunch and then did some shopping in the afternoon. The link below will show you a number of Cozumel beaches and you'll have to scroll all the way down to see Playa Corona. Mr Sancho's is also a popular spot but when I went there the beach snorkeling wasn't that hot. [url]http://www.caribbeanportreviews.com/CozumelWestBeaches.htm[/url] In the Bahamas I suggest Cable Beach. It is about $10 in a taxi each way. Cable Beach is on the Ocean and is probably the best beach to go to. Most taxis want to take you to Paradise Island. There are some beaches there but they are on the harbor and not the ocean. Roatan has some nice beaches but I am not to familiar with them as the one time we were there we had a snorkel trip scheduled. The best beaches on Roatan are on the leeward side of the island which is the other side freom where the cruise ship docks. Not sure about the transportation cost there because it was included in our snorkel package. Belize City itsself did not impress me one bit. Beach property in Belize is somewhat scarce because the barrier reef off the country's coast blocks many of the mineral deposits needed to form sandy beaches. This means that Belize is not the ideal spot if you plan to lounge on expansive white-sand beaches. For Belize, if you don't take a tour out to one of the Cayes and do some snorkeling out on the reef you'll really be missing out on the best that Belize has to offer. Save your pennies if you can and do an excursion in Belize. My credo on a vacation is no "Woulda Coulda Shouldas". Here are two really great excursions in Belize. This one was our favorite... [url]http://www.coralbreezetours.com/Belize/manatees/cruise/tour/current_category.15/Product.150/tours_add.html?t_product=150[/url] We loved this one too. [url]http://www.shoretrips.com/common/search4.asp?rcode=CAR&lcode=BZE&tcode=029491[/url] Hopefully one paid excursion on a four port cruise will be doable for you. IMHO it would be a shame to stay on the mainland in Belize. =funsign or your cruise =sailor [/QUOTE]