Throughout the years, our travels have taken us to some amazing places around the world; and whenever we’ve set our sites on exploring a new country, we’ve always found a way to turn our wildest dreams into a sweet, sweet reality. Yet, there was one country that has continued to elude us over the last few years, and after 20 countries, it was finally time to add it to my list.
Our last port of call was on the tiny island of Cozumel, Mexico; and after some adventurous days scuba diving and exploring Mayan Ruins, we were looking forward to relaxing on the beach with a few margaritas and a lot of delicious guacamole. Because who goes to Mexico and doesn’t order margaritas and guacamole? Crazy people. That’s who. 😉
We set our sights on Paradise Beach — a quick ten-minute drive from the port of Puerta Maya — and as we pulled up to this beach-side paradise our taxi was cut off by two loca folks on a motorbike. Before we knew it, our taxi driver had reversed the van, rolled down the window, and began angrily exchanging a few “choice” words with the other driver. It was quite the welcome to Mexico! 😉
The somewhat chaotic taxi ride was soon forgotten as we wandered the lush grounds along Paradise Beach. Palm trees and dense tropical gardens provided much needed shade as we walked the path to the beach, and the friendly staff gave us a quick tour of the bar, the pool, the beach, and the activities desk. For only $3 a person we had access to most of the amenities at Paradise Beach, including: the large heated pool, poolside loungers, restrooms, hot showers, beach chairs, and more; and for an additional amount they offer access to their floating jungle-gym out on the ocean.
The staff at Paradise Beach was fantastic — attentive yet subtle — and our day at Paradise Beach was exactly what we were looking for: a relaxing day under the Caribbean sun. We did a little swimming, enjoyed a few fruity cocktails and fresh guacamole, wandered the beach, and mostly relaxed on the loungers and listened to the ocean.
Perfect, relaxing day aside, I feel like I need to add a little side note. Leading up to this destination, Mexico had us a little on edge. Some of our friends and family have come home from Mexico with incredible experiences to share, while others have had downright scary experiences. Combined with all of the negative publicity lately — like the violence, crime, and tainted alcohol, to name a few — we actually considered skipping this port and staying on the cruise ship. However, as soon as we said it out loud, we both quickly reminded each other that traveling is about getting out of our comfort zones and exploring this big beautiful world that we live in. We travel to see, learn, experience, and expand our views, and we didn’t come all the way to Mexico just to spend our day on the ship.
So, we set our reservations aside and set out on an adventure; and although we only saw a small portion of Cozumel, our day at Paradise Beach was muy bueno!
Gracias, Cozumel!
Pictures and Plane Tickets 
It is always to get out of the comfort zone and to land in such a paradise 😀 One of the pictures of the huts on the beach gave me a hint of Maldives. Well, it looks like amazing to spend a weekend here 🙂
What a gorgeous beach! Definitely looks an ideal spot for a relax – the colour of the water is so beautiful!
It was a perfect location to relax. 🙂
Glad you decided not to let the fear-mongering media win! I just came back from a week in Mexico and had a lovely time! Paradise Beach does sound like a great place to enjoy some drinks and guac!
We both felt like we had to check it out for ourselves. 🙂 Glad you enjoyed your trip!
This is such a gorgeous place! Love the color of that water. I am glad you decided to get out of the ship to enjoy some of what Mexico offers. I have been to the Yucatan Peninsula but we didn’t have time to make it to Cozumel. It was a little bit heartbreaking because were able to see the island from Playa del Carmen. Well, I know I would be back!
It was a beautiful location. I would love to go to Playa del Carmen at some point. 🙂
Makes me want to jump on a sun bed, grab a margarita and snack on fresh guac! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Right?! me too…!
LOL, it’s always so funny to hear the taxi driver exchanges with other drivers. Congrats on finally checking Cozumel off the bucket list. It does look like such an amazing place and I’m glad you didn’t skip it just because of what’s in the media.
It was so funny. 🙂 If that would have happened to me in the states I probably would have just mumbled under my breath and continued on my way, but they were all very vocal. haha!
I agree that the media can make things appear worse than they are. If it weren’t for some experiences had by our close friends and family we probably wouldn’t have had any reservations at all. But in the end it was a fantastic day and I am SO glad we got to see it for ourselves.
This is traveling style I like, after sightseeing few days to relax on the beach. And if the name of the beach is Paradise even better. 🙂
It was a perfect balance this time around. 🙂 Still working on that balance aspect…
Thanks for stopping by.
I’ve always been hesitant to visit Mexico as a female solo traveler, because of the safety issues, but this place looks really nice.
We were hesitant as well, so I completely understand. While we didn’t explore all that Cozumel offers, we were happy with our decision to explore and not just stay on the ship. Obviously bad things can happen anywhere we go, so we just need to be aware and alert no matter where we are. 🙂
Safe travels.
It’s always good to get out of your comfort zone 💪 it it looks amazing! 😍😍
Hi Louise,
I totally agree. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.
My favorite part about your post is the end, where you talk about confronting your reservations. Would love to hear more about that.
Thanks, Tanya. 🙂 I appreciate that. We both felt like we needed to see and explore the place for ourselves, after all, that’s what traveling is all about, right?! While we listened to the stories of our friends and family, we also weighed the good and bad experiences. We took it all with a grain of salt and decided that it was worth checking out. 🙂
Hope you have a great day!
When I saw the title I didn’t realize it’s literally called Paradise Beach, haha.
-Knurly
haha! 🙂 Thanks for reading, Knurly. When I first saw the beach name I thought, “Well if it’s called Paradise then it must be pretty nice.” 😉