Guests visiting Royal Caribbean's private destination of CocoCay are certain to find plenty to do in their time onshore, including a private area just for them in the Beach Bungalows.
Royal Caribbean added Beach Bungalows to CocoCay in 2016, which offer guests a private area of the beach just for guests in bungalows. While on a recent cruise to CocoCay, we tried out the bungalows for ourselves to evaluate the option.
The Beach Bungalows cost us $195, and can accommodate up to six guests. Each bungalow rental is good for the entire day spent in CocoCay.
They are located in the South Beach area of the island, which is a good distance from where guests disembark from their tenders. Royal Caribbean offers complimentary transportation to and from the Beach Bungalows via its private Cocolimo shuttle transportation.
The Beach Bungalows are located at #29 on the map
Upon arrival at the Beach Bungalow area, guests check-in with the concierge desk to have a bungalow assigned to them. Each bungalow includes two floating mats, a cooler of bottled water and beach towels.
As mentioned, the Beach Bungalows are located in a rather secluded area of the beach, which means less crowds. It is about a five minute walk down the beach to the floating bar. Other destinations on the island can be reached easily by requesting a cart ride from the concierge, which is complimentary.
The bungalow itself comes with a large couch and coffee table. There is enough room to comfortably seat four adults inside. There are also two beach lounger chairs that are just outside the bungalow, which provide even more seating options.
Each bungalow only has one full wall (in the back), but there are curtains that can be extended to provide more privacy and/or shade.
Unlike the cabanas in CocoCay, the Beach Bungalows have direct beach access, which means guests can exit their bungalow and walk right to the ocean, as opposed to the cabana guests who must exit the cabana area and then go into the ocean nearby.
During our stay, in lieu of the usual lunch buffet offered, all Beach Bungalow guests were given a new menu to pre-order their lunch. The selected options would be delivered to the bungalow when it was ready.
Depending on your culinary preferences, the menu ordering system can be a good or bad thing. Personally, I enjoyed having more options than just typical BBQ food, as well as not having to take my kids to the buffet. Delivery to the bungalow provided an extra level of service than I was expecting.
Just like delivery food at home, certain foods can deteriorate quickly in the interim period between preparation and delivery. Moreover, the cooked food items tended to be not as hot because of the delivery lag time. Still, not having to leave the comfortable confines of my bungalow was not to be overlooked.
There is a dedicated bar at the rear of the Beach Bungalow area, along with servers coming occasionally by to offer Coco Loco drinks. Additionally, restrooms are located just behind the Beach Bungalow area and are a very short walk.
Overall, the Beach Bungalows save a little bit of money over their cabana counterparts while providing significantly more living space and privacy than the less expensive Beach Beds.
The CocoCay Beach Bungalows are a great choice for families or groups that want to have a private area to sit, with easy access to the beach and lots included with the price.
