Royal Caribbean has a private island in The Bahamas that is not just a really fun place to spend the day, but I think a place a lot of people don't realize how much there is to do.
The traditional cruise line private island experience is a beach, a chair, and a BBQ lunch. It's lovely, but a bit ho-hum and not that extraordinary.
Royal Caribbean flipped the script on that experience when it upgraded its private island, CocoCay, to offer so much more than that. Since 2019, the island has been transformed into a vacationer's paradise with beaches, pools, adults-only party, beach club, water park, and more.
On a recent cruise, I took friends that had never been and they were blown away by how much was offered at Perfect Day at CocoCay. Once they discovered all the choices, they thought it was almost overwhelming where to go and what to do.
In planning our day, it became obvious there were a few misconceptions a first time visitor had about CocoCay, and I'm betting a lot of others do too.
You have to pay to do have a good time
When I started listing the things you could do at Perfect Day at CocoCay, my friends saw dollar signs almost immediately.
While there are indeed extra cost options, Royal Caribbean includes so much in your visit at no extra cost.
A majority of the island experience has no admission cost, and they're not lackluster options either.
Read more: 11 CocoCay secrets from Royal Caribbean's staff
Chill Island is part of the original beach that made up CocoCay prior to the island's revitalization, and it has the classic beach day experience. Expansive beach, soft sand, and plenty of ways to get in the ocean.
South Beach has a bit more of a party vibe to it than Chill Island does, and you'll find a floating bar here that you can swim to.
There are actually two other beaches you can visit: Harbor Beach and Breezy Bay. I prefer Harbor Beach, especially if you have kids that aren't strong swimmers. It's an inlet with calm waters and it's typically less busy than other beaches, while being convenient to food.
The coup de grâce of the included choices is Oasis Lagoon, which is a giant freshwater pool right in the middle of CocoCay.
Oasis Lagoon has no cost to enter, and it's my go-to spot whenever I visit.
Call me crazy, but I prefer pools to beaches, and it's a beautiful place to enjoy cooling off in the water.
Speaking of Oasis Lagoon, the pool has a swim-up bar and if you have a drink package from the ship, then you can use it here too.
Another overlooked option for family fun is Splashaway Bay and Captain Jill's Galleon. Too many families focus on the extra-cost water park, but Splashaway Bay and Captain Jill's Galleon have no cost and it has water slides, geysers, and plenty of places for the kids to get soaked.
It's a boon for kids under the age of 7 or 8, and can save parents so much money over the water park.
On top of all of it, the umbrellas and beach chairs are included too, so there's no cost to use them. I think that's a surprise considering any beach you visit in the Caribbean will have a cost associated with that.
The food is mid
The included food on Perfect Day at CocoCay is so much better than I ever thought a private island lunch could be.
For years, I despised the food served on cruise line private islands. In fact, we used to get off the ship early and swim and then return early to the ship so we could eat a good lunch onboard rather than eat the beach BBQ options.
Royal Caribbean's food on CocoCay is not only better than that, it's downright really tasty.
The Snack Shack is my go-to place to bring someone who has never visited Perfect Day before because their menu is deceivingly good.
The mozzarella sticks alone usually wins them over, but the burger, chicken sandwich, and funnel cake are all winners too.
I'm also a big fan of Chill Grille/Skipper's Grille because of the fixings bar they offer. Not only does it have toppings for your burger, but you can make your own tacos or fajitas and I could eat that every day.
All the food is included and you can enjoy as much of it as you want throughout the day.
While you can still find hot dogs and hamburgers on CocoCay, it's far from the only choice.
You should go snorkeling
Not everything is amazing at CocoCay, such as the snorkeling options.
A lot of first time visitors are excited to be in The Bahamas and go snorkeling, but CocoCay probably isn't the island to try it.
While you can snorkel there and Royal Caribbean offers snorkel equipment rentals, I think it's really not worth trying.
The issue is the underwater life around CocoCay is rather unremarkable. Yes, there's marine life to see, but in the grand scheme of snorkeling options, I think you're better off saving the snorkeling for another port.
You can sleep in and get to the island later
To be clear, you can totally sleep in and still enjoy CocoCay later, but I think it's a mistake.
Because there's two cruise ships in port almost every day, the island will get crowded as the day progresses. It won't be super crowded that it feels like a theme park, but finding chairs and umbrellas in convenient locations becomes a problem.
It's not unusual for there to be over 10,000 people on the island between two cruise ships, so your best bet is to get off the ship before 10am.
My advice is don't sleep in, and get off the ship early so you can get a great spot at the beach or pool.
