For me, spending the day at the beach or pool is a must-do when my cruise ship visits a Mexican port of call.
After readers asked me for a which Cozumel beach club to pick, I decided to try Mr. Sanchos Beach Club once again because it's the #8 ranked thing to do in Cozumel on TripAdvisor.
I had been there before in 2022, and frankly, I hated it. Compared to other beach clubs around Cozumel, I thought it was underwhelming. However, that was 4 years ago and I wanted to give it another try.
I booked 4 all-inclusive day passes on their website for $248 to give us up to 10 hours.
Easy to get there and get situated
If there's one easy thing about Cozumel that they do well, it's taxis.
Along with a family we were traveling with, we got a taxi for 7 that cost $40 each way.
Once we arrived at Mr. Sanchos, we were warmly greeted by the staff and directed to check-in. You can pre-purchase admission before your visit for as little as $79.00 per adult; $50 per teen, and $40 per kid.
After checking in, we were assigned a waiter that would work with us for the day and the waiter took us to our spot.
You can request chairs and a palapa anywhere that's not already taken, either near the beach or pool. I prefer the pool, so we got one in the "new area" that was recently expanded.
We had plastic tables and chairs to use, and our waiter allowed us to also snatch a few nearby loungers. The seating is mostly typical of other beach clubs around Cozumel, although I've found others have more loungers.
There were unlimited food options and nonalcoholic beverages to choose from
Your admission includes unlimited food and drink, with just a few exceptions.
- Unlimited food from the buffet
- Unlimited food delivered by your waiter
- Unlimited alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks
- Access to the beach
- Umbrellas at every table
- Use of ocean kayak
- Lockers
While everything is indeed unlimited, it's not exactly the best food or top shelf liquors either.
Our waiter service was excellent, and both Hillario and Diego were extremely attentive. We tried a wide selection of food, although I prefer to lean into Mexican food when I'm in Mexico.
The tacos, fajitas, and chicken sandwich were all adequate, but not great. To paraphrase the Roman Caesar in "History of the World Part 1", it was good. Not great, but good.
In terms of drinks, they have plenty of your typical beach cocktails and beers.
One thing they don't have are shots. This was really surprising to me, but I'm guessing they want to keep things from getting out of hand.
Basically, nothing was exceptional, but it was certainly good enough.
The beach was huge, with lots of sand and few rocks
You won't struggle trying to get into the ocean at Mr. Sanchos.
The beach is enormous, as is the beach club itself. Even on our mostly overcast day, the beach was very inviting and water color looked tropical.
I appreciated there were not many rocks or seaweed to contend with. It's the right water depth for wading in and not immediately having the water go over your head.
As morning turned to lunch, it was clear how big the resort is and how many people were visiting.
I walked along the beach and it was easily a 10 minute walk from one end to another. Even though it wasn't completely sold out, you won't confuse a visit to Mr. Sanchos with any kind of a secluded beach.
Our day was dampened by ants, barely any Wi-Fi, and cold pools
My biggest issue with Mr. Sanchos was the lack of quality to the day. Meaning, it felt unremarkable and we had issues that dogged us all day.
There were two problems with the Wi-Fi. The signal barely reached out seats, resulting in off and on connectivity.
But even when the Wi-Fi did connect, there were dropouts often. It resulted in a lot of tossing your phone onto the table out of frustration.
Then there were a lot of ants around our seats.
On top of that, the pools weren't heated, and it resulted in pools that were "you gotta get used to it" temperature.
No single issue was a deal breaker, but all of it combined to leave a poor experience.
Next time I'll go to a different beach club
Ultimately, I think I'd rather go back to Paradise Beach or Buccanos than Mr. Sanchos.
I think the problem I have with Mr. Sanchos is how all the little things in their delivery add up to a less than stellar experience.
Their footprint is significantly bigger, and when it gets full, you'll definitely notice the crowds. The lack of functional Wi-Fi and mediocre food also were the things that instantly made us think of Paradise Beach.
Not to mention Royal Caribbean will be opening its own beach club in Cozumel later this year, which gives us yet another compelling alternative.
The staff were wonderful, so I have no issue with the service. But I think there are better places to spend your day in Cozumel.
