Thoughts on the Copamarina
 

We are a family of 5 (3 teens) considering the Copamarina in Guanica for a 5-day vacation in December. We are looking for a quiet place on the water with a nice beach for reading/light relaxation-- not interested in night life or casinos, and casual settings appeal to us. Any recent experience with the Copamarina? Some of the past reviews indicate disappointment with the beach.. is this a real concern?

I stayed at the Copa last year... and I thought it was pretty nice. They have a nice beach area with umbrellas and even a few beds... but the beach isn't like a blinding white sand beach... it's a little more like a lagoon beach. But that does have an advantage in that there really aren't ocean waves - the water was pretty calm. But the room was clean and the grounds were beautiful. Other than a probelm I had with the dive shop, I was pleased with the resort.

My husband and I were at Copamarina a few winters ago. We stayed there through RCI in a timeshare. The grounds were very nice, I loved the cleanliness and tropical but casual feel of the rooms.

The beach was terrible. If you are not a beach person and you spend your time at the pool or are content on a chaise lounge then that is a different story. We were so dissapointed. There is sea grass all along the water's edge. It is not at all inviting.

We love to explore whenever we travel and found beaches we drove to and did a lot of other traveling around the island but we didn't like being in the "Caribbean" and having such a lousy beach.

I know my teenage sons (now in college)had we taken them would not have liked Copamarina at all. I would keep looking if I were you!

If you haven't already done so, read the reviews on TA and take a look at the traveler photos.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...erto_Rico.html

mhcatl, have you been to Copamarina? The picture on Trip Advisor that shows chaise lounges on the beach is an accurate portrayal although to the right side of the picture is where all the sea grass is.

The other beach picture is at least a ten minute walk from the resort.

Thanks for all of your responses. The Copamarina seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it type of place. A beach on-site is not so important to us -- we'll be happy swimming in a nice pool and heading over to other beaches or Gilligan's Island --- so I think we'll be fine.

But another question: can anyone advise us on how long it takes to drive to the Arecibo Observatory from Guanica? We have some extra time at the end of the long weekend, and we'd like to go back to San Juan via Arecibo if the roads and traffic wouldn't be too bad.
LFG2Elecman

I have to agree with the other comments below - while the hotel and facilities were very nice, the beach was certainly average at best. We stayed at Copa about 3-years ago. We did enjoy staying on the other side of the island and there are interesting things to do such as the dry "rain" forest and island adjacent to the resort. If the beach is important to your stay, you may want to look at other spots. If not, this is an interesting spot on the island with a very nice feel. Enjoy your trip!!!