Antigua's Romantic All-Inclusive Cocobay Resort: Read This Before You Book
I recently got back from a week-long trip to Antigua’s beautiful Cocobay Resort and have gotten lots of questions from people thinking about booking a trip here. If you’re considering booking a trip to Antigua, or are looking for a romantic island getaway, here is everything you need you need to know before you book a vacation to Cocobay Resort.
xx, Heather
Get the Cocobay Member Discount
This is an easy way to save 5% on your booking - just sign up to be a member on their website and use the code to book your room.
On top of that, Cocobay is always promoting some sort of travel deal or discount on social media. Check out their Instagram page for the latest deals. If you don’t see any current deals, just DM them and ask. I ended up getting an extra 10% off code for our booking! Obviously this depends on if they have a current or upcoming promotion, but it’s worth asking.
Honeymooners and couples who get married at the resort get an additional 5% off, so make sure you take advantage of all of those savings.
Book the Waterfront Pool Suite
We stayed in 3 different cottages during our week-long stay (I’ll talk more about this later), and I can tell you that the Waterfront Pool Suite is absolutely worth it. The appeal of Cocobay is the location, and having a waterfront suite with a plunge pool makes the experience that much more enjoyable. The Waterfront Suite was the final cottage of our stay, and we ended up spending the most time in our room the last few days, just enjoying the view, the outdoor day bed, outdoor bathtub, and our private pool. Not to mention how peaceful it was waking up to that view.
Schedule the free airport pickup
Once you’ve booked your flight, send them the details and they will arrange for a free pickup at the airport for you. You can expect about a 40 min drive to the resort. On the way out, they’ll be happy to arrange a car from the resort to the airport, and you’ll pay about $30-$40 for that one.
If you don’t love your room, ask the concierge what else is available
When we initially booked online, the only cottage available was the Deluxe Cottage. It still had pretty spectacular views from the balcony, but it was further set back and didn’t have a pool. After letting the concierge know we’d be interested in upgrading, they moved us to a Deluxe Pool Cottage one night into our stay. Later in the week they called our room and said they had another opening, at a Waterfront Suite, if we were interested (which we definitely were). It’s possible that we just got lucky with room availability, but I still highly recommended discussing with the concierge when you arrive, if you aren’t 100% satisfied with your room. In my case, they were more than accommodating and helped with moving our luggage every time.
The food won’t blow you away
I didn’t have high hopes for the all-inclusive food to begin with and honestly, I went to Cocobay for the location, not the food, so this didn’t bother me that much.
Lunch was probably my favorite meal - they usually had some sort of fresh grilled fish and salad option. The grill-master at both breakfast and lunch was the sweetest woman and offered the best solution to those meals with fresh eggs at breakfast and fish at lunch. They do provide vegetarian options on every menu and between the 3 meals a day plus mid-afternoon “bar bites” (wings, flat-bread pizza, potato wedges, etc.), and a panini bar, you won’t be left feeling hungry.
If you want to mix it up, you can try Sheer Rocks Restaurant (not part of the all-inclusive rate), or Cocobay’s premium dining options that can be more personalized, but I can’t speak to how the food was for those.
Splurge on extras like the Floating Breakfast
If you follow Cocobay on Instagram you have probably seen their Floating Breakfast. Basically, you select a day that you want to do it, make some menu selections (like the type of omelette, toast, and fruit that you want) and they’ll bring a full breakfast to your cottage’s private pool. They definitely know what they’re doing and will take some pictures and videos on your phone for you to help capture the moment - since you’ll be in the pool with a mimosa. I found it a nice change from the morning buffet and, again, just another way to really make the most of your time there.
If you don’t have a room with a pool, you can book the Cocobay Black Rock Pool or Romance Pool for the same private Floating Breakfast or Floating Tapas experience. We did the Floating Tapas at the Romance Pool, and since it’s a 4 pm booking time and the last booking of the day, they let us stay as long as we wanted. We were able to enjoy our tapas, and stay for the sunset.
It’s Adults Only - and all couples
Pretty much everyone there is celebrating an engagement, honeymoon, or anniversary. Even though my boyfriend and I were not celebrating any of those, I actually still enjoyed that it was mostly couples. Everyone is kind of on the same page, and it’s really laid back. You can either spend all the time with your significant other, or you can make friends with the other couples. We ended up meeting some really sweet couples and hung out in the main pool or bar together some days.
Sign up for their morning fitness classes
There isn’t a gym on-site (sorry fitness buffs), so I attended their classes instead. It seems like most people at the resort don’t take advantage of the free morning classes - usually, it was us and one other couple - so they almost ended up being private sessions. Each day they offer a different class: Pilates, Yoga, or Circuit Training on the beach. The yoga class was my favorite of the three. The class was held on the pool deck overlooking the ocean, and it was the perfect way to start the day.
There are plenty of water sports options available
The resort has Stand Up Paddle Boards, kayaks, etc. available for use all day, at no charge. If you want to do something additional, like Jet Ski, it’s not part of the resort, but is still available. Every beach in Antigua is public (even the resort beach), and some smart businessmen see the opportunity that the resort guests offer. A man named Jevon has a pretty solid Jet Ski business going at the beach by Cocobay. We paid $50/30 min to take out his Jet Skis and it was a blast. A lot of other resort guests did the same, so he’s definitely become a reputable guy.
Don’t forget about the beach!
With two large infinity pools at the resort, and possibly your own private plunge pool, it would be easy to stay there all day. I loved the main pool - it has the best view, in my opinion - but you should definitely spend some time at the beach too. We would head down in the morning after the fitness class, or in the mid afternoon to switch it up from the pool. I didn’t snorkel but they do have snorkel equipment available if you’re interested.
Lastly, just relax and enjoy your time there! The water and the view from Cocobay Resort is absolutely beautiful. It really is a romantic location, and perfect for a honeymoon or tropical getaway. If you have other questions, leave them in the comments, or DM me on Instagram!
