Are Sandals Resorts All Inclusive? Included vs. Extra Guide

Yes, every Sandals resort is genuinely all-inclusive: your room rate covers all meals, unlimited premium-brand drinks, most water sports, and every tip and gratuity resort-wide. What it doesn't cover is a shorter, specific list: spa treatments, off-resort excursions, private candlelit dinners, and a handful of add-ons like cabana rentals and scuba certification courses. Below is the full included-versus-extra breakdown, what changed in how resort pricing gets disclosed in 2026, and exactly where the real costs hide.

What's included at Sandals

Per Sandals' own official inclusions page, every stay across all 17 resorts covers:

• All meals across up to 16 restaurants per resort, plus anytime snacks, no reservation fees or upcharges
• Unlimited premium-brand liquor at up to 11 bars per resort, including swim-up, oceanside, and piano bars, plus six Robert Mondavi Twin Oaks wine varietals
• Water sports and activities including scuba diving for certified divers, plus land activities like golf and pickleball
• All tips and gratuities resort-wide (a few specific exceptions below)
• Round-trip airport transfers and complimentary Wi-Fi everywhere on property
• In-room bars stocked with wine and local beer, plus premium bedding and bath amenities

Included vs. extra cost: the full breakdown

Category	Included	Extra cost
Dining	All restaurants, all meals, snacks	Private candlelight beach dinner, from $199
Drinks	Premium-brand liquor, standard wine list	Manager's reserve wine list (above standard selections)
Water sports	Scuba (certified divers), snorkeling, kayaking, sailing	PADI certification course, scuba review course ($80), wetsuit rental ($10/dive)
Spa	Not included at all	All Red Lane Spa treatments: facials, massages, manicures/pedicures
Excursions	Not included	All off-property tours (catamaran cruises, waterfall hikes, etc.), booked through third parties
Golf	Unlimited rounds at select resorts	Mandatory caddy fee, cart/club/shoe rental, PGA lessons
Accommodations	Room, in-room bar, Wi-Fi, airport transfers	Private cabana rental, around $150/day
Gratuities	All resort-wide tips	Butler tips ($20 to $25/day, customary not mandatory), spa and tour-operator tips
Photography	Not included	Professional photo packages for weddings/special occasions

Source: Sandals' own official breakdown of what's not included, cross-checked against the inclusions page above.

Is alcohol included at Sandals?

Yes, unlimited premium-brand liquor is included at every bar, resort-wide, not just at one designated bar. That means top-shelf pours rather than a generic well selection. The one exception is the "Manager's wine list," a smaller selection of higher-end wines beyond the six standard Robert Mondavi Twin Oaks varietals already included, which carries an extra charge if you order from it specifically.

Are excursions included?

No. Off-property tours and excursions, catamaran cruises, waterfall hikes, swimming with pigs, and similar activities, are not part of the all-inclusive rate. These run through third-party operators and are booked and paid for separately, either in advance through your travel advisor or on-property once you arrive.

What changed for 2026: the new fee transparency rules

The FTC's Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees took effect May 12, 2025, with smaller properties given until January 2026 to fully comply. The rule requires hotels and resorts to display the total price, including mandatory fees, upfront rather than revealing them late in the booking process. It's industry-wide, not a Sandals-specific change, and it doesn't cap or ban resort fees, it only requires clearer disclosure. Practically, that means the published rate you see when comparing Sandals resorts in 2026 should already reflect required fees more transparently than in prior years, though optional extras like the ones in the table above are still disclosed separately, since they're not mandatory charges.

Key considerations before you rely on "all-inclusive"

• "All-inclusive" isn't "everything included." Treat the table above as the real boundary, not the marketing language, before you set a vacation budget.
• Budget an extras allowance anyway. Most travelers end up spending something on spa, excursions, or a special dinner. Planning $200 to $500 per couple for a week covers the common add-ons without surprises.
• Butler and spa tips are customary, not automatic. Unlike resort-wide gratuities, these aren't built in, bring cash or be ready to add them if you use those services.
• Book excursions through a specialist when possible. Pricing and quality vary by operator, and an advisor can flag which specific tours are worth it at your resort.

A day's worth of what's actually included

To make the value concrete, here's what one ordinary day covers without a single extra charge:

• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner at any of up to 16 restaurants, no reservation fees
• Unlimited drinks at up to 11 bars, premium brands throughout
• Snorkeling or a scuba dive (if certified), kayaking, or a round of golf
• Wi-Fi everywhere on property and all resort-wide gratuities

Priced separately at a comparable non-all-inclusive resort, that single day commonly runs $250 to $400 per couple, before the room itself, which is the real, concrete value the "all-inclusive" label is actually buying you.

How to avoid surprise costs at Sandals

1. Read the included-vs-extra table above before you book, not after you arrive, so nothing on property is a surprise.
2. Set a small extras budget ($200 to $500 per couple for a week) for spa, excursions, or a special dinner, rather than assuming you'll spend nothing beyond the room rate.
3. Ask your travel specialist to confirm your resort's exact inclusions. A few specifics (golf access, butler service) vary by room category and resort.
4. Bring cash for customary tips on the items that aren't resort-wide gratuities: butler service and spa staff specifically.
5. Book through a certified Sandals specialist at no extra cost. Sandals pays advisor commissions directly, and a specialist can flag current promotions before you commit to any add-ons.

For the full picture on whether the all-inclusive math actually pencils out for your trip, see our companion guide: Are Sandals Resorts Worth It? A 2026 Cost Breakdown. And if timing is flexible, booking in the cheapest season stretches the same inclusions further.

Frequently asked questions

Are gratuities really included at Sandals?

Yes, resort-wide gratuities are built into the rate. The exceptions are butler service and spa treatments, where tips are customary but not automatically added.

Is alcohol included at Sandals, or just at one bar?

Included at every bar resort-wide, up to 11 per resort, with premium-brand liquor rather than a lower-shelf selection. Only the separate Manager's reserve wine list costs extra.

Are excursions included in the all-inclusive rate?

No. Off-property tours and excursions are booked and paid for separately through third-party operators, either in advance or once you arrive.

What are Sandals' biggest hidden costs?

Spa treatments and off-resort excursions are the two categories travelers most often underestimate, since neither is included at all, unlike most other line items where only a premium tier costs extra.

Did Sandals pricing get more transparent in 2026?

Industry-wide fee disclosure rules from the FTC took full effect for all properties by January 2026, requiring total mandatory pricing to be shown upfront. This applies across the hotel industry, not specifically to Sandals, and doesn't change what's included, only how clearly mandatory fees are disclosed during booking.

Is it cheaper to skip the extras entirely?

For a strict budget, yes, everything in the "included" column costs nothing extra no matter how much you use it. Most travelers still spend something on one or two extras, spa or an excursion being the most common, so budgeting a modest allowance is more realistic than assuming zero extra spend.