Help Choosing Beach For Family

[cbaker444]

Hi all,

 

My husband and I have never cruised before so the whole idea of booking shore excursions & activities is foreign to us.

 

We are going on a Disney cruise in late April with our 3-year-old daughter -- and she's never seen the beach or ocean before and is beyond excited to go!

 

We'd like to spend the day at the beach together and it looks like there are a few options besides right at the port, but can't seem to figure out what all the options are.

 

If we book through DCL, there is an option to go to the Uvero Beach Club.

 

What we prefer in a beach club/destination:

- Clean overall

- Nice sand to play in

- Clean restrooms

- Good food, willing to pay for higher-end food if available

- Place that has beach toys for our daughter to play with

- Nice beach chairs or loungers

- Few or no drunk people - family-friendly

- Not too crowded

 

We are not as concerned with price - we are willing to pay more for a nicer experience.

 

Thanks in advance!

[crewsweeper]

Hi all,

 

My husband and I have never cruised before so the whole idea of booking shore excursions & activities is foreign to us.

 

We are going on a Disney cruise in late April with our 3-year-old daughter -- and she's never seen the beach or ocean before and is beyond excited to go!

 

We'd like to spend the day at the beach together and it looks like there are a few options besides right at the port, but can't seem to figure out what all the options are.

 

If we book through DCL, there is an option to go to the Uvero Beach Club.

 

What we prefer in a beach club/destination:

- Clean overall

- Nice sand to play in

- Clean restrooms

- Good food, willing to pay for higher-end food if available

- Place that has beach toys for our daughter to play with

- Nice beach chairs or loungers

- Few or no drunk people - family-friendly

- Not too crowded

 

We are not as concerned with price - we are willing to pay more for a nicer experience.

 

Thanks in advance!

I suggest you try one of the AI's: Maya Chan, Nohoch Kay, or Almapena Beach Club. Uvero Beach is a very nice beach and good snorkeling and food is okay too, but it's a longer bus ride north of the port. Nohoch kay is a short taxi ride to the malecon just south of the port. Almapena is a tad further but also a taxi ride. Maya Chan is maybe 15 minutes away. All are very good, clean, good food, good service, and not crowded. You can find reviews and websites for booking here.

 

Enjoy your cruise and Costa Maya.

[stefanny28]

We are booked for Nohoch Cay in March 2012.

We are looking for the same things since we are not big drinkers and have a daughter.

I can write a review when we come back on this thread.

Will that be too late for you to decide?

[mitsugirly]

I have only been to Maya Chan and absolutely LOVED it. If you do a search on here, you will find that it comes highly recommended. Wonderful relaxing day, your own private palpaya for your family, GREAT food, drinks (regular/soda/alcohol), snorkeling, glass bottom kayak, chair floats in the water while they serve you drinks in the water and games. Everything for only 1 price! You can't go wrong.

 

Here's my review from last September along with a link at the bottom to a bunch of pictures. If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them the best that I can:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=30654861&postcount=12

[cbaker444]

Hi Mitsugirly,

 

I'm reading reviews of Maya Chan and a little concerned about that place. People are saying that the adjacent lot has lots of trash and occasionally the wind blows it into the ocean and onto the property at Maya Chan. They're also saying the water is dirty from it and just in general murky. (probably from sea grass?)

 

Anyway, I'm a bit nervous reading this. My 3-year-old gets into everything (very curious).

 

Also I'd love a beach that has really pretty blue water in front, does this exist anywhere in Costa Maya?

[mitsugirly]

Hi Mitsugirly,

 

I'm reading reviews of Maya Chan and a little concerned about that place. People are saying that the adjacent lot has lots of trash and occasionally the wind blows it into the ocean and onto the property at Maya Chan. They're also saying the water is dirty from it and just in general murky. (probably from sea grass?)

 

Anyway, I'm a bit nervous reading this. My 3-year-old gets into everything (very curious).

 

Also I'd love a beach that has really pretty blue water in front, does this exist anywhere in Costa Maya?

 

Ok, I will try to answer this the best that I can.

 

We had the palapa that was at the far end (where there is an empty lot). We seen a "few" items laying over there (like a pop can and a bottle) but there wasn't like piles of trash or bags on anything the day we were there. There was absolutely NO smell and like I said, we were right at the edge of the lot against this other lot. (In the other direction is another house and beach area).

 

Even though I had processed this picture in a different way, you can still tell that there is no trash laying around in the picture (and this is the other lot beyond the Kayaks):

 

 

There's basically sand piled up and trees. I don't even know if there is a building or not. We did not adventure over there. But I can tell you we didn't see anything to alarm us (or smell anything).

 

The day we got there, they had just had a lot of rain (3 days in a row), so as with any place, things blowing around can cause trash or anything to blow into the water or up on the beach. All I know is they had the place looking very nice when we arrived in the morning. :D

 

Turtle grass (from what I am told) is everywhere on the island and hard to avoid. It's a part of mother nature and some days are worse than others. We had never swam where there was sea grass before so I did not know what to expect either. However, there are things like star fish and sting rays, turtles and fish to be found in the grass. So you can see and find some interesting things.

 

There is an area out a ways that they canoe out to (one of the staff will take groups out there to snorkel) but we were told with all the rain, it wasn't a good day to see anything and we just snorkeled around the beach area and out a ways following him. So I can't answer what it is like out to where they canoe too.

 

Yes, the water is not the clear blue Caribbean water that you expect to see. From what others have said, I believe it's like this everywhere in Costa Maya? If not, hopefully someone can tell you a good place to go. I go to the Caribbean for the crystal clear blue waters as well, but had done my research prior to visiting Costa Maya and knew what to expect.

 

We definitely enjoyed our day at Maya Chan. The staff is wonderful, the place is relaxing, food is AWESOME, it's very intimate, plenty of activities...just lacking the crystal clear blue water. I would highly recommend it to anyone. Just go prepared to know what to expect.

[TexasMommy]

What a great thread! Thanks OP for starting it. We are also going on a Disney Cruise & were seeking same thing. I'm thinking The Maya Chan looks likely to be our choice. I followed the link above and it says they even have some supervised activities for the kids? Anyone tried that?

[MTinGA]

Went to Maya Chan last week. LOVE IT! The staff was fantastic and the food was great. They had a guided snorkel that a lot of kids took part in. Lots of sand to play in. They do not allow more than 40 people a day, and you really felt like it was your own little hideaway. The water is not as blue as it was at the pier...but I enjoyed it. The staff cleaned up the turtle grass all day long, and I did not see any trash. Kayaks, snorkel equipment and floating chairs were all available and included. They had bar drinks and lots of non alcoholic drinks available. All in all I had the best day on our cruise at Maya Chan. I want to go back as soon as possible. I just loved it.

[6moreyears]

Not sure of the correct spelling. In 2004 we got of the ship and went to the back of the port (shopping area) and found buses that took us to Mahjahal? It was a small beachside village. We sat on the beach and ordered beers. We also got a massage under the Palm Trees for $20/ 1/2 hr. Since then, a hurricance or two have struck this area. Does anyone know if this is still an option. My favorite day of any of my cruises!!

[negn]

That is still an option. Several beach vendors right there. We hcose Tropicante . free chairs and umberella. 2 people ate and drank for $38.

[jmkennett]

I would forget the expensive ship tours and "all inclusive places". Walk out of the controlled area to the Hard Rock and grab a cab for $3 per person to Majahual Beach. It takes about 5 minutes. Once there, walk down the "boardwalk area" and find the spot you like. We went to the place with the new looking red umbrellas. No charge for chairs, they just want to sell you a few drinks. Tip the servers a few bucks and they get you a cab back when you want to return. Great day. Great beach and really nice people. You'll have to put up with a few people selling things, but it was not overbearing and they were friendly. Like going back in time to old Mexico. Beautiful place!

[thabrake]

You can try also Yaya Beach, very clean and with a beautiful beach area. The staff was very friendly, the food and the drinks very very good. Close to the bar there is a dive center so we had a great guided snorkeling trip for a cheap price.

[chauncy's wife]

You can try also Yaya Beach, very clean and with a beautiful beach area. The staff was very friendly, the food and the drinks very very good. Close to the bar there is a dive center so we had a great guided snorkeling trip for a cheap price.

 

I looked Yaya up online & it looks like they are fairly new. How crowded was that area of the beach? Is it a good swimming beach? How much did you pay for the snorkeling w/ Doctor Dive?

[rainbow21]

My wife and I walked down the maim beach in Mahahual on a very nice concrete walkway and happened upon a place called the Nacional Beach Club. We rented an umbrella and chair on the lovely beach and spent the afternoon relaxing. We had Margaret's and the food was great. They also was a small pool that was very refreshing. There was a family with 2 children that seemed to have had a great time also. We spent about $30 dollars for the day and it was great. Next time we hit this port we will get a taxi to take us directly to the Nacional Beach Club for the day.

[cbaker444]

OK, so I'm the original poster...

 

We ended up going to Nohoch Kay beach resort. It ended up being a GREAT choice! The walk through the port town to get a taxi was rough because our 3-year-old likes to walk on her own but is slow and it was HOT that day. I wish I had some cold bottled water for our walk. I would estimate that we walked at least a full mile from our ship to the taxi area.

 

The beach was not crowded and was quiet, clean and relaxing. They had a few beach toys for our daughter to use like sand pails, etc. They were quite used (like cracks in some pails, etc.) but my 3YO didn't seem to notice or care.

 

She LOVED playing the sand and in the water. The water was so WARM! There is some sea grass in the water, but also lots of sandy areas too for swimming. Plenty of space to swim around. My husband brought some snorkel gear, but said there were not any fish to see (not that we expected there to be any, so no loss there).

 

The water was clear and blue - we had a bright, sunny day so that helped.

 

The service was great. We were immediately greeted after getting out of the taxi and shown to the beach. They let us choose a spot. Luckily that day they were not too busy so we had a big selection. The owner, Jaime, chatted with us (as he does with all the guests) and said that later in the week there was a day they were completely sold-out with reservations so perhaps on those days it's a little noisier and more crowded?

 

The food was good too. I tried the ceviche because I read so many good things about it online. I personally wasn't impressed because there was way too much sour lime juice on it. I've had ceviche numerous times at beach resorts and it was never that limey. It was hard to eat it was so sour. Next time I'd order the fish or shrimp tacos instead (my husband had those and said they were really good). The guacamole was GREAT!

 

Overall we had a wonderful time and would recommend to other families :)

[azndo4life]

How much is it to enter these beaches? What beaches are there where we can just grab a cab at the port and enjoy the day? we dont really need all the extra stuff, with an all inclusive beach

[kal72]

How much is it to enter these beaches? What beaches are there where we can just grab a cab at the port and enjoy the day? we dont really need all the extra stuff, with an all inclusive beach

 

You can grab a cab as you leave the port, have them drop you off at the boardwalk (malecon) in the town of Majahual (5 minute cab ride, $3 per person). Take a 5 minute stroll down the length of the boardwalk and then pick a spot on the beach that suits you.

 

If you want to eat and drink and pay as you go, there are lots of restaurants that will offer you a table, chair and beach loungers in return of course for your business for drinks and food. You don't need reservations , pre-payment and you don't need to pay all inclusive fees. The restaurant owners will surely try to lure you with their menus. My suggestion, walk to the end where you will find popular beach restaurants called 100% Agave and Tropicante....grab a seat there or you can back track and pick a different spot.

 

I highly recommend making the quick trip into the town of Mahahual..even if for an hour to buy a cheap beer and walk the boardwalk. You can return to the port area (pool, shops, bar) easily and quickly, lots of taxi's waiting to take you back. Two people could make the roundtrip into Majahual for a drink and a plate of nachos on the beach and return to the port within an hour and barely spend $20!