Which port to skip. Mahogany Bay or Costa Maya

[BenjiRodney]

Just back from a cruise that stopped in Costa Maya, if you want to skip one, this would be it.

[riclop]

We have never been to either port but wanted to stay on board to enjoy the ship, when there are less people, on one of these days. Of the two, which should I skip? :confused::confused:

 

How about both of them.

[OCruisers]

We love having a port stop in Costa Maya! Lovely beach areas are only a short shuttle/taxi ride away to Majahaul! :)

Honestly, we like both Costa Maya and Mahogany Bay ... but have to admit we like Costa Maya better.

LuLu

[vacin8r]

Never done Costa Maya but Roatan was one of my favorite cruise days ever. We didn't know what to do and didn't book an excursion, so we grabbed a cab and said go go a beach club. He asked us if we wanted to shop and see the island and we said sure. He took us everywhere. A local craft market just sitting up on a hill, a local rum shop, the shopping area of town, a tour of the island both touristy stuff and local type stuff, then to a beach club where the cabbie secured us towels and beach chairs. It was like $50 plus tip and we bought the cabbie lunch at the club. We bought a bunch of local items and crafts direct from. Locals on the hilltop market for very reasonable prices. Just an amazing day that didn't seem like a forced cruiser tour as so many excursions do (it stops at overpriced shopping in exchange for a cut to the tour company)

Edited April 15, 2016 by vacin8r

[tandemcruzr]

Totally agree!

 

Disagree. See post 22.

[tonit964]

You definitely have to go to Little French Key in Roatan. It is BEAUTIFUL!

 

We booked this for our cruise last summer on Magic and was so looking forward to it, unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate that day. :mad:

[k2excursion]

Between the 2, I would skip Costa Maya, although I did really enjoy that port.

 

In Roatan, it will be very tempting to just stay at that manmade beach right next to the ship, but I beg you not to do that. This island is absolutely stunning! And the people who just stay at that beach next to the ship are missing out on an amazing blessing. I recommend an island tour with Victor Bodden or one of the other independent operators. For very reasonable prices (like $50pp or less), you can get your own driver for the day, and you pick what you want to do. The beaches out on the west end are beautiful, and have amazing snorkeling. The beach right next to the ship may be nice, but it's a plain old ordinary lazy beach day, which you can have at any other port. Use a different port, like Costa Maya or Cozumel, for a lazy beach day. But for Roatan, get out and explore this incredible island.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Skip Mahogany Bay. Costa Maya is awesome.

[cruising maniac]

We rented a golf cart in Costa Maya for like $40. Had an absolute blast. Rode all around the island and hit some beautiful back roads. I would do that again in a heartbeat. In Mahogany Bay you should be able to get off and walk around without spending a penny. The only ports we ever skip are Belize and La Romana.

[Wendyland]

I would pick Costa Maya to skip. But, we did love Costa Maya. We took shuttle into Mahahual. That's where we did most of our shopping. It was the least expensive shopping I have ever done at a cruise ship port. And the vendors were much more friendly. Not aggressive like other places.

[cruiseondude]

We really liked going to the Tropicante in Costa Maya. Great beach day, great food, cheap and fabulous massages.

 

agree, I would get off in Costa Maya -- we had an awesome time at Tropicante - it's less than a 5 min taxi ride and you can spend all day there -- and spend your money with the locals vs. spending your money on a cruise made port - where your just giving your money back to them -- IMO

[Barbiegator]

Personally, I would not skip either. However if I had to pick one, it would be Costa Maya, only because I have been twice (and loved it), but have never been to Mahogany bay, (but have been to Roatan). As another poster above has suggested, you can easily just get off for an hour or so in Costa Maya, and still return to a very quiet ship. But have to say, not far from the port at Costa Maya is the town of Majahual, a quaint little beach town, not touristy and overrun like Cozumel. So it would be hard for me to pick either of these port stops to stay on board.

 

Been to both. My husband loves Costa Maya. We go to Majahual and get waited on with chips,salsa and Margaritas,umbrella and chairs, cigar and chose some silver jewelry.Can order fresh fish for lunch delivered to you on beach. Also massage under palm trees. At end of day just give them cash, can't remember exact amount but under $100. Water is shallow and great for wading and cooling off.

We took a tour to Mahogany bay and saw interesting local areas with short boat tour to boat that crashed on rocks.

You need to leave port area in both places to get the true island feeling.

[Barbiegator]

Been to both. My husband loves Costa Maya. We go to Majahual and get waited on with chips,salsa and Margaritas,umbrella and chairs, cigar and chose some silver jewelry.Can order fresh fish for lunch delivered to you on beach. Also massage under palm trees. At end of day just give them cash, can't remember exact amount but under $100. Water is shallow and great for wading and cooling off.

We took a tour to Mahogany bay and saw interesting local areas with short boat tour to boat that crashed on rocks.

You need to leave port area in both places to get the true island feeling.

 

Thinking that port might have been Roatan not Mahogany bay. After a few cruises they all run together.

[asalligo]

I have done neither port, but I really want to try the chair lift at Mahogany Bay. My friends did Costa Maya two years ago and they said the water was cloudy and dirty.

[Keys2Heaven]

The only thing I remember about Costa Maya was some dude all oiled up in the middle of the small pool in the port area, posing for some photo shoot.

 

o.k. that probably sounds wrong, but it just was so out of place.

[k2excursion]

Thinking that port might have been Roatan not Mahogany bay. After a few cruises they all run together.

 

Mahogany Bay is in Roatan. It's the same place. Roatan has a couple of ports where cruise ships can stop, Mahogany Bay being one of them. That bay has a manmade beach, specially made for cruise guests. I can't blame the people who only stay at that beach to not feel that there's anything special about that port. However, the people who get away from that manmade beach and truly explore Roatan will totally love this amazing island! It is by far the best cruise port (either port in Roatan) of the entire Western Caribbean, and it rivals the best ports of the Eastern/Southern Caribbean.

Edited April 15, 2016 by k2excursion

[BrotherCraig]

We have never been to either port but wanted to stay on board to enjoy the ship, when there are less people, on one of these days. Of the two, which should I skip? :confused::confused:

 

Never miss Roatan. Most beautiful beach in the Caribbean and great island to visit.

[DebJ14]

Costa Maya is great, but make sure to book a beach club or excursion to get the full benefit of the place. We love both Maya Chan Beach Club and Alma Plena and the tours to the ruins are wonderful.

 

As for Mahogany Bay, I would skip the beach there, especially if there is more than one ship in port. We paid $49.00 for a clamshell, chairs and rafts and stayed all of 15 minutes and most of that was spent in line returning the floats. The chairs were broken down and if you have a bad back you will be miserable. The floats were ripped and smelled so bad I would never have put my body on it. There is no view - just clamshell in front of clamshell. The water had an oil sheen to it. I was not sure if it was from all the suntan lotion or something from the ships. We got back to the ship ASAP to enjoy the pools.

However, if you have not been to Roatan I highly recommend hiring a driver from Victor Bodden Tours and touring the island. We did that on a previous cruise to Mahogany Bay and it turned out to be one of the best days we have had on any island. If you want a beautiful beach then go over to West Bay (Tabyana, Bananarama etc) or go to Little French Key.

[skyeman27]

I would get off in Costa Maya -- we had an awesome time at Tropicante - it's less than a 5 min taxi ride and you can spend all day there -- and spend your money with the locals vs. spending your money on a cruise made port - where your just giving your money back to them -- IMO

Agree, nice beach, quaint local town....

[BrotherCraig]

 

As for Mahogany Bay, I would skip the beach there, especially if there is more than one ship in port. We paid $49.00 for a clamshell, chairs and rafts and stayed all of 15 minutes and most of that was spent in line returning the floats. The chairs were broken down and if you have a bad back you will be miserable. The floats were ripped and smelled so bad I would never have put my body on it. There is no view - just clamshell in front of clamshell. The water had an oil sheen to it. I was not sure if it was from all the suntan lotion or something from the ships. We got back to the ship ASAP to enjoy the pools.

However, if you have not been to Roatan I highly recommend hiring a driver from Victor Bodden Tours and touring the island. We did that on a previous cruise to Mahogany Bay and it turned out to be one of the best days we have had on any island. If you want a beautiful beach then go over to West Bay (Tabyana, Bananarama etc) or go to Little French Key.

 

I agree with you 100%. It is like spending a week at Downtown Disney and never going into any of the Disney Parks. You are missing the best part. We love Roatan -- especially West End Village and West Bay Beach. Can't imagine ever skipping that place. Best port stop in the Western Caribbean.

[tandemcruzr]

We rented a golf cart in Costa Maya for like $40. Had an absolute blast. Rode all around the island and hit some beautiful back roads.

 

For the record, Costa Maya is not an island. :)

[Out of Iowa]

stay on the ship and enjoy a quiet day!

 

Our travellers truly like Mahogany Bay; it is beautiful and relaxing. I had no problems with the clamshells, nor the chairs and we took our own floats (inflatable and a noodle).

[SkyMaster]

Actually, the lovely and talented Mrs. Jones and I stay aboard in both those ports. We renamed Costa Maya, "Costa Mucho". ;)

 

"SKY"

[jonbgd]

The only thing I remember about Costa Maya was some dude all oiled up in the middle of the small pool in the port area, posing for some photo shoot.

 

o.k. that probably sounds wrong, but it just was so out of place.

 

Was that former CC mod Randy with the Valor Vampires:p

[angela12345]

Of the two, if I had to pick only one, I would definitely get off the ship at Isla Roatan Mahogany Bay instead of Costa Maya. HOWEVER, if Belize is also on your itinerary, I would go to both Roatan and Costa Maya and skip Belize.

 

As many others have stated above, Roatan is great. And even if all you do is stay at the port, you can snorkel right there (go to the end of the long pier at the far side of the beach and snorkel off the left side of the pier).

 

In Costa Maya, you can take a taxi for $3 to the beach place right next to Señor Frogs (I think). It's free to use their wifi and chairs etc there. We went based on mitsugirly's recommendation and it was great. I'm gonna go check the name of the place and come back here and edit my post.