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Costa Maya research leads me to think things have changed a bit since 2016 visit?

Vacationdreamer<><

By Vacationdreamer<><,
in Costa Maya

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Vacationdreamer<><

Vacationdreamer<><

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Our family will have a day in Costa Maya on Voyager of the Seas in May.

In 2016 we stopped there and IIRC we took a tram to the Malecon and walked our way to a beach where we could see our NCL ship.  We paid $5pp for access and a drink.  We also bought some food items to support the location, but did not dine fully.  When we were ready to return to the ship, we asked and they called us a cab.  I was hoping to do something similar this time.

 

However - the poking around I've done here on CC suggest that that aforementioned tram no longer operates, and some(many?) of the establishments haven't really all gotten their footing after the lockdowns.

 

My kids are 20, 18, 16, 12, 10, and DH and I are in our early 50"s.  We would just like a somewhat local beach and are open to cabs.

 

I am open to all suggestions with safety being my #1 priority.  😄

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crewsweeper "Live from...." Rare

crewsweeper

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No trams any more.   Blue Kay changed owners just prior to COVID closure.

 

But you can still take a taxi (from inside the port complex now) and go to the malecon, any beach club you want to go to.  If you do not want to pay for All Inclusive, then just have the driver drop you at Krazy Lobster.  No charge for loungers just buy food and or drinks.  Decent service.  Reasonably good food depending on your order.  

 

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crewsweeper "Live from...." Rare

crewsweeper

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17 hours ago, Greenhopster said:

Hi Vacationdreamer. Transportation is $4 pp and read the comment on Maramo/El Fuerte...our favorite place for a relaxing day and great service. I posted my experience from my Christmas 2022 cruise.

I agree that  Maramo makes sense for couples looking to relax.  I think the question would be what activities are available to keep teens and tweens interested.   And while Pepe's is next door and Maramo is close to  Gysea Divers and Dr Dive, still I see Maramo/ ElFuerte as places for relaxing.  Which is why KL probably makes better sense for a large group with children.

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jbrinkm

jbrinkm

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If you have active/busy-type kids/teens, anything along the Malecon may be a challenge because space is tight. My 12 year old son was trying to paddleboard last year and could only go 1-2 strokes forward without running out of space (so he wouldn't bump into people or the edge of the allotted water square in front of us). We're going to try Maya Chan this year simply for more space available around us (and more to do...). 

 

I REALLY wish they would reopen the water park. That place was amazing. Or that Royal would buy it, as I saw suggested on another post, to get it up and running again. 

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c-leg5

c-leg5

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22 hours ago, Vacationdreamer<>< said:

However - the poking around I've done here on CC suggest that that aforementioned tram no longer operates, and some(many?) of the establishments haven't really all gotten their footing after the lockdowns.

 

My kids are 20, 18, 16, 12, 10, and DH and I are in our early 50"s.  We would just like a somewhat local beach and are open to cabs.


I agree space is tight along the malecon so unless you are prepared to sit at a table or lounger not much room to be active. There are some bars at the quieter ends - (Blue Kay has not had particularly good reviews recently) and  there are several south of town off the malecon but tend to be AI. Hotel Maya Luna will do PAYG with a minimum pp payment.


There are also fly fishing from the beach or bottom trawling boats where they will cook your catch. Bike rentals and there used to be segway, not sure if that resumed.

 

As i posted on another thread I think Costa Maya is probably a difficult port with teenagers unless you are willing to experience a cultural excursion to the ruins, perhaps combined with local Mayan lunch experience  or with, or exclusively at Bacalar lagoon with watersports activities. 
 

You could always just do the activities at the port, displays, shopping, pool, or dolphins returning to the ship to eat which saves on current excessive taxi fares. Just outside the port is a new small hotel with pool that several cruisers have recommended (Ken Ahau) but again only snack/drinks/small pool but you can walk and save on taxis. There are several cooking classes but tend to be expensive.

 

 

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Vacationdreamer<><

Vacationdreamer<><

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Thank you all for your responses. 
 

what do you mean by space being tight @jbrinkm @c-leg5 ?  Like just packed people to people?

 

We aren’t super active. We like to splash in the water and build sandcastles and bury one another.  Mostly we just appreciate warm ocean days. 
 

We could just stay on VOTS I suppose.  I really didn’t do my homework. I picked this cruise bc we were excited to revisit some places we’d liked and to try a new ship and departure port.  We’d wanted to go to Isla Pasion on the north end of Coz, again, any apparently Royal is one of the few lines they don’t partner with. 🤦‍♀️

 

I'm 0 for 2 here. 😜 

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jbrinkm

jbrinkm

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1 hour ago, Vacationdreamer&lt;&gt;&lt; said:

Thank you all for your responses. 
 

what do you mean by space being tight @jbrinkm @c-leg5 ?  Like just packed people to people?

 

We aren’t super active. We like to splash in the water and build sandcastles and bury one another.  Mostly we just appreciate warm ocean days. 
 

We could just stay on VOTS I suppose.  I really didn’t do my homework. I picked this cruise bc we were excited to revisit some places we’d liked and to try a new ship and departure port.  We’d wanted to go to Isla Pasion on the north end of Coz, again, any apparently Royal is one of the few lines they don’t partner with. 🤦‍♀️

 

I'm 0 for 2 here. 😜 

 

There were a lot of people when I was there, but I wouldn't say packed. It is more that each "club" along the Malecon has only it's designated water square in front of it, and since the buildings are shoulder to shoulder, there isn't space between. I would think it would be difficult to find enough space to build sandcastles and bury each other without someone walking over you. There were people in the water just hanging out/floating, but that made it difficult for the few that also wanted to paddle board (and vice versa).  I'm posting a picture but it really isn't the best for showing (I wish I had gotten a better pic from down below but we only took them from the rooftop). You can kind of see that the width of our space isn't that wide, and then you also can't go out into the ocean super far either because of the sand bars. There was a little sand space between the chairs and the water but not much. Some of the clubs seemed less crowded but I don't know anything about them - did they have a high cover charge for AI, was the food bad, etc... Jaime's gets very good reviews which may be why it was crowded the day I was there. I'd say at least 50 people when their max was supposed to be 35. That may have also been why service was slow and seating was uneven - they may have added makeshift chairs. It WAS a spring break cruise, the week before Easter.

 

I also think I would have enjoyed the experience more if I hadn't been paying $50pp. I was expecting something like Paradise Beach on Cozumel for $50 in Costa Maya. That is part of why I keep explaining my experience, because my expectations were too high ahead of time. If I just paid for a meal and a few drinks, let's say $20-30 or so pp (teens no alcoholic drinks), hung out on the beach a little and headed back to the ship, I wouldn't have had as much of an issue. 

 

I think you can find what you're looking for but you'll have to go out of town.  Maya Chan is a bit pricier but I think would be open in May - seems like a lot more space there (that is what we're trying in April for the first time). I'm hearing good buzz about a place called Hayhu but don't know much about it. The stuff you want seems to be available, just at a higher cost. 

 

OR, the ship can be kind of awesome on port days. Maybe you can do your activities at your other port stops and enjoy lower crowds on the ship during the Costa Maya stop. 

 

I see you have Cozumel, do you also have Roatan? We did Roatan for the first time last year and were blown away - such a beautiful island with so much to do there. We did animals and snorkeling but I'm sure there are some great beaches. And Cozumel has some great beaches as well.

 

And yes, cabs are $4pp to just go 5 minutes down the Malecon. It's honestly a rip off. If your family takes 2 taxis, you'll pay $28 each way. And that's after you walk half the distance yourself just winding around to get out of the port. We paid the same in Costa Maya (family of 4) as we did in Cozumel, to go 1/4 the distance.

 

I'm sure we here on the boards can find you some good things to do at your port stops though! Just keep asking!

 

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txjim09

txjim09

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Agree with  jbrinkm, our party of 4 greatly enjoyed our stay at Krazy Lobster but would not recommend it for a real beach experience for the reasons stated.  They did have free kayaks and paddleboards (tip expected) and reasonable food & drinks but it got pretty busy as the day went on.  We arrived a little after 9 and got a great table and loungers.

 

$4/head for a taxi each way is greatly overpriced for the short distance but you're paying for port convenience.

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Donsyb

Donsyb

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On 1/24/2023 at 7:19 PM, Vacationdreamer&lt;&gt;&lt; said:

Thank you all for your responses. 
 

what do you mean by space being tight @jbrinkm @c-leg5 ?  Like just packed people to people?

 

We aren’t super active. We like to splash in the water and build sandcastles and bury one another.  Mostly we just appreciate warm ocean days. 
 

We could just stay on VOTS I suppose.  I really didn’t do my homework. I picked this cruise bc we were excited to revisit some places we’d liked and to try a new ship and departure port.  We’d wanted to go to Isla Pasion on the north end of Coz, again, any apparently Royal is one of the few lines they don’t partner with. 🤦‍♀️

 

I'm 0 for 2 here. 😜 

Why don’t you just get a cab to Isla Pasion?

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c-leg5

c-leg5

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Posted (edited)
On 2/16/2023 at 3:35 PM, jbrinkm said:

Maybe the Fury Catamaran when in Cozumel? Private island with inflatables for your kids. Looks like you can book either through the cruise planner or on your own. 


It is confusing to future readers to discuss Cozumel on the COSTA MAYA board

 

- BUT to prevent further confusion just FYI, Fury Catamaran goes to a private beach club NOT ISLAND. It is along  the same stretch of beach that OP has already stated they don’t like. I suppose the advantage would be they wouldn’t be there long and would have other activities.

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