What to do....what to do.?

[robintennis]

We have never been to Costa Maya before.

 

My understanding is it is quite remote..???

 

ARe there golf courses close by?

 

Is it just a beach day?

 

Or are there some really neat places to go?

 

Is it jungly enough to offer zip-line excursions?

 

I had thought perhaps a taxi to Majahual for a bit. Perhaps a bit of beach day at the pier.

 

There doesn't appear to be a lot of information on the web about this place. Since we are only there for a short period of time, don't want to waste the day.

 

Is it worth it to rent a car and tour on our own.....or is it best to find a tour operator?....

 

I see information about renting a golf cart and driving around a bit.

 

I just don't want to get stuck in a touristy trap area and not enjoy the local ambience.

 

Can anyone offer some advise for the more adventurous?

[BobbieSu]

It is remote. Until the cruise port was built it was very "sleepy". It is not what I would yet call a destination resort area. I haven't ever seen anything about golfing, it wouldn't be close to the pier area.

 

There are some nice Mayan areas, which you can read about here and for which you would need a tour. The town of Mahujual is very close and worth the effort to get to. There are several restaurants there to chose from.

 

I don't believe there would be anywhere to rent cars, and not many places to go if you did.

 

We spent a lazy day at this port. Went to Mahujual and sat at a palapa and watched the people go by. I bought some nice jewelry, there are also other shopping options in town and at the pier. I didn't try the snorkeling, or diving. There were jetskis for rent when we were there and inexpensive massages, good food and beer.

 

I would plan something to get out of the pier area whether it be ruins or beach or water sports. I think that is about it for your options.

 

Su

[caribbean dreams]

We take a taxi to Mahujual ($2pp) and make it i lazy beach day, although there are many people from the ship and venders along the side of the road, it is far from touristy, we find us a good beach spot infront of the Mayan Bar and relax.

[Zeno]

The beach in Majahual is nice and there are also interesting Mayan ruins about 45 minutes away (Chacchoben)

[varisian]

You are right Costa Maya is remote. Apart from Majahual and the ruins at Chacchoben nothing is close by. This is the beauty of the place. I don't know of any cruise destination that has this degree of remoteness and the tropical temperatures.

I, along with hundreds of other posters in this message board, highly recommend David and Ivan's tour to Chacchoben.

The beach area at Majahual is clean and looks very nice but there are beaches at lots of destinations.

[Purplecajun]

Anyone been to Tequila Beach Club ?

[samnjoc]

I went on the Liberty 8 day cruise and visited this port on Monday, November 27th. We were in port from 8-5pm. Since this port is not very developed and I wasn't big on the ruins, there didn't seem to be a lot of high adventure things to do. I usually like high adventure, but if it is not available I like to "get away from it all" at a nice quaint hotel with a beach, maragaritas, food, and sun. There is not a lot of information on the different beach resorts available independently and since I am not big on ship excursions, I decided to dig further on the web.

 

Finally, after some research I came across Hotel Maya Luna - http://www.hotelmayaluna.com/. So, I communicated via email with the owner and to my surprise I got almost an immediate response (compared to other places who were slow and sometimes not responsive at all). I let the owner know that I had a small (10 persons or less) group interested in using her resort for the day for some drinks, lunch, sun, and some snorkeling. I asked her if she could accomodate us and she said she could. There was no deposit required except for the dive excursion or massage services (if we wanted we could book a separate dive excursion or massage from a CERTIFIED Therapist and pay them directly). We would only pay a la carte for the drinks and food ordered at the hotel. How wonderful it sounded! The resort was 5 km south of the Majahual town - a $5 per person taxi ride.

 

So, we got to the port on Monday - a great, sunny day - and followed the instructions posted on cruisecritic to find a yellow cab outside the ship terminal. Easy enough, there were cabs waiting right outside. They took us to the resort and before we knew it we were in paradise! The resort was everything we imagined - private, quiet, and beautiful! The owner met us right at the entrance, gave us a tour and let us set up under the shade. We had use of beach chairs, kayaks, and one of their cabanas for restrooms and showers. At lunchtime they approached us with the day's customized menu. The margaritas were UNREAL - the food was out of this world and the service immaculate!! They even had a small gift shop and book swap for our use. At 3:30pm we were sad to see our cabs come to pick us up.

 

All in all, probably the best beach day I've had at a port since Roatan. If you are a smaller low-key group looking for a place to spend the day in peace, sun, and comfort, THIS IS THE PLACE. I'd be happy to answer any other questions and send photos of my fantastic experience. I hope you enjoy Costa Maya as much as I did!

 

 

Oh, and for 7 of us with the free snorkel masks, fins, kayaks, plenty of margaritas,cervesas and food - the total bill was $120 (not including tip - your discretion) - what a deal!!!