Information on and reviews of Tequila Beach

[astropilot]

We are crusing 5/20 and are considering going to TB.

Mixed feeling with the mixed reviews.

What is the best way to get there and how long does it take?

Thanks!:D

 

TB is about 2 or 3 miles from the port area. You can catch a taxi at the back of the tourist area of the port to go to TB -- $3.00 pp to TB and $2.00 pp for the return trip.

 

I know everyones opinon about TB is going to be different, but I had a great time there last November, and found the place to clean, well run, and the service to be first rate. I'm looking forward to my return to TB on the 8th. If you go there I hope you find it as enjoyable as we did.

[sharecruises]

Gee I am really up in the air about this one....I personally don't mind "bad" reviews cause I realize that things change...what was good in November or December may be crappy in March etc...

 

I do wonder/hope that the recent spate of bad reviews is due to the spring break crowds??? I know that the day we dock there our ship is the only one in Port....I wonder if that makes a difference??

 

I am rethinking this TB thing frankly....I also am looking for the "report" from the cruiser who wrote to Otto and intended to go and make a complete review....thanks for any other ideas/info

[ucftiger]

We purchased a deep-sea fishing excursion from Costa-Maya Tours. When I purchased it, I had the option to also purchase the Tequila Beach Club packages at a discount, which I did.

 

We were warmly greeted by Otto when we arrived who explained our fishing excursion to us and who at the becah club to go to if we had any problems.

 

The beach club cooked our catch from our fishing excursion for $5 a fish, just as Otto had promised and it was delicious (though the waiter tried to charge us $5 a person -four of us).

 

While I felt the fishing excursion was fine, the service from the Tequila Beach Club was NOT GOOD. My wife and I don't drink alcohol and didn't require a lot of service, but the beach was not busy that day and we should have received better service than what we did. What others have posted about the poor quality of the "mexican snacks" is correct. We probably could have gotten better service if we had made some noise about it, but we were tired and just wanted to relax.

 

It did seem that some of the other visitors were getting much better service from their much younger server. Our server was a slow old man and we are still waiting for two more Sprites.

 

Otto seems like a nice guy and I am not clear on what his relationship with the beach club is. I believe that his exursions simply use the beach club as a departure point and that he also sells the "club passes" for them as a service but it is not his club. I could be wrong about that.

 

If you want to go on one of the excursions that Otto (costamayatours) markets, I wouldn't hestitate to go. if you're wanting to sit on the beach and eat and drink, you could probably do better.

[rwillis9]

I can deal with no so great service. It was the excursion that ruined everything for us. We did the Snorkeling tour and it was horrible. The reefs are ok and there are some fish, so that is not the issue. The issue was the boat captain and the snorkel guide. They did hardly say anthing to us other than "jump in." We got in the water and the guide took off. Mind you that the current is strong and he was gone. My wife jumped in and was having issues with her mask not sealing. I swam over to help and came really close to getting hit by the pontoon boat because the captain was doing is own thing and not watching us. I actually had to push off against the pontoon or my wife would have been hit in the head. She yelled and the captain finally got up and looked. The captain yelled for us a few minutes later to go over with the tour guide, but as the group swan closer, he swam away farther. I should have given him my camera. Then he would have actually deserved the tip he so graciously wanted when he stuck his hand in my face on the way out. After that and how they bugged us to get some alcohol we decided to just walk down to the light house and then to town for the Cat's Meow.

[CORONAONTHEBEACH]

Just got off the Carnival Liberty with a stop at COSTA MAYA. First impression of Costa Maya was good. Looked like we were pulling into a jungle with just a few huts on the beach. The pier is about 1/4 mile long and they do provide a shuttle to the beginning of the pier.

 

The port is developed with all your usual trinky shops (Diamonds International, gift shops, etc) and has a beach area and a swim up bar area where they sell beer, frozen drinks and YARDS!!! This was very cool and we came back here later in the day.

 

Took a cab ($3/person) to the TEQUILLA BEACH CLUB (only a 10 minute cab ride) where we had prepaid $7/person for the Captain's pass and paid our balance of $23/person when we got there. First impression, the clubhouse and bar area was very clean and staff was quick to help us with anything we needed. We got two chairs right on the beach and MIGUEL our waiter was right there to get us our first drinks. We got SOL beer (which is like a corona or bud light) and he brought four at a time. After soaking up the rays for a bit, we decided to rent wave runners. It was $50/person for 1/2 hour and they gave us lockers to put our stuff in while we were out on the ocean. We had to give our IDs as collateral for the lockers. It was a tad windy that day and once we got out to the open sea, it was quite wavy...the waves were 10-15 ft at some points and I looked back to see my wife looking a little scared. I asked the guy if there was any other place where it would not be so wavy and they brought us in a bit and it was better. Still had some good waves (5+) and had a blast. Came back to our chairs and Miguel quickly had four more beers for us. The water was beautiful, although there is a little seaweed but it was very refreshing. Did see some trash along the edge of the water and I did not mind picking it up and throwing it away. My buzz came on strong so we decided to order lunch. Miguel suggested the beef burrittos and since he was being so nice, we both got them. The were delicious!!! We got some chips and salsa with our next round which Miguel brought promptly. Gave Miguel a nice tip for being such a great waiter and we headed back around 4.

 

They called a cab for us and we headed back to port. Another $3/person cab ride back and we had a very nice cab driver who gave us lots of good info about COSTA MAYA and the port.

 

The port is new and in great shape. We headed right for the pool bar and ordered two triple dacori yards at $9/yard and they were good!! Met some guys from Canada and chatted with them for a while. Stayed in the pool for about an hour and then dried off and went back to the ship.

 

All in all, I will say that this port has a ton of potential. It is a bit windy and the waves are high so I can understand why they don't always make this port. But I can also see why everybody raves about it. It is clean, the people are very friendly and the prices are not outrageous. I wish I made my way to CAT'S MEOW as I heard from people on this board and on the ship that it was good. Maybe next time. But I will say that TEQUILLA BEACH was better than advertised and I would highly recommend it. I know there was some problems during March but that is spring break time and that has to be expected. I can't wait to go back there in the future.:D

[astropilot]

I will say that TEQUILLA BEACH was better than advertised and I would highly recommend it. I know there was some problems during March but that is spring break time and that has to be expected. I can't wait to go back there in the future.:D

 

Thanks for the review. I'm glad to hear that TB is still the first-rate establishment that I remembered from my trip there last November. I'll be there in a week, and I'll be sure to post my own review of TB.

[Muscle Car]

Thanks for the review. I'm glad to hear that TB is still the first-rate establishment that I remembered from my trip there last November. I'll be there in a week, and I'll be sure to post my own review of TB.

 

I am thinking that when you went back in November the service was better because there isn't as much spring break traffic. I hope that your second trip there will be as enjoyable as your first since now most of us College folk are finishing up finals.

 

Let us know how everything is, as it will be interesting to see if things go back to the way they are supposed to be.

 

~Michael

[Crusing Bob]

Any one recently visit TB and what were your feelings?

Sounded like this was a great place that started to fall apart just like some I have read on Cats Meow. Sometimes people get the big head when a place becomes popular and then starts to decline on service and quality.

[beaner24]

We recently were on the Grand and our first stop was Costa Maya.

We had no excursion planned but decided to go to Tequila beach for the day $ 25.oo didn't seem so bad.

Another ship was in port also and many of those cruisers joined us on the bus ride over.

The beach is fairly clean and the water is beautiful- a little seaweed here and there but not bad. The food is so-so and the drinks are ok. All pretty good for $25.00.

I would however ask that you use extreme caustion with the sea-doos. (especially if you are not there with your husband right by your side.)

Some passengers from the other ship informed us that while they were on the sea doos with the instructors, they were "felt up" the whole time. They asked to be take in to shore immedietly and were held out there for 30 minutes. When they were finally brought in they reported it to the management who responded that "it happens all the time". No one was willing to help them go to the police either.( as far as Taxi service)

Said it would do no good.

The girls were single and no men were there with them on the sea doos

I would not have let my daughter near these guys and would have warned them had I known they were thinking of doing this. One called himself "Tarzan" he was the main culprit. One girl was especially shaken up, I believe she had the most problems with her see-doo instructor. Hopefully she is doing better. I know she would not want anyone else to have to endure what she went through so I told her I would tell her story to cruise critic.

[GA2005]

Does anyone know if it is possible to just walk up and buy a package without a reservation. I think that I'd like to go, but I can't speak for my travelling buddy. Thanks in advance.

[CORONAONTHEBEACH]

Not sure if you walked up there and asked but I bet it would not be a problem. They have a few different packages which include alcoholic and non-alcohic drinks. Mention you are a CRUISE CRITIC member and you will get a discount. I am telling you, this port is a great stop and hopefully it stays true to it's "rustic" feel and does not get overpopulated in the coming years.

[cruiser3175]

Why were they on the seadoo with an instructor? I have never had an instructor. They have always just showed me what to do and let me go out on my own.

[bankonus]

Why were they on the seadoo with an instructor? I have never had an instructor. They have always just showed me what to do and let me go out on my own.

 

Maybe that's why there was a problem.:( Took advantage that the girls didn't know how it was done.

[astropilot]

Does anyone know if it is possible to just walk up and buy a package without a reservation. I think that I'd like to go, but I can't speak for my travelling buddy. Thanks in advance.

 

Yes you can. They, Cost Maya Tours, have a stand at the back of the port area by the taxis. Look for the "Blue Butterflys" on their kisok. I don't know what the prices are at the port, but I've read here that they are pretty good.

[GA2005]

Yes you can. They, Cost Maya Tours, have a stand at the back of the port area by the taxis. Look for the "Blue Butterflys" on their kisok. I don't know what the prices are at the port, but I've read here that they are pretty good.

 

 

Thanks a bunch. I'm really looking forward to checking it out.:)

[Crusing Bob]

atloar, many of us are anxiously waiting for your review of TB.

[sharecruises]

Yes, our spokesperson has not returned.....I am leaving on the Glory in a few hours and still not sure how Tequilla will be....I have already put deposit so will go but keeping my expectations a bit low due to the recent reviews

 

I do hope they were cause of spring break tho....

 

I plan to check out Costa Maya and write my own report <grin>

[atloar]

Ports-

We first went to Costa Maya. It is a cute little Cruise port built by the Cruise Industry. We went to Tequila Beach. It cost us $80 for 4 adults and a baby. This was to include soft drinks and “Snacks” (i.e. Nachos, Cheese Quesadillas etc etc….) We were also told upon arrival that we would be entitled to an “Entrée” before we left by the hostess that was there. We then swam on the beach and enjoyed the shade.

When we wanted drinks we were ignored by the waiter who was running back and forth serving this other large group alcohol and food all day. I called to him several times as he walked within 5 feet of me several times and finally my daughter stepped in front of him and asked if we could get some soft drinks. He looked at her like she was from mars and reluctantly took our order. He returned some 15 min later with a drink for each of us so while we had him there we asked for snacks we each wanted nachos. He again took our order and then walked over to that group and took their lengthy drink and food order and went back to the I guess the kitchen area.

After about 15 min we spotted him headed our way with a tray. As he got closer we cleared some room on the table in preparation for our order he then walked right by us and headed straight for that other group with their order. As he was dolling their order out he was taking a second order from them and he returned to the kitchen. About 10 min later here he came again and again we figured here he comes with our order and again he walked right by us and delivered the second order to that group. As he passed me by again I raised my hand to get his attention and he looked my way and kept walking. He went back to the kitchen and came back out with this small bowl of chips and this cold cheese and what looked like salsa. He brought them to us and sat them down, by this time I had drank most of my drink and I asked as one of my daughters did for another and he said, ‘sure’ and he went off. Well he never did bring my drinks back and we just stopped asking for them. When we were leaving I decided after we changed our cloths that we would take them up on their offer of that entrée since we were planning to do some shopping now until it was time to go back to the ship. So we went to the counter and after standing there for several min. being ignored I said I had had enough we left.

As for the beach it was very nice and quite. There was a lot to do while there, there was a bit too much grass in the water for me but I guess as time goes on that too will clear up as more and more guest swim there. When I asked for the hostess that greeted us when we arrived a few hours earlier I was told she was gone as well as the owner Otto too. Would we return to this area, NO!

[pluto20_2]

Went to TB on May 9th. The service was great. We would just finish our drink, and our waiter was there to get us another one. We went on the snorkeling excursion and had a wonderful time. The guide took us to the best spots. This was our favorite day of the cruise.

[J Free 203]

OK....it was not TERRIBLE or anything, just not what I would call great. Slow service....food just "ok"...cold nachos.....hot beer for a quick summary!

 

Here's the long of it!

 

It was a perfect weather day! Costa Maya/TB/Mahahual is a GORGEOUS port!!! I cannot say enough....I took TONS of pictures. The water is crystal clear and I even sat in about a foot of water and had beautiful tropical fish swimming all around me! SOOOO wonderful!

 

It was my hubby's 30th bday so I planned and paid for 2 Captains Pass's for the 2 of us since I knew we would not want to eat big...but we did want to have some drinks, snacks and lounge on the beach for the day.

 

We arrived at TBaround 9:30-10am and had our pick of tables and/or beach chairs. They did try to charge us for chairs and towels but I told them that they were supposed to be included in out day pass.....we got chairs and asked for ONE towel(since I brought my own to put over my chair) and we NEVER saw the ONE towel we asked for. Sat for a few minutes and never got a waiter so we walked to the bar to get a couple of morning drinks....I wanted a bloody mary since it was still morning for me and we are not BIG daytime drinkers. No bloody mary's.....and they had several other drinks on the menu blackened out. My hubby is a beer drinker and they only offered 2 kinds of beer and poured it out of large bottles into small plastic cups! In the hot mexican sun....this equals about 2 sips of cold beer and then it was warm and nasty(to quote my hubby.....warm beer tastes like piss!!). I ended up having a diet coke.....my only one of the day because they ran out of DIET COKES in about 2 hours and there was probably about 15 people total on the beach until around 1pm when we were heading back to the boat and the Carnival ship had docked. So we decided we would walk down to the fishing village and look around and asked about a locker and were told it would be $5 to get a key for the locker!:confused: WHAT? This is supposed to be included also! Whatever....we paid for it because I did not care to leave my things out. So we walked around for a bit and went back and laid on the beach...snorkeled a little close to shore....saw a few tropical fish and some pink jelly fish(my 3yo would have gotten a kick out of them.....since they looked just like the jelly fish on sponge bob! lol). Bad service the whole time we were in the beach chairs......had to flag anybody down to get anything. The Guacamole was pretty good(I make better though!) the salsa was more like pico de gallo than salsa and the nachos I ordered were COLD....not even a little warm, like they poured cold cheese over chips that soon got soggy.....I fed a couple to the fishies...they didn't seem to mind! lol I am a tequila drinker so I did have a few shots...if you could call them that.....they were SERIOUSLY in childs size medicine cups! I understand they do this at tastings but this was supoosed to be a $4 shot according to the menu!!! I ordered them 2 at a time twice and had to drink a regular coke because they ran out of diet....I NEVER drink regular cokes! Also....I asked for a bottled water 3x:eek: before I FINALLY got one when we were sitting up at the resteraunt right before we left.

 

All in all I WOULD NOT reccomend this excursion to ANYBODY!

 

The beach itself was great.....service was horrible for what I paid....and we should have been at least offered a bucket of ice and bottles or cans of beer so that my hubby could have had cold beer while sitting on the beach. I did notice them takinga buckets of iced down beer to somebody as we were leaving.....I guess they didn't have the all inclusive package.

 

So, there you have it! I also emailed my complaints to Otto because he emailed me yesterday asking me how my excursion was and asked me to come post it over here! He will probably be sorry he asked! lol:(

 

I also had a similar day at TB, 30 for the Cpatain's Pass and beer in the plastic cup was warm after a sip or 2!! but Juan brought me 3 at a time... rocky beach crappy foor and portion size, jet ski was 50 for 30 minutes forund id to be cheaper next to Cats meow. 40 for 45!!! all in all I'd give TB a 4 out of 10!!!!

[newistcruiseaddict]

Yeah, but you can still find 45 min massages for $20!! ;)

 

For some reason I don't remember much about TB..care to fill me in Jay?

[perplemule]

We were in Costa Maya last week and had signed up for the Horseback riding/snorkel combo offer by *****. We did walk a few thousand yards to get a taxi outside of the port to Tequilla beach club. Once there we checked in and were offered the full use of the place till our tours started.Everyone was nice and helpful. Our ride in the jungle was awesome! Our guide was pure Mayan and gave a botony lesson on every plant and tree we saw. English, spanish and mayan names for everything and there uses.There were some mayan foundations and original Cenote site for water. They has a traditional mayan hut set up back at the Ranch and we were given explanations on how to build one, had fresh tortillas that were made in front of us and given a tour of a typical garden in a Mayan village.

The horses were the best kept that I had seen in that part of the world!!

Then a tour of the town etc. on the way back to the beach club, with lots of info. on the way. The snorkeling seemed a little disorganized at first, but once we got to our site, it was the Best Snorkeling I have done. The reef is huge and very alive! I have snorkeled in quite a few places and this was by far the best I've seen.Since we did not stay at the beach club all day I can't compare to the people who did, but we had no problems.... Loved the day, it was by far the best of our cruise.All of my dealings with Costa-Maya- tours were very professional and they came thru on all they promised.:)

[J Free 203]

Yeah, but you can still find 45 min massages for $20!! ;)

 

For some reason I don't remember much about TB..care to fill me in Jay?

 

I got a 30 min for 10 so do the math and thats 20 for an hour :-P

 

and you were overly drunk at TB... hahaha I pimped your golf cart up and down the beach!

[no1meatman]

OK....it was not TERRIBLE or anything, just not what I would call great. Slow service....food just "ok"...cold nachos.....hot beer for a quick summary!

 

Here's the long of it!

 

It was a perfect weather day! Costa Maya/TB/Mahahual is a GORGEOUS port!!! I cannot say enough....I took TONS of pictures. The water is crystal clear and I even sat in about a foot of water and had beautiful tropical fish swimming all around me! SOOOO wonderful!

 

It was my hubby's 30th bday so I planned and paid for 2 Captains Pass's for the 2 of us since I knew we would not want to eat big...but we did want to have some drinks, snacks and lounge on the beach for the day.

 

We arrived at TBaround 9:30-10am and had our pick of tables and/or beach chairs. They did try to charge us for chairs and towels but I told them that they were supposed to be included in out day pass.....we got chairs and asked for ONE towel(since I brought my own to put over my chair) and we NEVER saw the ONE towel we asked for. Sat for a few minutes and never got a waiter so we walked to the bar to get a couple of morning drinks....I wanted a bloody mary since it was still morning for me and we are not BIG daytime drinkers. No bloody mary's.....and they had several other drinks on the menu blackened out. My hubby is a beer drinker and they only offered 2 kinds of beer and poured it out of large bottles into small plastic cups! In the hot mexican sun....this equals about 2 sips of cold beer and then it was warm and nasty(to quote my hubby.....warm beer tastes like piss!!). I ended up having a diet coke.....my only one of the day because they ran out of DIET COKES in about 2 hours and there was probably about 15 people total on the beach until around 1pm when we were heading back to the boat and the Carnival ship had docked. So we decided we would walk down to the fishing village and look around and asked about a locker and were told it would be $5 to get a key for the locker!:confused: WHAT? This is supposed to be included also! Whatever....we paid for it because I did not care to leave my things out. So we walked around for a bit and went back and laid on the beach...snorkeled a little close to shore....saw a few tropical fish and some pink jelly fish(my 3yo would have gotten a kick out of them.....since they looked just like the jelly fish on sponge bob! lol). Bad service the whole time we were in the beach chairs......had to flag anybody down to get anything. The Guacamole was pretty good(I make better though!) the salsa was more like pico de gallo than salsa and the nachos I ordered were COLD....not even a little warm, like they poured cold cheese over chips that soon got soggy.....I fed a couple to the fishies...they didn't seem to mind! lol I am a tequila drinker so I did have a few shots...if you could call them that.....they were SERIOUSLY in childs size medicine cups! I understand they do this at tastings but this was supoosed to be a $4 shot according to the menu!!! I ordered them 2 at a time twice and had to drink a regular coke because they ran out of diet....I NEVER drink regular cokes! Also....I asked for a bottled water 3x:eek: before I FINALLY got one when we were sitting up at the resteraunt right before we left.

 

All in all I WOULD NOT reccomend this excursion to ANYBODY!

 

The beach itself was great.....service was horrible for what I paid....and we should have been at least offered a bucket of ice and bottles or cans of beer so that my hubby could have had cold beer while sitting on the beach. I did notice them takinga buckets of iced down beer to somebody as we were leaving.....I guess they didn't have the all inclusive package.

 

So, there you have it! I also emailed my complaints to Otto because he emailed me yesterday asking me how my excursion was and asked me to come post it over here! He will probably be sorry he asked! lol:(

We were there on April 3rd. & we also ask for towels & were told they were all at the laundry. As for the locker,we rented one for $5 deposit & when we returned they hesitated on giving us our deposit back but I insisted ,so they did. That was the only two bad things about T.B.Club,other than that it was a pretty decent place:)

[LaRue1975]

I posted this on another thread but thought maybe I should have posted it seperately so here it is again:

 

My DH and I spent the day at Tequila Beach on May 18th, we had a great time. I pre-booked over the Internet and Otto called me a couple of times to confirm everything. We booked a 1/2 hour waverunner, the snorkel trip and Admiral's passes which included lunch and beverages.

 

We arrived around 10:00 AM and the lady working the desk did not have a record of our reservation. It seems Otto and I made a mistake and they were expecting us the previous day.:p She called Otto, he came right over and there was no problem, they honored the reservation and deposits I had made. We decided not to do the snorkel excursion which was also no problem, they credited that deposit towards our day passes.

 

We were shown around the area and told to just pick chairs and a waiter would take care of our drink and food orders. We wanted to do the waverunner first and needed a locker which required a $5.00 key deposit which was returned at the end of the day. A guide lead us out on the waverunner and then we were free to zoom around on our own. We had a great time and he let us stay out longer than 1/2 hour. The waverunner was a good one in excellent condition.

 

When we returned to the beach I noticed some really nice wooden loungers with thick cushions and umbrellas in a prime location so we headed there. The sign said $10.00 to rent so we called over a waiter, handed him $20.00 and gave him our drink order. We didn't mind paying extra for the nice chairs, it was well worth it to us. When our waiter Adolfo returned with the drinks he gave us $10.00 change as that was the charge for two chairs, not $10.00 per chair.

 

As far as all the bad reviews on here about the bad service well I think you have to realize you are in a very rustic Mexican location and you just can not expect to be waited on hand and foot, especially for the bargain prices they charge. Adlolfo was working his butt off the whole time we were there and we understood imediately we would probably have to run to the bar a few time ourselves, there just aren't enough waiters to go around. It was only a few steps from our water front chairs so what is the big deal? Get off your butt and go get a drink if you really want one right now.

 

The beer is served in cups and pretty warm if you are doing the all-inclusive so if you plan to drink beer all day the package is probably not for you. They had lots of frou-frou drinks like Miami Vice and Sex on the Beach, stuff like that. There was a group of college age kids there and they were having no problem getting their $$'s worth.:eek: :D

 

The nachos were pretty lame, reminded me of the ones from our Little League snack bar :eek: but I was very pleased with the lunch we ordered. We both had shrimp cocktails that were huge and a meal unto themselves. Giant fish bowls of shrimp swimming in a yummy, tangy cocktail sauce, best I've ever had. The lobster was decent sized and it came with some good Mexican rice. We could no way eat it all, so no complaints there.

 

We also bought a couple of things from the vendors there and you could get a massage if you wanted. A few people came by selling trinkets but there was not pressure to buy, so you were more or less sheltered from the hawkers.

 

When we left we stopped and talked to Otto and he asked how our day went, we gave him the thumbs up and I promised to write a review on Cruise Critic. We were tired but he encouraged us to walk through Majahaul, it is beautiful and I am glad we didn't miss it. We grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the bar for the road and off we went.

 

I would absolutely return to Tequila Beach and I think most people can have an enjoyable day there if you know what to expect. The Ritz it's not but the beach is beautiful, the booze is flowing and the beer is warm so order something else.:)

 

Hopefully this review wasn't too long but I think I covered the bases, any questions, just ask.