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Jamie Wright

Fun in Costa Maya? YES!

Traveling to Costa Maya? Heard that it is not much fun? Well, so had we. Unfortunately, many cruise passengers assume that Costa Maya is another Cozumel and simply get off the ship and plan to go shopping and sightseeing. If this is what you do, I can guarantee, you will be disappointed. The “town” of Costa Maya is very small. Very small. It has some nice shops and some great dance performances on the stage in the shopping center, but after and hour or two, there is nothing left to do but go back to the ship. However, my husband and I have traveled here on Princess twice and, with some pre-planning, you can have a great time.

On our first trip, we took a full-day excursion to the Mayan ruins at Kohunlich and Dzibanché. We thoroughly enjoyed this excursion, but it is not for everyone. It is about 2 hours on the bus each way into the interior. If you are interested in ruins and have the stamina for the travel and the heat, this is a very good excursion.

On our second trip, we took our 5 year old daughter with us so we were looking for something with a lot less structure and a lot more beach time. However, the beach at Costa Maya is not well rated. So, I started searching the web for excursions in Costa Maya and found the “Costa Maya Beach Break Party” (“Costa Maya Shore Excursions”) and it was great. For $25 you get an open bar, a super beach and swimming area, a nice lounge chair and great service. This is not a wild party on a huge beach with tanned hard-bodies playing volleyball. It is a small, clean, sandy, secluded beach with a large, shallow, sandy, enclosed swimming area at the end of the town. Although, there was some good beach music playing to give a little party feel.

We signed up on line, paid a 20% deposit and received a confirmation within a day. When we arrived in Costa Maya, we took the shuttle to the “town” of Majahual (this town has dirt roads and just received electricity). Pez Quardo, where the beach party is located, is an additional 5+ minute walk from where the shuttle ends.

We walked up to the beach bar and we’re immediately greeted by Marco with an “Ah, you're here.” He had a copy of our confirmation right in his hand and we paid the balance of our reservation. He gave us each a cool Mexico scarf that served as our open bar pass, brought the lounge chairs (that were stored behind the bar for us) down to the beach and then quickly followed up by bring us our first drink. Within minutes of showing up, we are sitting on nice lounge chairs on the beach with drinks in our hands!

We had also signed up for the lunch shown on the website; you have a choice of lobster, shrimp or Mexican platters (we had one of each). At around 12:30, Marco came to us on the beach and asked us where and when we would like our lunch served—on the beach or in the restaurant. He came and asked us! We did not have to go find him! We decided to eat at 1:00 in the restaurant (it is just across the street). When our food was almost ready, he came down to the beach and escorted us to the restaurant. The food quality was great, but I will warn you there is not a lot. If you are a big eater or you have been playing at the beach all morning and are really hungry, you may not be satisfied with the serving size (especially if you like those buffets on the cruise). However, there are no other restaurants around (remember “dirt roads” and “just received electricity”). If you just want something to simple to eat, the Mexican platter (cheese melted in a tortilla shell and chips) for $5 would be a good option. Or bring sandwiches from the ship (pack zip-lock bags with you onto the ship and then order sandwiches from room service.)

After lunch, we returned to our lounge chairs on the beach, played in the water a bit more, had another tropical drink and then decided to call it a day. We caught a taxi (taxis are nice and clean and charge only a few dollars a person) and headed back to the ship.

So many times, you sign up for events and then get the “thanks for your money, but now don’t bother me” attitude. That is not the case here. The combination of the nice beach, good swimming area, tasty drinks and excellent service gave us a great day in the port of Costa Maya.

Check out the shore excursions available in Costa Maya.
Costa Maya Shore Excursions

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