Need help deciding what to do in Costa Maya!

[perdy1234]

We are on the fantasy for xmas and on xmas day we are at costa maya. I have heard that the port area is nice place to hang out. Has anyone ever went into the town? How did you get there and what is there to do? I saw they have a bus that goes from the port into town. Has anyone had any experience with this? Any help would be greatly appreciated. We wanna make sure that our xmas day is a great day! Thanks!

 

[GPFirefly]

We spent the day at Maya Chan Beach. It was all inclusive. Transportation. meals, drinks, open bar, glass bottom kayaks, snorkeling gear, sand toys, personal covered areas. They are completely honest in all of the information that they send about their beach location. We would love to go back there again.

 

[y2khardtop]

Port area is not very nice, the looonnnnggggg walk from the pier took longer than our time wasted in the port village. Take an excursion or stay on board IMO. Damn whistle from Senior Frogs is enough to skip this stop altogether for my family

 

[queenofeverything]

We just got off the Magic and chose to stay in the port area. It was our 3rd trip to Costa Maya, so we did have previous experience. We had a great day, swam in the pool, had some frosty beverages from Carlos n Charlies and just relaxed. They have a huge saltwater pool with a large swim up bar. In town there are lots of places that have nice areas on the beach to enjoy the water and food and beer. I do wonder how many places will be open on Christmas Day. Do a search on this board for Costa Maya and you will find out alot of information. Also, there is a tram that runs up and down the pier, so you don't have to walk unless you want to.

 

[Ajojo]

This weill be our first time to Costa Maya and we want to go to Chachobben ruins. Has anyone gone recently?

 

[Nanny2004]

We just got off the Magic and chose to stay in the port area...Costa Maya...there is a tram that runs up and down the pier, so you don't have to walk unless you want to.

Is there a cost to use the tram? If so, how much? Does it run continuously? We will be there in 5 weeks!

 

[darkwing818]

This weill be our first time to Costa Maya and we want to go to Chachobben ruins. Has anyone gone recently?

We booked the Disney excursion to the ruins, everything was great until it started to pour & basically cut the tour short. Disney refunded our money, once they confirmed the weather with the tour provider. We heard from other folks who did not book their excursion through Disney, that they were not eligible for a refund.

 

[Started With a Mouse]

We're going to the Tropicante, which has excellent reviews on Trip Advisor. We don't drink enough to get our money's worth at Maya Chan.

 

[disneydreamer82]

We used that bus. It was $2 a person one way and it dropped you off downtown. It was a nice bus with AC and clean, not overcrowded either. We got off and went to one of the free beaches where a nice man took us to a table and chairs under an umbrella. We bought a few cervezas and some chips and pico de gallo. Very reasonable prices and a beautiful practically empty beach. Calm water and soft sand. Afterwards we walked back about 2 blocks in search of a little shack to have lunch at, and we were not disappointed! We stopped at a little place and had the BEST lunch EVER!!!! We ended having a really great day and then we just took a cab back to the port for less than $10 I believe. All in all I would do that all over again in a heartbeat!

 

[time4dis]

We did the ruins through 'the native choice' directly. it was fantastic if you like that kind of stuff, which I do.

 

[mywifelovesdisney]

Another vote for may chan beach.

 

[perdy1234]

We're going to the Tropicante, which has excellent reviews on Trip Advisor. We don't drink enough to get our money's worth at Maya Chan.

We have booked this with Steve. Very excited about it.

 

[collectoraholic]

This weill be our first time to Costa Maya and we want to go to Chachobben ruins. Has anyone gone recently?

My DH and I did the adults only tour to Chacchoben on the 9/22/12 Magic sailing and REALLY enjoyed it! What was nice about this one was that the Magic was the only ship in port that day, so there were only 4 buses of people from Disney @ Chacchoben, so it wasn't overly crowded at all. Something to consider when trying to decide which ruins to visit on a cruise. Check the port schedule and see how many ships will be in port so you can guesstimate how crowded any ruins might be.

HTHs! & Happy sailing!

 

[JessGav]

We went to a small resort, a cab ride away (not far), good food, beverages (including beer, margaritas), beach, clean, reasonable cost. We were told the island is still recovering after a hurricane a few years ago. I dont remember the name of the resort but we had a great time!
We got back to the port area with time to spare so we looked at the shops and went back to the ship. A very relaxing day, probably my second favorite. Castaway Cay was the best!

 

[TXDCLfan]

We're going to the Tropicante, which has excellent reviews on Trip Advisor. We don't drink enough to get our money's worth at Maya Chan.

Another vote for the Tropicante...try the one hour massage for 25 bucks. Also the shredded beef tacos are to die for.

 

[queenofeverything]

Is there a cost to use the tram? If so, how much? Does it run continuously? We will be there in 5 weeks!

There is not a cost to use the tram and it runs up and down the pier continuously. It waits a few minutes at each end to fill up, but not too long. There are tip boxes all along the sides, but I really didn't see anyone using them. I think this is a service provided by the port.

 

[jennandcompany]

Stay on the ship and enjoy the ships amenities. We did and at dinner we heard nothing but praise from the tired hot travelers who adventured off the ship at CM.

 

[TXDCLfan]

Stay on the ship and enjoy the ships amenities. We did and at dinner we heard nothing but praise from the tired hot travelers who adventured off the ship at CM.

We used to think the same way ( the cruise terminal is crap) until we visited the Tropicante a $2 cab ride away to a lovely Mexican town with a great beach and nice locals. Venture out and you will have a great time in Costa Maya

 

[boogabuzz]

We used to think the same way ( the cruise terminal is crap) until we visited the Tropicante a $2 cab ride away to a lovely Mexican town with a great beach and nice locals. Venture out and you will have a great time in Costa Maya

Completely agree!!!

We were just at Tropicante last week. It was our favorite port day(crappy weather in Cozomel and GC) we lounged in or lounge chairs on the beach being waited on. Had great food, delicious and cheap frozen margaritas, massages, and my son played on the very calm water!! It was such a fun day...just thinking about it has me longing to go back to Tropicante!!

 

[Belle6000]

We just got off the Magic on Saturday. We did the Tropicante in Costa Maya...I definately recommend it! Email Steve ahead of time and he will get you all set up. I felt very safe going outside the mall area. The mall area is nice looking but it's really just full of expensive shops. They wanted $2 for one postcard there!!

Here's the link to the Tropicante: http://www.sandalsandskis.com/Tropicante.html

I just posted pics of Costa Maya on my blog today if you want to check them out: http://aimeesland.blogspot.com/2012/10/costa-maya.html