Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

 

“Never give up searching for your place in the sun.”

Brandon Lee

Costa Maya is a small tourist area on the Yucatan peninsula in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico boarded by the Caribbean Sea on its east coast. It is the closest municipality to the border with Belize. Not long ago, this area was totally undeveloped until they constructed a large pier for cruise ships in 2002. Unfortunately, this port was hit by Hurricane Dean in 2007 and devastated this port area causing it to close for over a year. But now it is back and is a thriving port.

The port of Costa Maya has a new and beautiful port with a modern tourist shopping mall, and has a center plaza with saltwater pools featuring swim up style bars. They have a dolphin show and an area you can swim with the dolphins for a cost. This port is very pretty.

On this trip to Costa Maya, we had booked a beach and snorkel excursion through Viator. When we arrived that morning, we got off the ship, walked through the port area with all the shops, to a restaurant just outside the port. As we walked, many people were anxious to help us to get to where we needed to go and were very nice. Of course, they were looking for a tip, but it was worth it to us to know where we needed to go. Travelers Tip: Bring some small bills for tips.

We arrived at Catrina Restaurant, where we were warmly greeted by the hostess and her two large, friendly dogs. This restaurant was rustic with a covered front porch where you could sit and watch the locals fly by on scooters and cars. The hostess welcomed us and asked if we wanted a drink while we waited for a taxi. We sat at a table on the porch and she brought out our drinks to enjoy while she called for a taxi for us. This was all included in our excursion. We thought more people would show up for the excursion but it ended up that we were the only ones. That was a first for us.

When our taxi arrived, our hostess let us know.  She also said the taxi driver was paid for the ride. We got in the taxi and were taken to the tiny fishing village of Mahahual. Our taxi driver didn’t speak English so we sat in silence looking at the landscape.  Many homes were in rough shape along the pot holed roads. There is a lot of poverty in this area but there seemed to be a lot of camaraderie amongst the locals. It looked like a friendly area. He dropped us off in the town, where another lady came and greeted us.

She asked us what excursion we booked and when we said, the beach and snorkel she said, “Follow me.” We did as we were told. We were unsure if this was a legit excursion at this point as it was still just the two of us and were afraid it was a set up. We were guided to where some small boats were parked and met a young man who spoke broken English but we understood that he would be our guide for snorkeling. He showed us to the boat, introduced us to the Captain of the boat, and helped us get onboard. He told us another couple would be there soon to go out snorkeling, so we sat and waited excited that there would be more than just us.

The other couple arrived and they were Mexican who also spoke no English to our disappointment. So we take off in this small boat near the breakers till we reached the snorkel site. On the way, we were given our snorkel gear and were ready when the boat stopped to exit into the water. To exit this boat, we sat on the edge of this boat and jumped off.

After spitting our a bunch of saltwater from jumping off the boat, I got adjusted we followed the guide. Travelers Tip:  Jump in the water shallow so to not fill up your snorkel with salt water.  The sea was quite choppy that day but the snorkeling was still good. We saw a lot of beautiful fish. There were many other groups out in the area snorkeling, and I somehow ended up with a different group till, my husband, Joe called me back.

We had a nice time with them and really did enjoy ourselves even with not knowing much of what they said. They took us back to the beach where we bid them farewell and met up with another lady at the shoreline. She lead us down the crowded boardwalk with many shops and showed us to the beach area and sitting area we could use.

Our waitress came by and asked if we wanted a drink. This excursion offered us free drinks and snacks for two hours. I ordered a margarita and Joe a local beer. My margarita was delicious and huge. I sat on the beach enjoying the ocean view. Joe went swimming. Even with the weather not being perfect, we had a great day. 

Many vendors came by selling shirts, jewelry, hats, and all kinds of souvenirs.. One little boy gave me a straw flower and took off. Later a guy came to sell his tropical shirts. They were nice so I asked him, “How much?” He said $55. I told him no way. He dropped his price to $40. I told him I didn’t have the money. After awhile, he asked how much I would pay. I told him $20. He kept trying to get higher but I stuck to the price, and sure enough he sold me the shirt. Travelers Tip: Always barter. They will first try to sell you something at the top price.

Later sitting on that beach, we were brought a beautiful large tray of nachos and toppings. The salsa was wonderful. Our waitress came by often to see if we were okay and if we needed any more drinks. She was a lovely girl and spoke good English. When we were ready to go back to the ship, she called a taxi for us. The taxi  back to the ship was not included in this tour, but only cost us $5.

We were a little apprehensive about this excursion but it ended up being a great day, and we really enjoyed it. Everyone involved in this excursion made sure we had a great day.

Till next time. Bye for now.