at the port..

We are in Costa Maya for such a short time (9-2) that we don't really want to do an excursion..Is there a beach or pool area close??

There's not a "beach"...as in sand by the water and you can walk in to the ocean type of beach, at the port. But they do have a huge pool if you don't plan on leaving the port compound.

Otherwise, you can grab a $2-3 taxi over to the Malecon and go to the beach over there. There are several places that you can do an AI or pay as you go and use their facilities and beach. :)

There's not a "beach"...as in sand by the water and you can walk in to the ocean type of beach, at the port. But they do have a huge pool if you don't plan on leaving the port compound.

 

Otherwise, you can grab a $2-3 taxi over to the Malecon and go to the beach over there. There are several places that you can do an AI or pay as you go and use their facilities and beach. :)

So do you think an AI is worth it for such a short time??

There's sort of a beach on the water and a large pool in the terminal area

which might work for you since you're basically only going to be there for a morning stop.

LuLu

So do you think an AI is worth it for such a short time??

We did an AI when we were on Carnival last year (which Carnival seems to be the only ship I know that stays such a short amount of time at this port). I have admit, it's not worth it to go too far from port for such a short period of time, which limits you to the Malecon. It was kind of weird to arrive early in the morning and they want to start serving you drinks and food and we had basically just ate breakfast and are not big "drinkers", so it was just weird.

Like the other poster said, you could spend some time there at the port. They do have a huge pool, but I hear that the food there at the port is VERY expensive. So, I would go back to the ship to eat if I was you. There's plenty of shopping there as well.

Is Malecon and Mahaual the same thing?

Never mind.....Figured it out!

Malecon is a walkway along the beach in Mahahual!

I just got back from a wonderful 5 night cruise on Princess. One of the stops was Costa Maya. We just stayed in port to shop, use the pool and have a margarita and some lunch.

Do yourself a favor and do not get a Margarita at Senor frogs. What a rip off. They were $18.50 each for the yard glass, which no longer is a full yard glass. And they were very watered down. I have been there before, ate and drank there before, but this time expensive and not good. It cost us $71.50 for one drink each and we shared a sandwich and salsa and chips. I don't mind the price if everything was good. It wasn't worth it.

But whatever you do, remember to have fun

Irene

The Malecon is the boardwalk. It extends perhaps three miles, starting two miles from the port. The "fishing village" is a part of it. There is a shuttle, but you could walk it in about forty minutes (note: if you are walking back, don't take the shore road at the lighthouse, it comes close to the port and then ends and you have to backtrack all the way).

I liked the Malecon. There were bars with reasonably priced drinks, souvenir shops of various sorts, craft booths by the beach, places on the beach you can sit comfortably if you buy their food/drink. There are lots of streets built with nothing much on them, and they are obviously planning for great things. Things look a little dusty, so I'm guessing they overbuilt. There is a small supermarket about half a mile from the port on the road to the Malecon. Reasonably priced convenience stores on or within a block of the Malecon. Several pharmacies, advertising the usual hopefully-genuine stuff that doctors like to write prescriptions for in the US.

Immediately outside the port are a few shops, they seemed to close early. There are a large number of tourist oriented shops within port security. With tourist prices.

Beyond the Malecon is an indifferent beach road, some houses, a few hotel or boat operations.

The dolphin encounter is right there by the bathrooms and it's extremely close, you can hear them vocalizing and, if you have children (or just love dolphins), this is a chance to watch them up close for free while others do the close-up encounters. I met a woman that brought a blow up raft from home last time and she was floating around the huge pool by the swim up bar. The zero entrance area is perfect for babies and the shopping area there is expansive, be sure to compare because the prices are best in the big souvenir shop in the back. Last time we hung out at the pool- the loungers there fill up quickly, and the music is loud. Before that we took the bus over to the beach and looked at the local vendors there, bought a couple items, took the boat out to snorkel at the far end which was nice. We saw a lot for a tiny coral area. There is no swimming within walking distance, but the trip over to the beach area is pretty cheap, used to be $3.

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