Point me in the direction of the nearest beach

[ccNVcpl]

I'm a bit confused. I understand that the real "town" is some distance away from the pier and port facilities - yet from what I read, you need to go into town to reach the beach. Is there no beach access within walking distance of the pier?

[welldone60]

There is a "Beach" at the port. Small and alot of rocks. The town is about a mile away. Take a taxi ($3 pp to town $2 pp back to port). There is a great beach, lots of places to sit, have drinks, eat or rent some water sport toys.

[familycruzer]

You can also see the ships from the beach if you are concerned with going to far away from port. Costa Maya is amazing.

[holdon216]

OK, so when we get off the ship we take a loooonnng walk down the pier, grab a taxi for 3.00pp to take us to town where the beach is. Can you spend the day in that area? Are there shops, food etc.? How about snorkling in that town/beach area? I also am a bit confused on Costa Maya.

[CowPrincess]

There are many, many restaurants on the beach -- and lots of comfy tables and chairs. The expectation is that you will purchase food & drink from the restaurant that the tables & chairs are (more or less) in front of. There are also shops on the beach front, and (we didn't go anywhere but the beach area) I am pretty certain I saw less touristy shops one block behind the beach front buildings. We ate excellent shrimp, salsa, chips, salad and fries (with no after-effects at all).

 

Not sure about snorkeling -- the waves were POUNDING in the day we were there, the kayaks were not operating. I think the snorkeling would need to be done outside the reef (where the waves were POUNDING onto).

 

The "beach" by the pier is rocks and waves, with no facilities. It is worth the trip to go to Mahahual. One of the best days we had, and we had some great days :D

[crewsweeper]

OK, so when we get off the ship we take a loooonnng walk down the pier, grab a taxi for 3.00pp to take us to town where the beach is. Can you spend the day in that area? Are there shops, food etc.? How about snorkling in that town/beach area? I also am a bit confused on Costa Maya.

You take a looonnngg walk down the pier (or grab the tram/shuttle; takes as long but you're not walking). Then you go through the shopping area at the pier, then out through the excursion bus parking lot and through the gate and down a 1/4 mile to the taxi stand in front of the Tequila Museum. There you grab a cab to Mahaual. Spend as much time on the beach and walking the malecon as you wish. Sma;;hops, restuarants/bars. Grab a lounger and order a drink. The beach is primarily white sand. Parts of the water near the beach are a bit rocky and you could snorkel there. Snorkeling may be a bit better down toward the south end of the malecon which gets nearer some of the off shore dive sites there and toward Xcatel to the south.

 

Costa Maya is the port. Mahahual is the town. There is some development occurring outside the confines of the port but it's spotty yet.

Mahahual is about 2-2 1/2 miles by road (maybe a mile and a half by water but you can't walk down the beach to there. You could walk the roads but losts o construction traffic and a cab is cheap.

You really can't get lost in Mahahual. From the ocean, there's the malecon(boardwalk) then going west, there's one street that heads south that all the taxi's take down and another street one block further west, that all the taxis take back to the port.

[Shocker4]

So, there's no walking to town. I've got nothing against cheap bus rides but walking sounds more appealing, can I do that? Either on the road or on the shoreline?

[CowPrincess]

Personally you could not pay me enough to walk along a Mexican road :) The shore by the dock is VERY rocky -- I think that would be more "scrambling" than walking.

 

Once you are in Mahahual, the beach, malecon and side streets are available for walking. Or you could just walk the pier a few times -- that'd tire ya out :D

[crewsweeper]

So, there's no walking to town. I've got nothing against cheap bus rides but walking sounds more appealing, can I do that? Either on the road or on the shoreline?

You can walk into Mahual, you just can't walk along the beach. There is a retaining wall that marks off the pier compound and it's not scalable. (Well if you're a rock climber maybe a 5.5 with lots of chalk and climbing shoes:rolleyes:). But as Cow Princess wisely points out, you don't want to walk along the road. There is lots of traffic, due to construction, and poor shoulders. You're walking past building sites, not a scenic route by any means. Plus it can get very hot and humid. Not a pleasant stroll at all.

 

For $5 RT take a cab and enjoy yourself on the beach.

[LN13]

Is the lighthouse along the road to town? From the map, it looks like it is. Do you think my cab driver will stop and let me take a few pictures?

 

We are cruising the Celebrity Mercury out of Charleston, April 9.

[holdon216]

I Googled "Malecon Costa Maya" and came up with lots of great pictures of the area. It appears to go from the ship area down along the beach. Just where does this Malecon/walkway go?? From where to where? Still confused :rolleyes:

[crewsweeper]

Is the lighthouse along the road to town? From the map, it looks like it is. Do you think my cab driver will stop and let me take a few pictures?

 

We are cruising the Celebrity Mercury out of Charleston, April 9.

You can ask. The lighthouse is right at the end of the main road (Rte307) from where you turn to go into Mahaual. There is a military base (navy I think) there so you may not be able to get to it. But there is a beachclub and restaurant just south of the Lighthouse

 

Holden, The malecon is a paved strip that doesn't have vehicular traffic starts just after the lighthouse and goes for about 2 kilometers or so with most of the beaches and shops along the malecon start about 500 meters or so down fromt he lighthouse and end at the larger diving/fishing pier to the south. There are places beyond this but they are along the road.

don't confuse all the lines you see on the satelite map with being the malecon. many are old service roads. And don't confuse the town of Nuevo Mahahual (Las Casitas) which is the town around the Costa maya port with the old village of Mahahual. They are distinctly different.

 

All you need to tell the taxi driver is "Mahahual, por favor" and he'll take you there, drop you off at the first taxi station on Rubia right at the beach and malecon.

[cruiseblue]

You take a looonnngg walk down the pier (or grab the tram/shuttle; takes as long but you're not walking). Then you go through the shopping area at the pier, then out through the excursion bus parking lot and through the gate and down a 1/4 mile to the taxi stand in front of the Tequila Museum. There you grab a cab to Mahaual. Spend as much time on the beach and walking the malecon as you wish. Sma;;hops, restuarants/bars. Grab a lounger and order a drink. The beach is primarily white sand. Parts of the water near the beach are a bit rocky and you could snorkel there. Snorkeling may be a bit better down toward the south end of the malecon which gets nearer some of the off shore dive sites there and toward Xcatel to the south.

 

Costa Maya is the port. Mahahual is the town. There is some development occurring outside the confines of the port but it's spotty yet.

Mahahual is about 2-2 1/2 miles by road (maybe a mile and a half by water but you can't walk down the beach to there. You could walk the roads but losts o construction traffic and a cab is cheap.

You really can't get lost in Mahahual. From the ocean, there's the malecon(boardwalk) then going west, there's one street that heads south that all the taxi's take down and another street one block further west, that all the taxis take back to the port.

Beaches in Mahahual look great and this is where we want to go. If you take the tram/shuttle right from the pier, tram/shuttle drops you off at the taxi stand, this is correct?

[crewsweeper]

Beaches in Mahahual look great and this is where we want to go. If you take the tram/shuttle right from the pier, tram/shuttle drops you off at the taxi stand, this is correct?

Not being one who takes minishuttles down the piers--it's not that long of a walk really and I don't have mobility issues--I can't tell you if the minishuttle goes out of the pier area, but in 4 trips up and down the pier, I never saw it beyond the end of the pier at the security kiosk. I don't think it even goes into the port shops area. So from there, you'll have to walk through the port shops area, past the excursion parking lot, through the main gate and down about 3 blocks to the taxi stand. Or you can just stay in the port area and use the saltwater pool.

 

You have to remember that Costa Maya is the port area. The town directly outside the port area, where the Tequila Museum, hard Rock Cafe and a variety of shops and transportation to Maya Chan are located, used to be Las Casitas and is now called Nuevo Mahahual. The village of Mahajual(Mahahual) with the malecon is further south.