Best beach day pass/all inclusive in Costa Maya? Does it exist?

[reedpartyof4]

We will be cave tubing in Belize and dolphin swimming in Cozumel, so really just hoping for one day to relax, have access to food/drinks, and enjoy the water and sun.  Previously, I've had great experiences at Mr. Sanchos in Cozumel and also Chakkanaub.  Never been off the ship in Costa Maya.  Would appreciate any experiences and recommendations!  

Thanks!

[c-leg5]

4 hours ago, reedpartyof4 said:

We will be cave tubing in Belize and dolphin swimming in Cozumel, so really just hoping for one day to relax, have access to food/drinks, and enjoy the water and sun.  Previously, I've had great experiences at Mr. Sanchos in Cozumel and also Chakkanaub.  Never been off the ship in Costa Maya.  Would appreciate any experiences and recommendations!  

Thanks!

 I suggest you scroll down and read some of the reviews on the last page of this board where several of the more popular beach clubs arc regularly reviewed and then come back with any specific questions about individual locations. 
 

You will not find large tourist beach clubs like Sanchos or Chankanaab or large hotel day passes like Cozumel with multiple activities.

 

The malecon in nearby town of Mahahual is lined with many beach clubs along one big bay with clubs to suit all budgets, some PAYG but mostly offering AI or minimum cover charge these days. No, or very tiny, swimming pools. Many vendors.

 

A few isolated individual beach clubs exist out of town depending on the time of year you are visiting. 
 

The port itself offers various activities, shops, several pools and a flow rider but no real beach.

 

 

[reedpartyof4]

Thanks, C-Leg. I searched before posting but for sure didnt go to the last page.  Do you recommend taking an excursion in Costa Maya as opposed to doing your own thing, then?  My group is fairly chill and open to anything I plan for us... 

[c-leg5]

2 hours ago, reedpartyof4 said:

Thanks, C-Leg. I searched before posting but for sure didnt go to the last page.  Do you recommend taking an excursion in Costa Maya as opposed to doing your own thing, then?  My group is fairly chill and open to anything I plan for us... 

Which page of the board probably depends on your settings, obviously I mean the reviews in the last few months!

 

Unless you are doing an excursion to the ruins or Bacalar Lagoon, in which case I would probably use Native Choice  (which has been around for years) or the cruise ship (due to distance) I would book everywhere else independently.

 

The beach bars in Mahahual are all shoulder-to-shoulder along the malecon (10 minutes away by taxi) and choice will depend on individual preference, but try to stick with one of the regularly recommended because there are some that over charge, run scams etc.

 

out of town, Maya Chan and, more recently, Hayhu have rave reviews. However be careful of your port hours if you choose either of those because transport, and time of day, can affect their value. Maya Chan has been closing in recent years through the summer for hurricane season. Sargassum can be a big problem at any location along this coastline during the season although the government has installed off shore baffles which seems to have helped to some degree the beaches in town.
 

General information:

Depending on how many ships are in port with you the man-made port area can be very busy. There is a very long pier to walk from the ship to the port and a confusing route through the port to get out to taxi transport. This can be a concern for elderly or if traveling with young kids. Many ships have been unable to dock in recent years due to strong winds resulting in an extra sea day or sometimes an overnight in Cozumel if that is your next port.

Edited April 5 by c-leg5

[OCSC Mike]

Caveat: This is from 2017 so things could easily be different now,

 

We really enjoyed Nohoch Kay... https://elgrannohochkaybigfish.com/

 

It was smaller and looked a bit rough around the edges but the service, food, and drinks were all excellent. It was small enough that I got to chatting with a manager about this and that and he asked what kind of food I like. Somehow we settled on shrimp and he said he'd have the chef make me something off the menu. I wound up with a simple garlic shrimp over rice dish but it was excellent. There was also a dog who seemed to live there at the time. I think he was asleep in the sand under my lounger for at least 90 minutes, lol.

 

Just throwing it out there. I've read many good things about Maya Chan. We actually looked into going there first but this was a last minute cruise and it was sold out. That's how we wound up at Nohoch Kay. I would happily go back but every time we call on Costa Maya it's a shortened port stop and we've only been there til 2pm. Having to leave that early makes it unappealing to us.

Edited April 5 by OCSC Mike

[dctravel]

We were just in Costa Maya and went to Pez Quadro (we tried to get in at Jamie's Blue Reef first, but they were sold out. Pez Quadro is at the 40 Cannons Hotel. They are AI for alcohol and other drinks and each person gets to order once off their beach club lunch menu (different than the hotel lunch menu). We found it to be a great place. Sure there were vendors walking around, but we just said "no thank you" and they moved on without any bother. The beach was clean, the beer kept coming (or sodas for the kids), and the portions for lunch were big and tasty. I would go again.

[c-leg5]

40 minutes ago, dctravel said:

We were just in Costa Maya and went to Pez Quadro (we tried to get in at Jamie's Blue Reef first, but they were sold out. Pez Quadro is at the 40 Cannons Hotel. They are AI for alcohol and other drinks and each person gets to order once off their beach club lunch menu (different than the hotel lunch menu). We found it to be a great place. Sure there were vendors walking around, but we just said "no thank you" and they moved on without any bother. The beach was clean, the beer kept coming (or sodas for the kids), and the portions for lunch were big and tasty. I would go again.

Glad you had a good day. It is a long time since we went to that location. Food was certainly very good.
 

Did you choose to do AI? someone recently said they were doing PAYG now - did you get a choice,  their AI used to be expensive.

 

Were there a lot of crew there, or was it relatively quiet? 

Edited April 8 by c-leg5

[dctravel]

The only choice when we booked was AI, either alcoholic or non-alcoholic. It wasn't cheap, but it also wasn't over the top, especially because our first two choices were already sold out.

 

We didn't notice a lot of crew, it felt more like we were surrounded by families, many not from a cruise ship. At least one family set on the edge of the club with their own chairs and started to play music. The staff came over unprompted to ask them to lower the volume. It didn't bother us, honestly. I'm used to the beach in NJ (where I grew up) and folks bringing music with them.

 

We talked a bit with folks from the NCL Joy, but there seemed to be very few cruise passengers, comparatively (at least based on towels 🙂).