Update of what to do in Mahahual, the town next to the Port of Costa Maya.

[nitrogenaddict]

The walk to Mahahual is approximately 20 minutes. You can get a ride to the town from the pier. The town is actually 3 miles long. The main "commercial centre" is where you get dropped off. I f you walk a short distance away from the town you will find other bars and restaurants. The town of Mahahual is very safe for all visitors, (contrary to the information given out on some of the cruise ships).

 

The Dive Centres in Mahahual are BLUE HA DIVING and BUCANERO DEL CARIBE and MAYA PALMS RESORT. All Dive operators offer resort courses. Blue Ha and Maya Palms are PADI centres and can be booked through Mayahual Tours at the cruiseship pier. Bucanero del Caribe (CMAS) can also be booked at the pier. The centres try to accommodate people’s wishes but the most important thing is to get the people back to the ship. Blue Ha has all Scubapro equipment, Maya Palms has Sherwood equipment and Bucanero has a variety of equipment.

 

Mahahual Village now has: - Snorkel tours, wave runners, fishing, parasailing, and horseback riding, Scuba Diving. 2 operators with booths at the pier are Mayahual Tours (3 booths) and Let's Go Snorkelling. These tour operators organise a trip to town for 5USD per person. The return trip is 2 USD per person with the local taxis. There are a lot of beach bars and restaurants in the area. Shopping for souvenirs is also possible at more moderate prices than offered at the Pier.

 

Parasailing is now being offered by MAYAHUAL TOURS who have 2 booths at the cruise ship pier.

The snorkel tour operators all have locker facilities for storing personal items of guests. There are three in the town, Mayahual Tours; (20:00USD per person. 1&1/2 hour trip) they have 2 booths at the cruise ship pier selling their trips. They will arrange transport for you or you can go directly into town and they have a stand on the beach just as you come into town. The other is Let's Go Snorkelling- their prices are the same and can arrange transport into town. By the way it costs 5 USD per person for the trip to town. Once in town you return by yellow cab and this will cost 2 USD per person. (Do not ask about this idiosyncrasy in prices). The third place for snorkelling is in the centre of the town (or we should really say Village). They are next door to the Taxis. Their prices are the same. Lifejackets are on board. There are golf carts for rent at the port of Costa Maya , (15 USD per hour, 45 USD per half day and 75 USD per full day). There is also Deep-sea fishing on offer from Mayahual Tours.

 

As for eating and drinking there are few places worth mentioning: -

OXTANKHA serves the best Ceviche in town -- Ceviche is raw conch, prawns and sometimes Octopus marinated in Lime Juice. It is served with tomato and onion and taco chips.

TAPAS Bar, Italian Argentinean owners. Serve good food and drinks, they have a place on the beach with tables and chairs.

Another good recommendation is PEZ QUADRO. This is about 800 yards south of the town centre. Italian run. A beautiful beach bar with swing seats serving cocktails, beer, and Italian and Mexican cuisine. There are others like, CAPTAIN MONO and El Delfin. Further down about 1 mile and a half from the town centre is the Casa Del Mar Beach Café. This offers pancakes, freshly baked German Bread and all day breakfast with freshly pressed orange juice.

 

In Mahahual there are a few restaurants offering excellent cuisine in the day and evenings. There is the Restaurant LUNA PLATA offering Italian pasta, pizza and meat dish, run by Italians, Dario, Edzekiel, and Luca. The next restaurant next door is TIROVINO run by Chiara and Michael. They offer Thailand dishes and pasta. In the town centre is OXTANKHA offering Mexican dishes. There is also the TEQUILA BEACH, which offers various meals. Later in the evening is Music. On Cruise ship days these places are always open. Now if you rent a golf cart or ATV (4 Wheeler you can visit TRAVEL IN a small restaurant run by an English Dutch couple. They do great hamburgers, PITA bread with various dips. They are approximately 3 miles out of town or 5.5 km.

 

There are tours offered by the local taxis to Chachobben, Kohunlich, Bacalar, Chetumal.

 

There are now 4-wheeled ATVs for rent.

[izzyvet]

I ate at Oxtankha and can vouch for the ceviche. Had the shrimp and it was excellent. Should have shared it though. Got the small and it was huge!! Countless shrimp. Also spent part of the day at Pez Quadro. Nice beach area, but I wish they had more beach chairs. Also, they weren't serving any food when we were there.

[dderm]

Have been reading your posts about school there in Mahahual accepting donations. Our cruise is stopping there the first week in November. Can you tell me what sort of things the children need? I looked for the list referenced in another thread but haven't found it yet. And some idea of how many kids in what age groups would really help. Since I'm driving to the port we can bring an extra duffle. Guess I should also ask if I need to contact someone to make arrangements ahead of time or can I just show up and drop things off. We won't be docking until Noon according to the schedule - what are the school hours? Any information is appreciated. :)

[GoCruisin]

Any idea what the waverunners cost and where we need to go to find them? Also, does anyone know if the Horseback riding has weight limits? We would love to do that but most have a limit of 200-250 lbs and DH weighs about 260. Any information is appreciated.

[Dannzzigg]

Waverunners can be rented through Mayawal Tours. You can arrange everything at the cruise pier, including transportation to Majahaul. I can only give them a so-so recommendation though. It is a rather half-baked operation. We rented three waverunners, one of which broke down immediately after starting (they did give us refund on that rental) and one of the reamining ones had the oil light on for the duration. When we stopped to pint it out to them, their response was 'don't worry'. We didn't, it was their machine after all, but it did help me understand why the first one broke down.

[CharleneDaniel]

Costa Maya Shore Tours is another site that offers some good info on shore tours and you can pre-book them before the cruise which I like instead of waiting until we get there.

[Matt&Delta]

I'm reading about these in posts? Are they available in Costa Maya at the prot or where would we go for rental? How much do they cost?

Thanks will be visiting week of Dec 11:)

[stingray310]

Thanks will be visiting week of Dec 11:)

The Triumph may be going back to Grand Cayman by then. You might want to check for sure.

 

Stingray