Mahajual and Tapas

[Babie]

Just back from the Grand Princess on Saturday, and our first stop was Costa Maya. I had been there before, but didn't make it to Mahajual that time. We made it a beach day this time, and we're very happy with our decision.

 

Tapas is a very nice beach area, with a fantastic view. We chartered a boat (about 6 of us) to go snorkel at the reef. It was supposed to be $15 for an hour, but it turned out we were out for about 2 hours. GREAT deal. I forgot the guides name though.

 

I didn't get any food at Tapas, but I did drink quite a few beers. I started with a strawberry margarita, and I'm sorry to say it was by far the worse one I had ever had (maybe their other mixed drinks are better).

 

It tasted, to me, like a strawberry slushy drink with a lot of lime in it. I tasted no alcohol, but I did feel the alcohol pretty fast. After that I stuck with local beers.

 

I love that Tapas is pretty much centrally located in Mahajual. Although I was "warned" that there was nothing to do or see, I was surprised at how much shopping and local art and friendly people there was all along the main road and the beaches.

 

If you're planning on going to Mahajual anytime soon, I suggest at least going to Tapas for a drink. They're beach chairs are free. It seemed like everyone else was charging $3 for a chair for the day.

 

Email me if you have any questions. I'm limited on information, but I can try and answer.

[flwrgirl]

Just back from our cruise and visiting Costa Maya. Enjoyed our day at Tapas but have to add a disclaimer to the above poster. The beach chairs may or may not be free. WE were charged $3 a piece for use of the lounge chairs. We were initially told by our waiter that they were free if we ate and drank at their facility. Apparently spending $30 in food and drink for two people was not enough for their tastes. Almost as an afterthought, they said "by the way" $6 for the use of our chairs. Perhaps it was because we were two women and he thought he could rip us off, perhaps they wanted us to spend more. I don't know.

 

 

Anyway, I'd still send people to Tapas, if only for their excellent salsa and gaucomoli. Just be prepared to perhaps pay extra for the chairs.

 

Oh, and I'd stick to beer. We initially had a pina colada and a strawberry margarita. Couldn't find any alcohol in either one. The beer was great though and the service very good. Best salsa I've ever had. All and all a very enjoyable day at the beach.

[swimmer_steph]

Just back from the Grand Princess on Saturday, and our first stop was Costa Maya. I had been there before, but didn't make it to Mahajual that time. We made it a beach day this time, and we're very happy with our decision.

 

Tapas is a very nice beach area, with a fantastic view. We chartered a boat (about 6 of us) to go snorkel at the reef. It was supposed to be $15 for an hour, but it turned out we were out for about 2 hours. GREAT deal. I forgot the guides name though.

 

I didn't get any food at Tapas, but I did drink quite a few beers. I started with a strawberry margarita, and I'm sorry to say it was by far the worse one I had ever had (maybe their other mixed drinks are better).

 

It tasted, to me, like a strawberry slushy drink with a lot of lime in it. I tasted no alcohol, but I did feel the alcohol pretty fast. After that I stuck with local beers.

 

I love that Tapas is pretty much centrally located in Mahajual. Although I was "warned" that there was nothing to do or see, I was surprised at how much shopping and local art and friendly people there was all along the main road and the beaches.

 

If you're planning on going to Mahajual anytime soon, I suggest at least going to Tapas for a drink. They're beach chairs are free. It seemed like everyone else was charging $3 for a chair for the day.

 

Email me if you have any questions. I'm limited on information, but I can try and answer.

 

We made a point to stop at Tapas this past Tuesday and boy am I glad we did :D !Their salsa is by far the BEST I've ever had and the service was superb! It was the perfect spot for lunch - I couldn't have been more pleased!

Steph

[LisaWar]

Just returned home from Carnival Miracle and we went to Tapas for the day. This is a very interesting area. The bus ride there was horrible due to no air and the bus almost broke down. However, once we got to Mahajual, it was really an interesting place. We walked down to Tapas and spent the day. Right away, they did charge us 3.00 for the chair. We sat at one of the tables and drank and ate as well (no charge for that table). Everyone is right, the salsa is very good! Actually everything was good. I enjoyed a 30 minute massage for $20.00. It's appears that there is alot of poverty there. There were many young children going around selling whatever they could for $1.00. It was quite sad and I wanted to bring a few of them home!!!

 

I would like to commend Amir. He was our waiter all day and took care of us so well. At one point it started to rain and he carried tables upstairs in their building for us to continue to enjoy ourselves. There's a little boy named Christian who lives nearby and sweeps the bathroom after you go in for tips. He was soooo sweet! We had Amir be the interpreter for us so we could talk with him, then one of my friends gave him $5.00 and he got such a big smile on his face! He left a lasting impression. We really enjoyed Tapas.

 

There's snorkeling and wave runners nearby that you can rent and of course get a massage!!!

[DelEaglesFan]

We were also at the fishing village with Lisa. Tapas was nice, and Emir was very friendly, but OVERALL I was disappointed with Mahajual.

 

I guess I got my expectations up too much, from reading the posts.

 

1. There was a mob scene outside the port area, to get a ride to Mahajual. First you had to figure out where to buy tickets for the cab/bus. The locals did not speak very good English. Then we had to wait 45 minutes in the blazing sun, to get a cab, bus, or van; whatever happened to show up.

(Fortunately, we ran into friends from the ship, so the time went by quickly)

 

Suggestion- if its mobbed with 2 or 3 cruise ships, you may wish to rent a golf cart or ride a bike (its probably about 2 miles); but the route is safe.

 

2. Unlike 90% of the people that were there, I wasn't interested in the Mexican beer.

 

3. I WAS interested in snorkeling. Forget it.

Don't even bother snorkeling from the beach area. There IS a reef a couple hundred yards out, but unless it is high tide, you can't swim to it very well. There is alot of "grass" growing, and its sharp, so you don't want to try to swim through it. And unless you get to the reef, there's not much to see on the sandy bottom.

 

4. They DO offer a boat ride to an offshore reef, for a reasonable price, which we should have tried. But our party also wanted to rent a jet ski. We went with the jet ski (very reasonable price); but when it was time to go (about an hour after paying and signing waivers), a squawl blew in, so we got our money back.

 

5. After the squawl blew through, the village cleared out, and we had it all to ourselves. We didn't want to miss the ship, so we shopped a bit, and took a taxi back.

 

6. We spent about an hour or so in the port area, and our kids had a great time in the pool/ bar (especially the 19 y/o, who snuck a few brewskies)