Suggestions for Costa Maya for next week

[deesapa]

Hi - Our group will be arriving in Costa Maya for a day next week and we have 8 am to 3 pm time given for visiting the island so wanted suggestions to make most of it. We are group of 12 people - adults and kids (ages 6-12).

 

This is the plan we had in mind -

8 am - Exit from cruise

8.30 am to 11.30 am - Ruins tour (which one to take ?)

12 to 3 pm - Visit beach (Maya chan or Blue Key)

3 pm - Enter back on cruise

 

Any suggestions on which ruins tour to take and if it makes sense to go somewhere else instead of ruins and beach like visiting town, doing shopping, etc

 

Thank you for your help in advance.

[crewsweeper]

First, Costa Maya is NOT an island. It is on the mainland.

 

For ruins tours check with Native Choice on which tours and availability might fit your group as their times and tours may not exactly coincide with your timeline. And neither may ship excursions. Not sure if 3 hours is going to cut it on any ruins tour. The closest ruins are almost an hour away. If you are off the ship by 8:30, it could take you 15 minutes or more to get to NC's building outside the cruise port. I believe their tours leave Nuevo Mahahaul around 9A. A 1/2 an hour is NOT going to allow you to really see any of the ruins.

 

Third, on beach club choices Maya Chan is an All Inclusive and is south of the malecon. Thus further away. If they have room for your party at $50 pp you would be wasting your time and money with only a couple of hours. So do Blue Kay instead, assuming you have enough time. I think NC will be able to drop you along the malecon. If so, then they can easily pull into BK's separate entrance.

 

Remember, if your ship is in port from 8-3 you may or may not be able to get off by 8:30 or earlier, depends on when Mexican Customs Immigration okays the ship for debarkation. And if your ship leaves at 3P you'll most likely need to be back on board by 2:30P which means leaving Blue Kay around 2P as taxi and long walk from parking lot to pier and wait time or walking time for long pier.

[c-leg5]

Hi - Our group will be arriving in Costa Maya for a day next week and we have 8 am to 3 pm time given for visiting the island so wanted suggestions to make most of it. We are group of 12 people - adults and kids (ages 6-12).

 

This is the plan we had in mind -

8 am - Exit from cruise

8.30 am to 11.30 am - Ruins tour (which one to take ?)

12 to 3 pm - Visit beach (Maya chan or Blue Key)

3 pm - Enter back on cruise

 

Any suggestions on which ruins tour to take and if it makes sense to go somewhere else instead of ruins and beach like visiting town, doing shopping, etc

 

Thank you for your help in advance.

 

This is a short port day and you will probably only have time for ruins or beach.

 

Maya Chan is AI and needs to be pre-booked, especially for a group of your size and would fill your port time with transport. Blue Kay is more flexible and a short distance from port.

 

Ruins require considerable time traveling.

[deesapa]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I see there are combinations of ruins and beach available on shore excursioneer. Was thinking if that would be worth while.

 

Also it is possible to do ruins on our own in a self guided tour as we don't want to spend a full day doing just ruins.

[c-leg5]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I see there are combinations of ruins and beach available on shore excursioneer. Was thinking if that would be worth while.

 

Also it is possible to do ruins on our own in a self guided tour as we don't want to spend a full day doing just ruins.

 

The combination tour I see is 7 hours. I would only do something that time intensive through the cruise line.

 

It is possible to use a local vendor, as Crew suggested Native Choice is highly recommended and has been doing the tours for years. I have not done ruins in Costa Maya and so cannot comment but to the best of my knowledge the nearest ruins usually take about 4 hours total.

[crewsweeper]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I see there are combinations of ruins and beach available on shore excursioneer. Was thinking if that would be worth while.

 

Also it is possible to do ruins on our own in a self guided tour as we don't want to spend a full day doing just ruins.

 

you'll need to know which ruins you want to see. Hire a taxi or in your situation 2 or 3. Make sure they know how to get to the ruins and will wait for you. could cost more than an excursion. There isn't a car rental facility near the port. While there may be guides at the ruins, it'll be difficult to know just exactly what you are seeing although you can search for a particular site on the web and find out quite a bit about it. I think the main message C-legs and I are trying to convey on both your inquiries here and on the Coz board, is that you're trying to jam too much into a day in a country known to be a bit more laid back, in a area not quite developed and traveling long distances over semi-adequate roads with nothing between the port and your destination, plus tossing in beach time.

 

Grab a consensus from your group of what they want to do and tone it down a bit. You're on vacation, you don't have to spend every minute in full active mode.

[deesapa]

Thanks again everyone appreciate the suggestions and guidance.

[drgonzogoo]

We have a stop in Costa Maya and want to do some ruins. We have similar port times just an hour earlier. As much as we are trying to avoid ship excursions, we are doing one here. Have fun!!