Maya Chan review: Loved it!

[Bahbert]

I just got back from a 5-day cruise to Costa Maya and Cozumel, and wanted to post my experience at Maya Chan. Much of this has been said by others before, but I wanted to add my two cents. If you're not already somewhat familiar with this all-inclusive beach option and the people who run it, be sure to check out their website.

 

First of all, the owners and staff are fantastic. They are VERY good about communication; they provide good information before the cruise via email, and explain everything well when you get there. Jane, Mark, and David all made us feel welcome and did their absolute best to ensure we had a good time. Their staff were attentive and helpful, and timely with the drinks. 🙂 Jane was sweet in her email exchanges with me prior to the trip. Her son David explained the accommodations and activities that were available when we arrived. And Jane's husband Mark joined us in the pool for most of our stay, regaling us with stories of their adventures as cruisers and owners of a Mexico day resort. Needless to say, he's a character. And when their website says "we cruise" and suggests that's an understatement, it certainly is: Mark said they've been on 168 cruises to date, all over the world.

Another thing I need to talk about is the food. Of the resorts and tourist areas I've visited in Mexico and the Caribbean, their tacos were by far the best I've had, especially the pork. Mark said he's a foodie and I believe it. They made sure you'll enjoy your lunch. The drinks are delicious too. If you do visit them, be sure to try the Oreo Chan (a blended beverage made with Oreos).

 

The only down side to the visit was outside of their control: the sargassum seaweed on the beach. It has been a problem for many Caribbean locations for a while now (we saw it in Cozumel too), and theirs is no different; it is a little unsightly and the smell is unpleasant. But Maya Chan is up-front about it in all of their communication with us, both before we arrived in Costa Maya as well as when we got there. The woman who greeted us outside the port showed us a picture of the beach and gave us the option to cancel if we chose. When we got to our palapa we decided it was a little too close to the seaweed for our comfort, but thankfully they have a pool set back from the beach (with a bar right next to it). My wife and I spent our day at the pool, but our daughter and her friend ventured out near the beach for a while. We even saw some people get through the mess in order to take a glass-bottom kayak out into the water.

 

All in all, we had a very good day at Maya Chan and would definitely return.

[BNBR]

Awesome review!  It's hard to explain to people sometimes. Not the best water, sometimes seaweed, but easily the best beach/day trip in the Caribbean. By far.

 

Its just so damn amazing. We always do a beach massage as well. I think Mark and Jane being cruisers, they know exactly what cruisers want and nail it. 

[Moonglo]

Sounds really nice.  How far from the port is the resort? Also if you dont mind me asking....how much were there day passes?  Im trying to start figuring out where my boyfriend and I will like to spend our time while visiting.

[c-leg5]

2 hours ago, Moonglo said:

Sounds really nice.  How far from the port is the resort? Also if you dont mind me asking....how much were there day passes?  Im trying to start figuring out where my boyfriend and I will like to spend our time while visiting.

 

This will answer most of your questions

http://costamayabeachresort.com/

 

the resort is south of the town of Mahahual. Not very far in mileage - you can “drive “ it in google  virtual maps but it is mainly along a dirt road. Conditions can vary depending on the weather but usually takes 20-30 minutes each way.

[Bradison]

Is the seaweed issue seasonal or pretty much all year round?

[c-leg5]

1 hour ago, Bradison said:

Is the seaweed issue seasonal or pretty much all year round?

 

Variable from year to year. 

 

Last year was bad and lasted most of the time from March - November.

 

completely clear for our December 2018 visit and back in February 2019. 

Edited May 27, 2019 by c-leg5

[MisterOJ2]

That's a great review. My wife and I are going on the Fantasy in couple weeks on the same itinerary.

We chose it specifically because it goes to Costa Maya so that we can go to Maya Chan and we wanted to celebrate our anniversary there. The last time we were at Maya Chan, Mark was telling us his plan to put in a pool, but I wasn't sure if he was being serious, or if he was just kinda BSing. I'm glad to know that we'll get to check out the pool after all on this trip!

[Bahbert]

On 5/29/2019 at 12:48 PM, MisterOJ2 said:

That's a great review. My wife and I are going on the Fantasy in couple weeks on the same itinerary.

We chose it specifically because it goes to Costa Maya so that we can go to Maya Chan and we wanted to celebrate our anniversary there. The last time we were at Maya Chan, Mark was telling us his plan to put in a pool, but I wasn't sure if he was being serious, or if he was just kinda BSing. I'm glad to know that we'll get to check out the pool after all on this trip!

 

If you get the chance, ask him to tell you about the pool's install. It took a bit of cloak-and-dagger work. 

[USCcruisecrazy]

Thanks for the review.  There are 12 of us heading there in December on the Sky Princess.  I can hardly wait to check it out!!

[dancingfish]

What an awesome place! putting it on my list! Trying to decide what to do at each port is turning out harder than I thought!

[gotscrapz]

Was there a lot of seaweed?

we are booked for end of July but I am concerned about the seaweed.

i saw recent pics from there that looked like they had a ton while some of the reports on the Malecon seemed to have very little?

can you confirm?

thanks! 

[c-leg5]

On 6/18/2019 at 10:16 AM, Bahbert said:

 

If you get the chance, ask him to tell you about the pool's install. It took a bit of cloak-and-dagger work. 

 

Cloak and dagger on whose part?

 

what concerns me is how they addressed  the problem from their own website. Did they answer this?

 

Is there a fresh water pool?

Due to the nature of the weather and the fact that we produce our electricity, it would be almost impossible to maintain required cleanliness standards for a pool. For this reason, we offer fresh water showers for our patrons.

 

 

[Bahbert]

8 hours ago, c-leg5 said:

 

Cloak and dagger on whose part?

 

what concerns me is how they addressed  the problem from their own website. Did they answer this?

 

Is there a fresh water pool?

Due to the nature of the weather and the fact that we produce our electricity, it would be almost impossible to maintain required cleanliness standards for a pool. For this reason, we offer fresh water showers for our patrons.

 

 

 

They had to move the pool in the middle of the night to avoid undue attention.

 

it’s a salt water pool. 

[MisterOJ2]

14 hours ago, gotscrapz said:

Was there a lot of seaweed?

we are booked for end of July but I am concerned about the seaweed.

i saw recent pics from there that looked like they had a ton while some of the reports on the Malecon seemed to have very little?

can you confirm?

thanks! 

 

I was there last week. Yes, there was a lot of seaweed. But, from what I saw on the taxi ride out to Maya Chan, it was basically the same all up and down the beach.

 

My wife and I didn't even bother getting in the ocean there, because if was so bad. But the drinks, food, service and pool were all so nice that it was totally worth the price we payed to hang out there. We had a blast!

[gotscrapz]

Thank you for your input. I was hoping to here that! We may still go but it will up to my teenage daughter, she may just want to swim at the port or onboard if the smell is bad - otherwise we will go! 

[surfgal24]

We were there today. The seaweed was crazy and the smell was terrible  maybe the heat? I’m not sure. I only saw a couple people venture in the water. 

[gotscrapz]

On 6/25/2019 at 6:07 PM, surfgal24 said:

We were there today. The seaweed was crazy and the smell was terrible  maybe the heat? I’m not sure. I only saw a couple people venture in the water. 

Wonder if I can just cancel now instead of waiting until they show me pictures the day of. I think we’d just be happier going out on a catamaran past the seaweed or swimming in a pool.

thank you for your help!

[gotscrapz]

Well we ate to go for it if we are still able to cruise. Dd has kidney issues and she’s not doing so great right now - it’s a month away so hard to say  it hoping she’s better. We will follow the doctors advice when we get closer.

[MisterOJ2]

8 hours ago, gotscrapz said:

Well we ate to go for it if we are still able to cruise. Dd has kidney issues and she’s not doing so great right now - it’s a month away so hard to say  it hoping she’s better. We will follow the doctors advice when we get closer.

 

I'm sorry your daughter isn't doing well. Hopefully she's better soon.

 

Maya Chan will let you cancel before your cruise begins if that's what you want. Here lately they've been sending out an email about the sargassum a week or two before each reservation. And in it, they say that you can cancel at any time if you choose to do so. 

[DaBoilerz]

Thanks for all the feedback on Maya Chan! Curious, would you expect many children there on a mid-January port day? We do our girls trip to get away from our kids, and are looking for an AI that doesn't have a huge kid scene (Like Nachi in Cozumel). 

 

Not a kid hater...just restoring my mental health so I can be a better mom when I get home! :) 

[MisterOJ2]

19 hours ago, DaBoilerz said:

Thanks for all the feedback on Maya Chan! Curious, would you expect many children there on a mid-January port day? We do our girls trip to get away from our kids, and are looking for an AI that doesn't have a huge kid scene (Like Nachi in Cozumel). 

 

Not a kid hater...just restoring my mental health so I can be a better mom when I get home! :) 

 

Mid-January? I'd expect the kids at Maya Chan to be nil. It's not a place that gets a lot of kids anyway, and during a time when kids are in school - I'd say there's a good chance there might not be any at all. Even if there are some kids, by a weird coincidence, everything is so spread out, you may barely see them.

[BNBR]

On 7/24/2019 at 11:44 AM, MisterOJ2 said:

 

Mid-January? I'd expect the kids at Maya Chan to be nil. It's not a place that gets a lot of kids anyway, and during a time when kids are in school - I'd say there's a good chance there might not be any at all. Even if there are some kids, by a weird coincidence, everything is so spread out, you may barely see them.

 

This. Even if some kids show up, you won't even notice. They will be in their own areas. It's a non starter. I have brought our kids with us to Maya Chan and I couldn't even imagine them having annoyed anyone.  They played in our private palapa area well away from others.

 

Maya Chan is so great, they will probably purposely set you up away from families if you just ask. They know ages before arrival and have it all planned out. Just mention you would prefer away from kids. They'll accommodate.