Need a Plan B: Maya Chan closed for "new construction and storm preparedness"

[bruzin_for_a_cruizin]

Heads up: I just tried to make a reservation with Maya Chan for our August sailing on Symphony of the Seas. They responded advising they "have decided to pause from July to October 10 for new construction and storm preparedness."

 

Any recommendations for a Plan B? Is Nacional Beach Club actually worth USD$135 pp?

[crewsweeper]

Or look into Jamie's Blue Reef, next door to Nacional.  Less expensive.  South end of the malecon is Malecon 21.  Don't think they offer an AI package but setting is less crowded than middle of the malecon  and food and drink are good.   South of Maya Chan is Almaplena.  And there's a place inbetween, starts with H, can't remember but @c-leg5   knows it.   

 

Edited March 11, 2022 by crewsweeper

[cruisegal40]

Thanks for this information on MC.  We usually go and are on the SOTS in September.  Bummer.  Now we will also need to look for another beach.

[bruzin_for_a_cruizin]

23 hours ago, cruisegal40 said:

Thanks for this information on MC.  We usually go and are on the SOTS in September.  Bummer.  Now we will also need to look for another beach.

Yeah, I figured that others would be interested in this information, seeing how popular Maya Chan is as an option.

Keep us posted here what you find for your alternative. For our sailing, Costa Maya is our first port stop, so I'd like to have something booked. The port area is nice enough to walk through once. Once.

[c-leg5]

On 3/11/2022 at 9:27 AM, crewsweeper said:

Or look into Jamie's Blue Reef, next door to Nacional.  Less expensive.  South end of the malecon is Malecon 21.  Don't think they offer an AI package but setting is less crowded than middle of the malecon  and food and drink are good.   South of Maya Chan is Almaplena.  And there's a place inbetween, starts with H, can't remember but @c-leg5   knows it.   

 

 

LOL, probably thinking of Hayhu? I haven’t been because I have always been worried about transport but I would love to give it a try and I think they have transport better arranged now compared to when they first opened.

 

I am surprised Maya Chan is taking a break after being closed for so long and I wonder what they are going to add? We were there again last week and had usual good service with plenty of staff. I was discussing location of Hayhu with one of the servers and it is even further south than I thought but he confirmed that you would go down the faster inside highway and cut back to the coast.

 

The port hours for our current sailings are very short and we were only just back at the ship in time from Maya Chan as the taxi was a little late picking up. I wouldn’t have wanted to go the further distance with our port hours.

Malecon 21 does offer several packages including AI and is a quieter location for the malecon. We have enjoyed several visits pre-Covid but were disappointed with the service on our recent visit. Maybe caught them on a bad day. I think they have opened the hotel now but we didn’t see the owner or previous server to ask.

 
From walking the malecon and visual assessment I would try YaYa for a quieter experience. They have similar packages to Malecon21 but I haven't been able to find any reviews from recent cruisers.

 

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by c-leg5

[celestialcruiser]

We went to Almaplena last week. It was about a 20  minute taxi ride and it was beautiful. We were the only cruise guests there and only 4 other guests from the hotel. It was like having a private beach. The sand was white and soft, drinks were served frequently (although they did taste a little watered down), and had a nice lunch. It was super windy the day we were there so we didn't go in the ocean. It was easy to get a taxi just outside the port area and the same driver came back to pick us up at the time we requested. I would recommend it.

[lifes-a-beach]

Thanks for the info on Almaplena.  Their website says transportation is included.  How does that work?  You mentioned a taxi ride, is there a specific transport or do we just get in a cab and Almaplena pays for it?  We don’t drink alcohol so the all inclusive, while not cost prohibitive, I assume would only include whatever food they serve and whatever non-alcoholic drinks they have.  Do you know if they do anything besides soda and water?  What were the food choices?  The website mentions beef and shrimp tacos, guacamole and nachos.  Is that it?  Thanks for the info.

 

While on the where-to-go subject, last week we went to Blue Key.  We have been there a dozen or more times in the past and have always loved it.  Unfortunately, it has changed and no longer suits our needs.  The wooden lounge chairs have never been great but with a cushion we could manage.  The cushions are now thin and ineffective.  When we walked onto the beach the employee told me it was $10 per chair which I knew we had never paid.  I told him we would just move on and he quickly said if we were going to be eating or drinking there was no charge.  We have always enjoyed the food there and would go across the malecon and sit under the shade next to the bar to eat.  The bar was closed “today, but will be open tomorrow “.  It was Friday so that made no sense.  So when it was time to eat we sat at a wooden table under the palm trees on the most uncomfortable, stiff wooden chairs ever.  We ordered the shrimp ceviche and, while it was pretty good, it was nothing like what we had consistently gotten before.  Also ordered guacamole and I don’t remember how much it was but the serving was quite small, again, nothing like our past experiences.  The service was pretty good as it has always been and the restrooms were reasonably clean.  As for the beach, it has been necessary for them to put a row of large rocks along the water, presumably to stop erosion, but it also looked like this was their attempt to keep the sargassum off the beach.  And there was lots of sargassum.  There was an area with no rocks but smooth sand bags where you could get into the water but it was certainly not visually appealing and anyone with mobility issues would need to be careful.  
 

I’m sorry to report that Blue Key was not to our liking.  Hopefully the future will bring better things for them.

Edited March 18, 2022 by lifes-a-beach

[crewsweeper]

 I can't answer your questions about Almaplena. If you look up a review on any of these boards by @mitsugirly  her signature had past reviews and she's been there.

 

But thanks for the report on Blue Kay.  I know a couple of years back (pre-COVID) ownership changed.  New owner is  Canadian and supposedly absentee/never been there.  Hired a bunch of guys who are also running El Faro (to the ground, btw) who then took over with their aggressive behavior.

 

[c-leg5]

3 hours ago, lifes-a-beach said:

Thanks for the info on Almaplena.  Their website says transportation is included.  How does that work?  You mentioned a taxi ride, is there a specific transport or do we just get in a cab and Almaplena pays for it?  We don’t drink alcohol so the all inclusive, while not cost prohibitive, I assume would only include whatever food they serve and whatever non-alcoholic drinks they have.  Do you know if they do anything besides soda and water?  What were the food choices?  The website mentions beef and shrimp tacos, guacamole and nachos.  Is that it?  Thanks for the info.

 

While on the where-to-go subject, last week we went to Blue Key.  We have been there a dozen or more times in the past and have always loved it.  Unfortunately, it has changed and no longer suits our needs.  The wooden lounge chairs have never been great but with a cushion we could manage.  The cushions are now thin and ineffective.  When we walked onto the beach the employee told me it was $10 per chair which I knew we had never paid.  I told him we would just move on and he quickly said if we were going to be eating or drinking there was no charge.  We have always enjoyed the food there and would go across the malecon and sit under the shade next to the bar to eat.  The bar was closed “today, but will be open tomorrow “.  It was Friday so that made no sense.  So when it was time to eat we sat at a wooden table under the palm trees on the most uncomfortable, stiff wooden chairs ever.  We ordered the shrimp ceviche and, while it was pretty good, it was nothing like what we had consistently gotten before.  Also ordered guacamole and I don’t remember how much it was but the serving was quite small, again, nothing like our past experiences.  The service was pretty good as it has always been and the restrooms were reasonably clean.  As for the beach, it has been necessary for them to put a row of large rocks along the water, presumably to stop erosion, but it also looked like this was their attempt to keep the sargassum off the beach.  And there was lots of sargassum.  There was an area with no rocks but smooth sand bags where you could get into the water but it was certainly not visually appealing and anyone with mobility issues would need to be careful.  
 

I’m sorry to report that Blue Key was not to our liking.  Hopefully the future will bring better things for them.

Thanks for the update on Blue Kay. We were also on Adventure last week and the previous sailing. Sargassum had increased considerably from February and was noticeable sailing in. We returned to Maya Chan  first sailing and whilst there was sargassum they were working hard to remove and I have seen it worse but we didn’t venture into the ocean that particular visit.

 

We are also on the search for some where new after our disappointment with our “go-to”, Malecon21. Unfortunately the place we were going to try was closed and so returned to Krazy Lobster last week, which we had tried in February. It is bigger and more crowded than we really like but service is good and honest, and beach was kept clean by off shore baffles and swimming area was clear.

Edited March 18, 2022 by c-leg5

[crewsweeper]

3 hours ago, c-leg5 said:

Thanks for the update on Blue Kay. We were also on Adventure last week and the previous sailing. Sargassum had increased considerably from February and was noticeable sailing in. We returned to Maya Chan  first sailing and whilst there was sargassum they were working hard to remove and I have seen it worse but we didn’t venture into the ocean that particular visit.

 

We are also on the search for some where new after our disappointment with our “go-to”, Malecon21. Unfortunately the place we were going to try was closed and so returned to Krazy Lobster last week, which we had tried in February. It is bigger and more crowded than we really like but service is good and honest, and beach was kept clean by off shore baffles and swimming area was clear.

Was that YaYas?  Pitaya?  I thought YaYas was open in January.  I know Pitaya's has been closed for awhile.  But so are several other older spots along the beach.  Sorry you had a bad experience at Malecon21.

[crewsweeper]

3 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

Was that YaYas?  Pitaya?  I thought YaYas was open in November.  I know Pitaya's has been closed for awhile.  But so are several other older spots along the beach.  Sorry you had a bad experience at Malecon21. And yes Krazy Lobster is just taking over that beach section.

 

Edited March 18, 2022 by crewsweeper

[c-leg5]

1 hour ago, crewsweeper said:

Was that YaYas?  Pitaya?  I thought YaYas was open in January.  I know Pitaya's has been closed for awhile.  But so are several other older spots along the beach.  Sorry you had a bad experience at Malecon21.

No, we aim to try YaYa sometime but this was our second visit in 10 days and were hoping for something budget friendly and low key.
 

We planned to try out the hotel with pool within walking distance of the port as recommended by @twangster. However it was closed for 2 weeks. I did learn that it was affiliated to La Chilangaloense on the  malecon though.

 

Yaya was open in February and looked good.

Edited March 18, 2022 by c-leg5

[mitsugirly]

I hate to hear about Blue Kay. I "think" we seemed to be one of the first around the boards back in the day to discover this beautiful and very large beach area on the Malecon and it was our absolute favorite when we went. The service was great, the food was great, they didn't have all of the charges and the snorkeling was pretty decent as well...all in fairly shallow water.

 

The second time we went back there were many changes including the charges and the newly lined beach with chairs for the people to sit in from the establishment next door and a rope that you weren't to go in that area...which meant you were no longer sitting at the beach yourself but behind everyone (However, you could walk down a little further where there weren't chairs and put your towel down if you wanted). It sounds like it has changed even more. They had also built several buildings there for people to stay at on vacation and were erecting even more when we were there. I have no idea just how built up it is now.

 

Almaplena was a great day for us...but it's been quite some time since we've been there. Again, back when we first went, not many people were going there. Looking at the pictures above, it looks amazing now that the palms have grown and there's shade. The owners were extremely nice. My review is HERE from the day we went. 

 

Our second day at Blue Kay review is HERE. Many changes back then but it was still a great place to hang out. 

[cruisegal40]

Bruzin.  We always sent to MC. So disappointed. Will need to find something else, but we have plenty of time for reviews and such on here.  @mitsugirly  you are my hero. I believe I have read every review you have ever done.  Even if I was not going on that ship or island. We have not cruise for3 years by the time we go in September and I can not wait.

[mitsugirly]

1 hour ago, cruisegal40 said:

Bruzin.  We always sent to MC. So disappointed. Will need to find something else, but we have plenty of time for reviews and such on here.  @mitsugirly  you are my hero. I believe I have read every review you have ever done.  Even if I was not going on that ship or island. We have not cruise for3 years by the time we go in September and I can not wait.

 

Hi cruisegal40! Hope you are doing well. Glad to hear you are getting to cruise again soon. We have just been doing land vacations and loving it although I do miss cruising as well. 

[jean87510]

On 3/15/2022 at 3:51 PM, c-leg5 said:

 

LOL, probably thinking of Hayhu? I haven’t been because I have always been worried about transport but I would love to give it a try and I think they have transport better arranged now compared to when they first opened.

 

I am surprised Maya Chan is taking a break after being closed for so long and I wonder what they are going to add? We were there again last week and had usual good service with plenty of staff. I was discussing location of Hayhu with one of the servers and it is even further south than I thought but he confirmed that you would go down the faster inside highway and cut back to the coast.

 

The port hours for our current sailings are very short and we were only just back at the ship in time from Maya Chan as the taxi was a little late picking up. I wouldn’t have wanted to go the further distance with our port hours.

Malecon 21 does offer several packages including AI and is a quieter location for the malecon. We have enjoyed several visits pre-Covid but were disappointed with the service on our recent visit. Maybe caught them on a bad day. I think they have opened the hotel now but we didn’t see the owner or previous server to ask.

 
From walking the malecon and visual assessment I would try YaYa for a quieter experience. They have similar packages to Malecon21 but I haven't been able to find any reviews from recent cruisers.

 

 

We are going to try Hayhu in October.  Hopefully others will try and share.

[c-leg5]

3 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

We are going to try Hayhu in October.  Hopefully others will try and share.

Be interested to hear how it goes. Supposedly they can arrange transport now. Our recent port visits on Adventure have been too short to make it worthwhile.

[jean87510]

41 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

Be interested to hear how it goes. Supposedly they can arrange transport now. Our recent port visits on Adventure have been too short to make it worthwhile.

I have to reach out to them in May as they only book 5 months in advance.  But place looks beautiful and they do have transportation now

[mitsugirly]

That place looks beautiful. It must be brand new too (I looked it up on google earth and it didn't even exist yet on there. I would definitely try that place out next time I go. It is further than Almaplena for those that have a short cruise stop. 

[c-leg5]

18 minutes ago, mitsugirly said:

That place looks beautiful. It must be brand new too (I looked it up on google earth and it didn't even exist yet on there. I would definitely try that place out next time I go. It is further than Almaplena for those that have a short cruise stop. 

It has been there pre Covid. We have been trying to go for quite a while, maybe 2018/19?

 

Not sure why you don’t see it on Google maps - it is south of the road you turn in off the highway.

Edited March 24, 2022 by c-leg5

[mitsugirly]

5 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

It has been there pre Covid. We have been trying to go for quite a while, maybe 2018/19?

 

Not sure why you don’t see it on Google maps - it is south of the road you turn in off the highway.

 

 

Would love to see some reviews on it. I hope you make it there some day. Everyone take lots of pictures if you go!!

[cruisegal40]

Wondering how long the drive is?  Looking it up now.

[c-leg5]

1 hour ago, cruisegal40 said:

Wondering how long the drive is?  Looking it up now.

Where to?

[cruisegal40]

Hayhu.  Wondering how long the drive would be. 

[c-leg5]

45 minutes ago, cruisegal40 said:

Hayhu.  Wondering how long the drive would be. 

Well you will see from Google maps it is about as far further south along the coast road as Almaplena is back to the north. You would take the same route.

 

@mitsugirlyreckoned it was about 20- 25 minutes if I recall correctly to Almaplena. I would allow at least 30 minutes and that is actual driving after you have walked through the port and found a taxi willing to take you, or I understand they now can pre-arrange transport.

 

I have had very short, late port stops recently and didn’t want to risk it but there are some old reviews if you search this forum.

Edited April 2, 2022 by c-leg5