Which Beach Club?

[stones902]

It's been a few years since we visited Costa Maya and in doing my research I'm finding that a number of beach clubs have popped up that didn't exist during our prior visits. I would be interesting in hearing any recommendations for a club that you enjoyed.

 

A little about us - late 50's early 60's, enjoy tequila but not huge day drinkers, looking for something comfortable rather than a party spot, don't really have a budget but looking for a quality product.

 

Thanks in advance for any replies.

[bguppies]

What day will you be in Costa Maya?

 

It will help people make recommemdatioms for you. (since many folks favorite Maya Chan, is closed for most of the hurricane season the past few years after Covid.)

Edited August 31, 2023 by bguppies

[crewsweeper]

If you don't want an All Inclusive, Krazy Lobster has a number of beach spots, middle of the malecon. You can probably find a quiet area.

[c-leg5]

Malecon21 has been our go-to spot pre-Covid. Service was lacking early last year but I am hoping it has recovered by now. Out-of-town there are several new contenders and old stand-bys.

 

unfortunately many places along the malecon have adopted an AI model which isn’t usually what we want.

 

[stones902]

On 8/31/2023 at 5:45 PM, bguppies said:

What day will you be in Costa Maya?

 

It will help people make recommemdatioms for you. (since many folks favorite Maya Chan, is closed for most of the hurricane season the past few years after Covid.)

We're scheduled to be in Costa Maya Jan 10

[c-leg5]

32 minutes ago, stones902 said:

We're scheduled to be in Costa Maya Jan 10

Not impossible! but less likely to have sargassum in January.

[c-leg5]

On 9/1/2023 at 10:05 AM, crewsweeper said:

If you don't want an All Inclusive, Krazy Lobster has a number of beach spots, middle of the malecon. You can probably find a quiet area.

I am not sure I would describe Krazy Lobster as quiet or relaxing, but we have generally found  it to be a reasonably honest and straightforward beach bar (which isn’t always the  case in Mahahual) - once you accept they already add on a kitchen service tax (minimal). 
 

Not sure why it is so popular other than it takes up a very large section of the center if the beach but it is OK for a short time and one of the few places that doesn’t require AI or mandatory cover charge.

[stones902]

4 hours ago, c-leg5 said:

Not impossible! but less likely to have sargassum in January.

The sargassum is pretty much a year round problem anymore.  

[c-leg5]

7 minutes ago, stones902 said:

The sargassum is pretty much a year round problem anymore.  

Reports and photos that I have seen this year of Costa Maya region haven’t been nearly as bad as I would have expected, given that this was forecast to be a bad year.
 

The baffles really seem to have helped the bars in the middle of the malecon and understandably, it has been the out of town locations that seem to have suffered most.

 

I agree, it could happen anytime depending on currents but generally November through February have tended to be clearer in our experience. Costa Maya does seem to have had a significant problem with strong winds affecting docking this year. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the alignment of the new extended pier but there seem to have been a significant number of ships that have been unable to dock.

 

I haven’t been to Costa Maya this year but we had several visits last year and were very disappointed with the area and policies since cruising resumed.

[stones902]

23 hours ago, c-leg5 said:

Reports and photos that I have seen this year of Costa Maya region haven’t been nearly as bad as I would have expected, given that this was forecast to be a bad year.
 

The baffles really seem to have helped the bars in the middle of the malecon and understandably, it has been the out of town locations that seem to have suffered most.

 

I agree, it could happen anytime depending on currents but generally November through February have tended to be clearer in our experience. Costa Maya does seem to have had a significant problem with strong winds affecting docking this year. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the alignment of the new extended pier but there seem to have been a significant number of ships that have been unable to dock.

 

I haven’t been to Costa Maya this year but we had several visits last year and were very disappointed with the area and policies since cruising resumed.

It's been a few years since we've visited Costa Maya (maybe 5-6).  The last time we visited the shopping area just off the pier had been expanded significantly.  It's was quite a maze to navigate to get to local taxis.  I was not aware that there are docking issues with some of the ships.  I hope it does not affect ours as I would be disappointed if we missed Costa Maya.  

[bguppies]

10 hours ago, stones902 said:

It's been a few years since we've visited Costa Maya (maybe 5-6).  The last time we visited the shopping area just off the pier had been expanded significantly.  It's was quite a maze to navigate to get to local taxis.  I was not aware that there are docking issues with some of the ships.  I hope it does not affect ours as I would be disappointed if we missed Costa Maya.  

We were able to dock in Costa Maya last December but barely.

The ship was slamming into the pier all day. 

Inside the ship you would have thought there were hurricane force winds outside.

But when you left the ship and walked down the pier it felt like a strong breeze at best.

So clearly when they built the additional part of the pier to allow more ships to dock, it must have somehow increased wind force on docked ships.

 

Best of luck docking on your day in Costa Maya.

[stones902]

2 hours ago, bguppies said:

We were able to dock in Costa Maya last December but barely.

The ship was slamming into the pier all day. 

Inside the ship you would have thought there were hurricane force winds outside.

But when you left the ship and walked down the pier it felt like a strong breeze at best.

So clearly when they built the additional part of the pier to allow more ships to dock, it must have somehow increased wind force on docked ships.

 

Best of luck docking on your day in Costa Maya.

Interesting!  Thank you for sharing.

[c-leg5]

3 hours ago, bguppies said:

We were able to dock in Costa Maya last December but barely.

The ship was slamming into the pier all day. 

Inside the ship you would have thought there were hurricane force winds outside.

But when you left the ship and walked down the pier it felt like a strong breeze at best.

So clearly when they built the additional part of the pier to allow more ships to dock, it must have somehow increased wind force on docked ships.

 

Best of luck docking on your day in Costa Maya.

I think some of it depends on which orientation on the pier you get too.

 

We were unable to dock on a ship without azipods and another family member couldn’t dock on Allure. I have been sat on the beach in Mahahual and have seen ships from other cruise lines abandon docking.