Costa Maya Shore Excursions

[cruisinwithmeg]

Hi. I'm leaving on my first cruise on Oct. 15. My husband and I are going on the Valor. I can't wait! I'm so excited! I've been reading the boards for a few days and I first need to thank all of you for the great ideas and suggestions. It's been a big help. Our last stop is Costa Maya and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for shore excursions. We're pretty adventurous and are up for anything. Thanks again for all the help.

[momsoftwins]

well hello and welcome to your new addiction. well i was in costa maya on the 13th of sept. it was my 2nd to last port of call and i was so pleased there that now it is my new fav place to go. not sure what things are you planning to do when you are at the other ports but let me tell ya what i did.

when i 1st got off the ship and made my way past the stores and pool. i found the taxis and got a ticket it go into the fishing village (majuhal?) got dropped off at cats meow and then walked past it to see what else was there. well after a few minutes i walked my butt back to cats meow and found HUGO my waiter for the day. he pulled a chair in to the water for me, got my first drink and the best chips and salsa. then after a few minutes i grabbed my (brought my own) snorkel gear and went to explore. to the left of cats meow there is a broken down fishing dock and it was only about 4-5 feet deep was some great stuff to see. i did that on and off for about 5 hours. met some great people there and enjoyed so much. no rush and rush like other days in ports. wonderful!!! so if haven a nice relaxing day with a great place to relax sounds good go there.

leave time when you return for some shopping in the port or you can do it around the fishing village

hope that helps

[cruisinwithmeg]

Thanks so much. That sounds great! We'll be SCUBA Diving for the remainder of the cruise. I think a day relaxing sounds great! Shopping will be nice so we can get something for the kids too. Now all I need to do is get hubby on board with that.

[momofzeke]

We did the Chacchoben Mayan ruins tour with David & Ivan. Very interesting. This ruins site is pretty small, but cool. Takes most of the day, though ~ not much time for anything else.

 

Friends of ours did a beach day in Majahual (quick taxi ride from port area) and had a wonderful, relaxing day. It was their favorite beach.

[cruisinwithmeg]

A beach day sounds good and relaxing too. I mentioned the ruins, but my husband is not as much of a history buff as I am. I thought it sounded cool, he thought boring. So, we'll see. Thanks for your ideas.

[I&MsMom]

We did both: we booked David & Ivan, and then had them drop us off in Mahajual, where we had lunch, swam and shopped. Then, quick taxi back to the ship.

 

The ruins are unusual because they are in a forested setting, which I thought was beautiful (and it's comfortably shaded!). Also, the tour addresses not just the ruins and the Mayan culture, but the flora and fauna as well. The guide was frequently grabbing something out of the forest to show us.

 

Check the Costa Maya section of the ports of call board (toward the bottom of the main boards page.)

 

Enjoy your cruise, and I hope you have a great day in Costa Maya!

[cruisinwithmeg]

Thanks for the tip about the shore excurions board. I will check that out.

[antcyd]

I agree 100% with momsoftwins, bypass the shopping area at the pier, take the taxi ride into Majahual, get dropped of at Cats Meow,order a beer or soda, have them get you a chair to sit right in the water, do some snorkling if you have your own gear and DEFINITLY do not miss the massage tent right across from Cat's Meow and bargain with the guy for a 45 minute massage for $20!!!! Cant beat laying on a massage table getting one of the best massages ever while listening to the ocean and having that wonderful tropical breeze.

Costa Maya is AWESOME!!!!

[cruisinwithmeg]

Thanks so much to all of you for your great suggestions. I can't wait to go. Now, we just need to decide what to do.

[Anatresia]

I just booked the Mayan ruins today- I'm an art teacher and I love ancient art, esp. Egyptian and Roman, so seeing the ancient Mayan ruins was a pretty big part of why I want to cruise.

 

My husband isn't as excited about that tour, so I'm letting him pick the other two port excursions. Our tour is from 9:30 -1:30, and the ship leaves at 5, so I figure that will give us a few bonus hours to shop and see the fishing village. :D

[cruise.freak]

We did the Mayan Ruins because my husband wanted to and I was really that interested in it. When we went I really enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

[pwillmo]

We did both: we booked David & Ivan, and then had them drop us off in Mahajual, where we had lunch, swam and shopped. Then, quick taxi back to the ship.

 

The ruins are unusual because they are in a forested setting, which I thought was beautiful (and it's comfortably shaded!). Also, the tour addresses not just the ruins and the Mayan culture, but the flora and fauna as well. The guide was frequently grabbing something out of the forest to show us.

 

Check the Costa Maya section of the ports of call board (toward the bottom of the main boards page.)

 

Enjoy your cruise, and I hope you have a great day in Costa Maya!

How long did it take for you to tour the ruins?? How much time did you have afterwards??

We will arrive at 10:00 and leave at 6:00pm

[Ali-in-Texas]

When we went to the ruins it left at about 11am and we returned at about 3pm. We did stop by before our tour and had lunch at the cat's meow. That was where we were being picked up for the ruins tour. Our kids wished that we had had more time at the beach. Next time we are just hanging at the beach area.

 

The ruins were great. I'm glad we did them.

[ikelmay]

Hi everyone, we are just back from a Carnival cruise to Mexico and Belize. We had a booking with David and Ivan for the Chacchoben ruins tour, and we were most impressed with the operation and the organisation. I would highly recommend them as you are dealing with professionally trained guides who were born and brought up in the Chacchoben area. Ivan gave us a wonderful insight into both the developing community of Majahual and the incredible history of the Mayan people. Worth every cent of the tour price. One of the greatest plusses is that the group is very small (a mini bus of about 12 in our group). The contact for the website is:

 

http://www.chacchobenruins.com/wst_page10.html

 

it took us a few days to get confirmation back from them, the internet connection is not too reliable. Directions and instructions on how to get to the meeting point worked perfectly, and they give you the option of being dropped off in Majahual for a bit of local shopping afterwards or back to the port.

[nybumpkin]

Thanks for posting, ikelmay! We're booked with David and Ivan in February. Was it difficult to get a taxi into Majahual to meet up with them?

[JBM1946]

Husband and I just returned from our Costa Maya/Cozumel cruise. We booked with David and Ivan through their website because of recommendations from this CC message board. Amaziningly, no deposit was even required. I was a bit skeptical. To our surprise, one of his employees (Carolina), met us as we approached a transportation window to inquire about transportation to Majahual. She transported us to meet up with David and begin our tour. David is very well-educated in many areas. His informative tour was so very interesting. He was warm and friendly and appeared to love what he does. On the way back from the Mayan ruins, he drove us through the village where he lives. We did not meet Ivan. But this whole tour was a wonderful experience because of David's warm personality and education.

 

I would highly recommend them to anyone visiting Costa Maya!

Enjoy your trip, nybumpkin!

Joanne

[ikelmay]

hi nybumpkin, when you come off the ship head for the taxivan stand (anyone will direct you) - they are the only vehicles allowed to transport from the cruise port. It's a standard $3 per person into Majahual - the taxivan organiser had already herded about 6 people for the David and Ivan group together and knew that we were headed for the Cat's Meow so we all went in one van. It all couldn't have been simpler or better organised. You will have a great time!!

[flapr]

Just returned from our Western Caribbean cruise. We agree that David & Ivan offer a fantastic tour. It gets even better: David has negotiated an agreement with port management that now allows him to pick-up right by the taxi ticket window. Passengers still have to pay $3.00 p/p taxi fare to town, but your tour will depart from the port. On the return trip you may be dropped-off in town, ride a taxi back for $2.00 p/p or return directly to the port.

 

It rained most of the time we were there Thursday. David provided everyone complimentary rain ponchos. I spoke at length with David to and from Chachobben. He is an intelligent, well-educated individual who chose to live and work in his native land. Believe me, he had other more financially rewarding options living the good, easy life, yet he chose to do what he loves.

 

We saw busloads of ship's tour passengers being herded around while at the ruins. David's personal walking tour gave us an excellent insight into Mayan history.

 

We highly recommend David & Ivan for your Costa Maya tours!

[cdillon23]

We are scheduled to go with David and Ivan next week, CAN'T WAIT!!!

[granitegal]

Has anybody done this tour? DZIBANCHE & KINICHNA MAYAN RUINS. Just out of curiosity- I chose this over the Mayan experience.

[ardie42]

I am also interested in this other tour. We did the regular Chacchoben Ruins tour with Ivan in June 2005. Loved it and him very much. I would love to explore more ruins with them. I e-mailed but they are still having problems I guess.

[varisian]

I can only add my recomendation for David and Ivan as well. I'm just home, in the UK, from Celebrity Constellation's 27th October cruise to the Caribbean. whilst a great trip the highlight was the tour to Chaccoben with Ivan. To get to talk to the son of the man who discovered the ruins, who was brought up and played as a boy among them when they were hidden in the jungle, and who is just so very knowledgeable about Mayan culture was a real priviledge. The tour just could not be easier with being picked up and dropped off at the gate and is way way more informative and interseting than the more expensive ships tour.

[traveladdicted]

I just returned from a Western Caribbean cruise with my mother aboard the Carnival Victory. We had booked the Chacchoben ruins tour with Ivan and David after reading the recommendations on this site. It was fantastic and I absolutely recommend them to anyone traveling to Costa Maya.

We left the ship and made our way to the shopping/tour area at the end of the pier and asked for directions on tourist transportation to Majahual. The ride was $3.00 per person and took approximately 5-10 minutes. In Majahual we walked about 10 feet to the Cat’s Meow and waited for the tour (Barbara, the owner, came out and chatted to us about the restaurant).

Carolina was our guide for the tour and she was just amazing. Ivan was our driver and was pretty quiet for most of the day but Carolina was very entertaining and informative. The ruins are incredible to see and walk around and Carolina’s stories and information made the experience come alive for us. We had a great small tour (only 8 of us) so it was very personal.

The tour was very well organized, entertaining and informative. I really feel that we received excellent value for the money we paid ($43.00 US per person).

Oh – if you are offered the pineapple with chilli powder, take it. It’s really tasty!

[Tarheelbelle]

Thanks for posting this! I am booked for this tour on my upcoming cruise, and this reinforces my choice of this excursion.

BTW, I was on the Victory for a Canada/New England cruise and loved the ship.

[nybumpkin]

Traveladdicted - Ditto Tarheelbelle in thanks. We're booked with David and Ivan in February and are really looking forward to it. Some folks have said they were picked up at the end of the pier in Costa Maya, rather than at The Cat's Meow - I assume not an option on your cruise? (I would like to go into Mahahual anyway, so it's not a major issue for us.)

 

And we've sailed Carnival Victory as well (twice) and loved it!