We are going to Costa Maya on the Carnival Glory in March 2009.  We are not that interested in the organized tours.  But what else is there to do?  I've looked online for ages looking for walking maps, street maps, do it yourself stuff..... No luck!!!

susanktz:

I've looked online for ages looking for walking maps, street maps, do it yourself stuff.

Apparently you've never been to Costa Maya.

 

Costa Maya is a Carnival-built pier some ways south of the Mayan Riviera area with fenced-in shopping, swimming pools, restaurants and bars [one swim-up], and the nearest native population is a teeny tiny rinky dinky fishing village about a mile south called Mahajual.

 

Mahajual is a collection of ramshackle buildings just beyond the beach which -- on days cruise ships are there -- turn from whatever they are into bars and restaurants and bicycle or kayak rental shops, and the fishermen and the fishwives turn from fishing into beer sales and masseuses.

 

There are no street maps because there is one street -- if you can call a dirt track alternating between cavernous craters and speed bumps a street -- and there are no walking maps because when you get off the boat you're either going to wander around the enclosed tourist area [or the shopping plaza they were building just outside it when I was there] or you're going to look down the beach to Mahajual and say "Let's walk down there".  It's a straight shot.

 

I'd hesitate to go walking anywhere else because parts of Mexico are notorious for drug gangs and the Mexicans authorities are very keen on keeping same away from places which generate tourist dollars; the Mexican navy is out in force and well-armed.

 

Costa Maya is a good place to hang loose, grab a bucketful of cheap beers in Mahajual, rent one of those thatched-grass-roof dealies on the beach, maybe get a $20 massage, go wading in the light surf [you're in a lagoon -- the waves break on the reef a quarter mile out], and just chill in the warm shade until it's time to go.

Costa Maya used to be my favorite port, just because there isn't much to do there.  I LOVED the hammocks on the beach and the pool with the swim up bar.  That was a few years back before it was devastated by hurricanes.  Does anybody know what it is like now?  I'd love to see any pictures that anyone has now.  I'm going there again in May and look forward to that port.

 

Costa Maya is now a typical cruise built shopping and bar compound at the end of the peir.  We took an excursion to a private beach which was great!  They had 2-man boats, wave-runners, kayaks, snorkeling, and an open bar.  They also offered thing like massages, and had good food.  It was a 1/2 hour bus ride from the ship, and was worth the price of admission.  The beach was protected and you could do everything or nothing but lay on the beach.  The snorkeling as super,  This was the best excursion we took on the Glory!  I recommend it to everyone - young or old.

We are also booked on this cruise.  Have you ever been on the Glory before?  This is our time.  I hope we like Costa Maya.

Is that privately owned resort to the right of the pier (as you walk off the ship) still there?  Before the hurricanes there were plenty of internet tips on how to get there via holes in fences, etc., where they offered cheap food and drinks and free beach space.  The cruiselines had it blocked off with concrete and fences to prevent anyone from going there, but there were stories of ship staff jumping off the pier to merely swim to it as it was right there.  Looked pretty nice, but I didn't have the guts to go outside the gate and crawl through holes in fences in a foreign land, enticing as it might be.

Wichitadave:

The cruiselines had it blocked off with concrete and fences to prevent anyone from going there...

I have a feeling that it was blocked off to prevent anyone from getting in.

 

They want the Costa Maya resort to be exclusive for cruisers, either Carnival's own, or those for the other lines that lease dock space from them.  They don't want it sullied by riff-raff.

 

If you want to leave and go to Mahajual, it's simply a matter of making sure you have your S&S with you so that you can get back in the gate when you return.

Tell me more about these $20 massages in Costa Maya!  I have been checking on prices aboard the ship and this sounds a whole lot better.  We will be cruising on the Fantasy in November and haven't planned any excursions for Costa Maya yet.  This sounds right up my alley.

 Sandi