Blog note; this was blogged in 2008 and everything has changed in Costa Maya. I have been to Costa Maya in 2018 & 2019 and much has changed.
While my group decided to split up and do two different excursions in this port, all of us had a great time. One group decided to go to a small hotel and sit on the beach drinking margaritas and the other group decided to go to the ruins.
Our beach from the small hotel: Hotel Maya Luna
Now for the second excursion, the Mayan Ruins. For this excursion we had read up on cruisecritic about DAVID & IVAN’s CHACCHOBEN MAYAN RUINS TOUR – http://chacchobenruins.com/ , which seemed to be a great choice from our research. Price: $43.00 per person, duration: 3.5 to 4 hours. The ride from Mahahual, to Chacchoben, took around 50 minutes. Tour started one hour after ship docked. Prior to the tour departure we had to get to Mahahual, the village. The easiest way to get from the Costa Maya port to Mahahual is to use the tourist transportation service available at the terminal. There’s only one company offering the service and they have only one location there. Just ask anyone and you’ll be directed to their only booth at the place. They charge $3 per person and the ride takes around five minutes. Walking isn’t recommended as it is 2.5 miles in the heat. Once in the village we met them at the “Cat’s Meow Restaurant” on the main street. Main street was only a few blocks long and in front of the beach. The restaurant is on the first block as you enter the village. Once we found David & Ivan we got on the bus shortly thereafter. The ride to the ruins was the only downside to the tour as it was almost an hour each way and kind of boring. David & Ivan entertained us the entire ride with great stories and history of the area, but it still was a bit much for me. Once we got to the ruins, they were all we imagined – cool rocks in the middle of a desert! After walking around for about an hour we had a few beverages and then boarded the bus back to Mahahual. At the end of the tour they dropped us off at the village for some last minute shopping (which was a waste as there is really nothing there and it is all WAY overpriced). It was a once in a lifetime experience that I would recommend to anyone.
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