Thursday-Day 12: Costa Maya (Part 1)

Late, late, late in the morning...we saw Costa Maya in the distance.  Two other ships were already docked:  a small ship and a Norweigan or NCL ship.  I was on our balcony taking lots of pictures of the beach area called Malecon and then Mahahual where the pier is located. Yes, this was our first time in Costa Maya.  Yes, that was one of the reasons why I booked this itinerary.  The other, of course, was the Regal Princess.

Approaching Costa Maya:

Forecast:  chance of rain and mostly cloudy day

The Pilot Boat with Pilot approaching the Regal:

The Pilot boarded our ship to help guide the Regal into port:

The cruise ship terminal:

The Silver Wind is already docked: 

Here's the Malecon or beach area.  We are headed to Blue Kay (in between the light house and the white building to the left of it):

The cruise terminal behind the Silver Wind:  

The NCL Norwegian Star:

Neat way of parallel parking:

We dock around 12noon and shortly thereafter we heard the announcement "all ashore"!  Well, it's not quite like that.  Captain Perrin was telling us about not accepting packages from strangers, take our cruise cards and government photo ID with us, have a great time and be back onboard by 7:30pm.  Yes, you heard right 7:30pm in the evening!

Check out the hot tubs and the suites:

The NCL Bridge:

We're docked!

We had no excursions planned for today.  I had done my research months ago and knew what to do and where to go.  It was going to be a Beach day!!!

We gathered our beach bag and snorkel gear (might get the chance) and headed off the ship by 12:30pm.  Wow!  This was one loooong pier.  Now I knew why I saw a shuttle trolley on the pier.  Once we left the pier, we were in the cruise terminal.  We walked past all the shops.  No, we do not need a serape in this heat.  No that extremely large sombrero won't fit in my suitcase.  We found the exit and proceeded out of the security gate.  We walked along the street and found what looked to be a taxi stand...literally.  I also found a Maya Chan (beach resort) rep waiting to pick up folks from the cruise ships.  I made a mental note for future visits.  

We were assigned a taxi and I asked...how much? Dos dineros per person.  I learned I had to agree on the rate before getting into the taxi.  Two others joined us for a ride to the Malecon.   I told the driver to take us to Blue Kay.  

The Malecon is one loooooong beach where there are restaurants, resorts, dive shops and of course vendors selling trinkets and jewelry.  The beach has different names depending on the venue. I have to add...think very "rustic".  This is what we prefer.  

The driver dropped us off at Blue Kay which is also technically the start of the Malecon.  Outside of Blue Kay, we saw a small camp ground with tents.  We walked into the entrance of this small resort to see what they offered.  Free lounges.  Free beach time.  Free view.  All they asked is dine in their restaurant.  No worries.  We'd love to.  

We walked out of their restaurant and headed across the sidewalk/walkway onto the beach.  Wow!  How about a double Wow!!  The view!  Our jaws dropped.  For a cloudy day, the view was just beautiful.  We picked our palapa and two lounges and dropped our bags when Max approached us.  He would be our host for the day.  Guess what?  Life is definitely good!

Here's the Blue Kay Restaurant and Bar:

Lots of empty palapas and seating/lounge areas:

What an awesome view we had!  Hubby is sitting in the lounge on the far, far left (slightly out of picture):

Here's sign for Blue Kay.  I assume this is the ending boundary line and where the next resort starts (with endless blue lounges):

I really like Blue Kay's hardwood lounges!  Did I mention the awesome views?