First trip to Mexico! I’ve always wanted to go to Mexico, especially the Yucatan Peninsula, since I grew up two hours from the border. (I actually had a trip planned for April 2020, but of course it got canceled.)
The Costa Maya cruise port and the fishing-village-turned-tourist-trap Mahahual did not disappoint. It was the first stop of the trip that wasn’t humid, there was a cool breeze blowing off the water, and the beach was just stunning.
The Costa Maya cruise port was fancy. It felt like Disney World-level infrastructure.
The rumor is that, although the area is fairly remote now, there are plans to go full-tourist with new hotel development.
The beach is lined with eateries and on-the-sand massage opportunities.
We walked into town on the sand and then walked back on the road.
The solar-powered lighthouse is the southernmost lighthouse on Mexico’s Caribbean coast.
Until the construction of the cruise port, this area was fairly empty. Apparently it gets hit by hurricanes.
Flamingos at the cruise port!
We spent some time talking with a Mahahual jewelry maker who used trash-picked washing machine engines to power sanders to smooth shells and coconut husks into shiny pendants for necklaces. His house was on the beach and had brain coral and conch shells mortared into the walls. The nearby El Hotelito Mahanual is attempting to expand into his space, but he wasn’t interested in selling.
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