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Costa Maya, Mexico

A purpose-built port on the Quintana Roo coast, with a fishing village three kilometres away and Mayan ruins an hour inland.

The entrance to the Costa Maya port complex, with the carved Costa Maya sign and tour desks
Photo: Cruise Granny, taken at the port on 13 December 2023. The tour desks by the Costa Maya sign sell the Chacchoben ruins and Bacalar lagoon trips.
Facts checked against official sources on 23 September 2026
Getting ashoreShips dock. Royal Caribbean states guests "step ashore without taking a tender boat."
The pierA Y-shaped concrete pier. Mexico's navy port sheet gives 14 metres depth and three cruise berths at up to 366 metres; trade press reported a fourth berth opening in 2019. The port publishes no count of its own.
CurrencyMexican peso. US dollars are widely accepted, but you may get change in pesos, and both use the $ sign, so check prices twice.
Mahahual villageAbout 3km away. Shuttle for a small fee, taxi, or golf cart rental. Walking it is around 45 minutes.

Inside the port complex

The terminal is built for cruise days: a large swimming pool with a swim-up bar, shops, restaurants and bars, a spa, ATMs, restrooms and Wi-Fi. Celebrity's port guide notes a free trolley from the ship to the port village, which matters because the pier is long.

Three attractions inside the complex get named repeatedly: Aviarus, an aviary linked by hanging bridges; Kakaw, a cocoa museum where you can taste hand-made chocolate; and La Consentida, a tequila distillery.

No prices are published for anything inside the complex, and no official page states whether the pool is free or paid. The port's own website would not load when we checked, so everything here comes from the cruise lines' published descriptions and Mexican government documents.

The ruins, and what they ask of you

Chacchoben is the usual choice, about an hour each way. Carnival's own excursion runs four hours at $109.99 per person, by air-conditioned bus, including the site entrance. If you go independently, Mexico's national institute of anthropology publishes entry at $155 pesos and opening hours of 9am to 5pm daily.

Kohunlich is further, open 8am to 5pm, $210 pesos, or $105 for residents of Mexico. No official page publishes the drive time from the port.

Read this part before you book: Carnival publishes that its Chacchoben tour "is not accessible for guests using wheelchairs, canes, rollators, or other mobility devices," that guests with walking difficulties or heart conditions may not take part, and that it involves "a fair amount of walking over uneven surfaces and climbing." Their Mahahual beach excursion carries the same accessibility exclusion. That is unusually blunt, and it is useful.

Mahahual and the beach

Celebrity advises beach lovers to take the shuttle into Mahahual, "where the beaches are better," and the Quintana Roo tourism board describes the village malecón as a relaxed strip of restaurants, beach clubs and small shops. Carnival sells a beach club day at Fisherman's Village for $70.99 for adults and $64.99 for children, five hours with chairs, kayaks and an open domestic bar.

Not published anywhere official: the port's own website content, the current berth count, prices inside the complex, the shuttle or taxi fare to Mahahual, golf cart rates, the drive time to Bacalar or Kohunlich, and any accessibility information for the port itself.
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Where these facts come from

Ports change their rules and their prices. Check the official pages above before you sail.