Growing Vacation Destination
The Costa Maya is a more remote area than the Riviera Maya, but few regret the travel time to this remote location. Mahahual has the ageless charm of the Caribbean that was thought to exist only in Jimmy Buffett songs and island tales. Bungalows, beach bars, shrimp cocktails, and lazy afternoons in the shade. Be instantly immersed into the beach lifestyle we all crave.
Mahahual is the Costa Maya’s newest tourist town on the Mexican Caribbean; a cruise ship gateway to southern Quintana Roo’s little known Mayan ruins and beaches. Not so long ago, Mahahual (also spelled Majahual) was nothing more than a few beach palapas and the Mexican Navy base. The cruise ship industry and curious land tourists have provoked the fast development of the area making Mahahual the next location to check out.
Mahahual is now known for its bustling beachfront, with the new seaside malecón and pedestrian walkway being the highlight. The new tourist zone located on the beach road has successfully maintained the flavor of its Mexican, Mayan and Caribbean roots.
The center of town is quite small but the beaches stretch as far north as the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve and as far south as the coastal town of Xcalak, the last stop before Belize, C.A. As a vacation destination, you will find the Costa Maya to be less expensive than the Riviera Maya further north with Mahahual being the hub of this tourist destination.
Fishing, Bird Watching & Mayan Ruins
There are many great sites in Mahahual and the surrounding Costa Maya. The coastal lands between Tulum and Xcalak are an explorers’ paradise. Unspoiled mangrove estuaries and marshlands just back from the beach, are hatcheries for hundreds of species of fish. These ecosystems provide world-class saltwater flats fishing for anglers, and fertile feeding grounds for migratory birds that fly between the United States and Central and South America.
When you are tired of fishing or bird watching, access southern Quintana Roo’s seldom seen Mayan ruins. Head out of the Mahahual town center into the interior of the peninsula. The Mayan ruins of Chacchoben are very close to the town of Limones with the Mayan ruins of Kohunlich and Dzibanche just to the south.