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Maya Chan - Worth a visit?


Britabroad

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Maya Chan is fantastic! On our 2019 visit, there was an abundance of seagrass in the area (may have been just after a storm). Maya Chan let us know via email the day before, and offered a full refund if we wanted to cancel. We kept our reservation. Before we boarded the taxi, they reminded us of the seagrass. They said if we changed our mind when we got there, they would bring us back to port at no charge, plus the full refund, which was a nice gesture. 

Staff were very attentive, and came by regularly for drink orders and to drop off chips & salsa refills. Lunch was delicious. Each group of guests are spread throughout the beach so it never felt like other groups were crowding us. Plenty of snorkel gear, kayaks, floats to go around. Towards the end of the day one of us was starting to be bothered by the seagrass smell, so we spent the rest of the day relaxing in the pool. Our one regret was not getting massages (additional cost). We will definitely go back to during future Costa Maya stops.

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The thing to know is that if there is heavy sea grass at Maya Chan, there will also be heavy seagrass at the other beach places in town.  They have people clearing the grass at Maya Chan and the beach experience aside from the grass is outstanding.

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12 hours ago, wordell1 said:

The thing to know is that if there is heavy sea grass at Maya Chan, there will also be heavy seagrass at the other beach places in town.  They have people clearing the grass at Maya Chan and the beach experience aside from the grass is outstanding.

This is so true.

BTW another fan of Maya Chan here.  It is on that REPEAT list for Costa Maya.  Definitely good massages and the service is always top notch

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 7/10/2022 at 2:06 PM, Britabroad said:

Thanks everyone, all booked up and looking forward to it!

@Britabroad, did you make your reservations after Maya Chan went into temporary closing July 1st? Were you making a reservation for after October 11th?  We want to book for November but the entire website appears to be out of commission. 

Also, does anyone know if they take reservations for massages in advance or only same day?  Thanks!!

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I was able to make reservations last month for cruise in December, so not sure what’s up with the website. Strange, but I wouldn’t be too concerned. Hopefully they get it up and running again soon. On my past visits the staff walked around shorty after guests arrived to make appointments for massages. Never had a problem booking one. 
 

If you haven’t read Jane’s book on how Maya Chan came to be, “It Helps to be Crazy, the Story of Maya Chan” , I highly recommend it. I have a new appreciation for the business they built and run  after reading it. 

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I just booked a reservation for Maya Chan less than 2 weeks ago for an early January 2023 excursion. We emailed back and forth about 5-6 times before I finally booked and no mention was made of any issues. The website being out at the same time the resort is closed for a few months does have me a little nervous though. Hopefully both the site and the resort are being updated and will be even better than before!!

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5 hours ago, Firefly said:

I was able to make reservations last month for cruise in December, so not sure what’s up with the website. Strange, but I wouldn’t be too concerned. Hopefully they get it up and running again soon. On my past visits the staff walked around shorty after guests arrived to make appointments for massages. Never had a problem booking one. 
 

If you haven’t read Jane’s book on how Maya Chan came to be, “It Helps to be Crazy, the Story of Maya Chan” , I highly recommend it. I have a new appreciation for the business they built and run  after reading it. 

Great news - Mark returned my email! The IT person is working on the website issue, but if anyone needs to make reservations while the website is down please email at:

 [email protected] 

Spread the word! This is a small business I believe many of us want to support. Thank you for the massage and book info @Firefly!

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2 hours ago, Ryan79 said:

I just booked a reservation for Maya Chan less than 2 weeks ago for an early January 2023 excursion. We emailed back and forth about 5-6 times before I finally booked and no mention was made of any issues. The website being out at the same time the resort is closed for a few months does have me a little nervous though. Hopefully both the site and the resort are being updated and will be even better than before!!

No worries @Ryan79 ! I confirmed that the Maya Chan will reopen in October so please let others know to reach out via [email protected] to make reservations or reach the resort staff.

 

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2 hours ago, RandBsMom said:

Great news - Mark returned my email! The IT person is working on the website issue, but if anyone needs to make reservations while the website is down please email at:

 [email protected] 

Spread the word! This is a small business I believe many of us want to support. Thank you for the massage and book info @Firefly!

Glad to hear Mark returned your email. He and/or  David are usually very quick to reply. Enjoy your cruise and your day at Maya Chan!

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1 hour ago, CCE said:

Our ship is in port from noon - 7:00 pm.  Maya Chan is open until 6:30 pm.  Would y'all still recommend going if realistically we are there 1:00 p - 6:00 pm?

Ours is the same way.  I personally have a hard time hanging out in one place more than 4 hours so it'll work well for us.

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On 8/7/2022 at 9:58 AM, Ryan79 said:

I just booked a reservation for Maya Chan less than 2 weeks ago for an early January 2023 excursion. We emailed back and forth about 5-6 times before I finally booked and no mention was made of any issues. The website being out at the same time the resort is closed for a few months does have me a little nervous though. Hopefully both the site and the resort are being updated and will be even better than before!!

I'm debating whether to try and book for our cruise... Spending so much on the drink pkg, airfare, and pre-cruise hotel since I'm worried about air travel that I'm trying to pace.  Good to know at least a couple weeks ago, there were still spots!  Jane

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 7/8/2022 at 9:09 AM, Matt said:

Absolutely yes. Love that place.

Best service of any all-inclusive I've been to.

Any recommendations for when they are sold out? I am on the group cruise in Dec, but booked before I knew it was group cruise 😢, so of course Maya Chan is sold out. I am really missing out on the Maya Chan group visit! I had a trip to Baccalar booked, but RC cancelled it with the change in port dates. The other Baccalar excursions have a weight limit and are slightly under what my DH currently weighs. Ideas and tips appreciated!

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/6/2022 at 9:36 PM, RandBsMom said:

@Britabroad, did you make your reservations after Maya Chan went into temporary closing July 1st? Were you making a reservation for after October 11th?  We want to book for November but the entire website appears to be out of commission. 

Also, does anyone know if they take reservations for massages in advance or only same day?  Thanks!!

We had our itinerary changed so I cancelled Maya Chan with a full refund. Mark was excellent with his communication via email, sorry to miss out though.

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  • 1 month later...

I visited Maya Chan today for the first time. We got in off of the wait list a couple of months ago, much to our excitement. I'm happy to report that it exceeded expectations by far. The service was phenomenal, the food and drinks exactly as wonderful as described, and our private little section of beach was a slice of paradise we never wanted to leave.

As a side note, I was quite nervous about the drive to/from Maya Chan as I had read a lot of horror stories and a) I get motion sick easily and b) I recently suffered a concussion. I reached out to David at Maya Chan and he assured me I'd be fine. It ended up being a non issue; the drive there took about 15 minutes, and although it was occasionally bumpy it was nothing I'd have felt the need to mention in a review if I hadn't read so much negative feedback about that portion!

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47 minutes ago, TessOR said:

Maya Chan sounds great for a relaxing beach day for adults.  How about for teens/kiddos?  I have a family traveling to there that has a 16,13,11,and 7 year old.

It doesn't have the extra activities that some of the beach clubs in Cozumel have, but it does have kayaks.  There is also not a lifeguard on duty if it makes a difference.

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On 8/14/2022 at 12:58 PM, BowTieBrigade said:

What about for kids? The rave reviews for Mayachan seem to be for things that matter to adults, like food, drinks, and service, but are there activities for kids there?

 

On 11/22/2022 at 9:51 PM, TessOR said:

Maya Chan sounds great for a relaxing beach day for adults.  How about for teens/kiddos?  I have a family traveling to there that has a 16,13,11,and 7 year old.

Bumping this question for more answers about this topic (thanks @wordell1)

I see they have water floats, glass bottom kayaks, sand toys and snorkeling gear on their website. Anything else? I feel like I remember someone posting about some type of games - large chess or something similar? Do they have paddleboards?

I feel like I also read that there are some animals (cats/dogs) on site?

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52 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

I see they have water floats, glass bottom kayaks, sand toys and snorkeling gear on their website. Anything else? I feel like I remember someone posting about some type of games - large chess or something similar? Do they have paddleboards?

I feel like I also read that there are some animals (cats/dogs) on site?

@monorailmedic was there this past week and caught some of his visit in his live blog from Norwegian Prima which you can catch here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl66Mun7vsw

He also did a full tour of the place in this video from about 10 months ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4e5jR83TTU

It looks like they've added some more water toys based the recent video there.

I know they do have a cat on site.

 

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17 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

@monorailmedic was there this past week and caught some of his visit in his live blog from Norwegian Prima which you can catch here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl66Mun7vsw

He also did a full tour of the place in this video from about 10 months ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4e5jR83TTU

It looks like they've added some more water toys based the recent video there.

I know they do have a cat on site.

 

Great videos! In the latest one, I see paddle boards and paddle boats, in addition to the water floats, glass bottom kayaks, sand toys and snorkeling gear mentioned on website. I also see hammocks. He mentions ball sports but I didn't see those - does anyone know what those are?

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On 11/22/2022 at 4:51 PM, FLTraveler said:

I visited Maya Chan today for the first time. We got in off of the wait list a couple of months ago, much to our excitement. I'm happy to report that it exceeded expectations by far. The service was phenomenal, the food and drinks exactly as wonderful as described, and our private little section of beach was a slice of paradise we never wanted to leave.

As a side note, I was quite nervous about the drive to/from Maya Chan as I had read a lot of horror stories and a) I get motion sick easily and b) I recently suffered a concussion. I reached out to David at Maya Chan and he assured me I'd be fine. It ended up being a non issue; the drive there took about 15 minutes, and although it was occasionally bumpy it was nothing I'd have felt the need to mention in a review if I hadn't read so much negative feedback about that portion!

THANK YOU so much for this!! i too, get motion sick and am very concerned about the drive there - especially as i was reading some reviews that said it would be upwards of 30+ mins to get from the port to the beach and turning green already. this makes me feel so much better. i know they were working on grading the roads as well to make them smoother on one of their more recent instagram posts, so i wonder if this has had a positive effect!!

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19 hours ago, asquared17 said:

THANK YOU so much for this!! i too, get motion sick and am very concerned about the drive there - especially as i was reading some reviews that said it would be upwards of 30+ mins to get from the port to the beach and turning green already. this makes me feel so much better. i know they were working on grading the roads as well to make them smoother on one of their more recent instagram posts, so i wonder if this has had a positive effect!!

I don't know if they've just upped their game on the grading or what (I've seen those posts as well), but I'd say take a Dramamine, hydrate well before and after, and call shotgun, and you should be fine!

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23 hours ago, asquared17 said:

THANK YOU so much for this!! i too, get motion sick and am very concerned about the drive there - especially as i was reading some reviews that said it would be upwards of 30+ mins to get from the port to the beach and turning green already. this makes me feel so much better. i know they were working on grading the roads as well to make them smoother on one of their more recent instagram posts, so i wonder if this has had a positive effect!!

Same here: thanks, @FLTraveler! I just put in a reservation request for an upcoming sailing. I'm excited to check it out!

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  • 2 weeks later...
58 minutes ago, Bean79 said:

Did you find out how much the massages were?

I don't recall how much - but definitely cheaper than anything at home or on the ship.

 

52 minutes ago, Bean79 said:

Do any of you take your passport with you when you leave the ship?

I always take my passport with me

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  • 2 weeks later...

Was in Maya Chan in Dec '19.  It was okay. It's not really for kids. The food and drinks were very good. Accommodations very nice.  The beach not so much. We took snorkeling gear but nothing to really see in the water. Sea grass was bad when we were there. The roads to/from was very rough and it was a long and uncomfortable ride. We found the whole thing rather boring.  YMMV

Probably wouldn't do it again. They've raised the price since we were there as well.

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