Check out Costa Maya Port in Mexico
New port records a million visitors
By Phyllis Steinberg
The newest and fastest growing cruise port in the Western
Caribbean is Puerto Costa Maya. This stretch of beautiful beach is in the
southern part of Quintana Roo, located a few hours from Cancun on the southern
Yucatan Peninsula. The area was home to about 80 families and a dozen dogs in
the 1990’s when a group of investors decided to turn it into a thriving port.
The port, completed in 1998, received more than a million cruise passengers
last year and I decided to pay her a visit and see why.
 Puerto Costa Maya was designed to evoke the feel of an
ancient Mayan village, where travelers can experience the local culture and
cuisine. There are three grand pavilions at the port, several chops and a bazaar
showcasing crafts make by local artisans, silver, leather, fragrances, jewelry,
pottery and souvenirs.
The port is able to accommodate three ships at one time and
as ships as big as the Queen Mary can dock there. When I was there, the Grand
Princess was in port with a group of cruisers disembarking from a cruise that
started in Galveston, Texas.
 This was their first port and they were eager to
shop and set their feet upon the ground.
Puerto Costa Maya also has restaurants, a beach club,
saltwater pools and a swimming pool in the middle of it. Cruisers were going in
the cool water and lounging on chaise lounges in between bargain hunting for
jewelry and souvenirs.
 But you don’t have to stay at the port all day. There are
several interesting tours available for a day trip. The tour operators located
at the port offered a large variety of reasonably priced tours for snorkeling,
horseback riding, biking, kayaking, airboat adventures and dune buggy tours.
There were also tours to Kohunlich, a Mayan archeological site in the southern
Yucatan Peninsula.
 I opted to visit the Kohunlich archaeological site and
learned a great deal about the ancient Mayan culture with the aid of an
experienced guide. The guide pointed out the variety of architectural styles in
the site and gave me an interesting explanation about the daily life and
ceremonial practices of the ancient Mayan inhabitants.
The site is composed of a number of building complexes used
for religious and residential purposes, some of which were neighborhoods for
extended families.
 One of the most important was a complex known as the “27
steps” and was thought to be a system of palaces and residences, inside of which
were found the graves of several high ranking people.
Other people in my group chose other options from swimming
to snorkeling trips and said they enjoyed their tours.
I had a delicious lunch at the port, served by friendly and
efficient waiters. Costa Maya is clean and new and a real asset to the Western
Caribbean cruise ship itinerary.
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