Costa Maya

I recently went snorkeling near Costa Maya. Can someone tell me the name of
the reef there, about 5 or so miles from the cruise ship pier, about ½ mile off
shore?

TY,
Susanita

susanita3907@aol.com (Susanita3907) wrote in message news:<20040209200737.14252.00000413@mb-m01.aol.com>...
> I recently went snorkeling near Costa Maya.

On 2004-01-01 06:21:43 PST
Mediakzar (mediakzar@aol.com) wrote,

> I believe the cruise ship lines are now referring to Majahual as
> "Costa Maya."

A small correction here, Joel. The cruiseship (the Princess Line
anyway) DOES refer to it as Majahual. It's the travel agents who
book the cruises who refer to it as Costa Maya, presumably because
it's too hard for the Gringos to pronounce Majahual, or get its
spelling from the correct pronunciation. ;)

I just came back from the Grand Princess cruise (Ft. Lauderdale -
Princess Cay - Grand Cayman - Majahual - Cozumel - Ft. Lauderdale).

I'll be back on the IDENTICAL cruise on March 7, NOT because I was
so enchanted with the ports of call that I wanted a repeat in less
than a month, but because when I booked the cruise, and asked the
agent about the itinerary on the phone, he mentioned "Costa Maya"
(a name I had not heard before, EVER), I thought it must be a
different itenerary from my cruise on the same ship this month.

So, I'll be diving in Cozumel around the Carnival (Mardi Gras) there
this month, and then from that cruise next month. Cozumel THREE
times within a month -- that's a record for me. ))


> It's questionable if you will have time to dive Chinchorro Banks
> but the diving in the area is interesting.
>
> JK

As for Majahual, there's time to do a preview of the tourist shops
on the next stop -- Cozumel -- that's about it!

The venders there start the asking price FOUR TIMES what they are
willing to sell. They get lots of happy campers thinking they
got a bargain for paying only HALF the asking price. I bought an
onyx "Mayan pecker" (grande) for $15 even though I had already
bought several smaller ones (for gifts <G>) over the years in
Cozumel, for more. When after a bit of voluntary haggling by the
vender himself and he finally asked "How much would you pay for
one?" and I said $15, pretty sure he wouldn't sell for what he
had asked for $60. But he surprised me. It was the biggest
onyx "Mayan pecker" I have ever purchased. Nicely crafted too.

Consider buying more next month, for some Asian friends, when I
go diving in Bali after the ADEX trade show in Singapore.

That's pretty much my entire experience about Majahual, Costa Maya,
and cruiseships shopping there.

-- Bob.

Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com (Reef Fish) wrote in message news:<8fb7380b.0402100430.334cf7c2@posting.google. com>...
> susanita3907@aol.com (Susanita3907) wrote in message news:<20040209200737.14252.00000413@mb-m01.aol.com>...
> > I recently went snorkeling near Costa Maya.
>
> On 2004-01-01 06:21:43 PST
> Mediakzar (mediakzar@aol.com) wrote,
>
> > I believe the cruise ship lines are now referring to Majahual as
> > "Costa Maya."

> A small correction here, Joel. The cruiseship (the Princess Line
> anyway) DOES refer to it as Majahual. It's the travel agents who
> book the cruises who refer to it as Costa Maya, presumably because
> it's too hard for the Gringos to pronounce Majahual, or get its
> spelling from the correct pronunciation. ;)

Howdy Mr Reef Fish. It's called both Mahahual and Majahual, so no
wonder that the Gringos are confused. More importantly, we are talking
about a village... a cruise stop destination... which is located
within a coastal area. The region in Costa Maya. The cruise ship
pier is in Mahahual, within that region.

> I just came back from the Grand Princess cruise (Ft. Lauderdale -
> Princess Cay - Grand Cayman - Majahual - Cozumel - Ft. Lauderdale).
>
> I'll be back on the IDENTICAL cruise on March 7, NOT because I was
> so enchanted with the ports of call that I wanted a repeat in less
> than a month, but because when I booked the cruise, and asked the
> agent about the itinerary on the phone, he mentioned "Costa Maya"
> (a name I had not heard before, EVER), I thought it must be a
> different itenerary from my cruise on the same ship this month.
>
> So, I'll be diving in Cozumel around the Carnival (Mardi Gras) there
> this month, and then from that cruise next month. Cozumel THREE
> times within a month -- that's a record for me. ))

Costa Maya is term used for the coast line of that part of Mexico. It
is just like calling the more northern area of Mexico that encompasses
Cancun "Riviera Maya". Riveria Maya is an area. Cancun is a town.
Costa Maya is an area. Mahahual is a village. The cruise ship pier is
in Mahahual

> > It's questionable if you will have time to dive Chinchorro Banks
> > but the diving in the area is interesting.
> >
> > JK

There aren't many dive operators in the Mahahual area. The one that I
dove with was not enthusiatic about taking ppl from a cruise ship to
Chinchorro.

> As for Majahual, there's time to do a preview of the tourist shops
> on the next stop -- Cozumel -- that's about it!

There is nothing in Mahahual... except the military police
check-points. :)

> The venders there start the asking price FOUR TIMES what they are
> willing to sell. They get lots of happy campers thinking they
> got a bargain for paying only HALF the asking price. I bought an
> onyx "Mayan pecker" (grande) for $15 even though I had already
> bought several smaller ones (for gifts <G>) over the years in
> Cozumel, for more. When after a bit of voluntary haggling by the
> vender himself and he finally asked "How much would you pay for
> one?" and I said $15, pretty sure he wouldn't sell for what he
> had asked for $60. But he surprised me. It was the biggest
> onyx "Mayan pecker" I have ever purchased. Nicely crafted too.
>
> Consider buying more next month, for some Asian friends, when I
> go diving in Bali after the ADEX trade show in Singapore.
>
> That's pretty much my entire experience about Majahual, Costa Maya,
> and cruiseships shopping there.

If I was pressed for time with diving, I wouldn't waste it on
Chinchorro Banks. I'd dive the local reefs off of Mahahual.
Chinchorro offers the best type of 'groove' reefs that I've ever seen
and I've never seen reef sponges, fans, etc. that large in my life !!
But there was not much there in the way of big fish. I could recommend
some places for you to visit if you have a few days to spend there.

Bob,

I'm very envious of 3 visitss on a month to Cozumel. If you've got the time on
our next trip to Costa Maya/Majahual, see if you can hire a cab and run down
to Xcalak to check out our house. It's about 10 km north of Xcalak or 25 km
south of Majahual on the beach road.

XTC is a well organized dive op in Xcalak. There wouldn't be time for a trip
to Chinchorro but I'll bet they could work out something for you.

Joel
http://www.mxtravel.com/xcalak/Cielosazules/
http://www.mxtravel.com/xcalak.html

mediakzar@aol.com (Mediakzar) wrote in message news:<20040213080829.20033.00001995@mb-m17.aol.com>...
> Bob,
>
> I'm very envious of 3 visitss on a month to Cozumel. If you've got the time on
> our next trip to Costa Maya/Majahual, see if you can hire a cab and run down
> to Xcalak to check out our house. It's about 10 km north of Xcalak or 25 km
> south of Majahual on the beach road.
>
> XTC is a well organized dive op in Xcalak. There wouldn't be time for a trip
> to Chinchorro but I'll bet they could work out something for you.
>
> Joel
> http://www.mxtravel.com/xcalak/Cielosazules/
> http://www.mxtravel.com/xcalak.html

Suzanne from XTC was most gracious to me during emails I had with her.
And she saved the day when our compressor went down during our
week-long stay there. I can't say enough good things about her shop.

babette7401@hotmail.com (Salty) wrote in message news:<e673a058.0402121900.135909a7@posting.google. com>...
> Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com (Reef Fish) wrote in message news:<8fb7380b.0402100430.334cf7c2@posting.google. com>...
> > susanita3907@aol.com (Susanita3907) wrote in message news:<20040209200737.14252.00000413@mb-m01.aol.com>...
> > > I recently went snorkeling near Costa Maya.
> >
> > On 2004-01-01 06:21:43 PST
> > Mediakzar (mediakzar@aol.com) wrote,
> >
> > > I believe the cruise ship lines are now referring to Majahual as
> > > "Costa Maya."
>
> > A small correction here, Joel. The cruiseship (the Princess Line
> > anyway) DOES refer to it as Majahual. It's the travel agents who
> > book the cruises who refer to it as Costa Maya, presumably because
> > it's too hard for the Gringos to pronounce Majahual, or get its
> > spelling from the correct pronunciation. ;)
>
> Howdy Mr Reef Fish. It's called both Mahahual and Majahual, so no
> wonder that the Gringos are confused.

As much as my Spanish sucks (which I freely adknowledged in that post),
I believe the "confused Gringos" include those who spell it as
"Mahahual" because "h" is SILENT in Spanish and "j" is pronounced
the Gringo "h".

Thus, Majahual is pronounced Ma_ha_ual (in Spanish, phonetically
spelled in English), just as Bahia (both the location and the hotel
in Coz) is pronounced "Ba_ia" in Spanish (silent h), and the Baja
peninsula is pronounced "Ba_ha" ("j" as the Gringo "h").

I think, if Majahual were spelled Mahahual (in Spanish), it would
have been pronounced Ma_a_ual, without ANY "h" sound.


> More importantly, we are talking
> about a village... a cruise stop destination... which is located
> within a coastal area. The region in Costa Maya. The cruise ship
> pier is in Mahahual, within that region.

That was in fact what the Mexican/Mayan DM in Coz told me the next
day when I asked why Majahual was call Costa Maya (or vice version).

The cruise ship destination IS Majahual, NOT Mahahual, unless you
wish to spell it with a Gringo phonetic spelling of "Mahahual".

-- Bob.

>
> > I just came back from the Grand Princess cruise (Ft. Lauderdale -
> > Princess Cay - Grand Cayman - Majahual - Cozumel - Ft. Lauderdale).
> >
> > I'll be back on the IDENTICAL cruise on March 7, NOT because I was
> > so enchanted with the ports of call that I wanted a repeat in less
> > than a month, but because when I booked the cruise, and asked the
> > agent about the itinerary on the phone, he mentioned "Costa Maya"
> > (a name I had not heard before, EVER), I thought it must be a
> > different itenerary from my cruise on the same ship this month.

"Reef Fish" <Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:8fb7380b.0402150754.3a5e897e@posting.google.c om...

> Meanwhile, the only "diving" I am doing is in the 2 ffw jacuzzi in the
> BEDROOM, at the brand new Hilton in Lost Wages. That's the only hotel
> suite I've ever stayed that has a washer/dryer combo in the kitchen
> area which has EVERYTHING a kitchen has, including a kitchen sink.

I'm flying in on the 20th. Gonna stick around and buy me a drink for my
birthday?

"Greg Mossman" <mossman@qnet.com> wrote in message news:<403237ce$0$75801$6c56adcd@news.qnet.com>...
> "Reef Fish" <Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:8fb7380b.0402150754.3a5e897e@posting.google.c om...
>
> > Meanwhile, the only "diving" I am doing is in the 2 ffw jacuzzi in the
> > BEDROOM, at the brand new Hilton in Lost Wages. That's the only hotel
> > suite I've ever stayed that has a washer/dryer combo in the kitchen
> > area which has EVERYTHING a kitchen has, including a kitchen sink.
>
> I'm flying in on the 20th. Gonna stick around and buy me a drink for my
> birthday?

Sorry, just got back home an hour ago.

I'll wish you a Happy B-Day when I am packing, on the 20th, for
the Cozumel Mardi Gras.

But for a late birthday drink, I'll buy you one at the LAX Hilton
March 27, on our way to Tahiti. You missed several of those earlier
offers.

-- Bob.

The reef you were on is called the Meso American Reef System. It is the
second largest barrier reef in the world at 900 km long. It starts in
Cozumel mexico and ends in Honduras.


--
nitrogenaddict
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