BLUE KAY
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We knew that during the entire cruise it had been calling for sunshine in Costa Maya and we were looking forward to a nice sunny port day finally. I just hated that Carnival only stays here until 2pm. I have never really understood why Carnival does this. I mean they are no different than NCL and have the same distance to "drive back" to the port so what gives??? It's such a waste. I love this port.
Arriving at 7am meant we would be getting up early if we wanted to make the most of the day here. However, we really didn't have anything planned. We (Kendra and I) looked for something interesting to do here and I attempted to find a new place to visit, but wasn't getting the response I was looking for. Someone had mentioned a fairly new place called Shipwreck'd and I was going to check them out. My only concern was the water (looked like most of the other beach clubs with murky brown water and lots of seaweed) and that I had read their snorkeling was a little ways out. I emailed them with no answer. I finally messaged them on the social media site. I finally received a generic answer, which really didn't answer my questions. After messaging them back and telling them who I was and about my reviews (and the possibility of bringing more cruisers there for business with a review because I haven't seen anyone here yet or a review) they messaged me back with...............another generic response. Well, I like someone that answers my questions with a personal response. Let me know that you read it! Let me know you want my business! Show your potential customers you care! I didn't get that.
So...back to Blue Kay we would go. Blue Kay was pretty much unknown to the cruisers when we first went there and although it is located on the Malecon, it is so different than the other little beach clubs around there. It feels more secluded, it's a huge beach, the snorkeling is actually pretty good and in fairly shallow water, the water isn't murky brown even though there is sea grass in the area here and there. The service was friendly and the food was good. We just really enjoyed our day there last time that I knew I wanted to return again.
We had arrived and it was beautiful out! This would be the first picture I took as we arrived at the beach.
Things had changed a little. I definitely didn't remember these weird looking chairs. Who could sit in them? They are so low to the ground, compared to the table, that you wouldn't be able to reach if you were trying to eat. They would probably make good sunning chairs though. But after going back to look at my old photos, I guess they were there and I didn't notice them.
Along the malecon, there were little cabana's for people to rent (2014):
Now they have like a huge "hotel/apartment" type of building there. He said they had just completed it this year. I definitely like the way they looked before.
Now to take a look around the place...
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The restaurant/bar area is still the same and they still had the swings up at the bar. The bathroom area..still the same. And once again...no toilet paper in the toilet. Last time we were there, they had lockers to put your things in and lock up. Now, it has been replaced with a cooler for drinks. I'm not sure if they moved the lockers to some other place or not.
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They used to have a little hut to rent bicycles but now it was just a place to sell things at instead.
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The grounds are still gorgeous of course.
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I don't recall seeing huge tables and chairs last time. This is nice. Nothing better than eating lunch under a palm tree on the beach while listening to the ocean.
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Some of the palm trees looked as if they had seen better days.
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I do feel like the last storm took a toll on things here and there...like the palm trees and some of the palapas.
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Now maybe it was just me this time...but I swear there were a lot more palm trees everywhere. I remember it being pretty full and lush on the grounds in front of the beach. If you look at the picture above, it doesn't seem too full right?
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I don't know. Maybe it's just me. I just swear I remember a lot more trees and a lot more shade the last time. It just appeared more "open" especially in front of the new building/hotel area looking toward the ocean.
There was a long palapa type of building built and it had some long tables under it. There was a huge family sitting under there and they had music with speakers playing and a lot of food. Think family reunion type of setting. I didn't want to disturb their area or for it to appear as if I was taking pictures of them so I just snapped as I walked by toward the end of it.
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At the far end of the beach, you would probably be about 99% away from the crowd, but I didn't see any chairs down this way except for one that looked like it actually belonged to someone. Maybe people that are staying there? There appears to be a lot more shade here as well.
Now, does anyone remember my story about the boat of Cubans that washed up on the shore of Blue Kay right before we had came there in 2014? Well if you don't it was a boat that was built out of various materials, including car parts and it reeked of gasoline. They had built the boat from scratch and escaped Cuba. They were out in the ocean for 9 days and 2 days of that they were just drifting around without food or water. Blue Kay is where they drifted too. The boss gave them food and water (and actually employed 2 of them) after they arrived and were hiding out.
Here's the boat when it arrived at BK:
This is what they decided to do with the boat after cleaning it up. It's now part of the landscaping.