COSTA MAYA MEXICO: Blue Kay
We went diving in the morning and then after the dive we decided to head down the Malecon to see if any of the places interests us to stop and stay for the rest of the day.
​
I told the hubby "Let's just go back to Blue Kay since we always enjoy it so much every time and that would allow me to do a little bit of snorkeling as well."
​
​
We came upon an area that somewhat looked familiar but I wasn't sure.
After we passed this area a bit, I noticed the sign...it said Blue Kay. Wait, this is Blue Kay now? It didn't look the same at all.
I'm looking around and I'm not seeing anything that looked too familiar. Seriously!
I decided to walk down to the end of the area/beach. I knew that all the chairs were located at the beginning and the end was mostly beach and sand. But to my surprise, it was just as different. All the beautiful landscaping they had in the area was now lined with hundreds of beach chairs and pads. They have really expanded. I guess this is what happens when you grow and get bigger. It pretty much ruins the prestige area you loved back years ago.
Wait, what is this? Could this be something familiar? Maybe the cuban boat from years ago that they made into part of the scenery?
Well, since Blue Kay is at the end of the Malecon, we really didn't have much of a choice but stay here or return to the ship. The family wasn't up for more walking to go back to one of the other places we seen. I guess that means we're staying here.
​
We picked a spot along the beach at the end. There weren't many people down here still. Just a few families here and there.
There was a hairless dog walking with a family. I guess he has a good life of not getting over heated, but sunburned...that may be a different story.
​
Did you know: The Xoloitzcuintli, pronounced show-low-eats-QUEENT-lee, is a hairless dog breed from Mexico. There are less than 1,000 Mexican hairless dogs in the US, which could contribute to this higher-than--average price. The price of one puppy can be around $2500-$4000 from a breeder.
The waiter came over and we ordered some drinks and he gave us menu's. Pop never tasted so good at this point.
​
Here are the menu's and pricing:
​
I told the hubby what I wanted to order and I headed off to the water for a bit of snorkeling.
​
Of course even the water looked different as well. The fence in the water, the shoreline, everything was different.
​
What I would also discover is that the snorkeling was different too. Some Blue Tangs
At this point I was super disappointed in what I was seeing...or actually what I was not seeing. Where did all the coral go? Where's all the fish and stingrays? I couldn't find much of anything. Nothing other than sea grass.
I headed up close to the shore. I remember there were a few rocks up there and I might find something interesting to look at there. However, I would find it was changed up too. The beach was lined in areas with big stones. They also had a little bridge up and over into the water, even though there were plenty of areas to go in with sand.
I was being attacked by this energetic damsel that was trying to keep me away. He decided to photo bomb my picture.
By the time I returned, disappointed and all, our food was already there.
​
Sakari had some ceviche, which she has been missing since our trip to Isla Mujeres and we tried it for the first time, and now she was going to have it again. She told me "One way or another I'm going to have ceviche this trip!" She got her wish.
​
The hubby got the garlic butter shrimp platter.
I decided on Nacho's with guacamole. Nope, I'm not allowed to have nachos. Yep, I was having them. Stink eye coming my way of course.
As you can tell, there was plenty of Sargassum seaweed along the beaches, even with the fences.
The hubby and Sakari didn't want to get in the water and just hung out on the beach chairs.
We motioned over the waiter to tell him we'd like to pay our bill. When he returned, he said " $68 US." Hmmm, that didn't sound right to me. I ask for a receipt. He went off and came back with a receipt. It said $930.00 peso's. I pulled out my phone and did a conversion and that was about $20 over what it should be. When I questioned him, he said "Oh, tip is included." I really do not like or appreciate when any restaurant does this. It's not fair and we should be able to pay what we felt like the service is worth. I think it's shady. Especially if they withhold this information when they give you the price then you tip on top of that. He managed to give himself about a 42% tip!!! So I'm here to warn you if you go here to watch out. I will probably not go back to the place again. It's time has played out with us. It's not the beautiful area that we loved so much when we went the first or second time.
A very short video of the beach I took while we were having our lunch (sorry about the water spot) and a few short clips of the snorkeling. I was so disappointed that I didn't take much that I didn't take many videos but you will get the picture...
With no snorkeling in the area and our belly's full, we decided there really wasn't much else we wanted to do here and decided to head back to the ship.
​
We ask the waiter about calling a cab. He told us "follow me" and took us out to the Malecon and pointed in the direction of the lighthouse. He told us to walk down there and find a cab. Well, that walk looked a lot further than walking in the opposite way to the area we had passed with all the taxi's and drivers. So, we walked in the opposite direction and down to the taxi's.
​
​
The taxi driver was super nice and we talked all the way back to the port. He told us about the taxi service, why Uber wasn't there (the cartel won't allow it, which we already knew about), cost of vehicles, how the business was and Costa Maya itself. If we were staying in Costa Maya, I would want him driving me around for sure. He was great.
​
We passed by Blue Kay from the road.
Final Thoughts:
I have been going here since 2014 when not many cruisers knew about it. It was beautiful and pristine with a lot of beach front and excellent snorkeling in somewhat shallow water with a lot to see. We've been here several times and started to see changes. This trip would be a BIG disappointment.
This place is no longer beautiful with nicely landscaped grounds under palms. It is now over ran with chairs up and down the entire beach, sitting side by side and hardly any landscaping. It goes from one end to the other of their property now. It was a cruise port day and hardly anyone was there. Why do they need all those chairs???
They rush over to you instantly to have you either pay or order something. We did have lunch and drinks there but they have some shady practice going on now. They ADDED THEIR OWN TIP to the bill and didn't tell us!!! When I started questioning the amount, because it wasn't adding up, he finally told me "tip included". He gave himself a 42% tip!!! SERIOUSLY? Very shady!
They are currently having an issue with the sargassum sea weed and they have put up a fence, out in the water, to try to control some of it, which does take away from the beauty. I found the snorkeling to be non-existent now. Not even any coral and hardly any fish at all. There used to be tons of coral everywhere. Such a disappointment. I also noticed they had large rocks by the water in places now and no clue why??? Doesn't look nice. They have really built up their hotel (or whatever they are calling it now) and the place does look run down.
I would never come back to this place after enjoying what it used to look like when we first started going for the simple fact they gave themself a 42% tip without telling me and the beauty of the place is gone now.
Do you feel like my website and reviews have helped you in your travels? Want to help keep this site up for everyone to enjoy? Feel free to make a donation so that everyone can continue to enjoy this site. All amounts are welcome and appreciated. A lot of work goes into making this site and it has grown so much that I now have monthly expenses in picture hosting, monthly site fees and a domain. I appreciate you all!
​
If you are a business that has been featured on my website, any support would be greatly appreciated!
Get the word out and share my page! I love helping others with their travel needs.
© 2010 by Mitsugirly aka Kim www.TravelwithMitsugirly.com
