BLUE KAY

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.

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.

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.

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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.

Ok, let's talk about this area along the beach.  When we arrived I felt as though something had changed a bit. I didn't remember it being quite like this. We stayed toward the end of the beach and under some palm trees and there were a few "landscaped areas" in front of us but yet we could still see the beach and Sakari playing in the water.

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This was our view previously....

Now, this would be our view:

This is the area, tucked behind the trees and a rope looking at it from the beach:

And the ropes...

When I ask about this area, the ropes, the "different" chairs along the front of the beach, I was told that they had "sold out" or "rented" that area to the beach club next door. GASP! So that now meant that if you are at Blue Kay and in this particular area, you get second row seating and not actually on the beach. I thought that was real crappy. However, no worries, you can always move down more and get beach front property if you need it.

Who knows, buy renting or selling off that beach front property, that might have gave them the money they needed to build their new hotel area. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

So...let's start with the review of our day there.

When we arrived, we immediately went to the chairs shown in the picture with the rope in front of it. There was a chair for everyone there and it was in the shade and we just came to that place first...so that's where we decided to sit. It was in the area that we had sat in the first time and we had no idea what the rope meant or the chairs in front of it aligned along the beach where. But they guys wanted shade, so it was the perfect place.

Of course we put our things down and the kids headed out to the water. The guys headed up to the bar for some drinks and us girls just sat there relaxing. It wasn't long before a guy, with very poor English, showed up and said $7 pp. So I started attempting to talk to him about their pricing. I explained who I was and being on cc and that there is a lot of confusion about their pricing these days. I told him that when I came here last, it was free and you just had to purchase food & drink. Then people started reporting it was $5 with a free drink. Then I told him how others would report it was $6 and some would come back and say nothing was charged. This is very confusing to people and the inconsistency is a turn off. He was having a bit of difficulty determining what to charge from what I could tell. He said "well, sometimes we charge $6 and sometimes we charge $7". Um ok, so how are people supposed to know the charges? You can't just charge some one amount and others another amount. He said he was going to go get his manager.

A guy came back, named Robert, that was very nice. I explained the situation to him like I had to the other guy. We talked for awhile and he told us it would be no problem to stay there and not to worry about it. I ask if he was the owner and he said no that he actually owned another beach club down the Malecon, but it was being remodeled and moved at the moment so he was working here (I believe as a manager or something). He was from Germany and seemed to be an asset to Blue Kay because he spoke different languages, with one of them being English and he could translate to the staff. I did ask him about his beach club and took a picture of his shirt and told him I would look him up the next time we were in Costa Maya and if they were open, we'd check them out (and I wasn't lying...I will).

I did look them up online when I got home and it looks like a very nice place.

Before long, the "owner" (I guess but not 100% sure) came over (it was a lady) and introduced herself. I guess the original guy (server?) went and got her. Once again, I had to explain myself, who I was, where I was from and the confusion on the boards. Yes, I threw in the reviews that I do and that I was one of the originals that came here right after they changed their name from Blue Bay to Blue Kay before anyone knew of this place. I did tell her that I have brought plenty of people here from the boards thanks to my reviews and I was here to check out any changes and get answers for those on the boards and of course do another extensive review.

So, the information that I gathered was cruisers are charged either $6 or $7 depending on the season and how busy they are. That's the difference in price. So, what she told me what the with that $7, you get a $2 mat for the chair. So, that brings you down to the original $5 that people reported awhile back as a price (after it was no longer free). They do not charge for kids. So, then you have $5 left over. She said that is applied to your bill of food or drinks. So, basically it's free people...they just want you to eat and drink there...just like we did the first time when they didn't have a charge. The only thing you are really paying is the $2 for the blue mat for the chairs.

I just want to say that I personally think they are totally justified for this charge. When I first came here in 2014, they didn't charge anything. But they are like any other beach club, they are there to make money to stay in business, keep their beach beautiful, make improvements and so on. They do expect you to spend money there. Why wouldn't they? I remember after I did my original review, a lot of people started talking about going there and getting excited about how beautiful it was. BUT...I also remember people coming back (not a lot but some) that gave their mini-review of their stay there and it went something like this...."loved Blue Kay and it was so beautiful there and loved the beach...blah blah blah and we used their lockers and took a walk down the Malecon and then we had lunch at _____________" ARE YOU SERIOUS??? That is just RUDE! You use their facilities at Blue Kay, you're using the beautiful beach and probably used their restrooms and such...then you went down the Malecon and ate somewhere else? Like that's totally unacceptable in my book. I don't blame BK for coming up with a "fee" to offset this. It's because of people that probably did exactly what other cruisers posted they did that we now have a fee. The $5 is nothing! Spend your money with this place if you are staying there and using their facilities and beach. Plain and simple. Their service is good, their food is good and they are friendly. Why go somewhere else if you decided to come here? I just don't get it. #rantover

Anyhow, the owner told us not to worry about paying the $7. I wasn't looking for a handout or freebie, I was just looking for answers. They told us about changes, new stuff/building, sell off of the beach front, talked about the Cuban boat and so on. We paid for our beach mats and between the 7 of us...spent a good amount of cash there, which is exactly what they want. I would never go some place for free and not spend some money there. Just like when we went to The Money Bar. Although we didn't plan to eat there, we did drink a lot between the 7 of us (in both alcohol and pop).

Ok...so back to the review!

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Kendra and I decided that it was time to snorkel. We really didn't have a lot of time here so we needed to get moving.

Sakari decided that she didn't want to go out with us and said she was snorkeling on her own and ran off with her camera in hand. Well then...fine. She's just growing up so quickly.

So here are Sakari's snorkeling pictures she took right up close to the beach.

She always manages to see things I don't....but guess what I would see things she didn't get to see....until I showed her that is.

We found a pretty big lobster and also a lionfish! (Which had a candy cane shrimp...which I didn't even notice that until looking at the picture right now when posting it. How cool. I have never seen one of those either!

​Off I went after getting tired of waiting on Kendra to come. Of course she was attempting to sneak away from Kam. Ugh. I guess this is where we are different. I don't sneak away from anyone...if I wanna go, I go. I tell my kid I'm going and to stay with daddy. Like it or not and you won't cry about it or follow me. LOL I don't play those games. Maybe that's why Sakari is so well behaved and structured.

Out I went. There was just too much to see to be wasting time on waiting around. I headed to the sea grass area in hopes to find goodies such as a starfish or something.

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For those that don't like the sea grass, think again, you never know what goodies you might find in these areas...such as starfish, turtles, lobster, octopus and so on. I always check them out. Sea grass is not a bad thing!

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I seen lots of fish along the way and they were a pretty good size too.

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Every so often I would check to see if Kendra got away.  Yep, looks like Kendra is sneaking off. Wait, no, false alarm, Kam busted her and she's walking back. Ok, continuing on.

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​Aww a Goby. I love Gobies. They have the neatest personality and look like they are frowning all the time. I have one in each tank of mine at home and it's funny how I have never noticed them when snorkeling before and this time I would see them.

Aww a Goby (above). I love Gobies. They have the neatest personality and look like they are frowning all the time. I have one in each tank of mine at home and it's funny how I have never noticed them when snorkeling before and this time I would see them.

I motioned her to COME!!! I told her there's a stingray down here.  She hurried over and we started seeing them everywhere in the grassy area. Everywhere you look...stingrays. These are the same type of stingrays that they had at Maya Chan when we went. The are really small and have beautiful markings. I think they are called yellow stingrays, but I'm not sure.

I really couldn't believe how many there was in the area. I had never seen anything like it before.

There were plenty of damsels in the area as well. 

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Anyone who says there's nothing to see at this place is crazy. Is it Roatan? No. But there is PLENTY here to see...both coral and fish and sea life. I just love snorkeling this place. It is honestly probably one of the easiest places ever to snorkel. The water is very calm because it's protected due to the rocks that run parallel to the beach. It's very shallow and at any time you can stand up. It makes for a great beginner area for kids as well. Great family place to snorkel.

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I spotted some pretty nice sized banded butterfly fish.

Kendra spotted a fireworm...she's really good at spotting things.

See how shallow the water is? Super easy snorkeling.

Then Kendra motions me over and starts pointing...

Um ok, it's a hole. I see. But what am I looking for? She kept pointing. Every once in awhile you'd see a head pop out. It was an eel. I tried so hard to get a good picture but any time I got close, it would back deeper into the hole. It's right below my name in both pictures. How is it she is just so good at spotting things?

There seriously is a lot of nice coral here!  Also a lot of groups of fish as well in the area.

And then I spotted it...the BIGGEST lionfish I think I have ever seen. I tried and tried to get a good picture of it, but it was just too far in the rocks/hole. Like the pictures don't even begin to show the massive size of this thing. I have seen some really big ones in the fish store before, but this thing takes the cake. I tried pictures with the flash, pictures without the flash, and video and nothing could capture this fish! UGH

The lighthouse off in the distance.

And our ship

Barracuda lurking in the distance. One thing that I noticed the last time I was here is that there were a lot of barracuda's all the way out by the rocks and this time would be no different.

Finally! Some Christmas tree feather dusters! I usually see a bunch of these everywhere we go but not so much this time around. They are my favorite!

Then Kendra starts flagging me down....LQQK! Squid!  I have seen a lot of squid before, but one of these had the longest snout ever. Is that a snout? What would you call it? I guess it's a beak. He must have been a grandpa and starting to sag.  There were only 2 of them. Usually we seen a large group, but not this time. Just a lonely two of them.

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At one point the one with the long beak was in the front and going one way and the smaller one turned around and was swimming backwards and watching us. Then it quickly turned around and the zoomed off for a distance.

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We also found a conch

Then as we started to swim back to the shore...more stingrays (this is a different area, we are now on the opposite end).

So as you all can see, this is a pretty decent place to snorkel. There's not much to trying to snorkel in this area because you can just float around, stand up when you need to and have a variety of things to see. I thinks it's pretty good.

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After returning from our snorkeling, we decided we would get something to eat.

I wanted to try different things and couldn't make up my mind. I went with a chicken quesadilla, and also ordered chips and salsa, but I was also craving guacamole. So I ordered all 3 things. I had no idea they would be huge portions and I wouldn't be able to eat it all...or even come close.

One thing I did notice is that they added the tip to the bill automatically, even though it says "optional".

My bill was $374.00 (pesos), which ended up being close to $25. LOL I believe the hubby had a burrito earlier and he said he spent around $10-$12 with everything he ordered and drinks. Kendra put in her order and was around $325 (pesos). She would decide to post her receipt on her social media site with some type of caption about it being a very expensive burrito (knowing she'd get a reaction from a certain person) and Billy's dad blew his stack. He would end up on a rampant rage about them out here on vacation blowing money like it grew on trees and how crazy she was for spending that much on a burrito and....and...and... and she was sitting back and laughing. So, since we like to mess with him, I had to post my receipt as well with a caption of telling her she got off cheaper than me.

We like to mess with him. No worries, he messes with us all the time but we got him good. By the end of the day, Billy had told him the truth and calmed him down. LOL Party pooper!

I went back to our chairs to find that we actually no longer had all of our chairs and a couple to the left of us and a couple to the right of us had taken 4 of the chairs. Um....ok. When we first came, we only ended up getting 2 of the chair mats. One for the hubs and one for Billy because they are the ones that will sit there all day and eat and drink. Us girls and kids will stay out in the water most of the day. So, normally I don't even purchase a chair at places that we go to because it's pointless. However, we knew we were going to eat at some point, so still needed our chairs...we just didn't care if they had the mats on them. Well, I guess the original guy that came over when we arrived decided to put a couple on each side of us and take our chairs we had our things at. Maybe he felt that since we only bought 2 mats that we only needed 2 chairs for the 7 of us. #rollingmyeyes

My food came and I gasp. Wow, that's a lot of food and I had no idea it would be that much.

The quesadillas were great, the salsa and chips were great, but the gauc...um, I have no idea what was in this. I have never seen gauc like that. It had some red stuff in it and some stuff on top and these little black things and it tasted weird. Not weird "bad" but weird-weird. Like I couldn't eat too much of it because it was just weird. Kinda tangy maybe? I don't know. Just weird. No one makes gauc like Mexico and some how I managed to get some that just wasn't what I was expecting. Darnit!

Kendra got a burrito and the kids some fries and chicken.

We had a visitor. She was very friendly and looked like she had recently had puppies.

She was so patient and did not beg and just laid there. We would throw her a piece of chicken or a chip. She was a little picky and if anything landed in the sand, she would not eat it. Ok, making note...no sand on food allowed. But if you allowed her to take it from your hand, she would eat it.

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She eventually decided to cross the line (rope) from the other beach club to our beach club. She was officially a member and one of us.

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Maybe she belongs to the owners at BK or one of the workers. She was a very smart dog and knew sit and lay and I think one other thing but I can't remember it now. Very cool dog!

Our view from our chairs front and behind us

After getting our bellies full (all of us AND the dog) Sakari wanted to show me her snorkeling finds.

She managed to find 2 very small brittle starfish.

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We do have a huge brittle star in our smaller clown fish tank and her name is "Katie" and I have no idea why Sakari named her that. Normally Sakari comes up with the simplest names. A starfish would be star. A tang would be banana because of the color. Our goby is sandy because she eats sand. But Katie? How does this relate to her shape, size, what she is, what she does...I don't get it. Sometimes Sakari is odd.

She had to show me her lionfish she found.

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Then I would take her back out to the grassy area and show her all of the stingrays. They were all still there...everywhere actually. She loved it.

We had an amazing day at Blue Kay and although it has changed a bit, it's still an amazing place. We spent every last minute that we could here. But we knew there was an all aboard time of 1:30pm and it was time to pack up and leave.

We headed up to the bar/restaurant area and ask Robert to call us a cab. He made a call and told us to follow him.

Goodbye Blue Kay.

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We walked along the malecon to the place next door and on the side of it is where the taxi would pick us up in the parking lot.

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We seen the pool that used to be Senor Frogs and it is now something else. I have no clue who took over.