Enjoying the Island of Costa Maya!

The first few photos are of the Costa Maya Port, which we bypassed and hopped on the shuttle to Tropicante. There was a nice sitting area around the swim up bar and lots of great eating spots. If you just want a pool day or are on a tight budget, I could see this being a nice place to just chill and read a book or maybe do a little port shopping. Our first option was to visit the Chacchoben Ruins but we knew that it was going to take up so much time and we only had so much allowed time before heading back to port. Maybe next time!

The shuttles to Mahahual are further out of the port, past all of the shops. The tickets were $3 per person and the open air trolley was very nice! If you walk even further down, you can grab a taxi for only $2 per person.

I had done quite a bit of research on where to visit in Mahahual; it had been years since our last visit. I finally decided on Tropicante because I had read great reviews on Trip Advisor and found out that it is owned by Steve from America. I emailed him before our trip and reserved 2 beach chairs w/shade. As soon as we got into town, one of Steve's employees came up to our trolley and had our names on a chalkboard sign and walked us over to the sitting area on the beach. Such great service!

The views were just amazing! The water was such a beautiful color of blue. It was so nice to watch the boats and people kayaking in the water.

This guy came by and sang an entire song for me so I tipped him a couple of dollars. I should have asked to pose with his sombrero!

The first thing that I did was order a margarita- pretty much my favorite drink! It did not disappoint; very delicious!

Later, we ordered lunch and opted for the Grande Burrito to share. It was a pretty big plate and all that we needed between the two of us. It was really fresh and delicious and the waiter was so nice and brought out extra chips for the salsa.

The hubby and I walked up to the Tropicante Bar and each had a shot of their 100% agave tequila. Some of the best tequila that I have ever had! It was so smooth that I didn't feel a heavy buzz/hang over after, which is always good!

 

We paid our tab and grabbed a taxi back to the port for $4 for the both of us. Our day in Costa Maya was really amazing! We are hoping to explore some more new spots on our next trip. Comment below if you know of any more great spots that we should check out!

Where is your favorite spot/thing to do in Costa Maya?

On the Island!

We recently Cozumel and our first choice was to visit Tulum to see the ruins but we realized that we didn't have enough time to really enjoy the tour, the local ceynotes and beach so we opted to visit a local beach. We decided on the Money Bar after reading great reviews on Trip Advisor about the great snorkeling. Overall, it was a great spot for the price. There was no cost for admission unlike most of the beach clubs in Cozumel. I had done some research prior to the trip and found that almost every beach bar charges admission fees, ranging from $25 all the way up to over $100 with inclusive items such as food, drinks, alcohol, snorkeling, etc. Since we aren't big drinkers, we decided to go to the Money Bar instead.

We normally take a taxi but this time we decided to walk. I wouldn't suggest it, just because it was around a 4 mile walk and we weren't wearing the correct shoes for walking. We were more than happy when we were seated immediately upon arrival. We quickly ordered two margaritas which were really delicious!

Later, we ordered some guacamole & chips which was the perfect beach lunch. Their menu is in pesos but I came prepared with my pesos conversion app. That is, until mid-lunch, I showed the waiter my peso converter and he said that it wasn't correct, that the correct conversion was 16 pesos to 1 dollar. I just let it go since I was on vacation- who has time to try to figure out conversion rates?  Our total bill came out to around $31 (w/gratuity) for 3 margaritas, 1 beer and a plate of guacamole & chips, so I was pretty happy.

 

 

The hubby rented some snorkeling gear for only $10 for the set. I read on Trip Advisor that they used to charge $40 for equipment, but they must have changed it because of local competition with lower prices (there is a place right across the street that rents snorkeling equipment for $12). I honestly don't like using the mouthpieces after people, so it's on my shopping list to purchase sets to take on our next trip.

I joined the hubby for some snorkeling after some convincing from him that the water wasn't bad once you got in. Isn't that what they always say? I didn't want to miss out on the snorkeling, so I decided to brave the cold water and I'm so happy that I did, because there were beautiful fish everywhere! They were swimming all around my legs and it was pretty amazing.

All in all, we had a pretty amazing time and we got to try out a new spot in Cozumel! They also had taxis right behind the bar, so we didn't even have to wait on one. The cab ride back to the port was $12 total.  On our taxi ride back, our cab driver told us that the Sky Reef Club was another nice place to visit. For $15 admission per person, you get 1 welcome drink, a beach chair w/umbrella, snorkeling gear & a tequila tasting, so we will definitely have to try them next time.


Have you visited Cozumel before? 

Our Weekend Beach Trip!

Saturday morning we finally were on our way to Destin by 7:30! We stopped and picked up Chick Fil A for the hubby for breakfast and I had my banana + organic granola bar.

I used my DD free drink credit to get a iced coffee + shot of caramel

At the Destin Harbor

I had purchased a Groupon for the Destin Love Shack so we decided to give a try!

The Destin Love Shack reminded me of those cute local eateries in the Bahamas and Caribbean.

I forgot to take photos of our food but it was amazing!! I had the Caribbean Chicken and the hubby had the grass fed steak kabobs- both were amazing! We had a mango tango smoothie to go which was really yummy.

   We hadn't been to the Surf Hut since last year, so we figured it was due time for a visit.

 We went to Surf Hut for Dinner and made it just in time for Happy Hour! We immediately ordered two of the $3 Margaritas.

 The margaritas were pretty strong, so we only had one each.

  We ordered the most expensive (& the largest) Captains Platter that came with a cup of Gumbo- we couldn't finish it all so we packed it up for the hotel for some late night snacking :)

 Sunday, for lunch we decided to go to our favorite spot- Osaka Japanese Steakhouse!

 We both had the Bay Crab Roll, tempura style with eel sauce and fish eggs on top- so good!!

 We picked up some oysters on the half shell & shrimp for the hubby to grill later this week.

We had the best time on our weekend beach trip! We went shopping at Destin Commons, Silver Sands Premium Outlets and I was even able to return a swimsuit top from Old Navy and redeem my $30 Gap coupon. I also redeemed a $20 voucher from Charming Charlie's that I purchased online and bought two gorgeous handbags.

I picked up a cute basket for our coffee kcups + two more boxes of the Seattle's Best kcups from Home goods with my $20 voucher that I earned. We also went to Ross and found an audio cable for the hubby's phone so that he could play music from Sound cloud.

We visited both Miramar beach on Saturday and then Grayton beach on Sunday. It was an awesome weekend filled with lots of good food, shopping, catching up on some reading and enjoying the beach- the perfect beach trip in my book! I'm thinking maybe another beach trip in the next 4-6 weeks sounds good!

What is your favorite thing to do on beach trips?