Costa Maya, Mexico & Roatan, Honduras Excursions

Hey friends,

Last week, my husband and I took an amazing cruise on Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas and two of our stops were Costa Maya, Mexico (aka Mahahual, Mexico) and Roatan, Honduras. If you traveling to or are going on a cruise and stopping at either of these ports regardless of the cruise line, here's the scoop on what you should do!

Costa Maya, Mexico

When you first arrive at the port in Costa Maya, you will see that they have a very large and established port. You could spend the day shopping, partying, or swimming with the dolphins inside the port, but if you're up for a bit of adventure, the Blue Lagoon (Lagoon of 7 Colors) is the place for you. The Lagoon of Seven Colors in Bacalar, Mexico is a 34-mile large freshwater lake that truly looks like the ocean and is seven shades of blue. It is absolutely breathtaking and worth your time in Costa Maya.

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When you get off the ship, there will be a large amount of excursion vendors that will be standing at the front of the port trying to get you to book last minute excursions, but we booked our tour to the Blue Lagoon with Native Choice ahead of time because it was about half the price that it would have cost to go through the cruise ship's excursion. There is the option to go see the Mayan Ruins before visiting the lagoon, but we opted for just the lagoon. If you do book with Native Choice, it's important to know that you'll have to walk about half a mile out of the port to their office because they do not have a contract signed with the port. They give you directions on where to walk on the e-ticket you'll get when booking. However, this bit of a walk is totally worth it because once we arrived, they were extremely friendly and gave us a bottle of water right away and took us to our tour bus.

What I loved about this company is that they take on very small groups; we had only 5 people in our group (including us) and two tour guides, so it was very fun and personal and we got to have a say in our itinerary. On the way to the lagoon, we stopped to get local pineapple and dragonfruit that was being sold on the side of the road and it was nothing short of delicious. It's about an hour car ride to the lagoon, but completely worth it.

When we arrived at the lagoon, we were brought to the Bacalar Lagoon Resort, a breathtakingly charming hotel on the lagoon. This hotel works with Native Choice to give cruisers a private location on the lagoon away from crowds of tourists. It is so quaint and well-taken care of by its Canadian owners. Hotel rooms are in very cute little villas and a restaurant is located on the property for guests. I would come stay here as a guest in a heartbeat, but it's worth noting that the hotel does not have AC. Aside from that, the hotel was just perfect.

For this excursion, you get to spend about 3 hours at the resort's "beach" on the lagoon. We were allowed to kayak as far as we wanted, swim, or lay out in the lounge chairs at the lagoon. It was very nice how it was self-led rather than being in such a huge group. After kayaking for a while, we came back for lunch made by a local and authentic Mexican chef and it was absolutely perfect. We spent every minute we could in the water enjoying the stunning water and soaking up the sights. If you are in search of gorgeous water, getting away from the crowds, and feeling relaxed, then this is the excursion for you.

Roatan, Honduras

Roatan is a small island off the coast of Honduras and they are still in the process of building up their small port. This is definitely a port where you want to have an excursion picked out to maximize your time at this stop.

Port in Roatan, Honduras

My husband and I are big snorkelers and we heard that the water in Honduras is amazing to snorkel in because it is clear to due its rocky bottom and it is located on the second largest barrier reef in the world. We booked our tour through Roatan Ocean Adventures, who offer excursions for both cruisers and tourists who are staying in Honduras. Just like Native Choice, you do have to walk out of the port to meet up with the tour guide, but it is not a long walk out of the port and they are standing right at the exit of the port with signs ready to drive you to the boat. They have multiple snorkeling options; I recommend the Cordelia Banks excursion because it's on the Meso American Reef and the coral is supposed to be amazing. On the day we were in Honduras, it was very windy, so we did the snorkel hopping tour instead.

The owner of this company runs tours out of his home located on the beautiful water and their staff is extremely friendly. Because the water gets very deep very fast, our boat ride was very short (5-10 mins) to each of the snorkeling locations, giving us maximal time in the water. We were taken to 3 different snorkeling locations and saw coral reefs, sea fans, a ton of wildlife, the drop off, and swam in the clearest, most gorgeous water I've ever been in. I loved that they stopped at a shallow part of the water that was very clear just so we could enjoy the water. It was really nice how this company provided noodles for anyone who wanted to float because you're in the water for an extended time. I truly felt like I was in Moana the entire time we were there because the water was so beautiful.

Roatan, Honduras

After our snorkeling was over, we boated past French Key and our tour guides stopped by a "zoo" with tigers and it was amazing getting so close to such beautiful creatures. There are many tour options with Roatan Ocean Adventures where you can visit local zoos with iguanas, monkeys, the lions, or beach resorts for the day as well. The staff at this company was so friendly and helpful and I would highly recommend them for any type of excursion that you are looking for.

Costa Maya and Roatan were truly the highlights of our cruise and both of these excursions helped us see the natural beauty of these countries. If you have any questions about either tour or port, I'm happy to answer them.

Until the next trip!

xx Lil