Costa Maya: Reef Snorkeling, Turtles & Beach Club Access

4.70

(162 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

The first thing I noticed was the way the water shifted from pale green to this almost electric blue — like someone turned up the color just for us. We met our guide, Diego, right on the sand in Mahahual. He handed me a mask and joked that if I saw a turtle before him, lunch was on him (I wish). The mask smelled faintly of salt and plastic, which I guess is how you know it’s been used for real adventures. I fumbled with the strap for a second — Diego helped without making it weird.

Once we slipped into the water, everything else faded out except for my own breathing and the sound of fins kicking nearby. Fish zipped past in little bursts of silver and yellow; I kept losing track because there were just so many shapes darting around. At one point Diego pointed down and signed “turtle” — I squinted through the sunlight and yeah, there she was, gliding along like she owned the place. Not gonna lie, I grinned so hard my snorkel nearly popped out. The reef itself looked alive: soft coral waving, flashes of blue tangs (I only know that name because Diego told me later). There was this moment where a ray drifted under us and everyone went quiet — even underwater you could feel it.

Afterwards we rinsed off and wandered over to the beach club (it’s included). It’s not fancy but honestly that’s better — plastic chairs stuck in warm sand, music playing low from someone’s Bluetooth speaker. You can hang as long as you want or catch public transport back to port; nobody rushes you. I sat there with bottled water in hand watching pelicans dive-bomb for fish, thinking about how slow time moves here compared to home. Still think about that turtle sometimes when things get noisy back in the city.