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Mexican Caribbean
Mahahual

Mahahual

Roam - Rest - Take it easy

Mahahual

The laid-back fishing town of the Mexican Caribbean

Mahahual still has the feel of a fishing town, with a beachside boardwalk and the Mesoamerican Reef just a few yards offshore. It's also home to the only cruise port in the southern Mexican Caribbean.

Offshore lies Banco Chinchorro, Mexico's largest atoll and a designated biosphere reserve. Farther south is Xcalak, and inland is the archaeological site of Chacchoben.

Right now
81°F (27°C)Cloudy
Best for
Reef, diving and a quiet beach
When to visit
Year-round; the most pleasant weather from November to April
Banco Chinchorro
Biosphere Reserve, a two-hour boat ride

Getting here

Airport

Facade of Chetumal International Airport, with its colored lattice screen

Airport

Chetumal International Airport

This is the closest airport, though the coast is still about 1 hour 45 minutes away by road. Once you land in the capital, these are your options for getting to Mahahual:

  • Private transfers: Book a transfer to pick you up at the terminal and take you straight to your beachfront hotel.
  • Car rental: A good option if you want to drive the Cafetal-Mahahual road to the coast at your own pace.
  • Shared vans: Head into downtown Chetumal first to catch the passenger vans that run to the coast.

Bus

Intercity bus parked beside the sea, its door marked Entrance

Bus

Mahahual Bus Station

The station is at the entrance to the town, a short distance from the coast.

  • Local transportation: Taxis wait outside the station and will have you in the hotel zone in under 5 minutes.
  • Walking: If you're traveling light, the boardwalk is about a 15-minute walk down the main avenue toward the water.

Cruise

Cruise ship docked at a pier in the Mexican Caribbean

Cruise

Costa Maya Cruise Terminal

Where cruise passengers arrive in the southern Mexican Caribbean. The pier is 2 to 3 miles (3 to 5 km) from the boardwalk and the town of Mahahual. To get into town:

  • Pier shuttles: Shuttles run from the terminal exit to the entrance of town.
  • Taxis: Just outside the port, taxis make the 5- to 10-minute run to the beach.

Mahahual in motion

The malecón

A boardwalk along the beach

The malecón is easy to explore on foot or by bike. Along the way you'll find restaurants, beach clubs, ice cream shops, dive shops, stores and colorful wooden houses, and at its north end stand the lighthouse and the Mahahual letters. Most of the town's hotels and hostels are along it as well.

Aerial view of the boardwalk and pier in Mahahual

Water activities

Swim, kayak or dive the reef

Just offshore, the Mesoamerican Reef acts as a natural breakwater, keeping the water at the beach shallow and calm. You can swim, kayak or dive along the reef, and the windy season brings kitesurfing and windsurfing. Farther south, Xcalak has its own reef national park, with spots like La Poza, where tarpon gather and manatees are sometimes spotted.

Aerial view of the coast and reef of Mahahual

Banco Chinchorro

Dive Banco Chinchorro, Mexico's largest atoll

Two hours out by boat, the Banco Chinchorro Biosphere Reserve, with its lagoon and three cays, is home to mangroves and reefs with turtles, dolphins and manatees, plus dozens of shipwrecks from the 16th to the 20th century that are dive sites today, like the Forty Cannons wreck, 26 feet (8 m) down.

Aerial view of the Banco Chinchorro atoll

Maya heritage

Chacchoben, the Maya site in the jungle

Chacchoben, in the Lakes Region, preserves the Gran Basamento platform and its temples in the jungle. It's the closest site to Mahahual; Kohunlich and Dzibanché are a little over an hour away.

Pyramid at the Chacchoben archaeological site
Aerial view of the pier and the boardwalk in Mahahual
Discover the South

Discover the South

Find experiences, places to stay, local food, transportation and everything else you need to plan your trip through the southern Mexican Caribbean.

Explore the South

Mahahual gallery

Hammocks on the beach in Mahahual
Aerial view of the town of Mahahual and its reef
Person floating over shallow turquoise water
Mahahual's lighthouse beside the boardwalk
Aerial view of a water park with slides and a pyramid in the Mahahual jungle
Loungers and palapas on the sand in Mahahual
Couple paddleboarding off Mahahual
Boats off the Mahahual coast

More about Mahahual

Aerial view of Laguna Bacalar in the southern Mexican Caribbean

June 16, 2026

Discover the Magic of the Southern Mexican Caribbean

Bacalar, Chetumal and Mahahual: a guide to the southern Mexican Caribbean, from the Lagoon of Seven Colors to the Mesoamerican Reef and Banco Chinchorro.

Read the article
Mahahual, Grand Costa Maya

September 29, 2024

10 Things to Do in Mahahual

Discover 10 things to do in Mahahual: stroll the malecón, snorkel the Mesoamerican Reef, dive Banco Chinchorro, spot birds in the mangroves and more.

Read the article
Chacchoben

September 29, 2024

Archaeological Sites Near Mahahual

Discover the archaeological sites near Mahahual: Chacchoben, Dzibanché, Kohunlich, Oxtankah and Kinichná, Maya cities a day trip from the Costa Maya.

Read the article

Mahahual

81°F (27°C)Cloudy
72%7 mph (11 km/h)
Climate month by month
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