It was interesting trying to re-open this year. At times it felt like we were embarking on a whole new journey; other times it felt like we were walking straight into the fires of hell. We quickly learned that a lot of the local powers that be certainly looked at our opening as an unwelcome challenge. One they had to make as difficult as possible. I’m fond of saying a lot of things in Mexico don’t make sense, and our reopening proved that some things never change.
As many of you may know, the port is owned by a private family who allegedly owns not only the port itself, but all the land surrounding the port. Just recently, a tourist development company named Holística Destinations, became port partners with this powerful family. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd is a 50 percent partner in Holística Destinations. If you were able to follow all that, RCI has a financial interest in the success of the port of Costa Maya.
Being a dumb Gringa, I thought this would be good news for all the businesses in town. I figured the port, Holistica, and RCI, would work together to assure all cruise passengers would have a stress free experience in Costa Maya. After all, the cruise is one thing but venturing into foreign lands and experiencing local cuisine, people, and customs is also one of the big draws of a cruise vacation. Obviously we were thinking like Americans. That’s what we are so no big surprise there.
However, we are Americans running a business in Mexico. BIG DIFFERENCE. We were in communication with the local management of the area, trying to rent a location inside the port to meet our guests. We thought it would be a win-win; the port makes rent money off us, our guests spend less time walking. With the “new” port ownership, we felt maybe we had a chance. Only they couldn’t rent to us because they mistakingly believe we are selling tours. Selling tours is what the port does, so naturally we are their competition. Our next option was to ask if we could rent some land just outside the port where we could put up an umbrella and get our guests into taxis? Nope. Same reason. You do understand we aren’t selling anything, that the sale was made a long time ago and we are just facilitating our guests transportation? Nope. We were selling tours and we were not welcome.
We had spent a lot of time trying to buy or rent space outside the port, but we were constantly turned down. At one point it looked like our guests would need to walk about a mile before we could find an available area to greet them. Everything closer to the port was allegedly owned by the port. Seriously, we only needed a small space for maybe two hours a day. But we were selling tours. Nobody was interested in renting to us. Then we got the idea of working with the taxi syndicate. We are their biggest clients and have given our business (forcibly) to them for years.
Members of the syndicate advised us that even they were trying to negotiate space inside the port.
“But you service port customers . They should WANT you there!”
“We pay a lot of money for the privilege of servicing their guests”. Well, okay then.
The port generously rented space in the parking lot behind all the shops for the taxis. Since all the exits, (yes, even the fire exits), have been padlocked and the keys have been misplaced, the taxis are not easy to find. One must walk the entire length of fantasy land, ignore the people insisting nobody is allowed to leave the port area, pass two Diamonds International, (or is it three?), cut through the gelato store, jump over four dogs and dodge a whole slew of hanging baskets. And then ignore all the people who are actually trying to sell tours, including the taxi drivers. I’m not sure why these vendors are not considered competition for the port? MCB is the only entity not selling tours. Yet we are the evil competitors stealing all the customers.
This year, the syndicate was actually willing to work with us to greet and then load our guests into their taxis at their location in the parking lot. There was one caveat: we had to try to sell tours to a particular restaurant in town that the port and syndicate had kick back deals with. And we had to be there all day, not just to greet our guests. Hmmmmm. Tough decision there.
The night before we opened the head of the taxi syndicate gave us a call. Well, gave Julie a call as she is our manager and, as a local, she has a special talent for dealing with the locals. They weren’t calling to offer space for our guests. They were calling because they wanted a raise. At the end of the day, transportation is our biggest expense by far. We are their biggest clients.
“You want to charge us even more? Sometimes you don’t even show up when we call! We have to use our own vehicles to get guests back to the port.”. Only Julie has the moxie and talent. “Sometimes your drivers don’t even turn their AC on for our guests! Sometimes they pull up honking their horn and yelling and making a scary scene for our guests. And you think we should pay you more money? For what?”.
Blah, blah, blah. Yada yada, yada. And so it went for nearly an hour. The tough part was we couldn’t even pull our business from them. It is written in blood somewhere that all Gringos with beach clubs located 6.5 kilometers south of the town of Mahahual, must use the syndicated taxi service for transportation. When the port tired of the conversation, they simply said “Pay us more or we will not transport your guests.” They would rather make no money than be paid an already outrageous amount of money. They wanted more. And this was the night before opening day.
We opened on time although our guests now need to walk a little further than in the past. Our fifty or so guests a day are still the biggest competition for the multi million dollar port. Which now is also owned by Holística and RCI. The taxis still service our guests, more or less. Cruise passengers are still forced to walk the entire length of the port shopping area to meet up with us and their transportation. Every year there is hope. Every year we are reminded that nothing makes sense in Mexico.
I appreciate all of your efforts on behalf of the guests. I also appreciate the entire team at Maya Chan. It’s a shame how discriminatory and corrupt the Mexican government is towards American business owners. Stay strong Jane. We love you all. We are on several cruises this year non of which are visiting Costa Maya, sadly . But maybe next year.
Thank you for your story.
Thanks Kandyce! It has been a journey!
We love you guys and what you offer. We don’t mind the walk as long as those wonderful tacos are waiting for us at the end. Thanks for being such a welcoming vacation place. And save some tacos for us!
Thank you so much Scott and Elizabeth! We keep trying to shorten the walk, but its Mexico!
We will continue to walk through the Path of Hades (which has gotten large in the years) to get to your humble abode. We’ve been coming since 2013 season, and will continue until we can’t cruise anymore. ~ see you soon
Aw, Thank you so much, Michael! And thank you for your comments on FB! We keep on keeping on, but some days are just tough.
I’m fat, out of shape, and have a bad knee and a worse knee, but I’ll still make the walk to see your smiling faces, taste your excellent drinks and food, get an amazing massage, and love on your doggos and kitties!
And if I’m having a particularly bad knee day, I’ll even pay the $4 for the taxi inside the port to drive me down the street to meet you. They’re not stopping this fat gringa from getting her MCB fix!
You are our very favorite red-head, Debbie! Thank you so much.
When we first went to Maya Chan, we were able to get a taxi in the port behind the shops. They often made you wait a while, but they did finally transport us. Then, we had to make the trek out of the port and up the street near the Harley store. It was always a welcome site to see Julie greet us.
Can we now only have to endure the port/mall area and grab a taxi behind the shops?
As a previous comment said, thank you Jane – -we appreciate all you do for your guests. We are trying to schedule visit #7!!
We ask that our guests do not take a taxi from inside the port. We cannot control the rate and we cannot guarantee you will arrive at MCB.
When Mark and I visit on a cruise ship, we stay to the right of the greeting area at the end of the pier. This is where guests go to meet up with their shore excursions. They try to stop us, but we tell them we are going to rent a golf cart. The port gets a cut of the golf cart rentals so they are more than happy to let us pass. At Christmas, I actually brought a small gift all wrapped up with a bow that surprised the guy so much he was happy to let us pass. Good luck and remember, you didn’t get any of this from me.