Perfect Day Mexico is not coming - for now
Royal Caribbean had planned a $600 million-plus Perfect Day park at Mahahual, sized for 21,000 visitors a day in a village of about 3,000 people, using the existing Costa Maya pier. In May 2026 Mexico's environment ministry, Semarnat, said it would not approve the project, citing mangroves, coral reef, the aquifer and endangered species. Its secretary said publicly that the company was looking to withdraw.
So older cruise announcements promising a 2027 opening are out of date. For the foreseeable future a Costa Maya call means the port village, Mahahual or an inland tour.
Four berths, one village
The pier has four berths and can take Oasis-class ships, which puts 15,000-18,000 passengers a day into a place built for a fraction of that. Shuttles and taxis into Mahahual, 3-4 km away, run about $5 a person and take 5-10 minutes. Chacchoben is roughly an hour each way by road, which makes it the practical inland choice on a short call - Bacalar takes considerably longer.
Sources: criteriohidalgo.com, ruptura360.mx, cruisemapper.com