On our cruise on the MSC Meravigia, the only port we got to visit was Costa Maya. This was our first time going to Costa Maya and I didn't want to book an excursion with transportation going to a beach due to the fact that I was traveling alone with my 1 and 2 year old daughters plus my 9 year old son. Before my daughters were born, I used to take my son on any and every excursion with me, but now having 3 kiddos with two of them being so young, I had to modify things just a bit.
I did a search for Costa Maya in a Facebook group I'm a part of that focuses on cruises and saw a lot of people recommending the Aviarius (Bird Aviary), especially with children.
The port of Costa Maya has so much to do! You honestly don't need to book an excursion and leave the port area if you don't want to. This was a big draw for me as it meant no dealing with transportation and being walking distance from the ship.
Getting to the Aviarius is pretty simple if you follow the path that is in front of the stores. If you stay on this path, you'll eventually end up at the Aviarius.
If you want to take a look at the map, the Aviarius is number 17.
You'll know you arrived as you'll find flamingos outside the entrance with of course a huge "Aviarius" sign.
I did not book a ticket via the excursions department ahead of time, and instead purchased our tickets in person at the Aviarius. The entrance fee is $14 per adult and $12 per child. There is no discount for babies or toddlers, every child regardless of age will cost $12.
They do accept credit cards (not American Express) for the entrance fee. Any items you may wish to buy from the gift shop though must be purchased in cash.
Once you pay your entrance fee, you'll receive a wristband and then you're able to go explore the Aviarius on your own. Just beyond the lobby, you'll find a picture perfect spot with beautiful (fake) flowers.
Please note that the Aviarius is not stroller or wheelchair/scooter friendly. You need to go up a few steps to get into the lobby and then have to go up a tall wooden staircase. You'll use the same stairs to go into and exit the Aviarius.
I did have a stroller with me but left it outside the entrance stairs. Something to think about if you'll have a stroller with you.
Once you get to the top of the stairs, you'll then walk onto a suspended rope bridge. The entire Aviarius circles above part of the port of Costa Maya!
If you're scared of heights and/or moving bridges, this may not be the right experience for you.
When entering or exiting some exhibit huts, you'll have to push open net doors.
Each exhibit features infographics so you know what kind of birds you're looking at and you can even learn some facts about them!
If I had known, I would have made my 9 year old read each one and then write up a little report about his experience since I pulled him out of school for this cruise. I'm sure he would have loved me for it! 🤣
You'll walk from exhibit hut to exhibit hut, each with different birds. Some huts only have one species while others have multiple.
A word of caution, some of the birds are rather calm and don't move very much. Meanwhile, others are flying from branch to branch and have no care in the world that a human is standing there. Quite a few yellow birds flew really close to us and slightly scared my 1 year old... Look at that face! 😅 She didn't cry, but looked very concerned and hugged me tight. If you have someone with you that may be terrified by wild birds being so close, I wouldn't recommend taking them along with you.
When you get closer to the end of your adventure, you'll walk over the Dolphin Encounter excursion area. This was a complete surprise to us and we were excited to be able to see dolphins in additional to beautiful birds.
You also have great views of the pools around the port area and the cruise pier with the cruise ships docked.
There's one gazebo just beyond the Dolphin Encounter that is waterfront with the best views of the cruise ships. Here you'll find angel wings crafted out of wood. Naturally, we had to take a picture in front of them!
After the angel wing gazebo that's only one exhibit left (orange parrots) before you find yourself at the top of the staircase. Once down the staircase, you'll go around the corner where you'll find beautiful large parrots that you can feed and take pictures with (if someone is there to assist). We first visited in December 2022 and went back in August 2023 and unfortunately neither time we were able to hold or feed these birds as that attraction was closed.
As I mentioned above, if you're scared of heights, stay clear! If you look at the picture below, you can see that the bridges and huts are quite high... I would say 20-30 feet above ground.
I highly recommend doing this excursion at least once if you have an interest in seeing beautiful bird and/or have children. Mine were so fascinated by the beautiful vibrant colored birds and the fact that they were so close to them. My son kept hoping that one would jump on his finger and he would get to hold one (there are do not touch signs everywhere). We couldn't help but have smiles on our faces the entire time we were there. Any time my girls see a picture from our visit, they ask when we can go back!
It's not very crowded and if you take your time, you're able to experience each exhibit alone with your own party. The whole experience took us 40 minutes moving at a very leisurely pace, taking lots of pictures and videos. I would say we hung out at the waterfront gazebo for a good 10 minutes.
It's definitely something to experience at least once in your life, and the views of the water and surrounding area are absolutely breathtaking!