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Best Mayan ruins tour on Norwegian's western caribbean cruise


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Hi

We're going on the Norwegian Getaway this August to the Western Caribbean - Costa Maya, Belize, Honduras and Cozumel. There are several Mayan ruins tours offered at various ports and I was wondering which was the best one to go and see and whether it was better to take an official excursion or make my own way by taxi etc.

 

 

Thanks

Mitch

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Chichen Itza is a flight from Cozumel for a day trip so that's why its such an expensive excursion. There are other excursions offered from Cozumel, Costa Maya and Belize and I was wondering which of these is the best option - Tulum, Nim Li Punit, Kohunlich and Chacchoben.

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Chichen Itza is a flight from Cozumel for a day trip so that's why its such an expensive excursion. There are other excursions offered from Cozumel, Costa Maya and Belize and I was wondering which of these is the best option - Tulum, Nim Li Punit, Kohunlich and Chacchoben.

 

Just back from this exact cruise. We went to Chacchoben because this site looks like it has the largest actual ruins that people can still climb around on. Even so, you can only climb on some of them. Great tour. You can see monkeys in the trees at times as well as leaf cutter ants hard at work. Please don't step on them.

 

We also took the prop plane to Chichen Itza. You MUST do this even if only a couple of you go. There are only 13 seats available and our tour was sold out. Super well organized and it is the only way to go. You will arrive earlier than 90% of the other tour groups when the heat is less sweltering and there are significantly fewer crowds. On our way in down the walking path, only a few others. On our way out, the path was 100% packed with people coming in. Our guide was fantastic.

 

The only way to get there from Cozumel is by plane or at least ferry for a portion of it as you have to cross the water and go pretty far inland. Total travel time via plane is less than one hour including taxi to and from port and airport. Many people take a bus from Cancun to Chichen Itza. Seven hours one way.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We did Lamanai and Chacchoben and enjoyed them both. We used a private company for both with no issues getting back in time. We used Native Choice in Costa Maya and I can’t recall the company in Belize.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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We've done Altun Ha from Belize City. I went on the bus excursion and my husband did the bicycle excursion and we actually met up there. That was several years ago, and from photos I've seen, it looks like more of the site has been excavated since we were there. It was a nice excursion, and we were able to drive thru and see some of the countryside.

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  • 2 weeks later...
The San Gervasio Mayan ruins in Cozumel are a short cab ride from pier

 

 

I agree! It was a short drive from the pier to the San Gervasio Mayan Ruins. Even though there are no pyramids to climb...I found this site more interesting & educational than Chichen Itza.

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I was originally going to book an independent excursion to Coba from Cozumel. However, in doing some more research and seeking additional input, I think I may now be hitting ruins in Belize City (Xunantunich, which had a population at it's peak of 200K, about 2/3 of ALL OF BELIZE'S present day population). Chichen Itza is by some considered the New York City of the Mayan world, that said, it's 3 hours out, so unless your content with rushing around the whole site in an hour? Better to save your money. I've bemoaned in other threads the fact that cruise lines rarely if ever offer routes that allow one to stop at Progreso (which has best access to cenotes, several biosphere reserves, gorgeous towns like Merida and Izamal, and some of Mexico's most acclaimed ruin sites, like Chichen Itza and Uxmal and dozens of others. It's a hub of sorts.

 

However, on that, I plan to just take matters into my own hands. We have a family cruise planned this November that hits Grand Cayman, Roatan (Honduras), Belize City and Cozumel, but at some point in the next several years, I plan to simply spend around 4-5 days with the lovely city of Merida, capital of the Yucatan region as my base, and stay in an AirBNB. Ultimately, everyone can make their own decisions, but Chichen Itza looks to me like a place I'd want to stay a minimum of 3 hours at. So, I'd rather get a feel for some of the closer to the coast ruins that actually allow time and don't take up the whole day (on a previous trip, we quite enjoyed the ruins of Tulum), and go to the most famous inland ones later. That's if I ever get over my obsession/admitted snobbery with DF (Mexico City) though. Even though I just went in March, it is certainly the most vibrant, exciting cultured, varied offering city I've seen in Latin America (and top 5 in world), and I'd probably choose going back there over hitting a number of other places for the first time. Anyways, I know that's longer than you probably wanted but I digress.

 

Short version? Tulum (not that big but a gorgeous setting), Chacchoben (Costa Maya), and Xunantunich (Belize City area ruins in general), would be my top picks for a cruise like this. Cheers! : )

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