Mayan Excurisions

[tuxjamie]

Is there any mayan excurision better than another? And is it worth the money. It seems like you will spend more time on the bus than actually at the ruins. Any one have any ideas.

[CowPrincess]

Is there any mayan excurision better than another? And is it worth the money. It seems like you will spend more time on the bus than actually at the ruins. Any one have any ideas.

 

We did the Chacchoben ruins with The Native Choice. It was about 50 mins drive or so in the air-conditioned, beautifully maintained van. We chose this tour because The Native Choice gets such outstanding reviews AND because we wanted to go to ruins that were close-ish to port.

 

Was it worth it? Yes, for us definitely. My DH (not someone you'd ever think would be into viewing ruins) specifically requested that we do a ruins tour on our next cruise, because the Chacchoben tour was so good.

[lynnebr]

We also did the Chachobben tour with Native Choice and really enjoyed it. For comparison, on this same cruise (NCL Spirit Dec 2010) we did a ship-sponsored ruins tour in Belize (Altun Ha). Although the kids enjoyed the actual ruins themselves a bit more at Altun Ha - because you could climb to the top of some of them - the overall experience with Native Choice in Costa Maya was considerably better according to all 8 in our group, due to the interaction from the guides. We had David from Native Choice, and he kept everyone entertained with very interesting stories about ancient Mayan culture, religion and daily life, as well as information about present day Costa Maya, the people, the land, etc. The bus ride went by relatively quickly and the time on the bus vs. time at the site didn't seem as imbalanced as I had thought it might be just based on the tour description.

 

It was a warm day but the pace of the tour at the ruins was slow enough to accomodate the youngest (6) and oldest (73) in our group. they provided bottled water on the bus, which I would recommend that your carry with you on the site if it is a warm day. I didn't carry mine and had to 'borrow' my husband's several times. David would stop at each general area and explain the architecture and purpose of the buildings and plazas and the surrounding areas, then give us plenty of free time to explore, take picutres, etc., before moving on.

 

Our guide in Belize was in comparison very bland and uninteresting, which brought down the overall experience and made the Native Choice tour stand out as a memorable and high quality.

 

We took insect repellant and I wore close toed shoes, based on reading previous posts, but we didn't really need either. The paths are mainly flat and gravel or dirt, although there is one place where you do have to climb several large stone steps. We didn't use the bug spray at all (compared to Roatan where we definitely needed it), and I would have been more comfortable in my walking sandals rather than my sneakers. Overall it was an enjoyable day and we were back with a couple of hours to spare.

[tuxjamie]

Thank you so much for your comments. We have decided to go with Native Choice and do the Chacchoben ruins in Costa Maya.

[San Carlos lady]

Little off the subject--but which tour company in Belize were you not as happy with?

[pitterpattershoppe]

I'll bump this, as I'm collecting info too.

 

-pitterpattershoppe

 

Little off the subject--but which tour company in Belize were you not as happy with?