Tulum with a two year old?

[chloecruise]

We have a stop in Cozumel and DH and I would love to do the Tulum excursion. It is 6 hrs and has a ferry ride. We will have our two year old DS with us. Has anyone done this excursion? Would it be suitable for a 2 yr old?

 

Thanks!

[092306]

We did Tulum pre-baby and though it's something to see, I wouldn't do it with our 2 yr old now. It was extremely hot and lots of bugs. The tour guide was incredibly informative which was great, but also meant a whole lot of standing around at each ruin. The ruins are roped off so if your son was out of the stroller he would probably be tempted to try to climb on them, at least our son would and that would mean a lot of chasing him around. The only thing that would make me say maybe go ahead and do it would be the beach. There's a beautiful beach and the tour allows time at the end to spend at the beach. From what I remember on our tour the youngest kids there were about 8-10 yr olds.

[Nebr.cruiser]

I agree with the first poster--probably not the best choice with a 2-year-old. It's an amazing site, but there is a lot of traveling to get there, bus and ferry, it's usually really (really!) hot and small children are not interested in ruins. I think it will be a long, hard day on both you and your child.

 

Plus the ferry ride can be rather hairy. I seldom get sea-sick, but I did on that ferry, both ways, and it didn't seem especially rough. (This was years ago though, so maybe the ferries now are more stable.)

[Sky616]

A long day even for adults it is. Beautiful to see but I would not recommend it.

[cruzingdesi]

A long day even for adults it is. Beautiful to see but I would not recommend it.

 

Sorry nothing useful to add but!!

 

Sky616 - Love that you had the Yoda thing going on the first line :)

[2CuteKiddies]

Also, if this one is a tour where kids under 3 are free, they won't get their own seat. They'll have to ride on your lap the whole time on the bus. When our daughter was 2, we wanted buy her a seat for a city tour, but they wouldn't let us (this was Carnival). If she was under 3, she wouldn't get a seat.

[notentirelynormal]

We also did the trip many years ago. We had to take the tender off the ship, then the ship sailed to Cozumel. We took a bus to the ruins. Yes - it was very very hot. It was really interesting to ME but to a kid - it's just a pile of rocks and stones. The snorkeling was probably one of the most memorable of all our cruises but I'm not sure a 2 YO will want to swim where so many fish will come up to them.

 

Funny story to add: my DH was in charge of what time to get back on the bus since I had downed 3 beers in short succession (it was hot people!) and he had just got a new underwater watch. Well, we go snorkeling and get out and the area is empty. I tell my husband, "umm, where is everyone? What time were we supposed to be back on the bus?". He says we are supposed to head back at 2:30 so you have 5 minutes to go to the bathroom and head back.

 

Wellll...... 2:30 was the time the buses were pulling out. We get to the parking lot and it is empty. The 8 buses from Princess were gone. Thankfully they had left a guide for us. So, at our own expense he hired a taxi to take us back to the port. It was probably 20 minutes into the kamakazi ride that I realized the speedometer didn't work. Probably best that way. We get to the ferry pick up area and he says something quickly in Spanish and disappears. We don't know what he said or where he went so we get in line to where we think we are supposed to be. He comes back and takes us over to the hydrofoil. Puts us on and off he goes.

 

Okay we sort of feel better. About 3/4 of the way back we see the ferry with the other Princess travelers. We pass them. We're feeling good about that. Then we go to a different pier. We saw our ship, but we passed it. So we hop off the ferry and grab a taxi and ask him to take us to the other pier. He gives us a look like we are idiots.... which by the way we were.... pulls out and drives half a mile down the road and lets us out at our ship.

 

We still laugh about it today.

[ducklite]

The ferry ride is rough. Then there is an hour or so motor coach ride. You'll arrive at Tulum and it is very hot with a lot of walking and standing and some uneven terrain that a stroller won't manage well. There is virtually no shade. You spend about four hours there, then get back on the motor coach. We were given a boxed lunch of a tin of tuna, some Miracle Whip, crackers, and packaged cookies plus a juice box if I recall. We ate on the bus as we drove back to the port. There was a quick stop at a tacky tourist gift shop for restrooms.

 

There were a lot of bugs and did I mention it was hot?

 

It was absolutely not a trip that would be appropriate for a two year old.

[Sky616]

Sorry nothing useful to add but!!

 

Sky616 - Love that you had the Yoda thing going on the first line :)

The OP asked if it was suitable for a 2 year old. I told them that it was a long day for an adult so obviously I wouldn't think it would be for a 2 year old. Have you been to Tulum from Cozumel? If so share your expertise please, we are dying to hear it.

[beachchick]

The OP asked if it was suitable for a 2 year old. I told them that it was a long day for an adult so obviously I wouldn't think it would be for a 2 year old. Have you been to Tulum from Cozumel? If so share your expertise please, we are dying to hear it.

 

I may be off the mark, but I read it as cruzingdesi saying "I, cruzingdesi, have nothing useful to add, but wanted to tell Sky616 that I enjoyed the phrasing of the his/her first sentence." Not, "Sorry you, Sky616, had nothing useful to add."

 

beachchick

[Sky616]

I may be off the mark, but I read it as cruzingdesi saying "I, cruzingdesi, have nothing useful to add, but wanted to tell Sky616 that I enjoyed the phrasing of the his/her first sentence." Not, "Sorry you, Sky616, had nothing useful to add."

 

beachchick

I think you are correct after reading it for the 2nd time. Sorry, still don't get the Yoda thing though.

[Nebr.cruiser]

I think you are correct after reading it for the 2nd time. Sorry, still don't get the Yoda thing though.

 

It's the way your first sentence was phrased: "A long day even for adults it is"--that's the way Yoda structured sentences, with the verb at the end, instead of the normal way, "It is a long day even for adults".

 

Not that it matters. It's still a long day, either way!

[Sky616]

It's the way your first sentence was phrased: "A long day even for adults it is"--that's the way Yoda structured sentences, with the verb at the end, instead of the normal way, "It is a long day even for adults".

 

Not that it matters. It's still a long day, either way!

Yoda from Star Wars I presume? If so I was never into Star Wars. Whatever Op it is a long day but beautiful nonetheless. Maybe when your little one is a little older.

[bus man]

I agree with the other posters. Tulum is well worth a visit, for an adult. For a 2 year old? No. It's a long, hot day, and by the time it's over, you'll remember nothing but how epically fussy your son was.

 

This might be an occasion for DH to go off on his own and take the Tulum tour by himself -- with the promise to take lots of pictures -- while you and DS do something more toddler-speed. (Tell DH to wear a hat, apply sunscreen and insect repellant, and bring bottled water. He'll thank you later.)

[bus man]

Sorry nothing useful to add but!!

 

Sky616 - Love that you had the Yoda thing going on the first line :)

 

Yoda from Star Wars I presume? If so I was never into Star Wars. Whatever Op it is a long day but beautiful nonetheless. Maybe when your little one is a little older.

 

Sky616, Cruzingdesi was giving you a lighthearted compliment. It's nothing to get in a snit about. When I first read what you had originally written, I thought of Yoda as well, though now we know that it was unintentional on your part. No offense is intended.

[newbiecruiser09]

We considered doing Tulum on our Cozumel stop with our 9 & 15 yr olds but after reading some threads about how 1) hot 2) long 3) potentially nauseating 4)HOT it was we decided to forgo it on a cruise stop. (some recommended it when on a land based vacation and not pressed for time). I was concerned that our DD (9) may be too bored and frustrated but the tender, then ferry, then bus that she would not really be interested in learning about the ruins (which I don't think a 2 yr old would tolerate at all).

 

I would forgo it for a more relaxing, toddler friendly excursion.

[cruzinlisa]

We did Tulum pre-baby and though it's something to see, I wouldn't do it with our 2 yr old now. It was extremely hot and lots of bugs. The tour guide was incredibly informative which was great, but also meant a whole lot of standing around at each ruin. The ruins are roped off so if your son was out of the stroller he would probably be tempted to try to climb on them, at least our son would and that would mean a lot of chasing him around. The only thing that would make me say maybe go ahead and do it would be the beach. There's a beautiful beach and the tour allows time at the end to spend at the beach. From what I remember on our tour the youngest kids there were about 8-10 yr olds.

 

My thoughts exactly. Plus the ferry ride to/from the mainland is an event of its own. DH and I were both sick. I was pregnant so that may have had something to do with it, but DH got sick too.

[Delkee]

We did Tulum with our 19 month old last fall...and I DONT recommend it with a little one. It was so hot WE could barly stand it. Our DS was not a happy camper and even though we thought taking the stroller would be a good thing, it turned out being terrible. It made DS extra hot sitting. We went down to the beach to let DS cool off in the water but the waves were pretty large and the water was very sandy. So the little bit we could let DS in the water made him have sand all over his body and when we tried to get him dressed after we had a hard time getting the sand off. We made sure DS drank lots but he still ended up throwing up on the way home (I think the heat was just too much). That being said Tulum is a beautiful spot to visit and I do think its worth seeing...its just not that toddler friendly.

[Athankfulheart]

Im with the "dont do it" crowd. We flew to Cancun with our 3 month old in 2006 and decided to spend one day at Tulum. I don't remember how long the bus ride was, but it was pleasant for all of us. The ruins were SO HOT ( 120 degrees/) and a million percent humidity. I had the little guy in a sling and he was miserable from the heat. I walked for a while and then bid farewell to my hubby and bolted for the air conditioned bus, where we could still enjoy the sights and were much happier :) Id rather be frozen than sweltering and apparently Nathan takes after his mama. The next day we spent at Xcaret. Now THAT was a great choice and a great day!