Mayan Ruins Belize or Cozumel?

[drscooby74]

Should we do a Ruins tour at Belize or Cozumel? I would like at least 1 hr to shop and look around and not be "right on time" to catch the last tender.

Please provide info like tour company - name of the ruins - what time you arrived back - ect.... Thank you

[crewsweeper]

Belize is the better place. Coz has a very small not to significant ruin about 45 minutes from the 2 southern piers.

 

In Belize you can do a ship excursion to Tunannuich (ms?) which takes almost all day but has great views and you can climb up to the top of the highest temple. there are local vendors that do this tour but given the distance and time, it's better to use the ship excursion.

 

Or you can do either ship tour or local vendor to AltunHa. There are several which usually include either a city tour or a river run. This is a nice site, in the jungle area. The tours to Altun Ha usually run around 4-5 hours. So easily doable.

 

The Lamanai ruins in northern Belize are a ways away and require a boat trip up a river. These are impressive ruins but unless you are confident in dealing with local vendors and running a risk on getting back in time, this isn't a really recommended site for cruisers.

[vtoria98]

When in Belize and Cozumel in Feb we did ruins tours in both.

 

1. Belize-Lamanai. This was a fantastic tour but we had about 15 minutes to shop and this was actually before the tour we walked through the shopping area to get to the bus and ducked in a store real quick. This tour was litterally ALL DAY.

 

2. Cozumel- Tulum. Awesome tour and we did have time to shop both at the ruins and then we had almost an hour at the port after the tour. But again an all day thing.

 

If you do either of these tours I would use the cruise lines as they are long and you run a risk of making it back to the ship late.

[Warmer Climes]

We did the ship excursion to Lamanai- it was incredible. I absolute would not book this with a private tour company because it's a full day. Cozumel- my 20ish sons did the ship excursion to Tulum and hated it. They said their guide was motivated only to steer them into certain gift shops and didn't say more than a few words about the ruins. Are you going to Costa Maya? If so I highly recommend The Native Choice. They are really a high quality tour operator to several ruins sites, and any of these wod give you time at the port to shop before you need to be back on the ship.

[mellygo]

Belize is the better place. Coz has a very small not to significant ruin about 45 minutes from the 2 southern piers.

 

In Belize you can do a ship excursion to Tunannuich (ms?) which takes almost all day but has great views and you can climb up to the top of the highest temple. there are local vendors that do this tour but given the distance and time, it's better to use the ship excursion.

 

Or you can do either ship tour or local vendor to AltunHa. There are several which usually include either a city tour or a river run. This is a nice site, in the jungle area. The tours to Altun Ha usually run around 4-5 hours. So easily doable.

 

The Lamanai ruins in northern Belize are a ways away and require a boat trip up a river. These are impressive ruins but unless you are confident in dealing with local vendors and running a risk on getting back in time, this isn't a really recommended site for cruisers.

DH and I took the ship's tour to Lamanai, and it was really a terrific day! We had a little time to shop when we got back to the port - but not much. Enjoyed these ruins more than Tulum!!

[JimAOk1945]

We have done both the Belize Lamanai tour and Cozumel Tulum Express tour.

 

I highly recommend both, but book your excursions through your cruiseline. They are all day tours.

 

You might like to see the musical slideshows my wife made from her pictures. Each slideshow will play as soon as the page opens, but you can also go through the pictures by clicking on the thumbnails one at a time.

[bcs819]

Belize. It has been several years so I don't remember the times but I will say do NOT do the tour with the river part. It was miserable and smelly, the ruins however, were amazing. We have been all over and the advantage to Belize ruins is that they are newly discovered (within the last hundred years or so) and you can climb and walk on them. Tulum is so worn you can't do much there.

[Starlaker]

We just returned from our cruise and we did the River Wallace and Altun Ha Princess tour. It was great and very well organized. We got on the river boat at the cruise terminal (about 20 people per boat) and cruised up the river to Altun Ha. We saw manatees, monkeys, caymen, termite nests, bats, and lots of birds. We then stopped at a village and had a lunch of chicken, beans and rice. From there we took a short bus ride to the ruins. Our teenage granddaughters were with us and they loved climbing the ruins. There are two there that you are allowed to climb. All in all it was a very impressive site. We then took the bus back to the pier. I would definitely recommend this tour. We thoroughly enjoyed it. We generally book private tours, but felt more comfortable with a ship's tour here as it is an all day tour and we wanted to be sure to make it back in time.

[drscooby74]

Thanks for all the reply's everyone...

 

My friend REALLY wants to be able to climb the ruins, can you tell me if you were able to climb them or not as well please

[JimAOk1945]

We climbed the ruins at Uxmal, Lamanai and Kohunlich.

[Starlaker]

We were able to climb the ruins at Altun Ha.

[ibcnusoon]

We took a ship's tour of Xantunich mayan ruins (hand-crank ferry, 2 hour bus ride, on the border of Guatamala). I am so glad we did the ruins in Belize and not Cozumel. The ruins in Belize have been recently discovered (100s of years ago) and you are able to climb, walk and sit all over them ... unlike Cozumel where you can just see them. Rather do a beach day in Cozumel and ruins in Belize.

[pdmlynek]

Thanks for all the reply's everyone...

 

My friend REALLY wants to be able to climb the ruins, can you tell me if you were able to climb them or not as well please

 

You want Belize, then. Any of the tours that are typically offered (Altun Ha, Xunantunich, and Lamanai) have plenty of pyramids to climb. Xunantunich and Lamanai have taller pyramids than Altun Ha, and both offer great views.

 

The Mayan site where most cruisers head out from Cozumel is Tulum. Tulum is the second most popular archeological site in Mexico, is beautiful, is relatively small, and thus is overcrowded. Despite the beauty, my kids hated Tulum, because they are used to climbing various Mayan pyramids, and in Tulum they had to be confined to a crushed stone pathway that meandered between Mayan temples surrounded by manicured lawns. Tulum is a victim of its our success, and I think it does make sense that climbing is forbidden in Tulum.

 

But there are sites in Mexico where you can climb pyramids, such as Coba, and Kohunlich. As JimAOk1945 wrote, I too climbed pyramids in Uxmal, but I think that other posters on this forum wrote that the Pyramid of the Magician is now off limits.

 

And omit any Mayan sites on Cozumel Island itself -- there are about 32 sites on the Island, but none are worth your time.