Whats the best Mayan Ruin excursion

[valandemmy]

First the reason this is not posted on the specific port boards are because there are so many ports that go to different ruins. :D

 

We are a family of 4 two adults and two children 15 and 8. I have looked at Lamananai, Chacchaben, Tulum, Altun Ha and Kohunlich for our upcoming cruise we will be stopping at: Belize, Roatan, Costa Maya, Cozumel...

 

We have a beach day planned while in Costa Maya, so the other three would be great places to go explore...What are your thoughts???

[MeHeartCruising]

First the reason this is not posted on the specific port boards are because there are so many ports that go to different ruins. :D

 

We are a family of 4 two adults and two children 15 and 8. I have looked at Lamananai, Chacchaben, Tulum, Altun Ha and Kohunlich for our upcoming cruise we will be stopping at: Belize, Roatan, Costa Maya, Cozumel...

 

We have a beach day planned while in Costa Maya, so the other three would be great places to go explore...What are your thoughts???

 

I think that I have been to all of these... all using cruise line excursions. Honestly, I have enjoyed every Mayan sites that I have visited. They each offered something different, but they all offer roughly the same enjoyable experience.

 

I suppose I like the ones that include a river ride as part of it as that was a fun, scenic experience. I also would read up on which ones allow you actually climb to the top of a temple, if that's something you might like to do. I recall that a couple of them did and a couple of them did not. But I don't recall which were which. I do know that Tulum did not allow temple climbs.

 

I would also compare the length of total time for each and see if you can track down how much of that is spent on a bus and see how that sits with you. I don't think I spent more than 2 hours on the ground at any of the sites using excursions. But generally, I felt like that was enough time to see/do what I wanted to do.

 

So, I know I haven't helped you narrow down the options, but it might have helped identify a few things for you to consider in making your decision.

[janette34]

In Belize we went to Xunantunich, we enjoyed it very much. You could climb one of the ruins and there was lots of howler monkeys in the trees. Tulum in Mexico has a beautiful beach and just wonderful views being on the coast. We also visited the ruins on Cozumel years ago, but the don't compare to Tulum or Belize. In Roatan we did a private tour with Bodden tours, highly recommend the best of Roatan tour.

[luddite]

Lamanai or Tulum.

Tulum is the only ruin at the ocean so it is singular. The Lamanai trip is well done.

 

Those would be my recommendations.

[Agentwho]

We are a family of 4 two adults and two children 15 and 8. I have looked at Lamananai, Chacchaben, Tulum, Altun Ha and Kohunlich for our upcoming cruise we will be stopping at: Belize, Roatan, Costa Maya, Cozumel...

 

 

I've been researching this recently getting ready for my upcoming cruise and decided to visit Altun Ha mostly because of travel time. I understand it a smaller site but reviews are still pretty good. I really like the fact that it is only a 4 hour excursion and will give me some time to check out a couple of things in Belize City afterword.

 

With that said Lamananai does sound like a great one to visit with size vistas and river safari. If I make it that way again I'm sure it is the one I'll choose then.

[Swells1]

I've done Altun Ha and Lamanai. Both were done in December. Climbing was permitted in both places. Altun Ha was a bit shorter, but much more crowded. Lamanai required a lot more walking. I wore my mosquito repellant bracelets both times. In Altun Ha, I didn't have a problem, but in Lamanai, the arm wearing the bracelet was clean and the bare arm ended up with 23 bites- including one on the tip of my index finger. Which is hard to scratch. Despite that, I enjoyed Lamanai a bit more.

[valandemmy]

Thanks for all of the advice. I am leaning towards Lamananai and Tulum I think at this point. I will need to do a little more research, but both of these look fantastic.

[pathubia]

We are cruising in May and we booked Lamanai. My cousin did it on his last cruise and said it was great. It wasn't on our list of excursions for Belize so I called the excursion desk and asked why. He wasn't sure and said he would talk to "the powers to be" and told me to check in a couple of days... It appeared the next day and we booked it right away.