Ruins near Costa Maya (cruise)

[zitsky]

Costa Maya is a stop for Royal Caribbean.  They (apparently) have tours to Chacchoben and Kohunlich to see Mayan ruins.  Can anyone tell me how long it takes to get there from the ship?  Did you do the ship tour, was it a fair price, or did you go with a private tour?

[lifes-a-beach]

Since no one has answered since Thursday I’ll offer my observation.  Lots of folks talk positively about Native Choice tours. We haven’t done the ruins there as we love the beach and did the ruins in Belize but I’m sure you can find lots of reviews.  I rather doubt the ship tour would be as good of a value, as frequently aren’t.

https://www.thenativechoice.com/

 

[JT1962]

I was not aware that the cruise lines had started offering the ruins tours again since the bus accident a while back. I am glad to see that they are, since they are worth seeing.

 

We used Native Choice and were happy. We did the Chacchoben Extreme Tour which went to the ruins, then a resort for lunch and time at the Bacalar Lagoon. The price was less than the cruise excursion and was longer.

 

[zitsky]

What bus accident?

[JT1962]

4 hours ago, zitsky said:

What bus accident?

https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/969748001

[zitsky]

45 minutes ago, JT1962 said:

https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/969748001

 

Strange.  I only get the headline not the article.  Paywall?

[JT1962]

43 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

Strange.  I only get the headline not the article.  Paywall?

Try this link or just Google Costa Maya Bus Crash

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxnews.com/world/mexico-tour-bus-crash-leaves-12-dead-including-8-americans-officials-say.amp

 

 

[Lard Greystoke]

The trip to Chacchoben doesn't take long.  Half hour or so.  I enjoyed the ruins.

Edited February 20, 2019 by Lard Greystoke

[LeeW]

On 2/20/2019 at 10:37 AM, Lard Greystoke said:

The trip to Chacchoben doesn't take long.  Half hour or so.  I enjoyed the ruins.

 

 

Hmm - took around 90 minutes to get to and from Chacchoben and road is straight with only two bends for first 40 miles or so.  Scrub trees along side road.  No traffic and decent road for first part but absolutely nothing to see on the way.  Other ruins are farther.  We did Tucan Tours through Shore Excursioneer.  Excellent ruins, great tour guide and not crowded at all (because it is a LONG drive).

[JT1962]

Chacchoben is about 40 miles / 50 minutes each way from the port. We stopped on the way to the ruins for pineapple and at Bacalar (sp?) Lagoon Resort on the way back to port, which made the trip to / from the ruins not seem too long.

 

Here is a link to a story in USA Today that gives more information, including the time / distance from port.

 

https://traveltips.usatoday.com/closest-mayan-temple-costa-maya-110495.html

Edited February 25, 2019 by JT1962

[Artemis908]

I am a little concerned about the bus accident - has anyone had recent experiences going to the ruins? Wondering if it'd be worth getting one of the smaller tour groups instead?

[JT1962]

19 minutes ago, Artemis908 said:

I am a little concerned about the bus accident - has anyone had recent experiences going to the ruins? Wondering if it'd be worth getting one of the smaller tour groups instead?

I would recommend Native Choice Tours, not because of the bus accident, but because they have smaller groups and we were very happy with them. 

[funkyfaces]

I'll echo what JT1962 said. We did Native Choice's  Chacchoben Extreme tour last week. It was a 50 minute drive to the ruins, then a 20 minute drive from there to the Bacalar Lagoon. The road back into the Bacalar Lagoon was very bumpy. We liked being in a smaller group of 12 and our tour guide was very helpful. It was a little too windy for me to spend as much time as I wanted to kayak. I also recommend wearing water shoes at the lagoon. Plus the pineapple we got on the way back was delicious!

[sueandtimj]

We too used Native Choice a few weeks ago and did the same excursion.  Highly recommend it.  It was cheaper than the cruise, smaller group and we had a great guide.  We were back at the port with plenty of time to shop and to watch the dolphin training.

[FloridaMac]

We just returned and highly recommend this tour. 

Our family of 11 had a van with driver and a tour guide.  Even with the walk several blocks to the native choice office we were among the first tour groups to arrive at the ruins.  Our guide was very knowledgeable and friendly.  The resort at the lagoon was first class.  Our whole family enjoyed it very much and we're glad we took the advice of many on this CruiseCritic forum who recommended it.

  https://www.thenativechoice.com/tours/chacchoben-extreme-tour