Cozumel - Belize - Costa Maya - WHAT TO DO?

[Patterzone]

Dear All,

We will be a 14 night cruise on MSC Meraviglia from Dec 1st. We have twice Bahamas Ocean Cay (if it will be ready..), Ocho Rios (Blue Hole, Dunn's Falls, Bobsleigh), Grand Cayman (Stingray, Starfish Beach, Snorkelling), Roatan (Zip line, West Bay Beach) plus Cozumel - Belize - Costa Maya. As you can see I have a pretty good idea what to do on the first 3 places but rather shaky about the 3 I mentioned on the top.

I would go one place chillin at the beach/ one place ruins/ one place other fun activity but I am not sure how do I decide. I would also take into consederation that the beaches have seaweed issue at these places. If anyone has experiences of the past or ideas how to pick and choose for these places, let me know.

[CntPAcruiser]

Can't help you on Belize, but I would do a beach day in Cozumel. You can go to the Tulum ruins from that port, but it is a long and tiring journey with relatively little time actually spent at the ruins, and an awful ferry ride to the mainland. 

 

Costa Maya is definitely the place to do the ruins. We used Native Choice to go to the Chacchoben ruins. Our group of around 20 went in two vans with a driver and at least one guide. On the drive there, the guide explained local culture and history and gave us a background for the ruins tour. At the ruins themselves, we avoided the crowds coming off the buses and had each location nearly to ourselves, along with a trained guide from Chacchoben. It was still a fairly long day, but we felt we'd gotten to really see something (even if it's not as extensive a complex as Tulum), and we didn't have to take the ferry to the mainland at Cozumel (aka the "Vomit Comet").  

[Patterzone]

On 11/19/2019 at 7:23 PM, CntPAcruiser said:

Can't help you on Belize, but I would do a beach day in Cozumel. You can go to the Tulum ruins from that port, but it is a long and tiring journey with relatively little time actually spent at the ruins, and an awful ferry ride to the mainland. 

 

Costa Maya is definitely the place to do the ruins. We used Native Choice to go to the Chacchoben ruins. Our group of around 20 went in two vans with a driver and at least one guide. On the drive there, the guide explained local culture and history and gave us a background for the ruins tour. At the ruins themselves, we avoided the crowds coming off the buses and had each location nearly to ourselves, along with a trained guide from Chacchoben. It was still a fairly long day, but we felt we'd gotten to really see something (even if it's not as extensive a complex as Tulum), and we didn't have to take the ferry to the mainland at Cozumel (aka the "Vomit Comet").  

Thank you! I actually made a reservation with them for the Extreme tour.

 

Belize is booked cave tubin with possible zipline and ATV.

 

Which beach or resort would you recommend at Cozumel? I looked at Playa Palancar. I thought we should go to beach and then spend some time in downtown San Miguel and we can have a rather cheap day then.

[Patterzone]

Thanks all the input. Here is how it lined up:

 

Ocho Rios: Blue Hole, Dunn's River Falls, Magic Mountain (Bobsleigh): 150$PP (Coopa Tours)
Grand Cayman: Stingray + Snorkellin Starfish Island 55$PP (Acquarius Sea Tours)
Cozumel: Plancar Beach + San Miguel downtown I think around 30$PP? (By Taxi?!) 
I was thinking about renting a scooter/jeep and then we can include Tequila tasting and/or Cacao factory. Any experience with that?
Ocean Cay: We will see...
Miami: Speedboat ride: 39$PP (Thriller Miami Speedboat Adventures)
Costa Maya: Chacchoben Extreme tour (Ruins+Lagoon): 85$PP (Native Choice)
Belize: Cave tubing (possibly ATV and Zipline): 35$PP (100 if atv and zipline included) (Cavetubing.com)
Roatan: Jungle Top zipline+King Kong zipline+West Bay beach: 110$PP (Roatan Fun Tours)
Ocean Cay: We will see...
Miami: Everglades --> Airport: 65$PP (MSC Cruises)

 

Looking forward to any feedback!

[CoW mAn]

For Cozumel I recommend Chankanaab Beach Adventure Park