Tulum & Xel Ha combo in Cozymel-need info

[noah10]

Can anyone tell me about the excursion...what time do you get off the rhapsody...is the ferry rough and how long is the ride...how much time at the ruins...which is first the ruins or xel-ha...how much time on the bus...what and where is the lunch..what is xelha like...we have 10 people and we have from age 7 to 70...so all details would be great! Thanks!

[maren91]

Here is a link to the review that I wrote about the Tulman/Xel-ha combo I took with Royal Caribbean in January, had a great time:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=301379&highlight=xel-ha

[Cdn Trekkie]

My family and I took a similar tour when we vacationed in Cancun one year and really enjoyed ourselves.

However, the ferry ride from Cozumel to Playa was really rough and I did end up feeling extremely sick from the ride. (30-45 mins).

The Tulum ruins are something to see if you have never seen any ruins in the past but it would have been better had we been able to go into a couple of the buildings that are still intack. Unfortunately it is looking and picture taking only. (To be unstood since they are very old.) The beach there is lovely and of course our guide was very informative and did paint a very clear picture of exactly what life was like when this was an active village.

Xel- Ha is a tropical paradise. Very beautiful, Hammock island, souvenir shops, Dolphin Experience, restaurants, cliff diving (pictures are taken too) and lots of fish to feed with pellet food that you can purchase.

Now that we have done both we would definately go back just to Xel-ha for the full day. The river floating on tubes is fun and of course you can lay on them and kick to move yourself down the river as they call it. When we went (three years ago now) there was no restriction to wearing lifejackets so I opted out and could dive deep enough to see the brown rays that lay on the bottom and also the huge hermit crabs that are tagged and crawling along the bottom. Even jumped off the cliff with my 10 year old.

The river that you go down is active water so there was a current not fully in your favor but my two kids and hubby seemed to manage just fine.

You do need to use water soluable sunscreen which they monitor right at the entrance. Try to purchase this in advance as it is quite costly.

I am surprised if would be able to get this tour fully done unless you are off the ship very early and got back on later than supper time (5:00 or later) as I recall we got back to our hotel when it was getting dark already.

You may be too rushed to do both fully with time to take it all in.

Your call. Never the less, if it works out for you enjoy as my family and I would definately do it again the next time we are there instead of cruising.:)

[noah10]

Thanks for the info...at Xel-Ha ...is it shady and easy for the older people to rest and relax...would like more details of what to do there...thanks!

[maren91]

Xel-Ha is fantastic! Grab a lounge chair and a Corona and relax. I spent two hours simply floating in an intertube down the river, it was fantastic for people of all ages.

[Sandra*]

Thanks for the info...at Xel-Ha ...is it shady and easy for the older people to rest and relax...would like more details of what to do there...thanks!

 

There are places to eat and get a cold drink (in the shade), swimming with the dolphins, and shaded areas all over Xel-ha. You can take a leisurely walk around the area (a lot of shaded areas) and of course..the river ride. We took our children (then 7 and 9) and they had no problems riding on the inner tubes down the river. It's not a fast moving current at all (my 7 yr old was still learning to swim so had the life jacket) so there are no worries about wildly careening down the river! Great area for picture taking - lots of colourful birds and foliage. It's a great place - we ended up missing our bus to go to Tulum and had to take a taxi there since we got caught up in Xel-ha! :D Would definitely go back to Xel-ha for the day...Tulum was nice - no shaded areas around the ruins, though. The beach was beautiful there but since we'd just come from Xel-ha, we just walked down and looked at the water and then went back to the ruins.