Mexico's Ruins

[jdexplorer]

We are going to Mexico on the 14th of November on the Jewel of the seas. I neeed help from all of you cruise experts. We will have 2 sons going along on this cruise one is 29 the other is 25 and they both love history. Here is the big question, I want to take them to see the Ruins we will be in Cozumel and we will be in Costa Maya of these two cities whic one has the best ruins to visit and what is the best way to get to them , Cruise tours , private tours , or on you own. We have been to Cancun before but we have never gone to the ruins, myself and my wife we love the beaches. If there is anyone else out there going on the same cruise and if you have children around the same age as mine let me know sure would be nice to see younger persons also going on this cruise. Thanks to all, looking forward to hearing all the responses. JD from Missouri

[hstrybuf]

JD, if you have the time, I would take a ship's excursion to Chichen Itza. They are a long ride into the center of the Yucatan, but are some of the most famous ruins in Mexico.

[lmt219]

We went on the Chacchoben Mayan ruins tour about a week and a half ago from Costa Maya. It was an hour drive each way on an air conditioned bus (we booked the tour through Royal Caribbean). It was a great site - we saw many different ruins and our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable. I think this site is really great because it only started to be excavated in 1999. You walk by several mounds that are really ruins, but that haven't been uncovered yet. I look forward to going back several years from now to see all of the new discoveries.

[clingandclatter]

I went on the Splendour earlier this year to both Cozumel & Costa Maya - we did the Chacchoben Ruins @ Costa Maya mainly because it was the shortest ruins trip offered out of 3 and we wanted to have some time still in port to do what we wanted. It was really nice, but then I have nothing to compare it to. In Cozumel, a tour was offered to Tulum which is supposed to be unbelievable - yet the transportation time to get there is literally about half the excursion (45 min ferry ride, then ~1hr. bus ride) so we didn't do that. Also in Costa Maya they offered tours to Ko....something but again, that was a much longer tour & so we didn't choose that. My one recommendation is to think about how much time you want to spend on a tour vs. doing "other things" also while in port.

[RiverRev]

Whatever choice you make, this is an excursion to make through RCL. The travel time to any of these is a huge piece of the excursion and the possibilty of missing the boat is not to be underestimated.

 

I agree that Chichen Itza is the premier archeological site. If it is offered at Costa Maya take it. The excavation is vast and the essence of Mayan culture is best contained it what was once the religious center of the society. Tulum is probably the second best and the only downside of that is the ferry trip across to the Riviera. The crossing can be rough. Key difference between the two sites - the pyramid in Tulum is no longer climable by visitors.

 

My honest opinion - Sometime book an all-inclusive in Cancun and see chichen itza from there.

[GBRBEB]

Chichend Itza is to far from Costa Maya by bus. You will probably be offered a plane trip excursion that would be the only economical (as far as time is concerned) to get to Chichen Itza from Costa Maya.....

 

Ive been to Tulum more than once and I think that it is well worth the trip from Cozumel. It is the only large Maya ruin right on the coast line and if you walk down to the beautiful beach it is very impressive to see the temple on top of the cliff.I would highly recommed Tulum..it will be hot though....

[LittleBit]

Tulum was indeed a great trip, but the travel to and from was really bad. Our trip also included a visit (an unwanted visit) to a jewelry factory - it was a wasted 90 mins. The "factory tour" was a 2 minute talk out front where you could see them making jewlery and then we were all rushed inside so we could buy stuff. Check what the tour includes. Bring Bonine/Dramamine for the ferry & the bus.

 

Friends always talk about their trip to Chichen Itza. I'd recommend that one.

[39august]

I"ve seen Chichen Itza and Tulum. CI is the largest and best preserved, but Tulum has fantastic views. Now the bad news. None of your ports are close enough for a day trip to Chichen Itza. I wouldn't even advise a flight there from Coz(which is what we did but we were there for a week, didn't have to get back to a ship!), unless the cruise line offers it. The ferry ride required to do Tulum from Coz is usually quite rough and many people who don't ordinarily get seasick do on that ferry. Again, I've done that trip and it didn't bother me. But I have a cast iron stomach! After the ferry you still have about an hour trip to Tulum, then have to do it all over to get back. If you do this, I would take the ship's tour. Now, I have seen many pictures of the ruins that are accessible from Costa Maya and I would suggest the nearer one. (the one that starts Cacha-something) You have a short, comfortable trip and see a quite impressive ruin. In fact I plan to do that when in Costa Maya this Dec.

[jdexplorer]

Thanks to all for the advise, but when we cross from Cozumel to Playa Del Carmen is there a local bus that goes to Tulum and back, we want to do this on our own so we dont get stuck there when we are ready to come back. Thanks JD

[RiverRev]

JD, I'm sure you could find a tour company from the mainland. Those of us who have advised you to use the ship's tours on this excursion are speaking from the simple realities that the time in Cozumel is not that long and the only people RCL will wait for if they are late, are the ones on their tour. I would check the internet for tours on the Mayan Riviera, but make sure you have a credit card with enough of a spending limit to buy those airline tickets home.

[Shaken_Bake]

My husband and I were there last week and went to Tulum on our own doing the ferry and bus. It was great, just very, very hot! Nevertheless, it was well worth it. Read my post in this thread for complete details:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=52583

 

It also has a link to another thread which gave other posters' input on getting to Tulum. What you should keep in mind is that there are many options for getting from Playa to Tulum, not just bus, but taxis and collectivos. If one of these options fail, you have a fall back plan. In order to make it back to the ship by 6:30 pm, we knew we had to get the 5:00 ferry at the latest. So to be on the safe side, we planned for the 4:00, and made it no problem, giving us a little time to shop.

 

I would say that Tulum is the most feasible major ruins to see if you're in Cozumel; Chichen Itza is just too dang far. Great photo ops at Tulum - bring your camera and plenty of film or memory card space!