Best ruins to see?

[Chelsm]

Never been to Cozumenl, or Mexico for that matter and want to see great pyramids/ruins. Which one should we go to?

[Toyz711]

don't forget belize...

also, check out the belize port of calls boards.

here's some information on ones in belize

http://www.belizeexplorer.com/cgi-local/explorer.cgi?db=explorer&uid=default&Category=Mayan+Sites&view_records=1&nh=1

we did the lamanai and the river safari. some ships to altun ha (also in belize)

from cozumel, you can do the long trip..including a ferry ride to the mainland..to see tulum. i understand there are some lesser ruins on the island, around cozumel. after seeing photos of tulum, it's more "weather worn", i wanted to see more intact buildings.

you can google tulum....for me it was too long of a day's trip. did the "all day" thing the day before in belize for lamanai.

all the ruins are a little different...very interesting history. some of the ruins allow tourist to climb one of the sites, some are starting to disallow that. research the actual sites and see what one interests you the most.

http://www.locogringo.com/past_spotlights/aug2002.html

i was glad i did lamanai, besides the widlife vewing, the site is amazing, surrounded by jungle. it was my 1st mayan ruins and won't be my last.

[gottago2mexico]

When visiting Cozumel on a cruise ship, there are really two good options:

 

1) Tulum. You'll need to ride the ferry over to the mainland, where you can either meet a tour, or take a taxi to the ruins site (about 45 minutes south of Playa del Carmen). It's not as big as Chichen Itza or Coba, but its clifftop setting is very beautiful, overlooking the Caribbean. Makes for some good photos.

 

2) San Gervasio. These are suggested because they're on Cozumel. No need to spend two hours going back and forth on the ferry, you can spend that time on the island exploring or enjoying an excursion instead. They're way smaller than the main sites on the mainland, but if you take a tour, you'll still get to hear about the Mayan Empire and the history of the Mayas, with interpretation of the significance of the ruins.

 

Chichen Itza is only a viable option if you visit them from Progreso. There are private tours to Coba that if you have a long stay in Cozumel, that you can do too. There you can climb the pyramid, unlike Tulum or Chichen Itza.

 

Hope this helps, have a great time!

[Chelsm]

 

2) San Gervasio. These are suggested because they're on Cozumel. No need to spend two hours going back and forth on the ferry, you can spend that time on the island exploring or enjoying an excursion instead. They're way smaller than the main sites on the mainland, but if you take a tour, you'll still get to hear about the Mayan Empire and the history of the Mayas, with interpretation of the significance of the ruins.

 

 

Hope this helps, have a great time!

Can you climb at San Gervasio?

[gottago2mexico]

San Gervasio is quite small, there's not really anything to climb. It's much smaller and less impressive than the ruins sites on the mainland, but it's better than no ruins.

[clackey]

Never been to Cozumenl, or Mexico for that matter and want to see great pyramids/ruins. Which one should we go to?

If it was my call I would do my ruins tour in Belize. San Gervasio is pretty small. Tulum on the mainland is a nice tour but you have take a ferry and then spend a lot of time traveling. Plus, Coz has alot of other stuff to do. I would wait and book a trip to Calica for a Tulum visit.;) Belize has several good ruins. Check out the Belize board.

[pmfan]

Try the ones at Belize if your ship stops there.

[VaBeachCruiser]

We went to Tulum on Thursday-booked through Carnival due to time of excursion. We loved it! It is a lot of travel time but we never felt rushed. We got on ferry around 10:30 (yes some people do get sick--but they are ready for that)-then took a bus for about 1 hour. Our guide Armando was very informative. Got to Tulum around 12:15---spent about 45 minutes with Armando-then had until 4:00 to explore, go to beach, shop, eat. The beach there is SO beautiful. It is very hot and does require about 1/2 mile of walking. My children 11 and 15 liked it as much as we did.

[crazybus]

I think if you did San Gervasio you would be very disappointed. Although I did enjoy our tour, these ruins are very very small. Very few buildings left standing, mostly just ruins.

[JandD Mom]

We were pleasantly surprised with San Gervasio. We have never been to Tulum, and so San Gervasio was our first set of ruins. The park is larger than we thought, and there are some structures put together enough to see quite a bit, and still have time left over to do other things in Cozumel. However, there are no pyramids there.

 

I have no doubt that Tulum is bigger and better. It is also further. And you have to take the ferry, which can be a rough trip. If you don't want to go through all of that, San Gervasio is a good alternative.