West. Carrib. Tour Suggestions

[kbjmws]

We are going on an RCL Liberty West. Carrib cruise on 11/1. Want suggestions on tours / activities. We are stopping in Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel. Where should we go to see the best Myan Ruins, beach & zip lining? What would you judge the best tours in each location. We want something fairly active - no city tours - been there done that. Long boring bus rides are also not our thing.

[SingingPixie]

For what it's worth, we have the same three stops and are doing the following (for the following reasons):

 

Belize: Cave Tubing and Zipline- this is one of the few places you can cave tube. Also, the ziplining here is more of a "canopy tour" through the rainforest than a thrill-ride type of zipline just going for height or speed. Personally I'll feel less exposed with the trees around me, and we're all interested in seeing the rainforest from that perspective. Finally, it's nice that both of these activities are offered at the same location, so we can do both in one day. There's not much going on at the pier in Belize City, so a long day here doesn't bother me.

 

Costa Maya: The Mayan Experience tour with The Native Choice. Visits the Chacchoben Mayan ruins and a neighboring Mayan village, where residents teach you about their culture and make lunch with you. The big reason we chose this was that it sounds like a unique way to do the ruins- both because it's combined with a trip to the village, and because one of the gentlemen who owns The Native Choice actually grew up at the Chacchoben ruins- before they were excavated, they were his familiy's farm. I can't think of a way anyone would know them better. Finally, Costa Maya has pretty limited excursion offerings, so visiting the ruins here made sense from a logistical sense too.

 

Cozumel: Scuba Diving/beach day. We're going to do a "Discover" dive in the morning, and spend the afternoon either hanging out at the same beach where we did the dive, or perhaps seeing some of the coastal scenery on the East side of the island as well, depending on our mood. Whether or not you dive /snorkel (and if you decide to, Cozumel is a legendary place to do it), it's a great and easy place for a beach day. The whole west coast of the island is covered with beaches of various types to fit each type of traveler. It's easy to take a cab to any of the beaches, or rent a car at the pier and drive yourself if you want to have freedom to visit a few places. Booking a "beach break" excursion here is unnecessary.

[bruce-r]

For what it's worth, we have the same three stops and are doing the following (for the following reasons):

 

Belize: Cave Tubing and Zipline- this is one of the few places you can cave tube. Also, the ziplining here is more of a "canopy tour" through the rainforest than a thrill-ride type of zipline just going for height or speed. Personally I'll feel less exposed with the trees around me, and we're all interested in seeing the rainforest from that perspective. Finally, it's nice that both of these activities are offered at the same location, so we can do both in one day. There's not much going on at the pier in Belize City, so a long day here doesn't bother me.

Good choices suggested here. Both of these tours are available from private operators.

 

Costa Maya: The Mayan Experience tour with The Native Choice. Visits the Chacchoben Mayan ruins and a neighboring Mayan village, where residents teach you about their culture and make lunch with you. The big reason we chose this was that it sounds like a unique way to do the ruins- both because it's combined with a trip to the village, and because one of the gentlemen who owns The Native Choice actually grew up at the Chacchoben ruins- before they were excavated, they were his familiy's farm. I can't think of a way anyone would know them better. Finally, Costa Maya has pretty limited excursion offerings, so visiting the ruins here made sense from a logistical sense too.

Costa Maya is probably the best choice for a ruins tour, so SP has it right here too.

 

Cozumel: Scuba Diving/beach day. We're going to do a "Discover" dive in the morning, and spend the afternoon either hanging out at the same beach where we did the dive, or perhaps seeing some of the coastal scenery on the East side of the island as well, depending on our mood. Whether or not you dive /snorkel (and if you decide to, Cozumel is a legendary place to do it), it's a great and easy place for a beach day. The whole west coast of the island is covered with beaches of various types to fit each type of traveler. It's easy to take a cab to any of the beaches, or rent a car at the pier and drive yourself if you want to have freedom to visit a few places. Booking a "beach break" excursion here is unnecessary.

Here she is planning to go to Playa Palancar and I think it is an excellent choice for someone planning to do the Discover Scuba dive or who would want to do a boat snorkel tour. Playa Palancar is a pretty laid back place and since it is the furthest away from the cruise docks, it will be very unlikely to be crowded if there a bunch of ships in Cozumel that day. It is about 20-25 minutes away by taxi.

 

If you want a more active beach club, Paradise Beach club is a great choice.

http://paradise-beach-cozumel.com/gbook.php?gb=2

 

You can easily take a taxi to either beach club. You do not need to do a ship's tour in Cozumel.