Which western port for Mayan Ruins?

[mystone99]

Thanks, Dear23, we were torn in a decision, now Xunantunich it is. Hope I can make the climb up but if not I will hand my camera to my sister so she can take shots for both of us. ( I hate heights) Is it scary making the climb?:eek:

 

DW and I went to Xunantunich in Dec. A little scary climb because the stone steps are steep and there is no guard rail going up. But the view is definitely worth it.

[afairbro]

I will be on the Legend on Sept 26, we plan on doing Altun Ha in Belize. with an independant tour.

[evandbob]

We're doing the western itinerary on the Dream in Jan (Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, Costa Maya) and my MIL and FIL want to see Mayan Ruins. We did the Carnival Tour to Tulum from Cozumel last year and it was awesome but I think there's another excursion they want in Cozumel.

 

Which port has the best and are they really missing out if they don't go to Tulum?

 

Thanks:)

 

I've visited Chichen Itza, Tulum, Coba, Xanantunich and plan to see Altun Ha in January. I would say that on your itinerary, Xanantunich might be the more impressive - just be careful climbing, wear good sneakers, you don't want to slip since there are steps with no guardrails. The view atop the pyramid there is just awesome. It's an all day excursion, with a nice local lunch included. After leaving the bus, you cross a stream on a hand drawn raft and walk to a "ranger station" to see some maps and displays and have a guide talk about the ruins' history. Then onto the actual site with a guide to give more detail. Oh yeah, you can access this on your Belize POC.

[rglbjl]

We have done Chacchoben and Tulum. Really enjoyed both.

But the best was Lamanai in Belize. There is a nice ride up the

New River getting to the site. There are more excavations than

Chacchoben, but fewer than Tulum. At one temple you can climb

to the top. Guide told us that he has on occasion had to "help"

people down. It is up fairly high up and steep.

[Newbie Cruisers 10]

Anybody have a recommendation on whether to book Xunantunich with the cruise ship or through a local? If local, which one? Thanks!

[hookedoncruises12]

We're doing the western itinerary on the Dream in Jan (Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, Costa Maya) and my MIL and FIL want to see Mayan Ruins. We did the Carnival Tour to Tulum from Cozumel last year and it was awesome but I think there's another excursion they want in Cozumel.

 

Which port has the best and are they really missing out if they don't go to Tulum?

 

Thanks:)

 

 

We wen to Tulum from Cozumel and it was the best excursion we took. Would do it again in a heartbeat! :D

[marym933]

Anybody have a recommendation on whether to book Xunantunich with the cruise ship or through a local? If local, which one? Thanks!

 

Since this site is quite a way from the port, I don't feel comfortable booking with the locals. It might be a little more expensive to book with Carnival, but I consider the extra cost my "insurance" to make the ship if the tour is running late.

[GeckoGirl]

We just got back on Saturday from those ports on the Dream. In Belize we went to Altun Ha and they were nice. We had never seen ruins before so it was exciting to us and we got to climb to the top of one of the pyramids.

 

In Costa Maya we went to Kohunlich and they were by far more impressive. The site was very large and there were all different sections of ruins from the living quarters to the ballpark to the business trading area and most of all the temple of the masks. The mask were really awesome and you could climb up the stone steps in the middle between them so you could really get a good close up look. The ride is long (about 2 hours each way) and it's an all day tour but to us it was well worth the trip.

[kbmeow]

From the cruise I have done kohunlich,tulum, uxmal (sp).

I have also gone to Coba, ek balam and Chitzenitza. (sp)

 

My husband has a Archeology degree and his specialty is Mayan.

 

Kohunlich is a bit of a ride and a all day affair but it was a great site. Not a busy site . It is a big site and they have some amazing masks. You can climb on the ruins , and the site is not roped off everywhere. We are looking forward to going back and seeing what more they have done. they are not rebuilding the structures to original glory just trying to uncover and secure them . So there is mor visualizing what it may have looked like and a lot of uncovered mounds, they are still trying to figure out the importance. this is a classic Mayan site.

 

Tulum, was a park with every structure roped off. You could not get close. It was also very busy as it is a huge tourist attraction. The beach is beautiful

there. Also these structures have been rebuilt to try and look original . this is a post classic era Mayan site, it is one of the last gasps for the Mayan

 

Uxmal, it is also a site that has been repaired too its original beauty. It is not as busy and you are able to go on some of the structures. It is very pretty. This as well is a classic Mayan site

 

Chitzenitza, is a beautiful site but, IMHO it is a tourist trap now. Another site where they rebuilt ? It is very built up and you can not climb on the structures but you can get closer to them than you can at tulum. It is always busy and they have vendors on the site itself. There are busloads of people.

But it is a fantastic site. There are both classic and post classic ruins but the tours do the post classic site

 

Coba another site that mostly un rebuilt it is a huge site, they also have a incredibly huge temple you can climb. I have much love for this site as it is where my husband proposed. This site does get busy and is very walking intensive. This is a classic Mayan site

 

Ek balam, a very pleasant suprise, It was not busy at all. It is not popular. It is not huge but confortableIt is the same time period and has similar structure to Tikal. There main structure was being put back together, there smaller sone were more escavated and safe . You can climb here. It is great.

This is a late classic Mayan site.

 

Now as people have said it is only as good as the guides. I hated tulum our guide sucked. He stood us under a tree and talked about the site for a hour and pointed, it was a big group. I like to walk the site and being told what I am looking at but, after the guided tour I have my own personal guide in my hubby . Best guide ever was uxmal, the tour guide showed us a couple of spots not on the reg tour after he let everyone wander because he knew if my husbands passion.

 

I would google the sites and see pictures and read on them. Do you want ones reconstructed? Do you want a massive site or a smaller one. My husband has a good amount of pictures online and I can link to it if you want.

 

Also for the rehearsal dinner/grooms cake I had the main temple at chitzenitza made for the cake with my hubby sitting on it.

 

Sorry for spelling, kinda tired and not on the computer