Ranking Mayan Ruins

[TMLAalum]

There seem to be some drawbacks to visiting the Tulum ruins while in Cozumel. Has anyone here been to those, Altun Ha, and Lamanai? It's nearly a year til we cruise, but I'm a researcher and planner and would pass on Tulum to see Mayan ruins in Belize if those sites are must-sees.

Thanks!

[Toyz711]

There seem to be some drawbacks to visiting the Tulum ruins while in Cozumel. Has anyone here been to those, Altun Ha, and Lamanai? It's nearly a year til we cruise, but I'm a researcher and planner and would pass on Tulum to see Mayan ruins in Belize if those sites are must-sees.

Thanks!

 

i had a link to another site, that compared belize ruins site, but this is the best i can do at this time. one of the main reasons for lamanai is the lack of crowds. at most you get 2 boat loads from the ship (maybe 30 people each) and a couple of private tours. as big as this site is, you never see the other group. the fact that you aren't tripping over other tourist and the extra wildlife (from being so remote) are nice extras.

http://ambergriscaye.com/pages/mayan/mayasites.html

[TMLAalum]

Appreciate the Link!

[tiyana4]

We enjoyed them all, BUT would rank Lamanai the highest, with Tulum next and Altun Ha at the bottom.

 

The journey to Lamanai is an adventure in itself. You must travel by bus one hour from the port to a boat dock, then a 45-minute boat ride up the Belize River to the ruins. It is quite impressive to watch it appear before your eyes. There is quite an expanse of ruins to see, some of which you can still climb. The area is quite beautiful with howler monkeys in their natural habitat. The meal served here is fairly good as well. I would definitely use a ship-sponsored tour for this shore excursion.

 

Tulum is very picturesque and absolutely gorgeous because it sits right on the water's edge, but is smaller compared to Lamanai. The downside is getting there if you dock in Cozumel. The 35-45 minute ferry ride can be a challenge for those with motion sickness. This is a full day excursion so a ship-sponsored tour is highly recommended for this shore excursion.

 

Altun Ha was the first ruin we visited in Belize. It was nice to visit but having done many ruins in Mexico we weren't overly impressed. As much as 85% of the ruins were still covered in 2008. This tour is doable with a private tour operator but note this is not a full day excursion.

[2112]

I have been to all of the Mayan ruins in Belize that you can see on a cruise ship day and I've also been to Tulum (and others). In Belize, I would rate them as follows:

 

Lamanai

Xunantunich

Altun Ha

Cahal Pech

 

I would put Tulum after Lamanai. I would like to also state that all are very different and all are worth visiting.

 

The nice thing about Lamani is that it feels remote. You take a fantastic trip up the river, it is uncrowded, is located in a forest setting, you can climb the ruins, and you can usually see howler monkeys there. The only down side is that it is a long trip there for a short visit.

 

Tulum has a beautiful setting on the ocean, but you can't climb them and you share the place with a thousand other people. Worth a visit, but the crowds really take away from the experience.

 

By the way, if you can ever manage, I highly recommend visiting Tikal in Guatamala. It's too bad that you can't visit it as a day trip from Belize.

 

Here are my pictures of all of the ruins in Belize that I've visited.

 

http://www.pbase.com/2112/belize

[TMLAalum]

Thanks for your posts Tiyana & 2112. 2112, I"ve looked at your fotos of Lamanai and they are fantastic- can't wait to check them all out! Lamanai is our Belize excursion for sure, but still unsure as to whether to book privately or go with ship's tour. Price diffential is negligible, so the issues would be quality vs. quantity and being at ease that a private operator will get us back before the ship departs.

 

Who did you go with and why?

 

We do dock in Cozumel so that long & possibly nauseous ferry ride + bus + crowds are causing me to want to forgo Tulum. Saw a Princess cruiser's blog on her excursion with them and the sight of 6 large tourbusses parked at the entrance to Tulum was a turnoff; on the other hand, we may never pass this way again...

[mytime53]

We visited both Tulum and Xunantunich on the same cruise. After viewing Xunantunich (and getting to climb it), we were disappointed in Tulum.

[tiyana4]

Thanks for your posts Tiyana & 2112. 2112, I"ve looked at your fotos of Lamanai and they are fantastic- can't wait to check them all out! Lamanai is our Belize excursion for sure, but still unsure as to whether to book privately or go with ship's tour. Price diffential is negligible, so the issues would be quality vs. quantity and being at ease that a private operator will get us back before the ship departs.

 

Who did you go with and why?

 

Normally we do private excursions because we prefer smaller crowds. However, we went with the ship excursion to Lamanai because it is truly an 8-hour tour. Given that you must tender to shore in Belize (20 minutes each way) this cuts into the time you have in port. We did not want to risk being left behind with so many different types of transportation (bus, then boat, plus the return trip, and final tender back to ship) if one thing went wrong with the private tour operator there is a big chance you will miss the ship. As it happened, the ship tours got back just as pax were taking the final tender back to the ship. I shudder to think what would have happened if we were on a private tour. The added bonus was NCL only charged 1/2 price for children so it came out to be the same price as Island Marketing's rates. Both tours included a lunch buffet. Although it was a ship tour, it never felt crowded and we really welcomed the comfort of the large bus vs. a minivan.

 

We do dock in Cozumel so that long & possibly nauseous ferry ride + bus + crowds are causing me to want to forgo Tulum. Saw a Princess cruiser's blog on her excursion with them and the sight of 6 large tourbusses parked at the entrance to Tulum was a turnoff; on the other hand, we may never pass this way again...

 

If Tulum is truly what you want to do, take motion sickness pills beforehand and you should be OK. I am prone to motion sickness on smaller vessels and I did fine. Be sure to take bottled water, too. We went last August and the temps were well over 100 degrees. I must say that it is a worthy trip.

[2112]

Thanks for your posts Tiyana & 2112. 2112, I"ve looked at your fotos of Lamanai and they are fantastic- can't wait to check them all out! Lamanai is our Belize excursion for sure, but still unsure as to whether to book privately or go with ship's tour. Price diffential is negligible, so the issues would be quality vs. quantity and being at ease that a private operator will get us back before the ship departs.

 

Who did you go with and why?

 

We do dock in Cozumel so that long & possibly nauseous ferry ride + bus + crowds are causing me to want to forgo Tulum. Saw a Princess cruiser's blog on her excursion with them and the sight of 6 large tourbusses parked at the entrance to Tulum was a turnoff; on the other hand, we may never pass this way again...

 

I used Island Marketing because I was on Carnival and they didn't offer a Lamani excursion. They were great and I would use them again if my cruise line didn't offer the excursion. However, I would go with the cruise line if it were offered because of tendering and timing issues.

[Zeno]

There seem to be some drawbacks to visiting the Tulum ruins while in Cozumel. Has anyone here been to those, Altun Ha, and Lamanai? It's nearly a year til we cruise, but I'm a researcher and planner and would pass on Tulum to see Mayan ruins in Belize if those sites are must-sees.

Thanks!

 

I have not been to Altun Ha - so I cannot comment on those ruins but I have been to Tulum and Lamanai. Both are interesting and quite different.

 

Personally if I had to choose between the two I would choose Lamanai.

Why:

1. There are some incredible carvings at Lamanai

2. The Jungle setting - You have to take a boat down the New River to get there and wildlife sightings are pretty much guaranteed. The trip along the New River is almost an excursion in itself - birds, crocdiles, giant termite mounds. At Lamanai there is a resident troup of Howler monkeys.

3. Tulum tends to be somewhat overrun with tourists. That is never a problem at Lamanai.

 

Some pictures of Lamanai:

 

http://www.google.ca/images?q=Lamanai&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&oe=utf8&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=qsFZTb3mH8P48AbT3fj_Bg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CEIQsAQwAw&biw=1129&bih=704

[fun2cruise4me]

I have been to all of the Mayan ruins in Belize that you can see on a cruise ship day and I've also been to Tulum (and others). In Belize, I would rate them as follows:

 

Lamanai

Xunantunich

Altun Ha

Cahal Pech

 

 

How long is the transit time to Xunantunich? I think Lamanai is too long for my 10 yo.

[2112]

How long is the transit time to Xunantunich? I think Lamanai is too long for my 10 yo.

 

Around an hour by van followed by 45 minutes on a boat - each way.

[knoxvillecruiser]

We are also on Carnival where Lamanai is not offered as an excursion. Our family REALLY wants to do this excursion. We are in port from 8am-6pm. It makes me nervous....but without a ship tour option, I'm still so tempted to do this privately. Wonder how many people have done the private tour. Has anyone heard of people getting left behind because of THIS tour? Does travel insurance help get you to the next stop if you were to get left? Thanks!

[2112]

We are also on Carnival where Lamanai is not offered as an excursion. Our family REALLY wants to do this excursion. We are in port from 8am-6pm. It makes me nervous....but without a ship tour option, I'm still so tempted to do this privately. Wonder how many people have done the private tour. Has anyone heard of people getting left behind because of THIS tour? Does travel insurance help get you to the next stop if you were to get left? Thanks!

 

I did Lamanai using a private tour and they are very aware of the time. With all the concern on this board of being late, as far as I know it has never happened. Someone even asked that question directly a while back and there were no responses from people being left behind. Also, if your ship is in port until 6 pm that gives you 1 more hour than most ships are in port.

 

That said, there is always a remote possibility that something could happen. I don't know if travel insurance would pay to get you to the next port (I would guess that it wouldn't). I don't know what your next port is, but if i t was Costa Maya or Cozumel it wouldn't be too hard to get there if something were to happen.

[knoxvillecruiser]

I appreciate that. I know there is always a risk, but we will probably take it and pray for the best. Our next stop is actually Roatan Honduras, then Costa Maya. I'm not going to worry about it though and just take a chance. We are docked in Belize longer than anywhere else, so I figure it is a good time to try it. We're there for 10 hours! Thanks for your input.

[Merry Cerena]

Knoxville Cruiser-it sounds like you are goin on the Ryndam itinerary. We are going March 13 and also want to go to LAmanai but there is no ship excursion. Have you chosen a private tour?

Merry

[bfam5]

Based on what I've read on CC, we decided to sign up for the Lamanai tour through an excursion broker which guarantees a timely arrival for departure. They will handle all accommodations to get you to the next port if you miss the boat.

 

The tour is not offered through Carnival. I can report back with our experience.

[TMLAalum]

bfam5-

 

Please do report back on your experience at Lamanai, especially who your tour was with and how they were.

 

Thanks!

[KirkNC]

We were not all that inpressed with Tulum. It is a great setting but it is also small.

 

Kirk

[Will in sunny FL]

Please post who you booked thru, how to reach & the cost ?

We'd like to do that trip in late April of this year, next month.

Thanks !

[bfam5]

Today was our stop at Belize on the Carnival Triumph where we did the Lamanai tour through Shore Excursions Group dot com. They were on the pricey side ($105/pp) but they did not have a lower age restriction like another Lamanai tour had. They also guaranteed ontime arrival or they would take care of the arrangements to get us to the next port.

 

It was me, DW, DS (5), DS (4), DS(3). The customer service was excellent. We were able to get on the first non-carnival tender. We were met by one of their agents at the pier. Since it's a long tour, we bypassed the other tours that they were handling and were immediately put in a van with 5 other guests from our same ship. It's an hour by van, and about an hour by speed boat until you get to the site. We walked to three large temples and were able to climb two of them. The largest temple was not climbed by our boys because the step were too steep and narrow. After seeing the sites we were provided a great lunch and non-alcoholic beverages. We then retraced our route back on the speed boat and van back to the pier.

 

It's a long tour (6 hrs), but well worth it. I would highly recommend this tour and tour provider.

[TMLAalum]

Appreciate your detailed account of your Lamanai excursion, bfam5. How many hours were you "in port"? Our cruise is in Belize from 8-4. I like the guarantee that the co. you booked with offers and I've bookmarked their site, but, even though DH & I don't typically use ship shorexes, Belize and the Tulum ruins from Cozumel are two ports that we might due to logistics and time constraints.

[bfam5]

We were in port from 8 am to 5 pm. We were not allowed on the tender until 8:30. It took 20 minutes to get to the pier. About another 10-15 minutes to check-in and hit the bathrooms before heading out. We were back at the pier by 3:30. The cutoff time for the last tender was 4:15, which meant that if you were in line by 4:15, you'd make it to the ship. The ship left well past 5pm due to the long lines for the tender on the pier.

[STARFISH*4]

having done Tulum, Lamani and Altun Ha i would rank as following:

 

even with the rocky jet ferry boat ride--

Tulum

Altun Ha

Lamani

 

i was really impressed with Tulum over Lamani--and specially if you dont plan on climbing at Lamani which i did not.

 

if you decide on Tulum definitely go with your ships tour and recommend that in Belize anyway because of the tendering process.

[duckman115]

How long is the transit time to Xunantunich? I think Lamanai is too long for my 10 yo.

I went there 2 years ago and it seems that the time was 1 1/2 (oneway) and the guides talked much of the time giving information about the country and the ruins. We really enjoyed it and got to see the countryside. I would take a ship's tour because of the length.