Mayan ruin excursions.. so many ones, which one to choose?

[crusingluver2009]

we are going on the dream in september to the western carib. my husband and i are really wanting to do a mayan ruins excursion, but whilst looking we have found MULTIPLE different ones all with a 4 to 5 star out of 5 rating. we are not athletic people by any means, my husband has terrible asthma** but would love to experience one of these excursions. we ont mind doing moderate walking and enjoy DRY heat. i myself love the ocean and would also like to do a water type excursion at a resort. can anyone tell me which port and which excursion is the best value and most fun for the money? thank you

[sparkscruiser]

We have only been on one Mayan Ruins tour and that was out of Costa Maya. It was a nice tour and was not very intense as far as physical activity goes. But, it will be very humid - not dry whatsoever. We are from Nevada and the humidity is tremendous to us. We do get used to it after a few days though.

[rpmljm]

Hi

We did a ruins tour out of Costa Maya that was really amazing and memorable. I would say that it was our best tour of all our cruise tours so far. It was of the Chacchoben ruins, conducted by a guide who was born and grew up at the foot of the ruins and his family was Mayan. His name was Ivan and the name of the tour company was "The Native Choice". You can see information at their website chacchobenruins dot com. It is about an hour ride in air conditioned vans each way. It is located in a jungle (very humid). I am sure you will see more comments about this if you look for it on the Costa Maya board here on Cruise Critic. That is how I learned about it.

Laurie

[firefly333]

Xcaret and maybe Chichen Itza are the only ones left on my list of the ruins I really want to see. Everyone I ran into raved about Xcaret and Chichen Itza is one of the 7 wonders of the world. I saw Tulum last time and I was so so about the excursion.

[ddloml]

From the Progresso port there are two major ruins excursions, Chichen Itza with a 2hr 15 minute bus ride (each way) and Uxmal with a 1hr 40min bus ride (each way). We chose Uxmal and loved it! We got to Uxmal early in the day; we were the first bus group there. We practically had the place to ourselves! After about a 90 minute guided tour, we were given another 90 minutes to explore and climb nearly all of the ruins on our own. The ruins are extensive, and we could easily have spent several more hours exploring them.

Our table mates went on Chichen Itza and loved their excursion too! Chichen Itza is by far the most famous of the Mayan ruins, and there are bigger crowds as well. You can't go wrong with seeing either one.

[CatlinSTJ]

You may want to include what ports you will be visiting as that will affect your options and the opinions you'll receive :)

 

That said, years ago when we were in Cozumel, tablemates of ours went on one of the Mayan excursions and said that it was miserable. They had no time for anything else, they were in the sun for hours, and the promised lunch was granola bars and a bottle of water. At the same time, we visited Chankanaab, which was gorgeous and much cheaper, and viewed the recreated Mayan village, ruins, and artifacts and it was wonderful. Not the same, but it was comfortable and easy to navigate, plus we got to sit on the beach and sip pina coladas.

[Rochmom]

I've been to Altun Ha in Belize twice - took different family members each time. It is not terribly difficult walking, most of it is relatively flat land and the grass was cut very short. It is warm and humid, but our guides (both times) did their best to keep us in shade as much as possible. Make sure to bring bottled water to keep cool.

 

We chose to do ruins in Belize because none of the other excursion options were things we were interested in.

[ham_n_pea_cruisin]

I love history and ancient stuff is really cool to me. We went to Xunantunich in Belize...it was an awesome site. It was very hot and humid, bottle water is a must. There was a small amount of walking up a slight incline to get to the ruins. You were given the option to climb the ruins or remain at the base. The view from the the top was unbelievable, you could see Guatemala. It felt like you could walk on the tops of trees. Our tour guides were excellent. We were given lunch(chicken, rice and vegetable) it was very good. It was 2 hours each way and about 2 1/2 hours at the site so there was no time to shop or do anything else. :)

[CRUISING71]

Xcaret and maybe Chichen Itza are the only ones left on my list of the ruins I really want to see. Everyone I ran into raved about Xcaret and Chichen Itza is one of the 7 wonders of the world. I saw Tulum last time and I was so so about the excursion.

 

Fire,

You will love Chicehn Itza, the drive from Cancun to Chichen Itza was crazy. You can literally reach your hand out and touch the on coming car! hahahah And if you dare you can jump into the pond to swim in Chichen Itza.

 

We went to Xcaret, it was okay. We did the lazy river tubing there as well.

[maxxedout2]

...wanting to do a mayan ruins excursion...not athletic people by any means, my husband has terrible asthma**...enjoy DRY heat. i myself love the ocean and would also like to do a water type excursion at a resort. can anyone tell me which port and which excursion is the best value and most fun for the money? thank you

 

Hi,

 

It looks like your ports are: Roatan, Cozumel, Costa Maya and Belize.

 

My 2 cents (.16 peso?)....It will be hot and humid. Wear very light clothing,

the nylon or rayon hiking stuff, not cotton and get comfortable walking shoes.

I use mesh Newbalance with light nylon socks. Wear big straw hat with chin strap (windy).

Bring sun screen, bug stuff and several bottles of

water in your back pack. The clothing you wear in the tropics is key and

drink some of that water before and during the walk (stay hydrated).

 

Best beach opportunities are Cozumel and Roatan. But Cozumel

let's you do Tulum Ruins or Coba Ruins. Tulum is hot, not much shade.

Very picturesque location and you could get the 'swim also' excursion.

The beach is nice depending on wind/waves that day.

 

Tulum and Coba are a ferry ride from Cozumel though and rough seas

that day could change or cancel your plans. Has not happened to me

yet but could. The Mayan ruins on Cozumel island are not much so

Nachi Cocum beach is a good day spent.

 

Roatan...no ruins there.

 

Costa Maya. We did Chacchoben (ship tour). Good tour, nice bus.

Fairly easy walking. A few staircases to climb but can't climb on pyramids.

 

Belize. We did Xunantunich (shoe-NAN-tune-itch) and was really awesome.

It was the most physical work...much uphill walking and you can climb to

the top, about 12 stories or so, where the view is stunning and your

adrenaline will be pumping as you climb down, guaranteed. It was a long,

interesting day, with a stop for a very tasty lunch. Nice bus and guides.

 

I did Uxmal also but that is not on your schedule. Chitchen Itza is not

a Carnival tour from Cozumel. Too far with the ferry ride to try by yourself

in my humble opinion.

 

I have not done Altun Ha, Lamanai or Xcaret yet.

 

Don't want to scare you here...but prepare properly and have fun.

 

:cool::cool:

[Froufie]

I love history and ancient stuff is really cool to me. We went to Xunantunich in Belize...it was an awesome site. It was very hot and humid, bottle water is a must. There was a small amount of walking up a slight incline to get to the ruins. You were given the option to climb the ruins or remain at the base. The view from the the top was unbelievable, you could see Guatemala. It felt like you could walk on the tops of trees. Our tour guides were excellent. We were given lunch(chicken, rice and vegetable) it was very good. It was 2 hours each way and about 2 1/2 hours at the site so there was no time to shop or do anything else. :)

 

Just wondering who you took the tour with? Independent or cruise? How long was the 'whole' trip?...how difficult was the climb?

 

To the OP - I have been to Lamainai, chichen itza and altun ha - I would recommend Altun Ha (Belize) as the 'easiest' to navigate. Remember all will be hot/humid as you are in the jungle!

 

Try the Carnival Altun Ha/River Wallace tour - nice ride up the river where you can see 'local wildlife' - then a stop at the Black Orchid resort (where you can purchase lunch - $8) - then a bus ride to Altun Ha for a tour and climb if you desire. There are actually stairs on the side and back of Altun Ha so you are not technically climibing up the 'ruins' but you still get the thrill of being on the top with a fabulous view!

 

View on the river

 

Temple of the Sun God - the one you can 'climb'

 

 

Here you can see a bit of the 'staircase' cut into the side - you don't actually climb the steps you see in front of the temple (unlike other ruins)

 

Made it to the top!

 

..and here's a shot of the stairs going down!

[oklahoma cruiser]

Fire,

You will love Chicehn Itza, the drive from Cancun to Chichen Itza was crazy. You can literally reach your hand out and touch the on coming car! hahahah And if you dare you can jump into the pond to swim in Chichen Itza.

 

We went to Xcaret, it was okay. We did the lazy river tubing there as well.

 

You can no longer climb on or swim at Chichen Itza. We were there in January and because of vandalism, they no longer allow climbing. As far as swimming....the only water we saw was the sacrificial pond and the water was WAY low....no way I'd want to jump even if they did let me; I'm pretty sure it was roped off so no one would try. Still.....VERY cool!!!! and very glad we did it. (by cool....I mean awesome; because even in January it was warm)

[FlaGrl4Evr]

Carnival offers a Mayan Ruin and Beach Break excursion in Cozumel. While the Ruin may not be as large and impresive as some of the others, it does have historical significance and would be much easier to navigate not to mention the short drive to get there as it is located in Cozumel. After the Ruin tour the bus will take everyone to a beach club in Cozumel where you can spend the afternoon. There is a restaurant and bar as well as lounge chairs to enjoy the day. http://www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/304142

[serene56]

Sept will not be dry heat. VERY HOT VERY HUMDID.

With someone with severe asthma it was hard. We decided to go back in February and what a difference.

 

We are going on the Legend in Janaury and again doing an excursion to the ruins in some port. It still will be hot and humid- just not as bad as in Sept.

 

Make sure your DH is prepared

[CRUISING71]

If you go into Belize forum, there is a subject on ruins. I was reading it last night, very informative and lots of pics.

 

We want to do the Lamanai, but it was not ship sponsor and we were worry it was cutting too close to departure time. So if we book Liberty in April 2012, we will do the Xunantunic instead.

[nybumpkin]

Hi

We did a ruins tour out of Costa Maya that was really amazing and memorable. I would say that it was our best tour of all our cruise tours so far. It was of the Chacchoben ruins, conducted by a guide who was born and grew up at the foot of the ruins and his family was Mayan. His name was Ivan and the name of the tour company was "The Native Choice". You can see information at their website chacchobenruins dot com. It is about an hour ride in air conditioned vans each way. It is located in a jungle (very humid). I am sure you will see more comments about this if you look for it on the Costa Maya board here on Cruise Critic. That is how I learned about it.

Laurie

We learned of David and Ivan through the boards as well. We opted for the "Mayan Experience" tour which paired a visit to the ruins with a visit to the modern-day village of Chacchoben and lunch with a Mayan family. Walking around the ruins was pretty easy and the lunch was really good. All pre-Hispanic foods. I think it's probably the most memorable excursion we've done on a cruise.

[crusingluver2009]

Thank you all for very valuable and good info!! I wish I could do them all lol! We will be in coxumel costa maya roatan and belize. We are doing beach excursions in cosumel and roatan. So that leaves costa maya and belize open for options!

[crusingluver2009]

Cozumel**

[RoofingPrincess]

From the Progresso port there are two major ruins excursions, Chichen Itza with a 2hr 15 minute bus ride (each way) and Uxmal with a 1hr 40min bus ride (each way). We chose Uxmal and loved it! We got to Uxmal early in the day; we were the first bus group there. We practically had the place to ourselves! After about a 90 minute guided tour, we were given another 90 minutes to explore and climb nearly all of the ruins on our own. The ruins are extensive, and we could easily have spent several more hours exploring them.

Our table mates went on Chichen Itza and loved their excursion too! Chichen Itza is by far the most famous of the Mayan ruins, and there are bigger crowds as well. You can't go wrong with seeing either one.

From Progreso, you can also go to Dzibilchaltun, which is a VERY short ride away (maybe 15-20 min). Definitely not as big or famous as Chichen Itza (which I'd still like to see) - and because of that, it's not overrun with tourists, and as of 3 years ago when I went, you were still permitted to climb the steps of the Temple of the Seven Dolls. In the vendors' area on the pier, the company AutoProgreso had a booth where you could purchase the rather inexpensive tour (you can also do it online at autoprogreso dot com). The shuttle bus from the pier dropped you off at the same place the AutoProgreso tour took off from - there was also a cheap ($2 at the time) double-decker bus tour of Progreso and an open-air market at the same location. On the grounds at Dzibilchaltun there is also a large cenote (sinkhole) where you can go swimming. Very cool and refreshing after a walk around in the sun.

[okinaw55]

I think you should determine what you are looking for in the experience before deciding. For example, is it important to be able to climb on them? Many of them will not allow this. Do you care if the entire site is excavated? Xunantunich for example has many of the temples still under dirt and grass. Is the site with the tallest temple going to impress you the most?

 

Once you have narrowed it down people might be able to be a bit more specific.

 

Edit: Just thought of a few more questions.

Is it important for glyphs or plaster / color to still be visible in spots

Are you interested in seeing stelae?

[Froufie]

Carnival offers a Mayan Ruin and Beach Break excursion in Cozumel. While the Ruin may not be as large and impresive as some of the others, it does have historical significance and would be much easier to navigate not to mention the short drive to get there as it is located in Cozumel. After the Ruin tour the bus will take everyone to a beach club in Cozumel where you can spend the afternoon. There is a restaurant and bar as well as lounge chairs to enjoy the day. http://www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/304142

 

Would you happen to know which beach club? How was it?

 

thanks,

[zirka]

We did this excursion last year and enjoyed it. Although the beach they take you to is very rocky trying to get out to snorkle. So much so that my sis in law couldn't do it. We have done Chacchoben in Costa Maya and would recommend this ship tour in a heart beat. I think there is too much other stuff in Cozumel and not as much in Costa Maya.

[arpie05]

We have done Chacchoben in Costa Maya and would recommend this ship tour in a heart beat. I think there is too much other stuff in Cozumel and not as much in Costa Maya.

 

I concur! It was a hot bus ride for us in May 2005 but we slept on the bus riding back. We went so Chacchoben several years ago (before Costa Maya was hit by hurricane) and we could climb on ruins. Its a nice one and not too commerical. It is about an hour from the ship. Most people will say there is not much at Costa Maya. Part of it's charm. Cozumel is very commerical. A great day at the beach.

[FlaGrl4Evr]

Would you happen to know which beach club? How was it?

 

thanks,

 

Froufie, We have not yet done this excursion but are planning to. It was recommended by some roll call friends on our last cruise. They raved about their day and said the beach club was really nice. They got beach chairs and enjoyed the water and had a nice lunch. I wish I could tell you the name of the beach club. They told us, but it has been so long that I do not remember. We snorkeled off of Sunset Beach last cruise and the shore line there was rocky as well, so not sure if this is commen in Cozumel or not but I would bring some water shoes nevertheless. The Carnival site used to have pictures of this excursion but they now have a notation that they are in the process of adding more, so keep your eyes out for this as the pictures were really nice. On the same note, the Mayan Riuin in Cozumel is San Gervasio which is a tribute to the Fertility god. It is said that if you place your hands in a certain area in the ruin that you will be blessed with fertility. :D

 

Wishing you a great time. Cari :)

[Islandbear]

We are is Belize for 8 hours on the Legend and would really like to do Lamanai Temple. I know it is a long trip and a great site. has anyone done it sucessfully? :)