Lamanai or Tulum

[Husky359]

I am currently signed up for the Lamanai and New River Safari on May 22, but I was wondering if Lamanai or Tulum from Cozumel is better?

 

Also, I found a site saying May is the hottest month, is this true, and is this going to be hard to deal with in the middle of the day at Lamanai?

 

Thanks!

[MobileMystic]

I did Tulum from Cozumel via Carnival and Lamanai via NCL. Temperature wise is about the same. (Hot). If memory serves, Tulum is quite a distance, though the bus ride was quite comfortable. Tulum is in a more open area cliffside overlooking the beach. Very awesome view. When we were there the temples etc had a rope to stand behind similar to a museum, in order to protect them. I don't know if this is still the case.

 

Lamanai also has a bus ride to the dock where you catch the boat. a few local craftmens had siplays there. The New River and Lamanai tour was in a little more natural setting and "Indiana Jones ish". Complete with the family of howler monkeys and jungle foliage. The boat ride on New River was terrific and the guide stopped occasionally to point out local plant life. The boat is covered and although the weather was quite hot, you didn't feel it on the boat because of the speed. We were allowed to climb pyramids and tour was very "hands on".

[MobileMystic]

Also should have said that the jungle foliage provides shade from the sun in Lamanai....

[Mike2131]

I am currently signed up for the Lamanai and New River Safari on May 22, but I was wondering if Lamanai or Tulum from Cozumel is better?

 

Also, I found a site saying May is the hottest month, is this true, and is this going to be hard to deal with in the middle of the day at Lamanai?

 

Thanks!

 

I highly recommend both. They make a very interesting contrast. Tulum is on a cliff overlooking a beautiful Caribbean beach and very open. Lamanai is on a river in the jungle and more like what you would expect from watching the Discovery Channel.

If you enjoy history, take both. The tasty lunch and the cruise on the river (with the wildlife sightings) also sets Lamanai apart from Tulum.

Have a great cruise!

[Husky359]

Thanks for the info. How long does it take to get to Tulum?

[ute_fan]

We haven't been to Lamanai yet, but are scheduled to go in May (week of the 14th). We did go to Tulum in January, 2004. I'm glad to hear there is some shade in Lamanai -- I burn very easily, and was hoping that would be the case. The day we were at Tulum it was cool and cloudy -- perfect weather for me, but I understand it can get VERY hot -- not much shade in Tulum, as it's more out in the open.

 

If you're going to Tulum from Cozumel, you have to take a ferry ride over to Playa del Carmen -- maybe 20 or 30 minutes. On a side note, the ferry ride from Playa del Carmen back to Cozumel was EXTREMELY rough for us -- very, very windy. From there, you board a bus, and it's roughly an hour ride (maybe a little less as we did make one "shopping" stop). According to the information from my shore excursion pamphlet, the Tulum tour was scheduled to take 6 3/4 hours. We were able to spend about 1 hour shopping in Playa del Carmen, which we did really enjoy.