Tulum plus beach break - much time on the beach?

[ranger2131]

Has anyone done the Tulum plus beach break? Did you have enough time to see the ruins and enjoy the beach? Is it worth the extra money from the Tulum express? Any problems with them shortening it due to docking times? Sailing on Navigator of the seas with 8 hours of docking time.

[Priusprof]

Tulum is one of the hottest places I have ever been! It is right on the water on the cliff overlooking the beach. You will be so hot that you will be ecstatic to hit the water. Many years ago we stopped at Xel Ha on the way back from Tulum and were happy that we did. Just look at the time difference between the two tours for the answer to your question.

[corts2c]

We did this excursion on Navigator a few years ago. We enjoyed the Ruins and the beach ...BUT...the on board excursion staff was very unorganized getting us off of the ship-we waited an hour in the theater, delaying our start of the tour. I felt sorry for the tour guide at Tulum because he had only half the normal time for the tour and he had to rush us through the tour. We only had a few minutes to look around on our own and get pictures before needing to get back on the bus. After about a 20 minute ride we ended up staying at the beach for about an hour.

 

Most of the time on this excursion we were traveling..on the ferry to the mainland(about 40 minutes), a bus ride to the site of the ruins ,back on the bus to the beach, bus ride back to the ferry pier, and then riding back on the ferry. (which was a very rough ride!!! Sit outside if you can!)

 

FWIW I would skip the beach part and only do the ruins if I ever did this again.

Hope this helps.

[jackaboo]

I did this tour a couple of years back on Allure.

 

I remember the ferry ride to main land very well. Not one to get motion sickness but jeez i never felt so ill as I did on that boat. It was full of Japanese passengers throwing up everywhere which didn't help haha.

 

But a great tour, highly recommend it it! We definitely had enough time at the beach, we had a spot of lunch there which was provided then went for a long stroll along the beach.

Really nice beach and its very quiet.

 

It was absolutely boiling hot there though, just as Priusprof says!

Edited July 2, 2014 by jackaboo

[mcatmcat]

I did that excursion last year and I didn't really liked. Spanish is my first language and I was in shock how unprepared and disorganized this excursion was. People wanted to go to the restroom and our guide was " yeah there are restrooms ahead". The only restroom stop was made at the actual tulum. They give you headphones in a little bag and you think they are new and fresh. They are not, our guide put them back in a nicely way. I asked him in Spanish if he was going to use them again and he just smiled at me. tulum is super hot so be prepared. There is a small beach right in Tulum which is beautiful ( better than the beach break) but I find out about it at the end of our time in tulum so I didn't spent much time in that beach. From Tulum to the beach break our driver was lost so we were riding that bus for an hour once you get to the beach break lunch was provided and the beach is nothing special. Like any excursion they treat you like cow which I don't really care but this was worst than any other excursion that I had. Overall it's nice but I won't do it again or recommend it to my friends

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[brianm27]

We took this tour in April and really enjoyed it.

 

The ferry ride to the main land had free wi-fi, so we used the time to catch up on email and news from home. The bus ride to Tulum was on a new air conditioned coach with restroom facility.

 

The guide on the bus was great, but unfortunately he was struck by another bus as he stepped off our coach! He ended up without serious injury but was taken to the hospital as a precaution. The tour company had another guide to us in less than 10 minutes. He was also very good. We had a restroom break before entering the ruins. The narration was via wireless headset, so it was very easy to hear the guide.

 

As others have said, it is very hot! We had about 30 minutes on our own after the tour to look around on our own and return to the bus.

 

The lunch was a nice buffet in a beachside, open air restaurant. We had about an hour to spend on the beautiful beach.

 

The bus ride back, then the ferry ride to the pier got us back just in time for departure. We were not worried because it was a RCCL excursion, but there was definitely no extra time for any stops.

 

We really enjoyed the day and would recommend it. Just understand that it could easily feel rushed if you go into it expecting a laid back day. Also, if you have difficulty walking long distances this is not for you.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[cruisefan0110]

Here is another vote for the beach break. We had about an hour at the beach and lunch was there. New Air conditioned bus. Our group's tour director, Enrique, was Mayan, still living in the villages. Very memorable tour.

[mechcc]

We did this a few years ago & enjoyed it except for the boat ride to the mainland as that was a rough ride. It is a long day but worth it.

[gilmorefan]

My daughter and I did this excursion a couple of years ago. We really liked Tulum but felt like we didn't get enough time there. We would go there again but wouldn't pay to do the beach break. We didn't think the food was very good and we are not picky eaters.The beach itself was nice but not worth the travel time. Definitely sit outside on the ferry if you can. We were the last group back so we didn't have a choice and ended up inside with people throwing up all around us.

 

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Forums mobile app