visiting ruins

[cruzcraver4life]

Seeking advice on whether to see Tulum from Cozumel or choose ruins from Costa Maya instead. Prefer to spend as little time traveling to the ruins as possible. Any advice, do's and don'ts please.

[evandbob]

Ruins from Costa Maya are Kolcinchin and Chocoban, pardon the spelling. They are small and the structures are spaced out a bit from one another.

 

From Cozumel, Tulum requires a longer time traveling, but IMO, is so worth the extra drive time. Tulum is an entire walled town or trading post with many structures fairly intact or restored. There's also that fabulous beach below the Observatory to take a wonderful refreshingly dip to cool off after your tour.

 

Whatever you decide, try to get a reputable guide to explain and answer any questions you might have about the Mayans or their way of living.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have done the Chacchoben ruins in Costa Maya and the Tulum ruins in Cozumel.

We enjoyed both of them.

Chichin Itza is really great!!

[Nebr.cruiser]

We've done ruins in both places. I love Tulum, but probably wouldn't do it from Cancun again due to the sometimes very rocky ferry to the mainland and travel time--one of the few times I've ever been seasick.

 

I actually don't think it is a very big site, just spectacular in it's unusual setting. The beach looks wonderful, but haven't used it.

 

Chachobaan ruins are good too, again not a really large site and travel time is about an hour each way. We had time to go to the beach afterwards.

 

Yes, Chichen Itza is wonderful, just not very doable from a cruise. It can be done, but very expensive and might involve helicopters or flights unless you are in port very late.

[Grandma Dazzles]

If you decide to do Tulum from Cozumel be aware that the ferry ride can be rough. The ferry can be late. I would also recommend a ship's excursion. The ship will wait for you if you are on their excursion. Have been on RC twice, once with a friend who took the excursion, when this happened.

 

The ferry was late because of the rough crossing. It was also very crowded. The ship waited for the passengers who had booked with them. They were escorted off the ferry first, as a group. Rushed through security at the dock and back on board. Several passengers were left behind. They were on independent tours and could not get off the ferry fast enough with all the people. Lots of them had friends and family on board and were very upset/angry that they could not board. They were all pier runners as we pulled away.

[bigwally]

I would vote Coba over Tulum, but only if you ship has a tour - it's a little too far inland to consider doing on your own from Cozumel.

 

Chichen-Itza is not feasible at all from Cozumel using only ground transportation and the ferry.

 

Drive times (each way) from PDC:

 

Tulum - 45 minutes

Coba - 90 minutes

Chichen-Itza - 2 hours (fastest route)

Edited February 5, 2018 by bigwally

[Bonnie J.]

If you go to Tulum you have to take a ferry from Cozumel. Then a long bus ride to the ruins. If you decide to go there, TAKE THE SHIP"S TOUR! If the tour is late for any reason the ship will not leave until the tour is back. If you take a private tour and are held up because of an accident or whatever, the ship will not wait for you to get back to the ship. It will just leave.Then you have to fly to get to the next port!

 

I don't think the ruins in Costa Maya are a long way like Tulum.

[ontheweb]

If you go to Tulum you have to take a ferry from Cozumel. Then a long bus ride to the ruins. If you decide to go there, TAKE THE SHIP"S TOUR! If the tour is late for any reason the ship will not leave until the tour is back. If you take a private tour and are held up because of an accident or whatever, the ship will not wait for you to get back to the ship. It will just leave.Then you have to fly to get to the next port!

 

I don't think the ruins in Costa Maya are a long way like Tulum.

 

I second that. On one of our first cruises we took a ship's tour to Tulum, and it was obvious we were going to get back very late. I was very worried, but was assured by a member of the cruise director's staff who was also on the tour that the ship would wait for us.

 

BTW, it was a tour that included going to a beach after Tulum. And after a very long hot day, that was very welcome. I would recommend adding that to a Tulum tour.