Cozumel and Cancun in November

[Alex_Garland]

Hi everyone,

I'll be hitting up Cozumel in November with Blue Planet (Home - Blue Planet Scuba) on a 5-day, 4-night diving/hotel package from Friday, November 13 to Tuesday, November 17th. I'm flying into Coz on Friday afternoon the 13th, flying out on Saturday the 21st from Cancun (decided to extend the trip a little). I'd like to get in a lot of diving that week, but also do a day or two of other things, such as touring a Mayan ruin near Cancun. Any thoughts on fun stuff I should look into? (Before you say the Cenotes, note that I'm not a technical diver--I'm only PADI OW certified--and the idea of cave diving makes me nervous.) I'd like to spend at least 1 or 2 nights in The Real Cancun, possibly more, so if you have any hotel recommendations (mid-range, $150/night or less, preferably on the beach) I'd really appreciate that as well.

AG

 

[Ron Lee]

I suggest also looking into staying near Playa del Carmen/Playacar. As for ruins, you can do a Chichen Itza/Ek Balam/Ik Kil cenote trip or Coba/Tulum/cenote trip. Many places do these trips and you can do them yourself if you want to rent a car or use local transportation.

Here are some options to start your research

Visit Chichen Itza, Cenote Ik Kil & Ek Balam. Climb Ek Balam!

Visit Chichen Itza + Coba ruins and Cenote Ik Kil for lunch

Edventure Tours

Then there are ziplines:

Xplor Park Cancun | Activities in Canc

---------- Post added July 17th, 2015 at 06:43 AM ----------

Hotel location maps are here:

Mapchick's online vacation planner for Cancun, the Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen, Isla Mujeres, Cozumel, and more.

I could not grasp the idea of the website your provided. Who are you diving with in Cozumel?

 

[Alex_Garland]

Thanks, I'll look into those links. Blue Planet is a local dive shop in D.C. that also organizes training and trips. This is the description for Cozumel:

Weekend getaway to Cozumel - Blue Planet Scuba

I could not grasp the idea of the website your provided. Who are you diving with in Cozumel?

 

[Asteve]

We did a trip last Feb. We thought we'd do a few days in Playa del Carmen. We flow into Cancun and did the Bus to Playa del Carmen and, the drag to our hotel (was easy). We found a taxi that gave a 200 peso hour rate. Had him give us a tour of Playa del Carmen and two days later had him take us to Aktun Chen ( I like to have someone else do the driving so I can look around). We liked Playa del Carmen, it was a fun place. We did a trip to Aktun Chen to snorkel in a Cenotes (rated the best for snorkel). What I did not know is they have a walking tour of 3 Cenotes that were more like small caverns. Well lit and interesting formations. It was great. Think we liked it as well or better than the snorkel cave, which is good. I would say do the cave tour if you can only do one, we did both.

All in all, it was a great trip. We enjoyed the ruins at Tulum, Coba and Chichen Itza. (Note from the wife – “Not to be missed” is the evening dance show at Xcharet Park. At 4:00 the entry fee drops a bit, and since we had no particular interest in their beach or inner-tube river rides, it left us with time to see the grounds, the aquarium and butterfly pavilion before the show. We were both awed with this evening performance that gave us everything from history, to the Mayan ball games, to amazing musical performances. Even my husband was impressed with the stage engineering that was involved. Great fun!)

 

[Alex_Garland]

Thanks! I'll probably ferry over to Playa del Carmen when I'm done with Coz, so I will give your suggestion serious consideration.

We did a trip last Feb. We thought we'd do a few days in Playa del Carmen. We flow into Cancun and did the Bus to Playa del Carmen and, the drag to our hotel (was easy). We found a taxi that gave a 200 peso hour rate. Had him give us a tour of Playa del Carmen and two days later had him take us to Aktun Chen ( I like to have someone else do the driving so I can look around). We liked Playa del Carmen, it was a fun place. We did a trip to Aktun Chen to snorkel in a Cenotes (rated the best for snorkel). What I did not know is they have a walking tour of 3 Cenotes that were more like small caverns. Well lit and interesting formations. It was great. Think we liked it as well or better than the snorkel cave, which is good. I would say do the cave tour if you can only do one, we did both.

All in all, it was a great trip. We enjoyed the ruins at Tulum, Coba and Chichen Itza. (Note from the wife – “Not to be missed” is the evening dance show at Xcharet Park. At 4:00 the entry fee drops a bit, and since we had no particular interest in their beach or inner-tube river rides, it left us with time to see the grounds, the aquarium and butterfly pavilion before the show. We were both awed with this evening performance that gave us everything from history, to the Mayan ball games, to amazing musical performances. Even my husband was impressed with the stage engineering that was involved. Great fun!)

 

[nodakdive]

Another big fan of Xcaret. You might be able to find cheaper tickets online, but it's about $80 at the door. This doesn't include food or drink, or special activities like scuba diving, or Sea Trek, or whatever. Do not miss the 6pm show and leave some time to make your way to the entrance so you can see the actors in the amazing costumes. They're on the walkway that leads to the main gates of the arena before the show starts. There're jaguars, cougars, manatees, butterflies, river cave tubing, river cave snorkeling, river cave boat etc. Amazing sea fed salt water aquarium (3rd largest in the world as of about 8 years ago? May not be anymore.) Turtle hatchery with turtle ponds. Dolphin shows, etc. Lot's of Mayan and Mexican culture stuff. Horse riding shows. Imo, it's a day's worth and the show is the icing on the cake. The last time I was there, it was all in Spanish and probably still is, but that doesn't matter at all. Amazing, beautiful show.

 

[victorzamora]

My wife and I went to Xel Ha and the ruins in Tulum over Xcaret. It was a tough call and liked like a blast.