Daytrip to Big Ruins? (mainland vs. Coz)

[rgbfoundry]

In addition to diving, I'm hoping to visit some big ruins. I know there are a few spots on the island, but do they pale in comparison to what's available on the mainland? If we go the mainland route, can you recommend some sites, or daytrip operations based in Cozumel?

 

[Moodiejeff]

In addition to diving, I'm hoping to visit some big ruins. I know there are a few spots on the island, but do they pale in comparison to what's available on the mainland? If we go the mainland route, can you recommend some sites, or daytrip operations based in Cozumel?

If you want to see anything substantial you'll need to go to the mainland.

Click on my Feb. trip report and read about the Cenote/Tulum tour we took, it may be a good solution for your wife's equalization problems and your desire to see some ruins. We never went below 30 ft. and the descent was very gradual. Diego's email address is farther down in the thread.

 

[ggunn]

In addition to diving, I'm hoping to visit some big ruins. I know there are a few spots on the island, but do they pale in comparison to what's available on the mainland? If we go the mainland route, can you recommend some sites, or daytrip operations based in Cozumel?

The ruins on the island are nowhere near as elaborate as those on the mainland. You can go see them fairly easily, though, maybe as an adjunct to an around-the-island excursion (which I highly recommend).

On the mainland, the Big Three are Tulum, Coba, and Chichen-Itza.

Tulum is beautiful; it is on a cliff overlooking the water, and the area is cleared and mowed. The ruins themselves are fairly extensive, and it is located about an hour's drive south of Playa del Carmen.

Coba is far less excavated; you'll go through "tunnels" in the rain forest to get from building to building. Coba has the tallest pyramid on the Yucatan, and although only one face of it is cleared, you can climb it to get a view of the surrounding area from above the forest canopy. Coba is about 40 km inland from Tulum (about an hour on those roads).

If you ferry across to Playa del Carmen fairly early and rent a car, you can see both Tulum and Coba in one trip. There are tour buses, too, but you'll travel on their schedule, which will involve them placing you for large blocks of time where you can shop, and I don't know if any will take in both Tulum and Coba.

Chichen-Itza is in the interior, about 100 miles west of Cancun. It is the largest and most restored of the three, and pictures of the grand pyramid there are what you'll see come up first on just about any search for info on Mayan ruins. You can drive there from Playa del Carmen, too, but it's about a 4 hour drive each way. That's the way I saw it, but that's one where a tour bus might have been a better option.

All three of these sites are definitely worth seeing for anyone who is even a little bit interested in Mayan history. However you get to them, it is pretty much necessary that you hire a guide to explain what you are seeing. If you go on a tour bus, then it will be part of the package; if you rent a car and drive, you'll not have a problem finding one.

Enjoy your trip!

Cheers,

 

[sharky60]

one of the best trips is to Chichen Itza, you can take a small plane from Cozumel to C.I. and have a guided tour for around $100 per person. It may include lunch, i can't remember. It's a full day trip and quite worth the money, check at the hotel when you arrive, if your taking FunJet or another charter check with your Lomas rep. or the rep that the charter provides. It is much better than the drive, I have done both and although depending on how early a start you get you may get a little more time at the site if you drive, the plane trip I feel is the best way to go if it's your first visit

also you can take the ferry over to Playa del Carmon and rent a jeep and drive down to Tulum or over to Coba, there are also organized bus tours to Tulum, but you get more time there if you drive yourself and if you time it right you can just kind of float yourself into the crowd and get on the guided tours once your there.

Coba is one the biggest mayan cities on the Yucatan, it is about 40km from the highway just south of Tulum into the jungle. the city is not very excavated yet with just a few of the hunreds of temples uncovered and only a couple totally restored. Nohoc Mul is the tallest temple on the Yucatan and quite a view from the top. you can hire a private guide to take you through the ruins for around $25, we did this and it was very cool.

on the way to Coba there are 3 mayan villages and in the second one there is a guy with a shop in mayan hut that carves mayan hyraglyphs out of limestone, and makes mayan statues and some other mayan reporductions, really a cool souvenir, I have bought several from him and they are all copied from real mayan glphs from mayan sites. even it you drive to see the ruins at Tulum, it's worth going twards Coba and seening this wonderful artist.