Diving/ Ruins

[fshbreath]

Planning to dive cozumel for a week in december and intrested in rounding out the trip with visiting some ruins from cancun, any suggestions? G.F. wants to stay at Paranassus for a week on Cancun. What about the diving in Cancun?

Thank you,

 

[driftwood]

From Cancun, you have four nearby ruins worth a visit, Chichen Itza, Tulum, Coba and Ek Balam. If you have the time for one Mayan site, Chichen Itza or Ek Balam. Tough to get a tour going to Ek Balam, but it is the only one on the list I would visit a second time.

Coba was the largest and oldest Mayan city. You can still climb the pyramid there, still mostly unexcavated. Chichen Itza is the most famous and frequently visited. Very majestic with great architecture. Tulum takes the most dramatic photos being right on the Carib and has the least impressive ruins. Ek Balam has the best Mayan art. The site literally rewrote the books on Terminal Period Mayan art.

Most tour operators will push you toward either Tulum or Chichen Itza. Both sites are straight shots down highways that are easy for a big tour bus. Personally, I prefer a smaller tour and have used Alltournative - Off Track Adventures . Riviera Maya and Playa del Carmen Mexico Adventure Tours | YucaTreks - Far Out Adventure | Chichen Itza | Tulum | Coba operate from Playa del Carmen and offer better tours.

 

[DandyDon]

Planning to dive cozumel for a week in december and intrested in rounding out the trip with visiting some ruins from cancun, any suggestions? G.F. wants to stay at Paranassus for a week on Cancun. What about the diving in Cancun?

Thank you,

A two week trip, or an argument over which island? Is she a diver?

Driftwood gave good info on the ruins, except I liked driving to them myself. From Cancun, there is a nice tollway to north of Valladolid with exits to Chichen Itza and to Ek Balam. We stayed at the oldest of the 3 hotels in the Chichen Itza zone, the one right at the back gate Mayaland for an 8am start at the ruins before the tour buses arrived, and I was very impressed with the style of the old property which has been preserved even with AC in the rooms & wireless in the lobby. Spacious room with two double beds @ $110, $94 thru Orbitz. See view from my room below...

After 2 or 3 hours of Chichen Itza, there are many choices for lunch but we'd had a big breakfast so just went on to Ek Balam. Free parking, cheap admission, hardly any other tourists, and such a wonderful place to explore. The acropolis was amazing.

This Mayan Adventure map & tour guide is very helpful, altho I don't agree with some of their favorites. Always good to know where the next gas station is too. Be sure to request the free Cancun airport map.

Here is my slide show from CI & EB - starts with a few pics at Playa del Carmen as we arrived by ferry, quickly moves on to the ruins, then finishes up with a Coba Cenote/cave visit. PhotoWorks: Album Slideshow - Aug 2010 Ruins trip We drove from PDC by way of Coba to get to Valladolid tho, rather than the route by way of Cancun.

 

[CaptEsteban]

The town of Valladoid , not far from Chichen-Itza , is a nice place to visit & spend a night as well. Be sure to take a refreshing dip at Zaci Cenote, in town.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

You've gotten several excellent replies about the ruins. I will say that Ek Balam would be my choice, simply because the others are now fenced and you can no longer climb or enter the buidings.

The diving in Cancun is way underrated. Contact Alvaro at awlaysdiving.com or Ben & Jorge at scorpiodivers.com and they'll hook you up. I don't think it's possible to have anything less than a great time with either of these ops.

 

[DandyDon]

Chichen Itza and Ek Balam were built at Cenotes of course, the only reliable source of water for Mayan cities. While other ruins and cenotes are found scattered around the peninsula, many excavated - CI and EB are on the rim of the Chicxulub crater left by the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs and much of the rest of life on earth 65 million years ago. TMI...?

 

[CaptEsteban]

Here is a good link. The maps recommended above are excellent as well.

http://yucatantoday.com/en/topics/cenotes-underwater-sinkholes