driving south of Tulum

[mofosaurus]

Does anyone have any experience driving to Punta Allen or anywhere south of Tulum? I'm considering the drive but would like to hear first hand impressions.


Does anyone have any news regarding the current road conditions? Have the rains closed the road to Punta Allen?

 

[teamheatwave]

Hi again,

We have an overnight trip planned. However it has a fork in the road.

One option was to leave Cancun about 3 AM getting to Maya Ha around breakfast time,have a small meal during the 1-1/2 hour boat trip and dive Chinchorro, spening the night there and returning the next day stopping off at Dos Ojos for a cenote dive on the way home.

The second option is to leave the same time getting to Xcalak (who also goes to Chinchorro) or possibly taking a water taxi over to Ambergris Caye Belize and diving there, spending the night and returning the next day, similar to above.

Besides weather, which way we go will be determined if my dive buddy gets his passport in time.

Since I know we will be in town about the same time you will, if you want to hitch a ride with us, you are more than welcome to.

 

[docmartin]

we drove to maya ha 3 years ago. the last stretch had a lot of potholes but was manageable. otherwise good driving with very little traffic.

 

[mofosaurus]

Team,

Thank you so much for the offer but I can't accept, but that was very nice of you to offer.

Our plans are also up in the air.

My buddy insists on a trip to Coba which I don't think will be much fun. To make it a bit funner I want to drive, not take a Tour bus, do the Coba thing then instead of coming back to Cancun we head east at Tulum to Punta Allen in the Sian Ka 'an Reserve.

Hopefully we'll be able to eat some cheap lobster, and the next day snorkel and tour the Reserve.

Your friend will get his passport in time if he gets it expedited, which I had to do before. At the LA Fed Office they do that if your leaving the country soon. All you have to do is pay for the overnigt fedex. Of course I did that pre 9/11.

Let me know what you end up doing. We will have to get together if possible in town so I can buy you a beer.

Thanks again for the offer.

 

[ggunn]

mofosaurus once bubbled...

[...]
My buddy insists on a trip to Coba which I don't think will be much fun. To make it a bit funner I want to drive, not take a Tour bus, do the Coba thing then instead of coming back to Cancun we head east at Tulum to Punta Allen in the Sian Ka 'an Reserve.

Coba is a neat place. It is not nearly as restored as are Tulum and Chichen-Itza; you'll walk through tunnels in the rain forest from spot to spot. It boasts the tallest pyramid on the Yucatan, and the view from the top is magnificent. Hire a guide so you'll know what you're looking at.

But I don't think you'll be heading east from Tulum unless you're in a boat. ;^)

 

[mofosaurus]

actually your thinking of the Tulum ruins which are on the beach but I'm talking about Tulum the city. Supposedly, when you go south on the 307 and get to Tulum you have some options. The road west leads to Coba. The road south leads evetually to Belize. But the road east, southeast if you perfer, goes down a sandspit peninsula to Punta Allen. Of course these are just rough approximations from maps.

I did a dogpile search for Punta Allen and it seems like Cancun 30 years ago, just a smallfishing village in an incredible setting

Although Chinchorro is supposed to be AWESOME diving I'm kinda jealous that Teamheatwave is going there. But thats even further south.

ggun - I'm approximating 2 hours at Coba but my friend says he doesn't want to be rushed. How long did it take you to tour Coba?

 

[ggunn]

I don't remember exactly, but I believe that we were at Coba for 2-3 hours. That was about 8 years ago, though, and they were still finding more stuff.

The time I went, there were only a few folks there, as opposed to the Tulum and Chichen-Itza trips I have made amongst hundreds of tourists. That was nice. The only "modern" building there was a rough hewn wooden frame structure where you paid admission and could buy a snack. Quite different from all the glass, concrete, and steel at Tulum and Chichen-Itza.

And yes, I was assuming you meant the Tulum ruins. It's funny, though, how lots of folks' sense of direction gets flipped around around there. I still have to think about it when I'm on Cozumel; my orientation seems to rotate 180 degrees there for some reason. Punta Sur "feels" north to me.

 

[Titletowndiver]

Punta Sur "feels" north to me.

I know exactly what you mean! I thought the same thing LOL