Mayan Riviera
- Thread starter ctw5000
- Start date
Gonzo
The Living Force
We went last year, thanks to the generosity of my inlaws. I've never been to an all-inclusive resort, let alone done any significant vacation travel (aside from car trips).
There are several tours. We really enjoyed Rio Secreto, which was a tour of a cenote and a long underground river. You wear a wet suit and life jacket and walk/swim/float all the way.
Another excursion I really enjoyed was called Mayan Adventure, or something like that. You travel to a small Mayan village that has partnered in the business venture with a tour company. You get to repel down into a huge cenote, hike to the other side and then zip line back. You also go to see the pyramids at Tulum, which are larger, I believe, than the ones at Chichen Itza.
As well, you go on a kayak trip and meet a Mayan shaman who purifies you before entering a rather special cenote and then kayak back and sample their local liquor. It is our tradition in Canada to bring a tobacco offering when meeting an elder, so I bought some really nice cigarillos and presented them to the shaman. He was surprised and seemed quite moved, and later presented me with the crystallized tree sap he uses for incense during the purification ritual. So, you might want to bring a gift out of respect, although no one else will, most likely.
When we were at the pyramids at Tulum, we were pressed for time and my back was quite sore, so we rented bicycles. You can also rent what they call Mayan limousines, which are a form of bicycle-powered rickshaw with a man up front pedaling and a bench seat at the back for the passengers.
Although I was in heaven with the food (as much meat, especially pork, as you want from the buffet, I was more enamoured with the Mayan people. Granted they now make their living off of tourism, I found them more decent than other societies heavily reliant on tourist dollars. I found them to be a humble, yet proud people and, once you get past the "me tourist, you want my money" relationship and actually spend some time with them, I hope you too feel the warmth I experienced.
If you've never traveled to Mexico, read up as much as you can. Although the black market still accepts foreign dollars (we were surprised to see they preferred Canadian dollars over American - apparently, Canadians make up the majority of tourists in that area), it is actually illegal for them to receive foreign dollars and can be difficult for them to trade them back to pesos, or so we were told.
Tipping in Mexico is customary. Learn the appropriate amount for specific circumstances (luggage handling, room maid service, information, etc.). We left good tips for housekeeping and seem to get a few extras and lots of genuine gratitude. I get the feeling some people who go to all-inclusive resort are poor tippers.
Haggling is common, but if one offers too low a price, one could easily seem greedy or insulting. Talk to hotel staff or tour guides to get an idea of when and where to haggle, how low to start, and when to pay full price.
I was surprised when we landed at the Cancun airport, to see all of the various agencies offering to take you to your hotel. They are all lined up in the airport near the exit. Don't go with them. Before getting to your hotel, they will take you to see some properties and try to sell you a time share. Walk past them and find your bus outside. Tip anyone who gets you to your bus, as they may just have saved you some aggravation.
If you're like me and never seen an iguana in the wild before, prepare to be amazed. They are everywhere. Some of them can be quite vicious with each other, so don't get between any that are heading toward the same piece of food. Also, monkeys come out as the sun goes down, so you might get to see a few in the coconut trees.
The resorts will also try to sell you a form of time share. These actually are pretty good deals if you travel much. The idea is you purchase a few years worth of vacation time that can be used at any of the destinations the company has around the world. Since we barely have enough money to pay our mortgage, we weren't interested, but we did do the math and were surprised to see how much one could save if they vacation each year anyway.
If you enjoy shopping or the night life, Playa del carmen is quite pretty (in a touristo kind of way). It's North of the resorts but South of Cancun. To save money, we took the colectivo (a van that runs up and down the major highways as part of a public transportation system) from the resort to Playa and it was quite affordable.
Plan your trip as much as possible before you leave. You will save quite a bit of money if you pre-purchase your excursions.
Finally, if you can afford it, buy decent flip flops and water shoes. The coral on some of the beaches can be quite sharp and, if you get the ones that cover the ankle, you are less likely to get sand in them. Well worth the investment, we found.
I really hope you have as wonderful a time as we did.
Gonzo
Edit: my partner just informed me, the pyramids we ventured ro were at Coba and not Tulum. My bad.
There are several tours. We really enjoyed Rio Secreto, which was a tour of a cenote and a long underground river. You wear a wet suit and life jacket and walk/swim/float all the way.
Another excursion I really enjoyed was called Mayan Adventure, or something like that. You travel to a small Mayan village that has partnered in the business venture with a tour company. You get to repel down into a huge cenote, hike to the other side and then zip line back. You also go to see the pyramids at Tulum, which are larger, I believe, than the ones at Chichen Itza.
As well, you go on a kayak trip and meet a Mayan shaman who purifies you before entering a rather special cenote and then kayak back and sample their local liquor. It is our tradition in Canada to bring a tobacco offering when meeting an elder, so I bought some really nice cigarillos and presented them to the shaman. He was surprised and seemed quite moved, and later presented me with the crystallized tree sap he uses for incense during the purification ritual. So, you might want to bring a gift out of respect, although no one else will, most likely.
When we were at the pyramids at Tulum, we were pressed for time and my back was quite sore, so we rented bicycles. You can also rent what they call Mayan limousines, which are a form of bicycle-powered rickshaw with a man up front pedaling and a bench seat at the back for the passengers.
Although I was in heaven with the food (as much meat, especially pork, as you want from the buffet, I was more enamoured with the Mayan people. Granted they now make their living off of tourism, I found them more decent than other societies heavily reliant on tourist dollars. I found them to be a humble, yet proud people and, once you get past the "me tourist, you want my money" relationship and actually spend some time with them, I hope you too feel the warmth I experienced.
If you've never traveled to Mexico, read up as much as you can. Although the black market still accepts foreign dollars (we were surprised to see they preferred Canadian dollars over American - apparently, Canadians make up the majority of tourists in that area), it is actually illegal for them to receive foreign dollars and can be difficult for them to trade them back to pesos, or so we were told.
Tipping in Mexico is customary. Learn the appropriate amount for specific circumstances (luggage handling, room maid service, information, etc.). We left good tips for housekeeping and seem to get a few extras and lots of genuine gratitude. I get the feeling some people who go to all-inclusive resort are poor tippers.
Haggling is common, but if one offers too low a price, one could easily seem greedy or insulting. Talk to hotel staff or tour guides to get an idea of when and where to haggle, how low to start, and when to pay full price.
I was surprised when we landed at the Cancun airport, to see all of the various agencies offering to take you to your hotel. They are all lined up in the airport near the exit. Don't go with them. Before getting to your hotel, they will take you to see some properties and try to sell you a time share. Walk past them and find your bus outside. Tip anyone who gets you to your bus, as they may just have saved you some aggravation.
If you're like me and never seen an iguana in the wild before, prepare to be amazed. They are everywhere. Some of them can be quite vicious with each other, so don't get between any that are heading toward the same piece of food. Also, monkeys come out as the sun goes down, so you might get to see a few in the coconut trees.
The resorts will also try to sell you a form of time share. These actually are pretty good deals if you travel much. The idea is you purchase a few years worth of vacation time that can be used at any of the destinations the company has around the world. Since we barely have enough money to pay our mortgage, we weren't interested, but we did do the math and were surprised to see how much one could save if they vacation each year anyway.
If you enjoy shopping or the night life, Playa del carmen is quite pretty (in a touristo kind of way). It's North of the resorts but South of Cancun. To save money, we took the colectivo (a van that runs up and down the major highways as part of a public transportation system) from the resort to Playa and it was quite affordable.
Plan your trip as much as possible before you leave. You will save quite a bit of money if you pre-purchase your excursions.
Finally, if you can afford it, buy decent flip flops and water shoes. The coral on some of the beaches can be quite sharp and, if you get the ones that cover the ankle, you are less likely to get sand in them. Well worth the investment, we found.
I really hope you have as wonderful a time as we did.
Gonzo
Edit: my partner just informed me, the pyramids we ventured ro were at Coba and not Tulum. My bad.
I went on vacation to Cancun in 1993 with my girlfriend at the time, my brother, and a friend. We rented a car and went to many of the Mayan ruins including Tulum and Chichen Itza on day trips. It was a really great trip.
On the way back one day from one of the sites, we went on one of the scuba trips in an underground cave. That was REALLY awesome. You basically swim/float with the current through a river that's in a cave with occasional holes at the top with shafts of sunlight streaming in. You swim with many types of tropical fish, etc. until about a mile and a half down stream you come out of the cave.
And like Gonzo said, iguanas are everywhere in that area. Also the beach at Cancun is just unbelievable.
On the way back one day from one of the sites, we went on one of the scuba trips in an underground cave. That was REALLY awesome. You basically swim/float with the current through a river that's in a cave with occasional holes at the top with shafts of sunlight streaming in. You swim with many types of tropical fish, etc. until about a mile and a half down stream you come out of the cave.
And like Gonzo said, iguanas are everywhere in that area. Also the beach at Cancun is just unbelievable.
ctw5000 said:My family and I will be heading off to the Mayan riviera for 2 weeks the end of January..I'm really excited to check out the ruins there. Has anyone been? Any recommendations for tours or sight seeing? Hopefully this isn t a bad time to go
This map shows many ruins:
As was suggested, Tulum was interesting. Rented a car and drove to Coban (45.min from the coast), great walk through the jungle and think their are bus tours that way and to many others. Those were the only ones we made it to but it was great. Never dove in the Cenotes but there are some excellent reef/snorkel diving spots up and down the coast - here is a photo of a map taken. The areas inland denoted I think are the Cenotes.
Enjoy :)
cholas
Dagobah Resident
Hi ctw5000. You didn't mention exactly where you would be staying but if you are visiting Chichen Itza, the town of Valladolid is a good overnight stay and nearby. Quite a few nice cenotes in the area as well.
Also, if you have the time and beaches/beautiful water/ruins tickles your interest(and you dig the rustic experience) the beaches near the town of Tulum(just south of the ruins) have loads of cabanas right on the beach that can be rented for very little(take a bus to the town of Tulum, taxi to the beaches/cabanas). It's a wonderful place and basically walking distance to the ruins there.
Unless things are far different in that part of the country, American(especially) and Canadian dollars are accepted nearly everywhere(I've never heard of it being illegal) but you would be best off exchanging your money to pesos at a bank, not a casa de cambio. You can find the 'official' exchange rate online and find a bank that can match it. Rates do vary, bank-to-bank. I believe it's around 12:1 (usd) now and many businesses will only give 10:1.
FWIW......
Also, if you have the time and beaches/beautiful water/ruins tickles your interest(and you dig the rustic experience) the beaches near the town of Tulum(just south of the ruins) have loads of cabanas right on the beach that can be rented for very little(take a bus to the town of Tulum, taxi to the beaches/cabanas). It's a wonderful place and basically walking distance to the ruins there.
Unless things are far different in that part of the country, American(especially) and Canadian dollars are accepted nearly everywhere(I've never heard of it being illegal) but you would be best off exchanging your money to pesos at a bank, not a casa de cambio. You can find the 'official' exchange rate online and find a bank that can match it. Rates do vary, bank-to-bank. I believe it's around 12:1 (usd) now and many businesses will only give 10:1.
FWIW......
Mrs.Tigersoap
The Living Force
We went there for our 10 years together, Tigersoap and I, in 2003. You're in for a treat, ctw5000! The ruins, the beaches (hottest and clearest water I've ever been in)...
Chichen Itza is a must, so is Tulum (breathtaking ruin overlooking the turquoise sea!!). We also went to a theme park called Xel-Ha where you can scuba-dive, see the most amazing fish, even swim with dolphins. Xel-ha's mascot is an iguana and so there are hundreds of them (some are huge and the Komodo dragons have nothin' on them! :)) There are also many cenotes to visit and some are underground, in grottos and well worth a visit.
Indeed!! I actually have a phobia of lizards and iguanas. When I see one, I think I'm going to die, basically. I'm not scared of spiders (they have huge tarantulas over there!), not scared of snakes, just careful around them, but lizards and iguanas are just too much. For some reason it had 'totally slipped my mind' that there were many iguanas in Mexico. I'm not sure I would have booked otherwise. When I arrived at the hotel, I nearly fainted when I saw two huge specimens baking in the sun by the pool!! They were everywhere in the hotel grounds (we were at an 'environmentally friendly' resort in Playa del Carmen, there were critters everywhere, even large crabs). The iguanas were even in the trees and you had to step over them when you walked some place. Needless to say, It was a very stressful holiday for me!
And it did not cure me of my phobia at all..
There are also scorpions. Fellow Belgian tourists found one in their bathroom. They showed us the picture they took, that thing was huge! One night, as we were going back to our room in the dark (the hotel, being environmentally friendly, did not have lighting in the gardens), we saw a long stripey tail of an animal and so I was already gushing 'awww... a cat!' and then the animal turned and it had a very long snout! Since we had no idea what it was, we hurried back to our room! It was a coati (you can see one here: http://laslagunitas.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/coati-sighting/)
Let us know how it went!
Chichen Itza is a must, so is Tulum (breathtaking ruin overlooking the turquoise sea!!). We also went to a theme park called Xel-Ha where you can scuba-dive, see the most amazing fish, even swim with dolphins. Xel-ha's mascot is an iguana and so there are hundreds of them (some are huge and the Komodo dragons have nothin' on them! :)) There are also many cenotes to visit and some are underground, in grottos and well worth a visit.
Indeed!! I actually have a phobia of lizards and iguanas. When I see one, I think I'm going to die, basically. I'm not scared of spiders (they have huge tarantulas over there!), not scared of snakes, just careful around them, but lizards and iguanas are just too much. For some reason it had 'totally slipped my mind' that there were many iguanas in Mexico. I'm not sure I would have booked otherwise. When I arrived at the hotel, I nearly fainted when I saw two huge specimens baking in the sun by the pool!! They were everywhere in the hotel grounds (we were at an 'environmentally friendly' resort in Playa del Carmen, there were critters everywhere, even large crabs). The iguanas were even in the trees and you had to step over them when you walked some place. Needless to say, It was a very stressful holiday for me!
And it did not cure me of my phobia at all.. There are also scorpions. Fellow Belgian tourists found one in their bathroom. They showed us the picture they took, that thing was huge! One night, as we were going back to our room in the dark (the hotel, being environmentally friendly, did not have lighting in the gardens), we saw a long stripey tail of an animal and so I was already gushing 'awww... a cat!' and then the animal turned and it had a very long snout! Since we had no idea what it was, we hurried back to our room!
It was a coati (you can see one here: http://laslagunitas.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/coati-sighting/)Let us know how it went!
EmeraldHope
The Living Force
ctw5000,
You are really going to be in for a treat- it is beautiful there! I have been twice, staying both in Cozumel, which is about an hour by ferry from Playa del Carmen, and also in the Mayan Riviera. Cozumel has some great snorkeling excursions due to the reefs that are there.
Another place of interest that has not mentioned yet here, that my son really enjoyed, is X-Caret. It is an eco- archaeological park .There you can swim with dolphins, snorkel through underground caves into the heart of a mayan village, see live performances of Mayan culture, and climb ruins. The night show is amazing! We stayed all day and still did not see everything.
Hope you have a wonderful time!
Mrs. Tigersoap's post reminded me that one night when we were walking around the hotel grounds around the lagoon, there was an alligator we didn't see until we were really close to it and it just ran and dove into the lagoon. Scared the heck out of us. The lagoon was full of them.
I also agree with EmeraldHope. X-Caret is an amazing place, like so many of the others on the Yucatan peninsula. Enjoy the trip, ctw5000, there are many places full of wonder and adventure in that whole area.
I also agree with EmeraldHope. X-Caret is an amazing place, like so many of the others on the Yucatan peninsula. Enjoy the trip, ctw5000, there are many places full of wonder and adventure in that whole area.
ctw5000
Padawan Learner
Thanks for all your replys,
I'm going to make a list from all your recommendations.I fotgot to mention we are staying at an all inclusive resort called ocean coral & turquesa. My brother in law is getting married , so the whole family will be there..We are also taking our 8 month old son with us !!! I can t wait to see him on the beach!!
Thanks again everyone!!!!!
I'm going to make a list from all your recommendations.I fotgot to mention we are staying at an all inclusive resort called ocean coral & turquesa. My brother in law is getting married , so the whole family will be there..We are also taking our 8 month old son with us !!! I can t wait to see him on the beach!!
Thanks again everyone!!!!!
axj
The Living Force
Interestingly, I will be in the Mayan Riviera also at the end of January and also for the wedding of a friend.
I find that the pyramid sites there are very impressive. It seems that they were built for the purpose of enhancing and facilitating the Work. Each Mayan pyramid site has a different energy focus:
Chichen Itza - very masculine, assertive energy
Tulum - very receptive, feminine energy
Coba - death of the old and rebirth
Ek Balaam - hardly known, but one of my favorites - the only place where they have angels statues
You can see them on the map which Voyageur posted.
For fun, I definitely recommend Xel-Ha and also the beach at Tulum, which is my favorite beach anywhere.
I find that the pyramid sites there are very impressive. It seems that they were built for the purpose of enhancing and facilitating the Work. Each Mayan pyramid site has a different energy focus:
Chichen Itza - very masculine, assertive energy
Tulum - very receptive, feminine energy
Coba - death of the old and rebirth
Ek Balaam - hardly known, but one of my favorites - the only place where they have angels statues
You can see them on the map which Voyageur posted.
For fun, I definitely recommend Xel-Ha and also the beach at Tulum, which is my favorite beach anywhere.
ctw5000
Padawan Learner
My trip to the Mayan Riviera was amazing!
Thanks to everyone for all the information, it helped us plan what day trips we went on. The first week we simply layed low and relaxed. Our days consisted of laying on the beach, enjoying the sun and stuffing ourselves at the buffet. The buffet was huge and I could have ate there for the rest of my life! The Mexican people were very friendly and always made sure to give our 11 month son special attention.
The second week was a little more hectic, we had a wedding to attend to ,so all the guest arrived along with the bride and groom. We spent allot of time visiting and relaxing by the pool. We had a couple of day trips to Playa Del Carmen for some shopping and exploring (glad we brought a stroller).Later that week we spent a whole day at Xcaret, what an amazing place carved right out of the jungle. So much to see, it would take 2 or 3 full days I'm sure. One of the cooler things was the Mayan spinning rituals, it reminded me of some of the literature I have read about spinning induced trances to get in touch with the higher centers (correct me if I'm wrong). I wanted to ask one of the men if they ever had visions when they preformed the spinning but I never got a chance. Our next trip was to Chitza itza, on the way we stopped of at a cenote and did some swimming it was amazing and the highlight of our trip. We arrived at the ruins and were given a tour by a highly educated man with a great sense of humour.He explained to us ow the engineering of the temples incorporated acoustics into their plans .He demonstrated by clapping his hands in front of the main temple, the echo that came back was a high pitched sound reminiscent of a bird chirp (google it for a much better explanation).One of the more amazing aspects of the architecture was how once a year on the solstice the positioning of the temple creates shadows that mimic a snake slowly making its way to the ground...A snake coming down from the heavens!! HELLO!! Our tour guide also addressed how the Mayan people look different than most Mexicans, this was also addressed in a C's session. They had said that their exposure to 4D entities altered there DNA hence their appearance....fascinating to say the least
The only complaint about the trip would be that once you are off the resort the vendors selling touristy stuff can be a little aggressive. I can see how it would turn people off, at first I would address everyone that addressed me with a "no thank you senor" after a time I realized I was just wasting my time and unfortunately I had to ignore them which made me have a weird feeling it just didn t seem right. It didn t really bother me too much knowing that they were just trying to make a living.
Overall there wasn t a time at all when we felt unsafe, the Mexican people were very polite and caring people. I hope that there is a chance of us going back in the not to distance future..
:)
Thanks to everyone for all the information, it helped us plan what day trips we went on. The first week we simply layed low and relaxed. Our days consisted of laying on the beach, enjoying the sun and stuffing ourselves at the buffet. The buffet was huge and I could have ate there for the rest of my life! The Mexican people were very friendly and always made sure to give our 11 month son special attention.
The second week was a little more hectic, we had a wedding to attend to ,so all the guest arrived along with the bride and groom. We spent allot of time visiting and relaxing by the pool. We had a couple of day trips to Playa Del Carmen for some shopping and exploring (glad we brought a stroller).Later that week we spent a whole day at Xcaret, what an amazing place carved right out of the jungle. So much to see, it would take 2 or 3 full days I'm sure. One of the cooler things was the Mayan spinning rituals, it reminded me of some of the literature I have read about spinning induced trances to get in touch with the higher centers (correct me if I'm wrong). I wanted to ask one of the men if they ever had visions when they preformed the spinning but I never got a chance. Our next trip was to Chitza itza, on the way we stopped of at a cenote and did some swimming it was amazing and the highlight of our trip. We arrived at the ruins and were given a tour by a highly educated man with a great sense of humour.He explained to us ow the engineering of the temples incorporated acoustics into their plans .He demonstrated by clapping his hands in front of the main temple, the echo that came back was a high pitched sound reminiscent of a bird chirp (google it for a much better explanation).One of the more amazing aspects of the architecture was how once a year on the solstice the positioning of the temple creates shadows that mimic a snake slowly making its way to the ground...A snake coming down from the heavens!! HELLO!! Our tour guide also addressed how the Mayan people look different than most Mexicans, this was also addressed in a C's session. They had said that their exposure to 4D entities altered there DNA hence their appearance....fascinating to say the least
The only complaint about the trip would be that once you are off the resort the vendors selling touristy stuff can be a little aggressive. I can see how it would turn people off, at first I would address everyone that addressed me with a "no thank you senor" after a time I realized I was just wasting my time and unfortunately I had to ignore them which made me have a weird feeling it just didn t seem right. It didn t really bother me too much knowing that they were just trying to make a living.
Overall there wasn t a time at all when we felt unsafe, the Mexican people were very polite and caring people. I hope that there is a chance of us going back in the not to distance future..
:)