Private tour to Tulum + some beach time?

We are a group of two with 8h on port, and want to take a tour to the Tulum Mayan ruins.

Our ship offers a tour but it has a 20min stop each way of the bus trip (which takes about 1h), and since we would love to be able to take a quick dip at the beach, that bus stop just kills time.

I was wondering if anyone knows of a good private tour, not too expensive, that would suit me.

Thank you in advance [emoji5]

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My concern is that you are seeing one hour travel time. That's the bus

what about the ferry to Playa Del Carmen.

To do this tour on a cruise- you are spending more time on transportation then you are at the ruins.

This is not a tour I would do independently the ship WILL leave without you

Serene56 makes a good point.

There are private tours available and you can even DIY it, via catching the ferry and then hiring a taxi in Playa del Carmen to drive you there, wait and pick you up. You will have to take a taxi from your ship's dock, catch as early a ferry as you can, do the tour, then being cognizant of the time (and time differences, if any) catch a ferry back that will get you back to your ship before sail away. In order to do the latter, you may have to cut your visit short as ferries leave Playa for Coz, every other hour. The ferry portion would be applicable to even hiring a guide in Coz or Playa to take you there.

As far as see Tulum and grabbing some beach time, like on the excursion, many of the reports on the ship excursion tend to rue not having enough time to see the ruins.

You can research the private tours yourself and see if they fit your needs. Here are some of the vendors that arrange Tulum tours:

http://cozumel-tours.com/tulum.htm

https://www.shoretrips.com/excursion/region-car-czm-028410/caribbean-central-america/cozumel-mexico/escorted-tour-the-ruins-of-tulum-from-Cozumel

https://www.viator.com/tours/Cozumel/Tulum-Ruins-Archaeological-Tour-from-Cozumel/d632-22626P1

https://cozumelcruiseexcursions.com/cozumel/tulum-mayan-ruins-private-tours/

Thank you so much for your advice. I guess it's a little risky like you said.. I will take a look on those private tours. Thank you [emoji5]

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Thank you so much for your advice. I guess it's a little risky like you said.. I will take a look on those private tours. Thank you [emoji5]

 

 

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One thing to consider....

if you do private company, you will have to use the regular downtown ferry service. This means you have to go to the pier and buy a ticket and ride with general public at their time table.

If you go with your cruise ship excursion, they have chartered a ferry that will meet at your cruise ship pier and return you to your cruise ship pier... it saves a lot of time and also convenience.

I wouldn't try to do this because you will spend more time traveling back and forth than you will at the ruins.

We are a group of two, so we don't get a good deal with most of the private tours.

I didn't know about the ferry.. Thank you for the heads up. Well, I guess we are going to take the ship excursion then.. It says it's a 7h tour, I hope we can get some good time at the ruins. We really want to see Tulum

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The cruise ships will wait for their excursions to return but won't wait for the ferry & private excursions to get back. If you want to see Tulum, go with the ship's tour.

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We are a group of two, so we don't get a good deal with most of the private tours.

I didn't know about the ferry.. Thank you for the heads up. Well, I guess we are going to take the ship excursion then.. It says it's a 7h tour, I hope we can get some good time at the ruins. We really want to see

you will get about 2 hours at the ruins.

Already book the tour with the cruise ship [emoji4] 2 hours seems fine to me, considering it's a cruise excursion.

Thank you

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Have a great time - the ruins are pretty cool. The city is perched on a cliff overlooking the sea. Might want to take some water with you.

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I strongly recommend not doing this with a Private Tour. We did Tulum with the ship in January and our whole tour was late returning, along with a few other buses. It's a long tiring day and the last thing you want is to be worried about ship time vs port time and getting back.