Best Myan Ruins Excursion

Looking for the best Myans Ruins excursion in either Cozomel, Costa Maya, Belize or Roatan. Any suggestions?

No Maya ruins on Roatan. Mayas were never there.

My pick for best ruins is Belize: Choice of 3: Altun Ha, Xunantunich, Lamanai. Lamanai is the farthest and it's preferable to use the ship sponsored excursion, if available. Likewise for Xunantunich. But if you have a long port stop over (10hours) do Lamanai via a private excursion.

Next would be Costa Maya, use Native Choice for the excursion. They offer two: Dizbanche and Chacchoben. Dizbanche is probably the better of the two. David and Ivan also have Maya cultural segments in these tours, making it very interesting.

Finally, Cozumel, you can reach Tulum and possibly Coba, if you have time and want to head across to the mainland. Ship excursion is recommended due to ferry schedule. But it's a long day trip and little or no refreshments/food provided. Again, a longer stay in Cozumel can make a DIY tour of Tulum a possibility, so long as you pay attention to ferry departure times back to Coz and any difference between Cozumel time and ship time.

Lamanai in Belize or Coba in Cozumel. These are both absolutely incredible in my opinion. They both require some effort to reach – but worth every minute of the travel time. You are still able to climb to the very top of the Mayan temples. Incredible view over the jungle canopy. Awesome experience!

We will be on MSC Divina stopping in Cozumel in November. This is our secind visit here - first time we did an island tour + San Gervasio ruins. This time we would like to see the Tulum Mayan ruins. I am looking for recommendations as to which is the better ruin to visit from Cozumel - Tulum, Corba or Chitchen Itza. Also do you have any recommendations for tour operators? Any help/recommendations would be appreciated.

We will be on MSC Divina stopping in Cozumel in November. This is our secind visit here - first time we did an island tour + San Gervasio ruins. This time we would like to see the Tulum Mayan ruins. I am looking for recommendations as to which is the better ruin to visit from Cozumel - Tulum, Corba or Chitchen Itza. Also do you have any recommendations for tour operators? Any help/recommendations would be appreciated.

I can't help you with your question. [i've been to Chichen Itza on a land-based vacation and from Progreso and enjoyed it but I don't think it's doable from Cozumel.] But do you mind if I ask how you enjoyed your visit to San Gervasio? Was there much to see? Were the mosquitos bad? Thank you!

San Gervasio ruins on Cozumel are tiny, like 3-4 small one story temples, that is it. Nice 1 hour walk around, nothing more.

Chichen Itza is the famous Mayna Ruins ... but I don't think you can get there from Cozumel any longer. At one time some cruise lines offered an excursion by plane but now it's no longer an option.

LuLu

We will be on MSC Divina stopping in Cozumel in November. This is our secind visit here - first time we did an island tour + San Gervasio ruins. This time we would like to see the Tulum Mayan ruins. I am looking for recommendations as to which is the better ruin to visit from Cozumel - Tulum, Corba or Chitchen Itza. Also do you have any recommendations for tour operators? Any help/recommendations would be appreciated.

There is no question (and I'm sure most frequent cruisers on this board will agree) that if you are going to do a mainland ruins tour (Coba or Tulum) you should do it with the cruise ship. If you do it with the ship and there is a delay, they will wait for you. If you do it on your own with a private company and you are delayed.....the ship will not wait. There are a lot of variables that can make this trip delayed, so I would really consider doing a mainland ruin tour with a ship's excursion.

I've been to several ruins. Belize would be your best best.

We had scheduled to do Coba from Cozumel last May but the ships tour did not get enough propel and it got cancelled. It is too far to try to do on own.

I can't help you with your question. [i've been to Chichen Itza on a land-based vacation and from Progreso and enjoyed it but I don't think it's doable from Cozumel.] But do you mind if I ask how you enjoyed your visit to San Gervasio? Was there much to see? Were the mosquitos bad? Thank you!

We did the San Gervasio ruins combined with an island tour. The ruins are very small and not as impressive as the larger Tulum, Corba or Chichen Itza. But we did enjoy walking around/thru the ruins. It is a good introduction to the mayan history/culture if you have never visited any ruins before. We spent about an hour there. I don't remember any problems with mosquitos - we went in November.

San Gervasio ruins on Cozumel are tiny, like 3-4 small one story temples, that is it. Nice 1 hour walk around, nothing more.

Thank you for that, as we were thinking of doing that tour. Anything else in that area?

Thank you for that, as we were thinking of doing that tour. Anything else in that area?

It is way up north on the island, past downtown San Miguel, past the airport, a long way from the cruise ship docks. If you plan to take a taxi there, keep that in mind. The cruise ship excursions to visit it may be cheaper in the long run. Also, the excursions include a tour guide.

No, not much in that area, mostly just jungle. I think the cruise ship excursion also goes to a beach for an hour but check to see if that is true.

We did the ruins 14 years ago, before the cruise ships started doing their tours, so most of what I know about it is from that and from friends who visited a few months ago on their own. They rented a car and drove up, toured the ruins, then drove around the east side of island stopping at various beaches and bars before returning to hotel. They said there is now a whole little village set up at the entrance with shops, etc. That was not there 14 yrs ago!