Question about the Mayan Ruins

My hubby and I will be taking our FIRST cruise ever in November. We are going to Cozumel, Belize and then Mahogany Bay.

We are looking at excursions and need opinions. Which are the better ruins to see - Cozumel's Tulum versus the ones in Belize - Altun Ha Mayan.

Thanks so much!

I've never been to Belize, so I can't answer the question for you, but be aware that the Tulum ruins aren't on Cozumel. They require a trip by ferry to the mainland, and then a bus from there.

Roz

I've never been to Belize, so I can't answer the question for you, but be aware that the Tulum ruins aren't on Cozumel. They require a trip by ferry to the mainland, and then a bus from there.

 

Roz

This is a good point, if this is the one you choose it will be an all day type of thing and you will not have a chance to do anything else in Cozumel. Table mates on our Conquest cruise loved this excursion, but the time to get there and back was substantial.

We've done both and enjoy both. I would say Tulum has the more interesting ruins and is set in a beautiful location overlooking the water. The ferry ride to the mainland can be rough sometimes.

There are a few structures at Altun Ha you can actually climb, unless it has been raining.

Should be able to find lots of pictures of both on the Internet.

We do know that it will be an all day excursion. My husband is a history buff and I just want to make sure we take in the best ruins we can get.

I thought Altun Ha was nothing much to see. There is more in Tulum. The ferry, as other have said, can be rough depending on the weather. The bus ride is also long.

Only go with a arnival excursion for either of these as they are far away and accidents happen. We've been delayed from leaving Cozumel for over 2 1/2 hours because the bus broke down coming back from Tulum.

I would suggest checking out the Ports of Call Forum on Cruise Critic (toward the bottom of the page, then choose the ports in question) -- there will lots of chatter and a wealth of information about the ports and the excursions. Might help you make up your mind.

Have a great cruise!:D

When we went on the Western Caribbean cruise (see Valor western review in signature) we did a private tour in Belize to Altun Ha and a baboon sanctuary. We had plenty of time to even do some walking around when we got back. They are neat to see. I have heard the Tulum ones are a little harder to reach we were debating the same thing....which ones to see. At Altun Ha we were able to climb on a lot of the structures it was a cool experience.

You're heading out on your first cruise and Cozumel is one of the most popular islands that you will visit. I would suggest that you see the ruins in Belize as there is much more to see and do in Coz. My 2 cents and that's all it's worth.

We have done both. Tulum is better. Great pictures of Mayan Ruins next to the beach!

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Depending on how long you're staying at Cozumel, you might be able to do Coba also. Its farther inland than Tulum, and I prefer it over Tulum. Coba is much older than Tulum by about a thousand years.

Its also much larger. They allow you to climb the temple at Coba, whereas Tulum is very much off-limits.

As i said, I prefer it over Tulum if you're looking at the ruins only. However, Tulum is next to a beautiful beach which is part of the grounds. You can combine a visit to the Mayan Ruins and a beach day all in one.

If my hubby were a history buff I would do the Tulum one; you never know if you will ever get a chance to go back and what shape the ruins will be in. Cozumel is visited on many, many itineraries. Knock out the most inaccessible ruin first! ITA go with the CCL tour; we were delayed recently due to this group being a bit late- not two hours, though:)

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We've been to Tulum and enjoyed it. Lots of ruins and its right on the beach. Tour was very informative and we got really great pictures.

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Xunantunich via ship excursion

My hubby and I will be taking our FIRST cruise ever in November. We are going to Cozumel, Belize and then Mahogany Bay.

 

We are looking at excursions and need opinions. Which are the better ruins to see - Cozumel's Tulum versus the ones in Belize - Altun Ha Mayan.

 

Thanks so much!

I've been to both and Tulum is infinitely nicer. It is larger and sits on a cliff overlooking the gorgeous blue Caribbean. It is actually a walled village, and many structures are fairly intact. It is usually pretty hot there, but you can descend some wooden steps and cool off in the sea. Bring your bathing suit or shorts and some bug repellant, some months there are horseflies.

Altun Ha has maybe 4 structures that have been badly patched and repaired. Of all the Mayan ruins that I have visited in Mexico and Belize, this is my least favorite. Xanantunich is a much better site from this port, if you are still able to climb the largest pyramid there, as I did several years ago, it is a wonderful experience.

I absolutely agree with Xunantunich. We've done Tulum and Altun Ha. While I like them, we just did Xunantunich this month, and it was INCREDIBLE. You can still climb the ruins there, but they will be making them off-limits in 2015. Do it while you can!!!

Be aware, the area around the port in Belize is very poor. It was eye-opening for our teenagers. But out of the port area, the country is beautiful!!! It was about a 2-hour bus ride to the ruins but was worth every minute. And lunch was included in our excursion (ship).

We also booked the ship excursion to Coba for Cozumel, and it was canceled due to lack of interest. We were very disappointed.

Robin

I am not in great shape and am scared of heights, but I figured it was an "only-time" in a lifetime chance, so I went up. (I am in the brown hat. My daughter is encouraging me.)

Going down is always harder for me than going up. Here my 18-year-old is holding my hand. He was my 'walking stick'! :D

Just wondering, thru Carnivals Tulum excursion, about how much time do you get on the beach?

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Another vote for Xunantunich. Elect to take a ship sponsored excursion since its quite an affair you'll travel almost to the border of Guatemala.

I can only speak about Tulum, which may not help, but there were some points made that I wanted to echo.

It is a long day and for that reason, we chose the Carnival excursion. It was more expensive, but it eliminated the risk of missing the ship. They made a "restroom" stop on the way down at a souvenir store. They said it would be 15 minutes and it ended up being more like 40. You know it is coming, but it was still a little frustrating because we were anxious to have as much time at the ruins as possible.

The ruins are spectacular, especially as they are set right off the beach and the blue water. We stayed with the tour of the ruins (rather than go off on our own), but were a little disappointed by the quality of the tour itself. My wife and I had taken a tour to Chichen Itza from Cancun in 1992 and I still think the tour guide we had was the best ever. He explained what each structure was and how it was aligned and what the effects were, etc. By contrast, the guide at Tulum focused on the poverty of his indigenous peoples -- an important fact, but the way it dominated his presentation took away from the experience. Of course, the tour guides are always hit and miss and some are better than others. And in comparision to Chichen Itza, the Tulum ruins aren't nearly as amazing.

I seem to remember getting about an hour at the beach after the tour. It wasn't a lot, whatever it was. The tour was also advertized as including "lunch". They provided us with a choice of cheese & cracker snack boxes like you might send with your kids to school. It isn't what I'd call "lunch". On the other hand, the bus driver was selling beers at $1 from a cooler in the front of the bus.

The ferry ride back was particularly rough and blew out (or in, actually) one of the windows in the passenger area of the ship. People were cut, bleeding, etc.

I also disagree with the suggestion to skip Tulum because there is a lot to to on Cozumel. There are bars and all-inclusive beaches, but nothing else of a historical/educational/cultural nature, as far as I'm aware.

My hubby and I will be taking our FIRST cruise ever in November. We are going to Cozumel, Belize and then Mahogany Bay.

 

We are looking at excursions and need opinions. Which are the better ruins to see - Cozumel's Tulum versus the ones in Belize - Altun Ha Mayan.

 

Thanks so much!

I have been to both. It has been several years since Altun Ha,but what I loved about that place is that nothing was roped off and we could climb to the top of one of the ruins. We could not do that at Tulum. Everything was roped off. If anyone knows if this has changed at Altun Ha, I would love to know as I would like to go back there. Thanks!

We are doing Xuanantunich in Belize in October! So excited. My husband and I are big Mayan history buffs so getting to do a ruin in Belize was part of our decision to do a cruise.

We have done Chichen Itza (huge and mind blowing) and Coba and Tulum all from land-based vacations in Mexico. Tulum is tiny compared to the others, small structures from the very end of the Mayan civilization. It covers maybe the size of a football field. Coba is back in the jungle, only a handful of structures uncovered so far, but all are huge and very impressive.

Personally, I would do Coba again but not Tulum. Tulum was crowded and just not that much to see. Either one would be a full day of travel from Cozumel with most of your time in transit, maybe only an hour at the ruins.

Cozumel has it's own Mayan ruins in San Gervasio. Small, but it wasn't part of a huge compound and city. It was more of a temple to ix chel, the fertility goddess, it i recall correctly. Those you could see as part of an island tour with something else, but they certainly aren't as impressive as others.

Xunantunich in Belize is the best I've been to so far.

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Don't mess with the others, just book the Xunantunich excursion!

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Here is another vote for the Xunantunich excursion in Belize. Well worth the drive there and back plus lunch. If you climb "El Castillo" it is 135' and you can see Guatemala from the top.

We have done both the Belize Lamanai tour and Cozumel Tulum tour.

I highly recommend both, but book your excursions through your cruiseline. They are all day tours.

Tulum is located in a beautiful site since it is on a cliff overlooking the sea. Lamanai is deep in the jungle. We rode in a boat to get there and back.

You might like to see the slideshows my wife made from pictures she took at each excursion. Each slideshow will play as soon as the page opens, but you can also go through the pictures by clicking on the thumbnails one at a time.

Belize ~ Lamanai Mayan Ruins shore excursion

Cozumel ~ Tulum Mayan Ruins excursion