Chichen Itza

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crum

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Location
Richmond, VA
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200 - 499
Has anyone taken a trip from cozumel to Chichen Itza for a day? Where is the best place to set up arrangements to do this. I am going to cozumel Dec 17th - 25th and have one day I am not diving. Chichen Itza looks like the best of the ruins to see both on the peninsula and cozumel.
 
Chitzen Itza is certainly the biggest of the ruins and for that, is very impressive, but personally, I prefer Tulum which is the only set of ruins with a sea view, and Coba, which is still covered in jungle and has a "temple of Doom" like feel. In Chichen, they mow the grass and have dozens of busses every day.
 
Chichen Itza (while very beautiful) is quite the haul from Cozumel. A closer (equally beautiful, and unique) option would be Tulum. You can take the ferry over to Playa Del Carmen, rent a car and drive down (it's about an hour south). Coba is also in the area. This is a huge complex spanning a large time period. It's about a 2 hour drive from Playa Del Carmen- but definitely worth the trek.

Mark- Chichen may be the most popular/ best known, but I beleive Coba is size wise the largest Mayan ruin complex.

Heather (the amatuer Mayanist)
 
crum:
Has anyone taken a trip from cozumel to Chichen Itza for a day? Where is the best place to set up arrangements to do this. I am going to cozumel Dec 17th - 25th and have one day I am not diving. Chichen Itza looks like the best of the ruins to see both on the peninsula and cozumel.

Been there twice. And it is a very impressive sight. 10 years ago the buses were pretty old, now they are new super cruisers with AC. This year we rented a car and drove from Cancun. The free road is slow and the toll road is fast, but expensive. There are plenty of places to hook up with a tour. If I ever go again, it will be on the bus. Take lots of drinking water.
 
My wife and I flew from PDC to Chicen itza. If you can get at least three other people it would be $230 a person. However, they flew my wife and I for $266 a piece. It is a much more comfortable way to go and you get spectacular views from the air.

http://www.aerosaab.com/tour_chichen.html

When you are there, I highly recommend getting into the Main Pyramid early to avoid the long lines. One of the advantages of going by air is that you get there before the buses.

Safety Note: If you do fly, keep that in mind for your diving.
 
renpirate:
When you are there, I highly recommend getting into the Main Pyramid early to avoid the long lines. One of the advantages of going by air is that you get there before the buses.

If you are the slightest bit claustrophobic, you might want to give the inside tour of the big pyramid a pass. That's where I found out that I am, and I didn't enjoy it much.

Once you are inside, you cannot change your mind; the only way out is to go all the way to the top and wait until your whole group is off the stairs. I'm getting a little short of breath just thinking about it.
 
A day in Cozumel without diving!! Interesting concept. I figure the ruins will still be there when I get too old to dive every day.

I had some friends make the trip om a small plane.
 
Chichen Itza is great! I've been twice and plan to return. you can set the trip up through the Lomas guys at your hotel. it's a pretty good deal, for about $100 you get the round trip flight right into Chichen Itza on a twin prop that seats around 30-40, sort of like what American Eagle flys. then they taxi you from the "airport", more of a landing strip really, to the archeological site and a guide meets you and give you the tour of the site. It's pretty much a full day trip. bring money to buy lunch and water, you'll need the water, it's hot in the jungle! there is also a gift shop and some souvenir shops on site. trying to drive or take a bus from Playa del Carmon is really a waste of time, because you have to drive clear up to Cancun and then head to the site so it takes over 1/2 a day just to get there and if it's your first time you really want to have a tour guide take you around.
It's really awe inspiring, the second time we went, we spent the weekend in Cancun and drove ourselves to the site, about a 3 hr drive from Cancun. we had a little more time to explore as at that time I had spent much more time studying the Maya.
Although Tulum is not as impressive as C.I. it is also a really nice site right on the coast, you can either rent a car and drive yourself from Playa del Carmon or get a tour on a bus that inlcudes lunch through your hotel, it also leaves from PDC, but do Chichen Itza first, it's well worth it.
after going to those two, on later trips try Coba, you'll have to drive, it's about 40 Km into the jungle once you get down to Tulum, but it is also a very nice site. not as excavated at the other 2 but it was one of the largest cities on the Yucatan and has the tallest temple on the Yucatan, Nohoch Mul, at almost 140' high. you can hire a tour guide there for about $25, my wife and i had our own personal guide, it was wonderful.
any other questions, just let me know,
thankx
marc

crum:
Has anyone taken a trip from cozumel to Chichen Itza for a day? Where is the best place to set up arrangements to do this. I am going to cozumel Dec 17th - 25th and have one day I am not diving. Chichen Itza looks like the best of the ruins to see both on the peninsula and cozumel.
 
Thanks for all the info on the different ruins. Now to go do some research and maybe come back with some questions.
 
I haven't made it to Chichen Itza yet but we did go to Tulum. Tulum would be a considerably shorter trip. I guess it depends what you're going for. If you just want to see an ancient Mayan City, Tulum is beautifully set on the cliffs overlooking the Carribean, very nice!

Since I haven't been to Chichen Itza, I can't say if it's worth the long trip.
 
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