Recommendations for Non-Divers

[robint]

I did Coba in August arriving late in the morning and it was hot but with two quart thermoses of cold water in my backpack - doable. 8am sounds much better for either, and at least CI doesn't seem like a mountain bike park.

Don - Coba is surrounded by jungle, so yes it is hot but there is at least some shade. The site at Chichen Itza has been cleared of all trees in the efforts to uncover the 10-20% of ruins that are now available. Very little trees means swealtering hot open areas. There are a few small gift shops around the huge site, so we ducked into those (air conditioning, restrooms, and cold beverages) a few times during our 3 hours there. It helped but if the place is crowded I would expect them to be packed with people.

Coba

Chichen Itza - a few clusters of trees here and there, by mid-day these were full of people trying to excape the heat

many of these were taken by the vendors so you couldn't even get in the shade!

robin

 

[judydivescoz]

Thanks for the info Robin. I know its going to be really hot in August. We want to be the first ones thru the gate in the morning. I went to CI 12 years ago in late April and made the mistake of not getting there until 1pm. It was sooo hot. That was back in the day you could climb to the top of the largest pyramid. Going up was not so tough, it was going down that was the hard part. I took my then 13 year old son and traveled with a friend and her 13 year old son. The kids had little interest and wanted nothing more than to get back to the pool in Cancun. This trip is with my husband so we plan on enjoying the site as much we can.
Thank you again for the info, looks like we will stay at the same hotel...price is right, great recommendation and it is a great location.

 

[DandyDon]

Yeah, I'm hoping for some breeze at CI but am certainly doing it at 8am instead of 11! I may be more seasoned that most about heat with my farm & cowboy background, my bud wimped out at Coba and paid a tricycle guy to take him back to the gate; I salt my food well, drink heavily, wear cotton and just sweat. August is when I will be there tho, so we'll see.

After a few miles at Coba...
[c]

Spoiler

[/c]

 

[robint]

Thanks for the info Robin. I know its going to be really hot in August. We want to be the first ones thru the gate in the morning. I went to CI 12 years ago in late April and made the mistake of not getting there until 1pm. It was sooo hot. That was back in the day you could climb to the top of the largest pyramid. Going up was not so tough, it was going down that was the hard part. I took my then 13 year old son and traveled with a friend and her 13 year old son. The kids had little interest and wanted nothing more than to get back to the pool in Cancun. This trip is with my husband so we plan on enjoying the site as much we can.
Thank you again for the info, looks like we will stay at the same hotel...price is right, great recommendation and it is a great location.

Wow, you will be surprised with the new areas excavated and open to public now! Our guide was telling us about all the changes in the past 10 yrs and that a new area will be opening soon. You may be able to see that!

Do you have the Mayan Adventure Map yet? If you do, there are tons of little towns and history marked on it for that area, places worth visiting. We didn't have time unfortunately, but want to do it next time. Some of those little villages survive on the tourists stopping. The area is filled with little cenotes, owned by those villages and not visited by tour buses, lots of little souvenir shops with hand-made items, restaurants, etc.
Ron and I can't wait to go back, visit CI again and also Ek Balam, cenotes, villages, .... ahhh. Can't wait to see your pictures when you get back. Have fun!!

robin

 

[SavetheSharks]

Another vote for the museum, a trip around the island (you can hire a cab for the day or rent a car), San Gervasio archeologocal site, is much larger than I think most people think it is and is a great place to kick off Mayan intrests if going to the mainland is not an option.

Of course San Gervasio is nothing compared to Chichen Itza, which can be done as a day trip from Playa del Carmen, or there is a tour that flies from Coz to C.I. rather than taking the bus for 3.5+ hours. each way.

Tulum is much closer, but not as impressive as C.I. either, it's much cooler though being located on the coast. Coba and Chichen Itza are right in the Yucatan jungle and can be quite opressive at times. A good p.m. rain shower is not uncommon, bring a pancho.

Coba is another 40km or so ('bout an hour) inland from Tulum, it was one of the largest cities in the Mayan world, but has just been scratched as far as excavation goes. It does have a great representation of a temple in Puuc architectural style and Nohoc Mull is the tallest temple in the Yucatan. Stop and see my friend the sculpture in one of the small Mayan villages along the way.

Hi Sharky,

Do you know how much it is to hire a cab for the day? Is it comparable to just renting a car for the day?

 

[DandyDon]

Hi Sharky,

Do you know how much it is to hire a cab for the day? Is it comparable to just renting a car for the day?

Those rates can be negotiated heavily. If you can't find one who wants to give you a good deal for an easy day of work, cars are easy to find - but you can try.

 

[cvchief]

Gee, Don, after looking at the bike photo, I realized: You ARE old....

 

[DandyDon]

Gee, Don, after looking at the bike photo, I realized: You ARE old....

Well, yeah - so, heavy bodied and hadn't been on a bike since I learned to drive a pickup at age 9, but I made the run.

 

[zzzScuba]

Thanks for all your contributions/ideas.

Jeff.

 

[MGW1979]

I did a trip to CI about 7 or 8 years ago. I organized a tour through the resort I was staying at near PDC. A coach bus picked us up at 6 am so I slept the way there. The tour was great, I think they broke the bus up into a couple groups so it wasn't too crowded. It happened to be an overcast breezy day in Feb so luckily it wasn't too hot. I'd do it that way again, there was nothing for me to worry about other than showing up and the guides were great.