Brenkjtravel

Just booked a trip arriving in Cancun on a Mon. mid day and leaving on a Sat morning. In this short amount of time what things would be on the must do list? It is just my husband and I and neither of us has been to Cancun. We would like to see some ruins and possibly zip line but otherwise will just relax on the beach. Is anything we shouldn't miss?

RAC

There's lots of things worth doing, but nothing that really qualified as a "must do."

I would recommend Xcaret and Chichen Itza. Yeah, they're crowded, but with good reason.

Isla Mujeres is cute.

SambaChula

You couldn't pay me to stay in a Cancun full of foreign tourists, but there is lots to do in the area. Ruins include Tulum, Coba, Chichen Itza and Ek Balam. There are lots of cenotes. Swim with turtles in Akumal. Tulum beach. Sian Ka'an biosphere. Puerto Morelos beach. Colonial Valladolid, Even Merida, Rio Lagartos for flamingos. Whale sharks. And the amusement parks that try to create some Maya culture to show Cancun tourists, like Xel-ha, Xcaret, etc.

jamie99

Whale sharks are seasonal, usually mid-May through mid-September with the most usually July and August. No dates have been announced for this year yet.

Rohelio

The info about whale sharks is correct, September is usually a busy month and the island of Holbox is the place to be to take off and see them.


Honestly, SambaChula,,, nobody cares if you like Cancun or not, or if we cant pay you enough to stay there, it just so happens that there are thousands of tourists who disagree with your opinion. I seriously doubt that your reply holds any kind of credibility on this forum !
I will admit however, that the rest of your information can be helpfull.

suze

I would pick only 1-2 formal tours or activities that most appeal to you. Monday & Saturday are pretty much shot, so really you have just 4 days to work with. I'd probably do Isla Mujeres, but that's because I'm interested in seeing it for future possible trips.

Brenkjtravel

jaime99 it would be wonderful to see the whale sharks, unfortunately we will be there in April.
suze I agree, we do want at least a little downtime to relax and enjoy the resort.

I'm not too worried about the other tourist as I am obviously one myself and we intend to spend most of our time at the resort or on day trips elsewhere. We will be visiting Tulum and Chichen Itza as well as taking a day trip for some zip lining. Also, thanks SambaChula for the heads up about the great beach at Tulum, can't wait to get my toes in that beautiful powder sand and turquoise water!

Brenkjtravel

Any input on taking a tour to the ruins (Tulum and Chichen Itza) vs renting a car and driving?

jamie99

We had a rental car and drove, first trip went to Tulum and a few days later Chichen Itza. Get an EARLY start for CI, the site opens at 8am and the tours start pouring in around 10-11am and they now have very aggressive vendors, another good reason for going early.
My personal favorites are Coba ruins and Ek Balam, you can climb both of those if so inclined. Ek Balam has beautiful carvings. Have fun.

Brenkjtravel

I wonder if it would be crazy to leave our hotel around 8 drive to Chichen Itza spend 1-2 hours there, grab lunch, drive a little over an hour to Coba ruins spend and hour there then drive to Tulum in the late afternoon and spend some time there and on that beach before driving back to Cancun around 5 or 6? From what I can tell it is about 2hours from Cancun to Chichen Itza so we would arrive around 10 (maybe we can even get out the door by 7:30?) finish there and some lunch by 1 drive the hour and a half to Coba, arrive by 2:30ish spend and hour or so there then drive the hour to Tulum see the ruins and play at the beach and leave by 6ish to head the hour and a half back to Cancun. I know it sounds crazy but I kinda want to do it on our own and I figure if we are going to drive as far as Chichen Itza we might as well hit Coba on our way to Tulum and then just make it a triangle back to Cancun?

kja

IMO, 1-2 hours is not much time for Chichen Itza -- it can easily warrant a half-day or more. And not just because there is so much to see, but also because it is a very large site and so takes time to walk from place to place. I didn't make it to Coba, but believe the same is true of it.

If you do rent a car to visit Chichen Itza, you can probably find time to see the glorious cenotes Dzitnup....

Brenkjtravel

kja-Thanks for the input I think we will try and leave the hotel more around 7, that way we can get to CI by about 9 and maybe miss some of the crowds. As far as Coba goes I think we will rent bikes to save some time and it will also be fun. I do however want to climb the temple at Coba so we will need to make time for that. We realize we may not get to Tulum until late afternoon or early evening but maybe we will be on the beach at Tulum when the sun sets! I just feel like if we have a car and we are going as far as CI we may as well see the other places that day, could be crazy insane or one of the best days ever! Yeah for adventures!

Two more questions for anyone who might know...

suggestions for great but quick places to eat near Chichen Itza and Coba?
and best Cenote near Coba in case we decide to take a dip after our bike ride/temple climb?

jamie99

Tulum ruins closes at 5pm and they stop letting people in at 4:30pm or earlier, I do not think you have enough time for all 3 of these in one day. Do Tulum another day, go early when they open, even though it is on the ocean, it is on top of a cliff with little shade and breeze so gets hot early. Then go do a Tulum beach bar crawl among 2-3 places ending with lunch.

Brenkjtravel

My sister just told me that! Well so much for my crazy plan

Brenkjtravel

I think after talking to people we will try and leave the hotel pretty early. It sounds like not only does Chichen Itza get very busy with tour groups but also can be terribly hot after about 10. It actually opens at 8:30 so we are going to try and get there pretty close to then. I think if we do this we may still be able to catch a little of the Tulum beach in the afternoon by about 3:30 so that will be good. Super excited.

Has anyone done the Selvatica Zip line tour? That is the only other planned activity we have and just looking for feedback on the experience. It looks like it has great reviews. We will actually have a rental car the whole time but as part of the zip line they offer to pick you up from the hotel. Can anyone see a benefit (other than gas) to this. I kind of like to be on my own timeline and would prefer to come and go as we please. Thoughts?

Brenkjtravel

The trip turned out wonderful! Thanks for all of the helpful input. Here is the link to my trip report.


http://www.fodors.com/community/mexi...he-yucatan.cfm