Jules6132

Hello,
My husband and I have booked a short 5 trip to PDC in mid Oct. We are planning on visiting Tulum as we would love to see some ruins, and we know our 5 yr old will not last the ride to the other sites. Do you have to pay to see Tulum?
We would mostly like to hang out and relax on the beach, & plan to hit 5th for some shopping and food. We want to spend some time checking out local flora and fauna, but a lot of the jungle tours (with ATV's etc) aren't suggested for 5 yr olds. Is there a place we can hike around and see animals, rainforest, and fish that doesn't cost a ton of $? I think we would all enjoy Xel-ha or Xcarat, but our daughter is pretty much spent after 1/2 day, so it wouldn't be worth the cost for 1/2 day.
Lastly, we are staying at the Maya Villa in PDC. Is there any day/evening entertainment at restaurants or else where that out daughter would enjoy? Like I said, she wouldn't last til the evening shows at Xcarat.
ANY suggestions are welcome!

zootsi

Will you be renting a car? If so, there are lots of options. You could drive down to Akumal and snorkel at Yak-Ku lagoon. Yal-Ku is very safe, and they rent all the gear you need. Admission is about $10 for adults, and you'll see more fish than you can imagine. The ruins at Tulum are beautiful, but modest compared to places like Coba. If you do go to Tulum, go early, and plan on swimming - the beach there is great. There is a small admission fee to most ruins. You can also drive to Coba (about 90 minutes from Playa), which is a vast ruins site in a jungly environment. You can rent bicycles there. There is also a monkey preserve in the jungle close to Coba. Have you been to the locogringo.com website? lots of info there.

jamie99

Second zootsi's suggestion of Akumal and Yal-Ku.
Think the monkey preserve he is referring to is Punta Laguna. There is also The Jungle Place but it costs $80pp and the minimum age is 8. They also book months in advance.
Might look into Crococun Zoo near Puerto Morelos, north of PDC.
Tulum ruins used to be 57 pesos entrance fee but read earlier today on another forum that it had increased. They only take pesos for admission.

Bitter

"The ruins at Tulum are beautiful, but modest compared to places like Coba."

That may be technically true, but the setting for Tulum is amazing and IMHO is the better of the two for the first trip. When we were at Tulum with a similar aged child, we also enjoyed seeing all of the Iguanas that occupy the grounds.

It's expensive, but you could find plenty to interest all of you at Xcarat. Granted, it is kind of like Disney Jungle World, but much of it is well done.

That all said, don't overwork this. Your 5 year old will be pretty thrilled spending time at the pool or on the beach. I'm not familiar with Maya villa but if it doesn't have good beach access, go to a beach club, take some books, enjoy the beach service and views while your child builds sand castles.

jette

I agree with Bitter on this one. No need to over think this. The beach is it's own entertainment for the daytime.

In the evening 5th is full of Mariachi bands and street performers. There is also a park on the end of Juarez, near the Cozumel ferry dock where there are free dance and music exhibitions. I think it's every late afternoon to evening. Not sure exactly what time the shows are but it's worth a visit. There is also a playground and it seems to me there are always children playing there.

Some of my favorite memories about Playa was watching the non Spanish speaking children of tourists interacting and eventually playing with the non English speaking local children. Given just a little time and non interference, culturally it seems they can achieve what few adults can.

A day at the beach or pool and an evening stroll taking in the sights, sounds and energy of 5th should make a pretty full day for any 5 year old. It's a full day for me!!

Christina

You have to pay to see any of these major sites, the Mexican govt can't afford to keep them up so wealthy tourists get to see them free, as well as cause damage to them.