Hi all, leaving for cancun in a month. We will only be there 5 days so I am wondering what would be the best trips to take in a short time. Thinking about 2 in particular to leave lots of time in the sun!<BR><BR>I hear Isla Mujeres is worth spending a day and I would also like to see one of the ruins site. Although, I dont know that I want to make it a full day tour. Are there sites close to cancun that are worth seeing? or is it worth taking a full day to travel? <BR><BR>We are staying at the cancun palace and we can pick one tour of the following (for free anyway) chichen itza, isla mujeres, coba, tulum or ek-balam. Thanks for the help.

I think it's worth missing a day in the sun to visit Chichen Itza. The ruins are amazing. A good guide makes it even better. A fascinating place. We've also been to Tulum, much smaller and, to my thinking, not as dramatic or interesting. The tour we took to Chichen Itza did take all day, but was well worth it.<BR><BR>I'd consider going to Isla Mujeres on your own. Take the bus downtown, catch another bus or a cab or Puerto Juarez and hop on a ferry. Then you can stay on the island for as long a time as you wish. Playa Norte is easy walking from the ferry docks. Garrafon National Park is a short cab ride. Lots of great restaurants and a much less 'concrete jungle' feel than Cancun.

I agree with the previous post. I wouldn't bother with a tour to Isla Mujeres. It's very easy to get there on your own and then you're free to come and go as you wish. Recently friends of ours had a similar deal and they took the tour to Isla. It just seems like a waste to me. You can visit the town, hang out at Playa Norte, do whatever you want when you go on your own.<BR><BR>I'm not a big fan of tours in general, but if I wanted to take one, I would probably choose Chichen Itza as well. That would be a very long day from Cancun, but it's a wonderful site. You'll also get plenty of sun! Make sure you wear sunscreen - it's hot up on those pyramids!

If you want to see Mayan ruins but don't want to spend so much time on a bus, go to Tulum instead of Chichen Itza. It's quite a bit closer. Bring bottled water along, it gets very hot at these places.

I agree with the first 2 posts. <BR>If you have only one site to choose, it's Chichen Itza.<BR>(The other ruins are wonderful, but if you like Chichen Itza, go back to Mexico some other time and do Tulum and Coba in one day.)<BR>I also agree you can easily do IM on your own. If you go by yourself, you can putter around and do what you - not a group of strangers - want to do.<BR>Consider renting a golf cart. It's a fun and easy way to get around.<BR>

Thanks so much everybody, thats exactly what we needed to know!

On Isla Mujeres, you can set up camp at a beach spot, basically &quot;renting&quot; an umbrella by buying drinks or lunch there, and you can stay in that spot all day. You can ask your waiter (or anyone else who looks like they work on the island) for suggestions of where you can get a snorkle trip. We went on a good snorkle trip (arranged on the beach 10 minutes before) to 2 great spots, for about 1 hr 30 min, for $15pp.<BR><BR>Have fun!