Help - I can't decide!
We are going to be in PDC from July 28th thru Aug 5th, and can't decide whether to do the Alltournative Pac Chen trip, or Chichen Itza. We have a 9 year old girl, and a 13 year old boy, who have never been to Mexico (or seen blue water). We have assorted other excursions planned (snorkeling, xcaret, etc), but just can't decide about the above. The Alltournative trip looks fun (and according to reviews, it's great)- but it is expensive. And, I've only heard great things about Chichen Itza, but it's so far. And I'm worried about the kids - and whether they will like it or be bored. If we do go we have a car and are planning on spending the night at the Hotel Delores Alba so we can see the night show. I also want to visit the Cenote Dzitnup.
Any suggestions???

Also - has anyone been to Aktun Chen? Is it worth it? Is there anywhere else to see spider monkeys? My daughter is dying to see one. (she actually wants to bring one home!)

Thanks for any and all advice!

Theresa

The Pac Chen-Coba tour may be your best choice unless the kids are interested in Mayan ruins (Chichen Itza is very impressive). The kids should enjoy the activities at Pac Chen (climbing down into a cenote, rapelling across a cenote, short hike in the jungle, canoeing. And Coba is an interesting and vast ruin (you will not have time to see it all). You can rent bikes at Coba and believe me you will need them - the site is spread out. I loved the Coba-Pac Chen Alltournative excursion. Our guide was enthusiastic and friendly. It was a fun and informative day.

I just returned Sunday from a week from the Mayan Riveria and did the Coba-Pac-chen tour. It was great. I went with my friend and we had a blast, were exhausted by the end, but it was good non-the-less. My only complaint is our guide walked too fast in the jungle, I have very bad knees and he wouldn't slow down.

We did ours through Alternatours.

Thanks for the info - the Pac Chen tour sure sounds like a winner. Anyone for Chichen Itza? I'll always remember the pyramids near Mexico city from when I was a kid.
Is it possible to sign up for the Alltournative tour once you get to PDC, or should it be done ahead of time?

One more question - My husband thought it might be too hot at this time of year (next week) for the Pac Chen trip since some of it is in the jungle. Has anyone done the trip recently, or in July or August before??

I'm thinking maybe we will just get up very early and do Chichen Itza in a day, going to the Cenote Dzitnup on the way back, instead of spending the night and making it a two day excursion. We will miss the light show this way, but we'd have another day on the beach. Is this light show really worth seeing, or is missing it not a big deal?

If you do go to Chichen Itza, leave as early as possible. Last summer, our family drove from Playacar area to Chichen Itza and arrived around 10:30am. The parking lot had about 12-15 cars. When were were leaving about noon-ish. The parking lot was full of buses and the line was very long.

We took the road south to Tulum and then across through Coba and Vallidoid (s?) and saw lots of different animal species. I still remember the spiders crossing the road the size of basketballs.

Hi-

We decided to do the Coba/Pac Chen tour on our last day in Mexico - and it was the best decision we made all trip! It was a great tour - I highly recommend it to everyone. We have a 9 year old girl and a 13 year old boy, and they both said it was their favorite thing they did all week. (and we did a lot!) If you do sign up, see if you can get Patricia (Pati) for a guide. She really made it a wonderful experience - a fabulous guide. The zip line was a lot of fun (I did it with my daughter), and the rapelling into the cenote was fantastic. What an experience! To be 45 meters inside a cavern, floating on innertubes....... Something you don't get to experience too often in life. I took the hard way out though - instead of them pulling me out (the Mayan "elevator&quot , I decided to try the ladder. I watched my 9 year old daughter do it first, and she didn't seem to be having too much of a problem. Wow - it was tough! I made it though - gave me a great feeling of accomplishment. I think I was the only "mom" that made it. It is very slippery, and you do climb from the sides, instead of the front. It's tough on your hands, since you are pulling yourself up the ladder by the ropes on the sides. And it's also really tough on the arms (and I work out). But once I was up, I was glad I did it. Although, the downside is that you are so busy trying to climb, that you don't look at your surroundings while climbing, unlike getting pulled up. From what I was told, getting pulled up is a little hard on the legs - the straps from the harness dig in a little.

After the cenote, you visit a Mayan village, where they don't have electricity. The people are quite pleasant. The Mayan women cook lunch for you - the chicken is great! - then off to Coba and the ruins. There is a short tour, then you make your way to the big pyramid. We climbed to the top, and what a view! It started raining when we got to the top, and the jungle developed a layer of mist overtop. Quite magical. It stopped, and we climbed down. That was another test - the steps are rather steep and tall. They have a rope you can hold on to, and the best way to do it is come down sideways. It's a little scary! My left leg is still sore since I was doing the equivalent of squats the whole way down!

All in all, it was a fantastic experience.

We opted against Chichen Itza (it was SO hot when we were there, and I knew that with my 9 year olds temperament, (no patience yet for "tours" and history) it would end up being a miserable experience. We decided to visit it next time we go - when she is a little older and will appreciate it, and hopefully it will be a little cooler!)