jeepyland

Hello. We will be in Maroma Bay later this month, 4 people, no car. Two questions:

- Coba or Ek Balam and why? I'm leaning towards Coba but maybe I'm wrong?

- I'm looking for a reliable guide/driver for a day of visiting ruins and nearby cenotes. A while back, someone recommended USA Transfers for airport pickup and I see they also offer tours. Anyone have any experience with them? We are looking to be picked up and returned to our hotel. Any recommendations are much appreciated. Thank you.

jamie99

I've only used USA Transfers for airport transfer but they are reliable.
Yucatreks out of Playa del Carmen does small group tours (12-16 people) and gets good reviews. They do a Coba trip on Thursdays which also stops at a cenote and lunch. Coba would be closer. I have been to both and they are my two favorite ruins of all I have visited.

jeepyland

Thanks. A related question: If I book a private tour through USA or Edventures (a tour name that comes up a lot in the forums and is comparably priced), could you help me plan a reasonable day? We would ideally start off with Coba, and then want to see Dos Ojos cenotes and maybe Yal-ku. Anything else we ought to cram in? It's a short trip to Mexico this time around and this will be our one day with a driver.

Alternatively, I see Edventures offers a group tour that includes Coba and Sac Actun. Maybe this is sufficient? What would you do here? Thanks again!

jamie99

Sorry, but I have visited Coba and other places on my own with a rental car. Eddie from Edventures has a very good rep and in fact I met him briefly back in 2009 at the Lol-Ha snack bar down in Akumal and he would have much better suggestions than I could provide. I do remember we drove right past several cenotes on the way back from Coba ruins to Akumal where we were staying at the time. There are several types of cenotes so you need to decide which type you want, open, enclosed, cave-like, etc.

kja

I skipped Coba because it would be similar to other places I visited and was very glad I visited Ek' Balam, because I have a strong interest in Mayan art & architecture, and the frieze at Ek' Balam is unique and extraordinary.

I visited Ek' Balam and the Cenotes Dzitnup on my own by taking collectivos from Valladolid - easy and fun, but it doesn't sound like that would suit your needs.

Rohelio

Coba and Ek Balam are similar in the fact that you can climb both pyramids. Unlike EkBalam, Coba has a great restaurant at the entrance and you can also rent a bycicle or a driver to bike you around to the end of the ruins where lies the main pyramid.
The fun part about Ek Balam is that it is less crowded...but the plus side is the beautiful city of Valladolid that has it’s own rewards...

ekscrunchy

I'd look into hiring a driver for visiting cenotes. We did just that in the Merida area last week. Why pay for each person on a tour when you can just go by car or taxi? Part of the magic of the cenotes for me was the silence and lack of other people; not sure how many would be on a tour--I would ask before booking. You can find a d river once you arrive, I imagine. We found a wonderful driver once we were in Merida and he drove us to Uxmal and to two groups of cenotes on two full days of driving from our Merida base. Of course you are not going there but I imagine some of what we encountered would hold for you. Swimming in a cenote, with stalactites and stalagmites all around, with the clear emerald waters and no other people was just magic!!! (To be clear, there were a few others that morning but the cenotes were large enough that you felt as if you were alone by just paddling away from the others.

I would love to return and visit a different cenote every day!

jeepyland

Thanks, everyone. We wound up booking a tour with Edventures and it was terrific. A little on the pricey side but small groups (ours had three and we passed another with six) and our guide was terrific. He took us to Coba, kept us away from the few large groups, and then he took us to two different cenotes. We were the only people at both and, as ekscrunchy says, it was just magic. I booked airport transportation through USA Transfers (thanks to whoever recommended them!) and they were great as well.

And, since I'm talking about my trip anyway, I will add that we stayed at a small hotel called Kin Sol Soleil. The beach was lovely. The hotel kept it relatively free of seaweed. The water was generally calm and the beach was never crowded. It's kind of isolated but one can take a taxi to PDC, Puerto Morelos, etc.

kja

Thanks for reporting back! Glad you enjoyed your time in the area.