Day trips from Playa Del Carmen
 

Hello,

We'll be spending a week in PDC and would like to do a couple of day trips to the ruins. We've arranged to rent a car at our hotel so we don't have to deal with a crowded tour bus. We plan to go to the ruins at Tulum one day and Coba another. I'm wondering if we can get a guided tour once we get there? Or is the only way to get a guided tour to go the tour bus route? Also, is there a place to grab lunch at both places? We'll probably want to spend the morning walking among the ruins and then the afternoon at the beach in Tulum. Would we have to drive into town to get food? Any help would be appreciated.

Many thanks,
J

Hi J ~
You will be able to get bi-lingual guides to show you around at both sites. At Tulum, there is food nearby via the "tram" but not available there inside the ruin area where the beach is located. It's best in both cases to pack yourself a light lunch and put it in the car just case you don't find anything to eat that suits you.
Have fun and enjoy your time in our area!

For Tulum we packed water and ate lunch afterward at Cabanas Ana y Jose. They had great seafood and a wonderful view of the ocean. From Tulum, you can take a day trip down to the Sian Ka'an Bioreserve. We rented a kayak for an hour to paddle around the lagoon.

At Coba, you might try eating at a little restaurants just outside the ruins. There is a stand near the biggest pyramid that sells water and soft drinks, but we didn't see much else.

From PDC, you can also take day trips to Xcaret, Xel Ha, various cenotes, and other smaller ruins.

At Coba,the tour guides will be on you like flies to honey as soon as you enter the park. However the ones we talked to only gave tours of the immediate area near the entrance, not the entire site. We just rented bikes and explored on our own. As for a Coba lunch spot, there is a good place on the dirt road that goes to the Club Med, just across from the lake. Some small tour vans stop there, so it must be safe. The food was very good Mayan cusine. Across the road is the lake where you can often see crocodiles (the restaurant feeds them scraps).

For Coba, I highly recommend you book a tour with Alltournative Expeditions (www.alltournative.com). They do a tour called Coba - Pac Chen. This combines visiting the ruins with a guide, and visiting a modern-day Mayan village where you do a quick zip-line across a cenote, rapell down into a water-filled cenote and float on an inner tube (the highlight of my trip!), canoe, and have lunch prepared by the village women. Transportation is included and you will go with a small group (maybe 10 people). It was absolutely incredible!

P.S., I just checked the Alltournative web site and it seems they have re-named this tour "Coba Mayan Encounter."

We hired a great guide at the entrance to Tululm - -- he was a slight guy named David with the most beautiful green eyes I have ever seen! We split the cots with another couple we met there. He was great! He told us all kinds of great facts and history and really made the place come alive. Wear you bathing suit under your shorts as there is a great little slice of beach there for a swim as soon as you finish the tour. It is VERY hot there....I brought an umbrella and everyone wanted one when they saw me being shielded from the blistering sun. Fascinating place.
There are some snack spots at the entrance where the shopping arcade is but for better food and more choices- travel into the town of Tulum and look around - on;y a 5 minute ride. Have fun!