creativeillusion

Four people 3 women, 1 man, all in good shape 30s - 40s. We have 10 days to travel. We'll be landing and departing from Cancun. We are interested in watersports, specificaly snorkeling, scuba diving, cave diving, etc. Also want to expereince ruins and jungle. Our plan is half time to stay along the coast - Cozumel/Tulum. We would also like to spend time inland/else-where to expereince true culture of archtecture, markets, city hussle-bussle. We are reasonable, but not afraid to take 'some' chance. We've thrown around place such as Oaxaca, attempting Cuba, or any other area in this region.

Does anyone have recommendations for a 'city-like' cultural experience that might fit into this itenarary starting and ending in Cancun?

Any insight is appreciated.

Thank you!

pepper131

Have you thought about Valladolid or Merida instead of Oaxaca...which are both in the Yucatan Peninsula?

locolowe

I would also vote for Merida - drive from Tulum, stop overnight at Chichen Itza and then stay a couple of nights in Merida and do another Mayan temple on your way back to Cancun.

If you spend the night in Chichen, I would recommend Hacienda Chichen (http://www.haciendachichen.com) - a fabulous place.

Also for your diving and snorkeling time, I would highly recommend staying in Akumal (between Playa del Carmen and Tulum). It is a great village with several hotels, house rentals, and the best snorkeling from land. It also has 2 or 3 dive shops. We stayed a week in a condo here and loved exploring the area. GOOD LUCK!

suze

I would look into Merida

jamie99

We have stayed in both Valladolid and Chichen Itza and the recommendation for Hacienda Chichen is right on, we loved it. This trip we might finally make it to Merida as well. Have a great time, the suggestion for Akumal is great, we will be there for four days in early May, staying at Hotel Akumal Caribe. Check out locogringo.com for lodgings in that area.

creativeillusion

Tank you all for your responses You have definitley convinced me that Merida is the best place to visit given our itenarary. And I appreciate the stop-over and hotel suggestions.

In terms of driving there from Tulum, my assumption is that we would take the road NW that runs through Coba? (and Chemax?) These look like more secondary roads, do any of you know how the conditions are?

Thanks again!!!

pepper131

There is work being done on the road from Tulum to Coba, but after that - the road is better and the road improves more once you cross from the state of Quintana Roo into Yucatan.

You will be going through towns - watch for topes (major speed bumps).

There is a great map detailing Tulum to Chichen Itza on cancunmap.com - the Chichen map. Easy enough from there along the tollroad.

locolowe

I would highly recommend go from Tulum to Chichen via Coba and Valladolid. The "secondary" road is paved with very few potholes. You go through some nice small villages (watch out for the speed bumps called "topes" they are bad) and you can stop by Coba - a nice Mayan ruin with a temple. It is a very easy drive. I highly recommend cancunmap.com - they have the only city map of Valladolid that is really good and a must for driving through that city.

Also, if you haven't driven in Mexico before I would highly recommend going to locogringo.com forum and doing a search for their driving 101. It was so helpful - once you learn a couple "rules of the road" things start to make sense (and why American's get into car accidents).