I am looking for reviews on the excursion to Chichen Itza. We will be vacationing in Cozumel and understand that you can either fly there or take the ferry to mainland and bus to the ruins. Looking for any reviews of either mode of transportation.

We did the air tour from Cozumel, and I highly recommend it.

We got there early in the morning while it was still cool before all the crowds arrived and had a great day.

I have heard lots of complaints about the bus tours out of Cancun as they spend hours going from resort to resort and picking people up so there is MUCH less time to see the ruins.

There is another option, take an early ferry to PDC, rent a car, and drive. You get a fascinating look at the jungle and little towns in Mexico.

If you have a family or group, the tours can be expensive. Our family (4) rented a car and left early, arrived by 10:30am, the ruins had about 20 people. Toured the ruins and by 12:30 upon leaving the parking lot was jammed with busses and 100 people were in line to enter.

Different driving options can be obtained from www.playadelcarmeninfo.com.

We stayed in Cancun and took a bus tour to Chichen Itza. It was arrainged through Apple Tours. The bus was very nice and left directly from our hotel, without making any stops. It was a coach bus with air. We enjoyed Chichen Itza, we also arrived early and toured the ruins before the noon sun. It was still hot, and this was in January. We were then dropped off at a sink hole and restaurant area, which was awesome.

We did the air tour from Cozumel and loved it. It was a daytrip from a cruiseship so the daytrip was our only option. I highly recommend it. It was wonderfully convenient. The other posters also gave good advice depending what you may enjoy, just realize it's a bit of a drive.

Let me give you one word of advice, if you want to tour via bus it's best to book it in advance through a reputable company like Apple Tours so you know you will have a nonstop tour. Two years ago our family took what was suppose to be a nonstop bus from Manzanillo to Puerto Vallarta. I think there was a language barrier when my husband went out to buy the tickets at the bus depot in Manzanillo because this bus stopped at every town along the way - it took forever. All that stop and go made for an awful, awful, long and miserable unexciting trip. Grant it this was Manzanillo while Cozumel probably doesn't have as much of a language barrier but why chance it.

We are going to spend a week in Cozumel next March and if we opt for Chichen Itza again it will be the air tour. However, take into consideration it is going to take us an extremely long time to get to Cozumel from our point of departure (home)so my opinion is based on what works best for our circumstances and is bias. If Cozumel was a quick flight from our home, I don't know, maybe we might possibly opt for the car adventure as nolist has done.

Last year we went to cancun and purchased a 2-for-1 card (from entertainment plus) can along with various rest. discounts, we received a great 2 for 1 price on the tour to CI. We were picked up at our hotel to meet at a central place, then the buses departed from there. The ride was long, but very comfortable. AC and a movie. We stopped off at a rest stop where all the vendors worked for the tour and for lunch we ate at a local hotel with a small pool. That was just ok, but overall, I think the trip was great (esp for the price). On the way back, they do go from hotel to hotel, but its very quick. All I know is that air or bus, its basically a full day so for us it was the price that made us take the bus.