excursion tips for the mayan riviera

[edm_traveller]

Will be heading to the Mayan Riviera and need some information please.

1. Tips on excursions. Interested in the hidden worlds. Any body been there and how differerent is it from Selvatica. I have a 5 year old as well and would like him to have fun too.
2. collectivo. I am staying at the barcelo and and was wondering if the collectivo comes right outside the resort and how far is it to tulum/hidden worlds?
3. Playa del Carmen - Is there any thing interesting to do over there? day trips etc.
4. How far is Cozumel from the Mayan Riviera. If we wanted to go across and how expensive...some tips if anybody has done this.

Thanks,

[rf134a]

1. The tours vary greatly in quality and comfort. Obviously, the more you pay, the more comfortable the travel. I did Chetchen Itza for US$110 in an air conditioned motor coach. 3 hours each way with some stops to cenotes, usual tourist trap stores, etc. You can get it for as cheap as US$50 for a 15 passenger van stopping at almost the same places. Souvenirs are also much cheaper there, too. Never been to Selvatica/hidden worlds, so no comment.
2. Barcelo isn't too far from Tulum. It's about 30-40 minutes. I paid $2 from the Bahia Principe. $5 entrance, $9 return per person. Excursion rate at the hotel was $65.
3. Playa del Carmen is where you pickup your souvenirs. Much more expensive than other regions of Mexico but cheaper than the hotel shop. Collectivo should be around $5 per person. More than 5 people, take a taxi for $20-25.
4. You can take the ferry from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel. Ferry info is here: http://www.cancun-discounts.com/cozumel-ferry.htm
MXP140 =CAD$11.26 each way, so it wasn't worth it to us.

Exchange your money to pesos before you go. Bring USD as backup. Virtually everyone will give you 10 pesos = 1USD. Currently exchange rate = 12.97 pesos = 1USD.

[edm_traveller]

Hey thanks for the information. It definitely helps. Any more responses/tips would be still appreciated.

I only want to do maybe one more excursion besides the hidden worlds one. I was thinking of Selvatica but it is more money and the zip line is not much different b/w the two. The reason I prefer Hidden worlds over Selvatica just by reviews/pictures and information is the fact that they have rappel as well and 2 ziplines. One from treetop and one through a cave. I will spend half a day in Tulum as it is very peacefull but wont do the tour package. Might just catch a collectivo/cab and go by ourselves.

[sketty55]

We stayed at the Iberostar Grand for our Honeymoon three years ago. We bought 2 travel packages from the resort. The first was Chichen itza which was great and worth the long drive. There are so many souvenirs to shop for and the site itself is incredible. The second one was a stop at three bodies of water. We weren't expecting much but it turned out to be one of the best excursions we have ever went on. The first was a snorkeling trip in a bay where we say octopuses, squid, lots of fish. Second stop was in a lagoon where you could jump from a low cliff into the water and the fish were everywhere. Now the last stop was in a "cenote" which is an underground cave full of water with different rooms. They have light in there and it was truly breathtaking. I believe the cost was about $60US for this trip.

[shoppingmama]

We are heading down next week. We were there in April and we did the Coba, Mayan Village, Cenote tour for about $100 US a person...it was an excellent tour. We are taking the kids this time and not sure which tours we are going to do. We are personally only taking US dollars, the mexicans did not want pesos at all we found. Playa is an afternoon to walk down 5th ave to buy all souvenirs, silver, t-shirts, hot sauce and tequila :) We only took cabs, never the collectivo. The snorkelling with the sea turtles in Akumal was great, we plan on doing that again, plus take a suitcase full of school supplies down for the kids in Akumal.

http://hbwishlist.blogspot.com/

We are thinking of doing Tulum and ziplining with the kids...I'll need to look up Selvatica/hidden worlds and see if that would be good.

[laptop-tech]

My opinion? Do NOT prepay any excursion right now.

I just came back from the area lats month. My group was of 5 people and the hotel wanted something like US$ 60-70 for a Tulum excursion (just an example) but we asked the bellboy to quote a private van for the whole day. $100 bucks goes a long way. We went to Tulum, Playa Paraiso (A MUST GO if you like beaches) and could go to the Cenote on the way back. All for $100.00 total. Split that by 5 people and there you go. 20 bucks per person and we could personalize the whole day any way we wanted, going to different places. If any attraction was too far, he would charge another 20 bucks in total.

Playa Del Carmen is nice to visit, but a bit crowded in some areas. My hotels in the last 2 stays (Catalonia Riviera Maya and Catalonia Playa Maroma) both had FREE shuttle to Playa Del Carmen everyday. From there we took the ferry to Cozumel and did snorkeling on the 3 best spots there and it was amazing. The package was bought in Playa Del Carmen, around the corner from the place where you buy tickets to the ferry. TIP : Dont buy roundtrip (as I did) because 2 different companies operate the ferry and they have different schedules, so I went to Cozumel around 11 am and had to stay there until 5 PM, when the other company had a ferry coming back at 3 Pm but I had already bought the return ticket in PDC. Its better to buy one way when you are in PDC and buy the return ticket in Cozumel.

Ask for a deal when you buy these packages with street vendors. I noticed that the closer you are to the ferry terminal the prices tend to go down, and close to where all buses drop off visitors from the hotels, street vendors charge more for the same packages.

Funny note : you can buy BEER in pharmacies in Playa Del carmen, and it is cheaper than bottled water. I paid US$ 0.80 for a Corona. Just dont take too much "medicine"...:cheesygri

Enjoy Mexico. I wish I could go back every other week.

[rotjong]

For fun and something different , take the ferry to Cozumel and rent a jeep or a VW beetle convertible and drive around the island coast .It is cheap and fun you are on your own, no packed tour busses and you can go at your own pace. stop at the bars along the coast lay there in a hammock with a corona and life is grand.

This was definatly one of my highlights when were there a few years ago.

We also toured the Myan Village (which was ok) we were asked to bring something for the children there, so everyone on the bus brought coockies When the bus stopped the children were lined up for the goodies I felt like I was on a safari feeding the monkeys and this happens everyday, I don't think this very healthy for those kids. (jmo)

[julia1211]

Was in the Mayan Riviera early this year and we stayed at the Catalonia Riviera Maya. We went to Tulum (ruins & Hidden Worlds), Playa del Carmen (shopping) and Akumal (to swim with the turtles).

Highly recommend Hidden Worlds. The people were very nice and knowledgeable, and they seemed to really care about conserving the area. Snorkel tube is part of the fee, but we brought our own snorkels anyway. Bring water shoes if you have them.

Our resort had free shuttle to Playa del Carmen. We went at night so it won't be so hot. Did some shopping and had a great dinner at Yaxche (mayan cuisine).

Collectivos are great for going up and down the main highway. We paid in pesos for everything. I exchanged some CAD to pesos before going, but we got a much better rate using the ATMs there. When using a taxi, settle the price with the driver before getting in.

Have fun! It's a great area.

[M_Matt]

Xcaret (http://www.xcaret.com/) for all of you and Crococun Zoo (http://www.crococunzoo.com/) especially for your little guy.