![]() Cozumel Vacation Villas and Condos
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If you are staying in a rental villa or condo, you can ask your representative to help you make arrangements. We recommend that you make arrangements soon after you arrive on the island. A number of tours you can set up yourself when you arrive or easily do on your own. Below are some samples of what's available: |
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Day Trips from Cozumel to the mainland: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() Tulum Ruins is a smallbut spectaculararcheological site located approximately 56 miles south of Playa del Carmen. It has an excellent beach for swimming and cooling off, shopping and food. Tulum is an excellent half-day excursion and is easy to get to from anywhere along the Riviera Maya. You can't miss the ruins driving along Hwy 307; there are numerous signs that will direct you. You can get to Tulum by bus, taxi or rental car. Keep in mind that the ruins of Tulum are in a national park and entry fee must be paid in Mexican currency. After you have paid your entrance fee and pass through the gate, guides will approach you to offer their service. It is worth the money to hire a guide so that you can learn about the history of the area and understand the significance of the ancient Maya civilization. Tulum ruins has one of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean. Walk south along the beach and you'll find a number of great little bars and restaurants. Mezzanine is a particularly pleasant choice for an afternoon lunch or evening dinner, especially if you enjoy Thai food. The town of Tulum is growing into a bustling hodge podge of restaurants, shops, nightclubs, hotels, hostels and internet cafes. You'll also find a large grocery store, banks, dive shops, bus station and taxis. ---- Xel-Ha
To get to Coba, you can take a tour, taxi or rent a car. We recommend a rental car so you can make stops along the way at your convenience. There are great photo opportunities, small roadside shops and restaurants. You may want to drive past the ruins of Coba to view the lake (yes, there are crocodiles!) or a bit further up the road are a couple of seldom visited cenotes. Xcaret Hidden Worlds In addition to cenote diving and snorkeling, Hidden Worlds offers an amazing zipline adventures over the jungle plus a new skycycle tour. A skycycle is comparable to a bicycle suspended by a zipline; you pedal your way above the lush jungle to Tak Bi Luum cenote After a refreshing snorkel tour of the cenote, it's back on your skycycle for an even more awe-inspiring return journey through the hidden caves. The Skycycle offers a unique perspective of this beautiful region, via an exhilirating new means of travel. Jungle! For more information: HiddenWorlds.com Aktun-Chen Caves In the jungle surrounding Aktun-Chen you will see some of the local wildlife such as the white tail deer, spider monkey, badger, wild boar, wild turkey, iguanas and local wild birds. A specialized guide will take you on a journey that lasts about an hour and fifteen minutes. You'll learn about the use that the ancient mayans gave to the caves, as well as the formation process of the stalactites, stalagmites and the cave itself, giving you an interesting and pleasant learning experience. The cave can be toured by anyone regardless of age, as long as you can walk on your own. It has even been visited by people who need the help of a cane for walking. People who are claustrophobic can enjoy this wonderful place without any fear, due to the fact that along the walk through the cave are three exits to the jungle that make the place feel ventilated and eliminate the feeling of confinement. As you exit the cave, you find a small restaurant where you can enjoy some of the local cuisine, delicious tropical fruits, ice-cold mexican beer and soft drinks. Open Monday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m; last tour at 4:30 p.m. Extended summer schedule (June, July and August), 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; last tour at 6 p.m. Aktun-Chen Caves Tres Rios Sian Ka-an Biosphere "Sian Kaan" is translated from Mayan as "where the sky is born" or "gift from the sky". The reserve is thought to have been inhabited in the pre-Classic and Classic periods as part of the chieftanships of Cohuah and Uaymil. Discoveries of human remains, ceramic pieces, and other artifacts have been dated up to 2,300 years old. The northern most section of Sian Kaan contains what is thought to be an ancient trade route through lagoons and mangrove channels between the cities of Tulum and Muyil. Parts of what is now the reserve were once areas of chicle production and trade through the middle of the twentieth century, and the fishing industry is still one of the most important economic activities of the reserves population. Common species include spiny lobster (Palinurus espinosa) tarpon, grouper, permit, nurse shark, hammerhead, black tipped shark, and snapper. Tourism is a source of income for fishermen in Sian Kaan, hired to run boat trips to see the reefs and lagoon systems. ped sharkapper. Tourism is a another source of income for fish Today Sian Kaan faces the greatest challenge of conservation: to find a way to integrate human activities without compromising other forms of life contained within its boundaries. er |
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Mainland excursions by air | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() The Granddaddy of Mayan ruin sites in the Yucatan Peninsula and one of the most grandiose in all the Mayan world is Chichen Itza. What also makes this a wonderful site to visit is there has been much restoration done, the grounds are manicured and there are tourist services including restaurants, small museum, and stores selling items not found in Playa del Carmen or Cozumel. Chichen Itza is the most famous of all Yucatan Mayan ruins. If you want to avoid the crowds and photos with a mass of people in them, arrive early in the morning (hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Tour groups don't usually arrive until about 10:30. Pay one of the knowledgeable guides and learn about the interesting history of this area. One of the prominent buildings on this site is El Castillo (Kukulkan-Quetzalcoatl), a square-based, stepped pyramid that is approximately 75 feet tall. Unlike Tulum, where you are not allowed to climb the structure, there are few buildings off limit. El Castillo is certainly the greatest challenge as each step is like stepping up onto a chair. This pyramid was built for astronomical purposes and during the vernal equinox (March 20) and the autumnal equinox (September 21) at about 3 P.M.. the sunlight bathes the western balustrade of the pyramid's main stairway. This causes a series of triangles to form imitating the body of a serpent that creeps downwards until it joins the serpent's head carved in stone at the bottom of the stairway. Thousands of people visit the site on this day so if you hate crowds, you might want to avoid the site on this day. Every evening, the site reproduces the effect with a light and sound show. Caracol, or the Observatory is one of the most unusual of the the buildings at chichen Itza. It is a round tower on top of a large, two level platform. Most experts agree that this building was used as an astronomical observatory because openings in the building point to astrological events such as the setting of the moon at the spring equinox. protection, cash and camera. Tikal (Guatemala) Uxmal & the Puuc-Route Palenque Kohunlich (Valley of the Masks) Merida |
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![]() Cozumel Vacation Villas and Condos
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