Mayan Riviera excursions -- best deals out there

What are the best deals for the common excursions (e.g. Xcaret, Chichen Itza, Rio Secreto)? You can book them online but I'm not convinced that's the best deal (very pricey, mind you, last time we went was 15 years ago). Also, booking online how do I make sure that their shuttle comes and picks us up?

Along the same lines, if anyone can recommend an outing that I may have missed, please do. For example I'd heard some people say that Chichen Itza isn't the best one anymore, and that Coba is better. Do they still let you climb the pyramid at Coba? I heard the one at Chichen Itza is off-limits now. What a shame. I climbed it twice, but who knows where those pictures are now. Is Xcaret really worth the admission ($425 general admission plus transportation for all of us!) or are there smaller parks for less? I don't really look forward to paying for an all-inclusive and then spend most of the day paying more to walk around a park -- I think 2-3 hours is enough for me (the kids may not even last that long).

I went to the Mayan Riviera in February of this year. It was excellent. I did a day tour called Mayan Extreme. It included some time at Koba. You are still able to climb it. Chichen Itza is all blocked off and you must stand behind a fence to view it. You are no longer allowed to climb it. If you want some more info or have questions, just PM me.

Holy Dung, you can't climb Chichen Itza anymore? Man, that was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life, although I was scared to death of going back down, it was still a great experience up there. Didn't realize that, really good to know as Mel and I are going to the Mayan Riviera in April.

I think I went to Xcaret last time we were there - can't really remember though.

LethalL - do they have a little enclosed area that you can walk around where there are panthers and lions etc. inside? I remember that, I also remember swimming in the caverns and watching a horse show by a restaurant/bar.

LethalLehner wrote:I went to the Mayan Riviera in February of this year. It was excellent. I did a day tour called Mayan Extreme. It included some time at Koba. You are still able to climb it. Chichen Itza is all blocked off and you must stand behind a fence to view it. You are no longer allowed to climb it. If you want some more info or have questions, just PM me.

Coba it is, then. Frankly, while it was fun seeing all the ruins, I'm not sure the kids would put up with all the walking without the payoff of climbing the pyramid at the end. I hear Coba is not as big, but as long as it has a pyramid that should be enough.

It is pretty high and steep. I think they will be impressed. I even wore my Sens jersey. It was amazing to see the response to it.

I did the Mayan Extreme tour. It started with ziplining, then repelling, then a small kayak ride, then swimming in a mayan underground cave, followed by a mayan lunch then the trip to Koba.

LethalLehner wrote:It is pretty high and steep. I think they will be impressed. I even wore my Sens jersey. It was amazing to see the response to it.

I did the Mayan Extreme tour. It started with ziplining, then repelling, then a small kayak ride, then swimming in a mayan underground cave, followed by a mayan lunch then the trip to Koba.

How much was the Extreme? It's something the boys would love (the girls are a little young for underground swimming, I think).

It was $119 US a person for Mayan Extreme. You got to zipline once and repel once. It was $20 less if you only wanted the lunch and the trip to Koba.

Thanks, LL.

wprager wrote:

LethalLehner wrote:It is pretty high and steep. I think they will be impressed. I even wore my Sens jersey. It was amazing to see the response to it.

I did the Mayan Extreme tour. It started with ziplining, then repelling, then a small kayak ride, then swimming in a mayan underground cave, followed by a mayan lunch then the trip to Koba.

How much was the Extreme? It's something the boys would love (the girls are a little young for underground swimming, I think).

I did it a few years back with my family. Not sure if it was the Mayan extreme we did, but we did to rappelling, and one or two ziplines. The zipline scared the bejesus out of me, as I already don't like heights, and I was over the max weight by about 30 lbs.

The underground swimming, at least the one that I did, was really cool. We rappelled into a "cenote", and just swam in there. It didn't actually involve any water spelunking, or swimming under things to get into caves. But was really cool, and worthwhile experience.

The resort we stayed at was a Barcelo, which caters more to Europeans. It was nice enough, and we really enjoyed our stay. Food wasn't bad, can't expect too much more for an all inclusive. I believe there were two resorts next to each other, a 3 star and a 4 star. Although we booked through a travel agent, so we didn't get that great of a deal. Don't really remember how much.

I'm off to Cancun at 3am - leaving out of Montreal. My brother's getting married down there. We're staying at Excellence Cancun Mayan Riviera. Don't plan on doing nay excursions, but they sound fun.

Riprock wrote:I'm off to Cancun at 3am - leaving out of Montreal. My brother's getting married down there. We're staying at Excellence Cancun Mayan Riviera. Don't plan on doing nay excursions, but they sound fun.

3AM? That kinda sucks. But you get a full day first-day. Have fun.