I will be in Cozumel for a week next month and I was thinking of taking a day trip to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. It seems to be an all day trip. Is it worth it?
Also any ideas of what to see and do in Cozumel or opinions or Chichen Itza or all points in between would be appreciated…
It was worth it for us! And yeah, it was a looooooong, full day. We were there in February for a wedding (we not the type to go to Mexico) and my Mexico-scared mother came. She loved Chichen Itza so much she is planning to take my dad back.
My husband and I are SCUBA divers, so did a few cenote dives. Those were really amazing - almost cave diving but with a safety escape (surface visible 95% of the time somewhere up top). Very cool, and can also be done as part of a snorkel trip. All fresh water.
Chichen Itza is a long, hot day. Depending somewhat, of course, on the month and the tour. But in any case, there’s not a lot of shade, it’s a large site overall, and there’s a surprising amount to see. The one trip I took was an all-day affair, complete with a trip to a cenote (and a chance to swim in it), lunch at Mayaland (a hotel and resort basically on the grounds), the time at Chichen Itza itself, and a stop in Valladolid. We booked through a company called Best Day and were generally happy overall.
I’d almost say you have to go because, hey, world heritage site. Even on a busy day there’s a lot of space so it doesn’t really feel crowded. Unfortunately, you can’t go into a lot of places you could have a decade ago. While that might be good for conservation, it means a lot of standing around in the sun looking at things. If you go, bring an umbrella for shade and a lot of water bottles.
My wife and I went there as a day trip from Playa del Carmen in 2004. It was a long, great day - the trip was a long bus ride from our resort, and included a couple hours in Valladolid, a rest stop at some village where we could purchase local, hand-made souvenirs, as well as lunch near the site. Back when we went, you could still ascend the pyramid, but I understand it is no longer accessible to the general public. The tour around the ruins was really fascinating. I had read-up on the history of the area beforehand so it brought a lot of it to life.
To answer your question - yes, worth it.
If you decide not to go to Chichen Itza and rather check out the ruins on Cozumel itself… well, don’t. They’re a hot, mega-mosquito-y, waste of time.
You could make it a much shorter trip by going to Tulum. It’s an interesting site and can be done in half a day or so. If you’re only going to do one day, go to Chichen Itza. If you’re willing to do a couple of trips, I recommend Tulum as the next option.
Chichen Itza is very crowded, and very hot during the day. Consider the alternative of taking a local bus the day before to Piste, the little town about a mile from the ruins. There are a couple of tourist class hotels near the ruins, and several budget accommodations in Piste. The tour buses don’t show up until about 10 am, and if you go in when the gates open early in the morning, you can have several very pleasant, quiet hours during the cool morning to wander around by yourself with a brochure. Or hire a guide at the entrance. Then take an afternoon bus back to Cancun.
If you decide to go, be at the entrance at 8AM when they open. As mentioned up thread, the Cancun tour buses arrive at 10-11AM, and the quality of the experience goes down rapidly. An English guide ($750 pesos) will add a great deal to the experience.
If you decide not to go, you might want to check out this place, Rio Secreto Mexico Tours | Eco tours Riviera Maya
It is very close to Playa del Carmen. You will need reservations as there is a limit of 140 visitors per day.
Any more questions, send me a PM. I live in Valladolid.
If you can, get to Chichen Itza before all the tourist buses from Cancun and Playa del Carmen arrive - when I was there several years ago, we got there before any of the buses showed, and almost had the city to ourselves for an hour or so - it was great!
Definitely worth a visit, but if you’re crowd-averse like I am, getting there early is worth the extra hassle.
I loved Chichen Itza, but it was October when I went and it was still pretty hot. Our tour guide insisted that we must see the jade tiger, which was inside this small building, up a narrow flight of slimy, mossy stairs. As we ascended the stairs, the lady behind us screamed the entire flight down that she was going to fall. Skip the jade tiger, it’s not all that great.
I liked it, it wasn’t crowded when I went, but like someone else said, it’s hot, sunny and there’s no shade at all. It was really cool to see stuff that I, very clearly, remember seeing in my social study books back in grade school.
If you’re doing it, make sure to take the side trip and jump in the cenote. Not only is it neat to go down into a 80 foot deep hole, then climb up onto a 15 foot high ledge and jump into a pool of unknown depth with a bunch of catfish in it (how’d the get there anyways), but when it’s 800 degrees out and you’ve been in the sun all day, it’ll feel great to jump into the cool water.
No my picture (though I do have some) but this is the same well I jumped into. You can see two people on the far left, if you keep walking, you go up to the next ledge and jump from there.
I highly recommend visiting Chichen Itza if you get the chance. We were in Cozumel almost 20 years ago and we flew from there to Chichen Itza. I remember it cost just slightly more than the bus ride and had several benefits:
[ul]
[li]A 30-45 minute plane ride instead of a multi-hour bus ride. (We were back at the hotel and having drinks by the pool by the time the buses were arriving in the jungle.)[/li][li]Arrival at Chichen Itza just after 9AM, well before the crowds and unbearable jungle heat.[/li][li]Great views of Chichen Itza from the air before we landed. [/li][/ul]
One bit of extra excitement: When we landed at the small airstrip near Chichen Itza, which was basically just a clearing in the jungle, we were greeted by 3 Mexican army people and their machine guns. They weren’t looking for us, of course. I figure a small airstrip in the middle of nowhere could be attractive to drug-smugglers and the like.
I totally misread the title and though it said “Chicken Itza” and was expecting an interesting Caribbean or Mayan chicken recipe.
Yes it is worth it. I took the plane as well. We were circling the site and happy to have such great views but wondered why so many circles before we landed. The co pilot came out and pulled up the carpet in the center aisle and was speaking in Spanish of course. My neighbor translated to me The landing gear won’t deploy! He hit something with a wrench and then we landed no problemo. Gee even getting there was memorable. I would not have missed it for the world.
Yes, totally worth it. Read as much as possible about the site and its history before going. Then go to Tulum.
Then when you get back from your holiday watch the film “Against all Odds”.
Honestly, I liked Tulum more than Chichen Itza. Chichen was uncomfortably hot and airless, though it is impressive to say the least. But the weather is just so perfect along the Mayan Riviera, and the scale of the ruins was much more human and walkable. I remember standing there sweltering at Chichen as a guide showed us a sauna and thinking to myself “A sauna in this heat? These people were badass!”
I did get to climb Kukulkan, which I think is now not allowed.
