Day Trips from Xcalak – Kohunlich
Overview Kohunlich (koh-Hoon-litch), is a Mayan derivation of Cohune Ridge. It was so named because of the Cohune palms that grew there. The original name of the site is unknown. The site was initially settled as early as 200 BC but most of the development happened during the classic period approximately 250-600 AD. It is thought to have been a regional center for trade and travel between the Peten region and the Campeche regions. Our Visit From Xcalak, Kohunlich is about a two and half hour drive and is just
Day Trips from Xcalak – Muyil
SONY DSC Overview A bit of a misnomer as this is a ruin that is just south of Tulum. So it is more of a stop on the way driving from Cancun, or on your way back than a day trip. It is a smaller site. Compared to Tulum, or Coba, the two large ruins nearby. The advantage is that it is less crowded. If you get 30-40 tour buses of your best friends at Tulum and 20-30 tour buses at Coba, you may find another handful of people
Day Trips from Xcalak – Coba
Overview Again not quite a day trip. This is a ruin that is just west of Tulum. So it is more of a stop on the way driving from Cancun, or on your way back. Coba has the tallest pyramid in the Yucatan. It is also one that you can climb to the top. It is a bit hairy but there is a rope that goes up the stairs that you can use to help you. Coba is a late classic period capital (600-900 AD). It is famous
Day Trips from Xcalak – Tulum Ruins
SONY DSC Overview After Chichen Itza, Tulum is probably the most visited ruin in the Yucatan. You will likely see 30-40 tour buses in the parking lot but it is a very large site and can handle the crowds. There is a large area of shops and some dancing and other traditional Mayan displays before you even get to the site. Tulum was one of the last cities built by the ancient Maya and also one of the few that were built right on the sea. It was a
Cenotes – Casa Cenote
Our Visit Casa Cenote is a few minutes north of Tulum off of 307 on Tankah bay. It is a surface cenote and because it is on the east side it is very close to the ocean and the water definitely has some salt in it. This was actually one of our favorites. When you drive up to it, there isn’t much parking and when we arrived there was no place to park. The trick was, we arrived about lunchtime, so we parked in the hotel parking lot
Cenotes – Dos Ojos
Our Visit About mid-way between Akumal and Tulum on highway 307 on the west side of the road is a clump of cenotes centered on Dos Ojos (or two eyes). It is a bit confusing, since when you come off of the highway there are signs for a museum, multiple cenotes, and one ticket booth. The ticket booth only sells tickets to Dos Ojos cenote as far as I could tell. You need to buy tickets to the other cenotes in a different building. It was also confusing
Cenotes – Car Wash
Our Visit Located on the road to Coba out of Tulum. We actually didn’t go in to this one. It is a surface cenote that taxi driver’s used to use to wash their cars. When we arrived, the water was a murky green that wasn’t particularly good for snorkeling. There were groups of divers there and apparently it gets clear once you get down far enough. So bottom line, not a great one for snorkeling. Rules None observed. Although probably a good guess they want no insect repellent and only
Cenotes – Zacil Ha
Our Visit This is on the road to Coba out of Tulum. We actually didn’t go into this one. Just checked it out and took some pictures, so I can’t tell you about the water temp. Though a good guess would be around 70 degrees. At 50 pesos, it is one of the cheaper cenotes. The cenote itself is a surface cenote about the size of a swimming pool. Speaking of swimming pools, they actually have a swimming pool there as well. They also have a palapa for
Cenotes – Cenote Calavera/Temple of Doom
Our Visit This cenote is very close to Tulum (walking distance from the San Francisco grocery store) on the road to Coba. Calavera means skull and it's obvious why. It has a large opening and two small openings. Like two eyes and a mouth. It is a relatively small cavern type cenote but interesting. It can get crowded quickly. When we arrived there were two other people and it was comfortable. When 4 more people showed up it felt a bit crowded. The fun thing to do is
Cenotes – Grand Cenote
Our Visit Located just outside of Tulum on the road to Coba, Gran Cenote has probably the nicest facilities of any of the cenotes we have been to. They have clean changing rooms, and lockers. The grass is manicured. The cenote itself is a cavern cenote. You take a large wooden stairway down into it where they rent snorkel gear ($80 pesos), lockers ($30 pesos) and life vests ($50 pesos). There is a section where they have turtles. You can look but not swim with them. The cenote