Off resort trips

[alanwar]

Is it feasible to travel off the resort to downtown cancun, walmart, chichen itza, etc ? What would the cab ride be for the first two. Does the resort have a tour company that would pickup for a day trip to Chichen Itza ?

[oldseadog]

We have always just hired a car for the day for any long trips. The roads are fine and there are no more idiots on the Ucatan roads than anywhere else.
If you are going to Chichen Itza, try to read up a bit about it and the Maya before hand, and when you get there hire a personal guide. They know their stuff, and you can take your own time rather than tagging along in a large group and missing half of what is being said. It's a bit expensive but well worth it.

[mfay]

The cab ride to Cancun should be $25 US.
As oldseadog says, avoid the tour companies if you want to go to Chichen. The "tour" includes a couple of refreshment stops at pre-arranged locations along the way where you get the "opportunity" to buy goods from local vendors (with the tour operators getting a cut).

[Burnt-enz]

Alanwar, when are you going to be there? We were thinking about visiting chichen itza too and weren't sure how to go about it. We will be there Jan 21 through 30. If there was enough interest maybe we could hire a van?

[alanwar]

Would a trip to Tulum be closer and also give us a chance to see mayan ruins ?

Hiring a van and going together sounds like a great idea however we are going in Feb 12 - 20.

Alan

[CokeMann]

My recommendation for a fun one day off campus trip would be doing the combination of Tulum and then Xel-ha or Play del Carmen. Both are more fun if you have another couple or two with you to share it with.

Please note that none of the tours that can be booked through Desire are included in what you have paid to Desire (all are extra)

Either by yourself or with another couple it is far more economical and easier just to rent a car for the day or take a taxi and set your own schedule rather that the organized bus tours.

Tulum is a direct, easy 1 hour 20 min drive south of Desire on Highway 307 which is in excellent condition, well marked and a wide two lanes in each direction.

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/mexico/tulum

As a tip from experience, if you can try to do Tulum and/or Xel-ha on a Saturday or Sunday - since these days are usually when most major resorts do their weekly guest turnover, the "tour bus" crowds from the resorts will be fairly minimal.

I also highly suggest that in any event you do Tulum fairly early in the day - plan on getting there before 10am ( ie when the tour buses start pulling in ) you will also want to do it before the afternoon sun, since there is zero shade around the ruins - BTW make sure you bring lots of bottled water from Desire for this part of your excursion.

At a leisurely pace you can do the entire Tulum site in about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. BTW- make sure you wear a bathing suit(unfortunately - lol) under your clothes - there is a fantastic beach at the Tulum site.

Then if you want drive north on Highway 307 about 20 min to the Xel-ha entrance and have a great afternoon and some lunch in this amazing eco water park.

If you decide to pass on Xel-Ha then you can just continue north on Highway 307 to Playa del Carmen, which is about 20 min further north from the Xel-Ha entrance and stop for some excellent restaurants and shopping.

In any event you can be comfortably back at Desire for a quick drink/ Jacuzzi before you shower and change for dinner and the evening activities at Desire.

Car rental costs for a day will vary but you can book a one day rental right from Desire, taxi or private car/driver for a day will probably cost you somewhere around $120 to $150.

Xel-Ha details and pricing can be found via their weblink http://www.xel-ha.com/

Enjoy your trip !!

[Denver Duo]

We followed Coke's advice and rented the car from Desire. Shared the ride with a couple met online from the YNOTS. Had a great time!

[kenk]

CokeMann, great post. This is great info. thanks.

[nekkidcouple1964]

Best deal - Rent a car from and American company online before you go.

We rent from Avis.

They have a office at the hotel just down the beach. It's a 10 minute walk and you sign the paperwork and off you go.

We did Chichen-itza once with a side trip to Cancun the day before. It was an easy drive on the toll road. Great trip and just paid the guide.

We did Xcaret the other time. Another great trip. We did a side trip to Puerto Morelos. Easy and awesome.

We did the Tulum XelHa trip via the bus. The sites were great but the bus was horrible. Stops at all the resorts so it takes and extra hour to get back to Desire. I would rent a car and do XelHa one day and Tulum and Coba another day. That will be our next rental if we can ever afford to go to Desire again.

Renting is very easy and cheap if you use an American company and skip the Desire rental table.

Make sure you have it rented with a card that has insurance for rental cars on it. Also take pictures in front of the agent before you take off. Lots of them. Never had a problem but better safe than sorry.

[alanwar]

Thank you for the tip on renting a car at another hotel. Would you mind sharing with me the specifics of what company you rented from and where you picked up the car. Also did you buy any insurance extras or have any other tips for getting around by car ? I'm a little nervous given some of the horror story of having to bribe the police.

thank you,
Alan

[oldseadog]

On our last trip we rented from Eurocar at the Airport for 3 days, and the trip before from Eurocar at Playa del Carmen for 8 days. We took the extra insurance, and even then, at Playa, they tried to get me to pay 150 Pesos for repair to a microscopic chip on a door. When I pointed out that I had damage insurance the guy looked a bit disappointed - maybe his brother has a paint shop.
We had no problem with the Police; in fact on the 7 hour drive to Xcalac we saw one patrol car and one army checkpoint where they were more interested in our Scottish flag than in any paperwork. But the damage insurance gives peace of mind. It may be that your credit card covers this anyway - I'm not up to speed on how your system works.
As for bribing the Police, there are similar stories over here about the US Police, so unless others have confirmed stories I wouldn't worry.

[karlita]

As stated tulum is the nearest mayan pyramid site, it is one main pyramid located on a cliff overlooking the beach.
Chichen Itza is in the interior and a 3hour drive each way. It is an impressive collection of pyramids but a LONG trip that takes all day. And driving through the interior is flat w/trees on the sides of road, not much to look at.
Closer options for day trips:
Playa del carmen, a 45minute (each way) cab ride about $40 each way, so good if you can find someone to share cabfare with.
What to do: LOTs of shops, ranging from kitschy tourist crap, cigar shops, pharmacies, boot stores, jewelry stores, nice womens clothing, even national chain "american apparel" has a store here.
Its one long pedestrian street, very well maintained. Restaurants mainly steak/seafood/mexican/some italian/ standouts include YAXCHE--which offers yucatan/mayan cuisine
BARS: nightlclub /ultra lounge style clubs, beach bars like the blue parrot/ coco bongo mega club and show/ smaller bars on the main strip where you can sit and people watch


XCARET: about 50 minutes drive from desire. Lots of activities, great day trip. Animals, dolphins, cultural shows and exhibits, mayan show and recreated village, underground river to float through, much more--website has up to date tix prices, was $60 last may

Puerto Morelos: about 15 minutes away, $15 cab ride. This is good if you want to get away during the day and not go too far. NIce little town to walk around and take pictures. Some little souvenir stores. ***DO NOT try to walk to puerto morelos from desire along the beach in the summer...we did this one trip and it was about 7KM and were sunburned and exhausted from heat by the time we reached the outskirts of PM, luckily we had some $$ for a cab fare back to desire!

ATV Cenote tour offered from desire....we did this last year and it was a nice day trip that didn't last too long. My husband LOVED driving the ATV's through the jungle. With all the butterflies whizzing by it felt like playing a video game.

XEL HA, heard good things but have never been