Side Trip to Chetumal

lstowell · 12-31-2004

We would like to take the bus from Playa to Chetumal and stay over one or two nights late January or early February 2005. We are having trouble finding very much information about Chetumal on the web. We would like hotel information, whether there are beaches worth being near, whether there are bus routes in town or whether we must use taxis, what attractions there are so that when we arrive we can make the most of of our time there. Has anyone been there recently and what was your experience, good or bad? We would prefer a smaller hotel as opposed to a all inclusive resort. We like eating at different restaurants. Have you found some good web sites? Chetumal.com was pretty sparce.
Lew

WannaBeach · 12-31-2004

Chetumal is not a touristy area by any means...It is the capital of Quintana Roo so it is alot busier than the Maya riviera...There really isn't much in terms of beaches, none that compare with Playa beaches...Having said that, I do reccomend a visit...It is a nice town that will give a sense of the true Mexican life.

We checked out several hotels when we were down there and the one we really liked was Los Cocos on the main downtown drag...Nice clean relatively new rooms with a restaurant on site...We paid $75.00 per night in March...A bargain IMHO.

BobbiJ · 12-31-2004

Been there, hey, if you decide to drive from PDC to Chetumal ..stop to eat, drink or swim at a place called Cenote Azul http://www.bacalarmosaico.com/cenoteazul_e.htm
AWESOME!

lstowell · 01-04-2005

Did you stay over night in Chetumal? If so where and how was it?
Lew

BobbiJ · 01-04-2005

We did not stay the night...actually we were staying two weeks in Xcalak and the caretaker of the casa we stayed at has no transportaion and needed a part for his fishing boat,

we went into Chetumal to get the parts and take alook see around..very not touresty, thats why we liked it.

We really did no research on the city as we did not plan on going there till we decided to help Jose out so we had a hard time finding a place to eat. We had lunch at a Holiday in the service was actally really great and the food not bad either, we probably could have done better if we had the time to research it. Would I go back??????? Yes in a heartbeat, but I would want to spend a few days to explore the city and its wonderful people.

Tortuguita · 01-07-2005

As far as I have seen, the beaches in Chetumal are nothing spectacular. The best beaches on the peninsula are definately in the Riviera Maya area.
Chetumal can be well worth the visit, especially if you decide to explore the area.
On your way you will pass the beautiful Bacalar Lagune, which is very nice turquoise coloured, and the town itself is small and peacefull. It has a fortress from the Colonial times and can be visited as a museum.

Then, passing Chetumal about 40 km, direction to Escarcega, are the Maya ruines of Kohunlich, a place that you should definately visit. It`s not so explored yet by tourism and it´s very beautiful, with a great jungle, similar to the one in Chiapas.

About Chetumal itself, I have been told that the Museum of the Mayan Culture is well worth the visit, so you should go, if this interests you.

Have a good time...

lstowell · 01-08-2005

Thanks for the info. I can send you some pics and give you a report. We do plan to go. I just wish I could get a better plan of where to go and what to expect before I get there but you have helped. Thank you.

jlsl · 01-08-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by lstowell

Thanks for the info. I can send you some pics and give you a report. We do plan to go. I just wish I could get a better plan of where to go and what to expect before I get there but you have helped. Thank you.

Would you please send me a copy too?
My parents live in Chetumal and I've been there a few times. Maybe I could help you.

lstowell · 01-08-2005

Wow! I bet you can.
For a one or two night stay what is a good part of town to find a modest hotel with A/C & large bed and some nice local restaurants?

Where will the bus from Playa stop (terminal) and how far is that from the part(s) of town you are going to recommend?

Is there good city bus transport or must we take taxis?

Other than just seeing a nice Mexican city, what sights would you suggest we see on this trip? Museums, Provincial Capital building, the bay?

Does Chetumal have a web site even half as good as this one?

Other suggestions?

jlsl · 01-08-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by lstowell

Wow! I bet you can.
For a one or two night stay what is a good part of town to find a modest hotel with A/C & large bed and some nice local restaurants?

Where will the bus from Playa stop (terminal) and how far is that from the part(s) of town you are going to recommend?

Is there good city bus transport or must we take taxis?

Other than just seeing a nice Mexican city, what sights would you suggest we see on this trip? Museums, Provincial Capital building, the bay?

Does Chetumal have a web site even half as good as this one?

Other suggestions?

Quote:

Originally Posted by lstowell

Wow! I bet you can.
For a one or two night stay what is a good part of town to find a modest hotel with A/C & large bed and some nice local restaurants?

Where will the bus from Playa stop (terminal) and how far is that from the part(s) of town you are going to recommend?

Is there good city bus transport or must we take taxis?

Other than just seeing a nice Mexican city, what sights would you suggest we see on this trip? Museums, Provincial Capital building, the bay?

Does Chetumal have a web site even half as good as this one?

Other suggestions?

I think the other posts on this thread have said many things about Chetumal. It's not very touristy. Although there is a bay, there are not good beaches. Calderitas is the only "beach" (man made) but is anything near the Mayan Riviera's in terms of beauty.

I'd say their main attractions would be:

Museo de la Cultura Maya (don´t miss it!).
Museo de la Ciudad.
City Zoo.
City Hall.
Walk/drive along the Malecón (road beside the bay).

Near Chetumal.
===========
Laguna de Bacalar. Is Mexico's second largest lake. It's about 30 kms from Chetumal towards Cancun. Amazingly, its water gets up to 7 different shades of blue color. Ask to be taken to the public beach/balneario. 5 pesos entrance fee per person, refundable on the restaurant if you buy something.

Cenote Azul, in the town of Bacalar (there is a restaurant there but you don´t have to eat or pay anything in order to visit the cenote).

Somebody above mentioned the Maya ruins of Kohunlich. I haven´t been to any ruins but I think those are the area´s more important ones.

There are a few magic places know mainly by locals: for example, el balneario El Palmar, aprox 30 kms from Chetumal. I just tried to upload some photos to my multimedia gallery but I got errors so I'll try later.

La Zona Libre (Free Zone) de Belize. It's between the borders of Mexico and Belize. Very popular for Mexican nationals because of the duty free prices. There is a Casino (and another in the make), with free drinks all day and free buffet dinner @ 11 PM (6 PM on Sundays). Do you want to buy a 10 USD Levis or Hugo Boss jeans? go there. I understand there is a bus but, again, I've never taken it.

A little further.
===========

Mahahual is the new tourist development in the so called "Costa Maya". It's 130 kms from Chetumal. If you want to know how Playa del Carmen was 20 years ago, go there. I will publish photos as well.

Hotels.

Because my parents live there I've never stayed at hotels in Chetumal. Somebody mentioned hotel Los Cocos.

I also found this website of Hotel Casa Blanca:

http://www.casablancachetumal.com/tarifas/

It's in Spanish though. It's located in front of City Hall. Their most expensive double room is 500 pesos, taxes included. It comes with A/C and Internet conexion.

Local transportation.

I've never used public transportation, only taxis (or private car). Taxis charge 8 pesos for most central destinations.

Web sites.

Not many in English

In Spanish:

Guia de Chetumal

chetumail.com

I'll let you know when I get to publish the pictures.

JLSL

kjtom · 01-09-2005

Dear Istowell ... the main bus terminal of Chetumal is rather far from downtown but a reasonable cab fare (can not recall it) ... and there may be shuttles back and forth but I could not stand waiting for another bus after 5 plus hours on the first one ... I did take a sort of rundown shuttle bus from Chetumal terminal to Bacalar ... spent a few hours in Chetumal but found the market to be rather interesting and bit differetn even than the mercado in Merida and the malecon is cool ... Bacalar is an interesting little place where you can watch Mexcio go by, hit Cenote Azul (cheap cab ride) and Hotel Laguna (bacalar) (surf web for home page) is rather charming w/an incredible view ... I stayed at a dump on the northern end of town but had drinks and took a dip in the pool at HL w/a guest ... sunrise has to be beautiful since the view of the laguna itself in exceptional ... you may wish to do a night at Laguna and a night downtown
chetmal ...

12-31-2004	#1 (permalink)
lstowell lost on fifth Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Brookfield, VT Posts: 11	Side Trip to Chetumal We would like to take the bus from Playa to Chetumal and stay over one or two nights late January or early February 2005. We are having trouble finding very much information about Chetumal on the web. We would like hotel information, whether there are beaches worth being near, whether there are bus routes in town or whether we must use taxis, what attractions there are so that when we arrive we can make the most of of our time there. Has anyone been there recently and what was your experience, good or bad? We would prefer a smaller hotel as opposed to a all inclusive resort. We like eating at different restaurants. Have you found some good web sites? Chetumal.com was pretty sparce. Lew

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

12-31-2004	#2 (permalink)
WannaBeach ruined Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 92	Chetumal is not a touristy area by any means...It is the capital of Quintana Roo so it is alot busier than the Maya riviera...There really isn't much in terms of beaches, none that compare with Playa beaches...Having said that, I do reccomend a visit...It is a nice town that will give a sense of the true Mexican life. We checked out several hotels when we were down there and the one we really liked was Los Cocos on the main downtown drag...Nice clean relatively new rooms with a restaurant on site...We paid $75.00 per night in March...A bargain IMHO.

12-31-2004	#3 (permalink)
BobbiJ way into it Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Washington State Posts: 135	Been there, hey, if you decide to drive from PDC to Chetumal ..stop to eat, drink or swim at a place called Cenote Azul http://www.bacalarmosaico.com/cenoteazul_e.htm AWESOME!

01-04-2005	#4 (permalink)
lstowell lost on fifth Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Brookfield, VT Posts: 11	Did you stay over night in Chetumal? If so where and how was it? Lew

01-04-2005	#5 (permalink)
BobbiJ way into it Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Washington State Posts: 135	We did not stay the night...actually we were staying two weeks in Xcalak and the caretaker of the casa we stayed at has no transportaion and needed a part for his fishing boat, we went into Chetumal to get the parts and take alook see around..very not touresty, thats why we liked it. We really did no research on the city as we did not plan on going there till we decided to help Jose out so we had a hard time finding a place to eat. We had lunch at a Holiday in the service was actally really great and the food not bad either, we probably could have done better if we had the time to research it. Would I go back??????? Yes in a heartbeat, but I would want to spend a few days to explore the city and its wonderful people.

01-07-2005	#6 (permalink)
Tortuguita into ruins Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Playa del Carmen Posts: 68	As far as I have seen, the beaches in Chetumal are nothing spectacular. The best beaches on the peninsula are definately in the Riviera Maya area. Chetumal can be well worth the visit, especially if you decide to explore the area. On your way you will pass the beautiful Bacalar Lagune, which is very nice turquoise coloured, and the town itself is small and peacefull. It has a fortress from the Colonial times and can be visited as a museum. Then, passing Chetumal about 40 km, direction to Escarcega, are the Maya ruines of Kohunlich, a place that you should definately visit. It`s not so explored yet by tourism and it´s very beautiful, with a great jungle, similar to the one in Chiapas. About Chetumal itself, I have been told that the Museum of the Mayan Culture is well worth the visit, so you should go, if this interests you. Have a good time...

01-08-2005	#7 (permalink)
lstowell lost on fifth Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Brookfield, VT Posts: 11	Thanks for the info. I can send you some pics and give you a report. We do plan to go. I just wish I could get a better plan of where to go and what to expect before I get there but you have helped. Thank you.

01-08-2005	#9 (permalink)
lstowell lost on fifth Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Brookfield, VT Posts: 11	Wow! I bet you can. For a one or two night stay what is a good part of town to find a modest hotel with A/C & large bed and some nice local restaurants? Where will the bus from Playa stop (terminal) and how far is that from the part(s) of town you are going to recommend? Is there good city bus transport or must we take taxis? Other than just seeing a nice Mexican city, what sights would you suggest we see on this trip? Museums, Provincial Capital building, the bay? Does Chetumal have a web site even half as good as this one? Other suggestions?

01-09-2005	#11 (permalink)
kjtom life=playa Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: WV Posts: 650	Dear Istowell ... the main bus terminal of Chetumal is rather far from downtown but a reasonable cab fare (can not recall it) ... and there may be shuttles back and forth but I could not stand waiting for another bus after 5 plus hours on the first one ... I did take a sort of rundown shuttle bus from Chetumal terminal to Bacalar ... spent a few hours in Chetumal but found the market to be rather interesting and bit differetn even than the mercado in Merida and the malecon is cool ... Bacalar is an interesting little place where you can watch Mexcio go by, hit Cenote Azul (cheap cab ride) and Hotel Laguna (bacalar) (surf web for home page) is rather charming w/an incredible view ... I stayed at a dump on the northern end of town but had drinks and took a dip in the pool at HL w/a guest ... sunrise has to be beautiful since the view of the laguna itself in exceptional ... you may wish to do a night at Laguna and a night downtown chetmal ...

register to remove these adverts