Travel advice to Cichen Itza!!!!

[LOLOSKY]

Hello all,
so I have been having a great time perusing this site and informing myself off all the great things yet to come when I make my first trip to Playa. However, I would like to ask all of you for a little advice. My group and I are planning to take a jungle zip-line tour when we arrive in Playa and also we were looking to charter a boat for some deep sea fishing. Because the deep sea fishing tour is a little costly and we will also be taking the jungle zip-line tour as well, we were debating wether or not to go ahead and just spend the additional money to add the Chichen Iza tour as well or take the trip on our own?? The tour sounds fantastic especially w/ the extra stop in the town of Valladolid (hope I spelled that correctly) but if we rented a car we can probably do everything at a cheaper price. I know a tour is nice but does anyone think it's safe to rent a car in Playa and make the trek on our own? Are the roads safe? Also, when we get to Chichen Iza are there places to eat because from what it sounds like, it sounds like its in a very remote area. I appreciate any advice or suggestions that can be given

[Babaloo]

i suggest the tour
less stress
...but the roads are fine and it's safe

and you sure are packing a lot into one trip
don't forget to relax on the beach

[LOLOSKY]

Originally Posted by Babaloo

i suggest the tour
less stress
...but the roads are fine and it's safe

and you sure are packing a lot into one trip
don't forget to relax on the beach

Well, we are going to be there for 10 days so I figured 3 out of the 10 days we are there to take tours shouldn't be so bad. But trust me, we are going to relax on the beach, drink, eat and enjoy all that Playa has to offer

[weekapaug74]

I'm going to Chichen Itza at the beginning of next month.

But I am using Aerosaab to fly there. 2 hours of total travel time works a lot better for me than 6-8 hours in a bus, van, car, etc.

[Phil in Ottawa]

Originally Posted by weekapaug74

I'm going to Chichen Itza at the beginning of next month.

But I am using Aerosaab to fly there. 2 hours of total travel time works a lot better for me than 6-8 hours in a bus, van, car, etc.

We have flown to the ruins twice, in 2000 and 2004. I highly, highly recommend it. So much better than by ground transportation (be that a bus, a van, or a car).

But it sounds like you are already watching the costs of your excursions, so flying may not fit in your plans since it is somewhat expensive.

I guess it would also depend on the size of your group because Aerosaab is limited by the size of their planes as to how big a group they can take.

But if you're interested and you'd like more information, let me know.

Hope this helps

[LOLOSKY]

Originally Posted by Phil in Ottawa

We have flown to the ruins twice, in 2000 and 2004. I highly, highly recommend it. So much better than by ground transportation (be that a bus, a van, or a car).

But it sounds like you are already watching the costs of your excursions, so flying may not fit in your plans since it is somewhat expensive.

I guess it would also depend on the size of your group because Aerosaab is limited by the size of their planes as to how big a group they can take.

But if you're interested and you'd like more information, let me know.

Hope this helps

Well, we are actually going to PDC and taking a day trip to Chichen Iza so does it really take that long to travel there from PDC where air transportation is best? Now that were on the subject, exactly how long is Chichen Iza from PDC?

[wolfpacker]

The one time I made it out to Chichen Itza, we rented a v-dub in town and got up very early and headed up to the toll road. Except for the fear of when is the next petrol station, all was well and we had the ruins to ourselves for quite some time before the masses of tour buses arrived.

Just don't try to take a "shortcut" home like we did. Out little Bug about got swallowed by potholes.

[sn0wman]

The bus tour is the way we went, It is a long day 12 hours or better. I dont know if I would rent a car and try and make that trip. I would look at the plane trip into Chichen Itza if that was all you wanted to see but you would miss the other stops along the way though. Either way you wont go wrong. Here are a couple teasers for you..

[Susie Q Roo]

Not sure how many are in your group, but the Yucatreks tour will not disappoint you and you'll not regret a peso of the cost! It's SO nice not to have to worry about where you'll be eating/drinking/finding a ruins guide/etc! And anything you could possibly need in the van is there for you also. Like you said, it's not just Chichen Itza, either, it's a variety of things to see that you probably wouldn't get to enjoy on your own.

However, if you rent a car... the drive is fast (2-3 hours) if you take the toll road (another expense). There is food to be had there and sit-down restaurants nearby as well.

If I had friends coming to visit me who wanted to see Chichen Itza, even though I have a car, I would recommend taking the tour and I would go with them on it. Only if they wanted to spend the night there and see the evening show would I consider the drive. The tour enables you to maximize your day without stress, fuss, worry, planning, any of it!

[Big Fish]

We went to Chichen Itza on our first trip ever to Playa about 4 yrs ago. Thankfully it was February - plenty hot enough and definately wouldn't dream of doing it in the summer months! There was 4 of us and we actually hired a private van (could seat up to 12) which we were very thankful for! The driver also acted as our extremely educated tour guide and he was brilliant (a university teacher actually studying Mayan as well).

It is a VERY LONG day taking 3 hrs to drive there and 3 hrs back (we did it without kids!). I definately would not have wanted to drive that (and we do usually rent a car). We also stopped in Vallolodid and went to the cenote, but he also stopped wherever we wanted to - or continued on when we wanted to - everything was at our time. Thoroughly recommend going this route. Plus - especially on the return trip when we were tired - we had the room to stretch out rather than being cooped up on a bus or in a full minivan. I think it was about $100/pp and this included all entrance fees and lunch etc.

If you are going there - it really is worthwhile to go with a guide otherwise you would miss out on sooo much info - but we did notice that the groups that were obviously on a bus tour - there were just too many of them and not everyone could hear the guide so you could miss out there too.

[maureena5]

Hi Phil,

I would love to get information on your flight to Chicken Itza. Please do post your private flight arrangements. We don't mind driving there, but my husband has a big interest in small aircraft. Thanks!!


Maureen

[LOLOSKY]

Originally Posted by Big Fish

We went to Chichen Itza on our first trip ever to Playa about 4 yrs ago. Thankfully it was February - plenty hot enough and definately wouldn't dream of doing it in the summer months! There was 4 of us and we actually hired a private van (could seat up to 12) which we were very thankful for! The driver also acted as our extremely educated tour guide and he was brilliant (a university teacher actually studying Mayan as well).

It is a VERY LONG day taking 3 hrs to drive there and 3 hrs back (we did it without kids!). I definately would not have wanted to drive that (and we do usually rent a car). We also stopped in Vallolodid and went to the cenote, but he also stopped wherever we wanted to - or continued on when we wanted to - everything was at our time. Thoroughly recommend going this route. Plus - especially on the return trip when we were tired - we had the room to stretch out rather than being cooped up on a bus or in a full minivan. I think it was about $100/pp and this included all entrance fees and lunch etc.

If you are going there - it really is worthwhile to go with a guide otherwise you would miss out on sooo much info - but we did notice that the groups that were obviously on a bus tour - there were just too many of them and not everyone could hear the guide so you could miss out there too.

Your information was very helpful, I appreciate it. Now that I know that it is 3 hours to get there and back I think splurging on renting a van seems more hassel-free and practical. If you can provide me with the company information you went through to rent a van it would be much appreciated

[Babaloo]

Originally Posted by LOLOSKY

Your information was very helpful, I appreciate it. Now that I know that it is 3 hours to get there and back I think splurging on renting a van seems more hassel-free and practical. If you can provide me with the company information you went through to rent a van it would be much appreciated

the playa.info/Yukatreks tour is $107/adult and $97/child and includes:
all entrances; expert guiding; air-conditioned transportation with driver; sandwich before the ruin; snacks (chips, cookies, nuts, granola bars); lunch; water and soft drinks throughout the day; beer starting after the ruins.

It's nice to support the site you are learning from

more about the Tour HERE

[Big Fish]

Gosh I have no clue what the name of the company was as it was arranged thru our Property Manager back then.......you could try asking Bric (who I remember from y/day you are renting thru) - they may be able to help or perhaps point you in the right direction. You may be able to rent privately thru this site too - dunno - but Heather would. Its probably v similar to the Yukatreks one (I think still booked thru this site) - not sure what size van they use but I also wouldn't want to be crammed into a full 12 pax van either! Perhaps there is a way to book the Yukatreks but get the van to yourselves? Wish I could help more but even if my memory could dig up the info - the company might not still be around!

[LOLOSKY]

Originally Posted by Susie Q Roo

Not sure how many are in your group, but the Yucatreks tour will not disappoint you and you'll not regret a peso of the cost! It's SO nice not to have to worry about where you'll be eating/drinking/finding a ruins guide/etc! And anything you could possibly need in the van is there for you also. Like you said, it's not just Chichen Itza, either, it's a variety of things to see that you probably wouldn't get to enjoy on your own.

However, if you rent a car... the drive is fast (2-3 hours) if you take the toll road (another expense). There is food to be had there and sit-down restaurants nearby as well.

If I had friends coming to visit me who wanted to see Chichen Itza, even though I have a car, I would recommend taking the tour and I would go with them on it. Only if they wanted to spend the night there and see the evening show would I consider the drive. The tour enables you to maximize your day without stress, fuss, worry, planning, any of it!

Well I greatly appreciate the insight. The more I have been researching into this the more I am realizing that taking a tour would probably be the most hassel-free and practical way to go. That was the one hesitation I had with renting the car was the drive. I can really stir crazy when I am in a car that long. But for monetary purposes I was considering making the sacrifice. Regardless, I think we may just go ahead with the tour then.