Mexico, Riveriera Maya - recommendations of things to do

[NicoAndTheNiners]

Have just spur of the moment booked for me and 18yo dd to go for 10 days in July. Am fed up of being scared of never travelling as on my own with dd.

Staying at the Xcaret Occidental which is AI and looks lovely after seeing it mentioned on another thread.

Any recommendations about excursions, etc. Pre book them or wait till I get there. Am planning on getting the discounted pass to the Xcaret eco park next to the hotel, so think I can get passes fairly cheaply for the duration of the stay.

I read it's best to pay for stuff in pesos locally rather than dollars as better exchange, is that right? I guess I won't need much money as it's AI.

But it would be nice to go and have a look round Playa del Carmen one day. Especially as I've read there's a Bath and Bodywork shop there which I'm insanely excited about. In fact dd reckons it's the only reason I've booked Mexico!

Are there ATMs there if I need to take money out? This is why I never go on holiday because I worry too much and all the little details seem overwhelming.

Coba is well worth a visit. Ancient Mayan ruins with an untouched/unrestored pyramid and swathe of woodland/nature.

Akumal is worth a half day to see the sea turtles too

Dollars or Pesos are fine. If I remember rightly, we took and used mainly dollars

Thank you. I've read about an evening trip to the beach to see the turtles coming ashore and laying eggs which sounds good. We're going at the right time of year for that.

Will google Akumel as well though and Coba. There seems to be quite a few excursions to different ruins including Chichen Itza which is the one I've heard of. Think that's a bit further away though so not sure if it's worth the further distance for the more famous one.

We went last August and stayed in the same hotel.
We found the eco park sorry to be so honest but BAF .
We went off resort to swim with dolphins best experience in my life so far.
Hotel was lovely . We headed to the beach most days as so lively.
PM me if you want any other details .
Have fun

Thanks, will send you a PM.

Tulum was beautiful, ruins gorgeous beach and lunch. Swim in a cenote!
Playa del carmen for shopping, bars and nice places to eat worth a taxi ride.

I'd take pesos for tipping, the staff seem to prefer them. Some hotels (not that I've stayed at yours) don't accept dollars, for things like the shop.

I've always found it better value to book trips over there. But again I'm not sure what's local to where you are staying.

It's a beautiful part of the world, enjoy 😊

Thanks.

I've found a trip which does Coba, a Cenote and then Tulum all in one trip which looks good so was thinking of booking that.

Also want to do a snorkelling trip, I see there's one to a coral reef which looks nice.

Want to see the manatees.

Really loved the Excellence. Fab food.

I would most certainly recommend going to Coco bongo one evening. We bought our tickets from a local seller.

We thoroughly enjoyed visiting Chichen Itza, again another Mayan ruin but it's magnificent.

We also really enjoyed a half day trip to xenses park. It is one of the cheaper trips but certainly worth it. It blew our little minds lol.

We bought a couple of excursions before we left however ended up buying more once there as there was so much we wanted to see and do! Playa del carmen is ok, we only went to watch the football (we stayed during the world cup last year) so cant comment on shopping/restaurants etc.

Im sure whatever you decide to do you will have a fab time 😊

Theres a wonderful monkey sanctuary near by, well worth a trip if you fancy little monkeys climbing on you. I think it was Akumal

Oooh and don't bother trekking to Chicken Pizza (can't remember how it's spelt) ek Balam is brilliant and the wildlife is crazy. I think you can do an excursion with a visit to the cenotes as well with a traditional Mayan meal as well.

Another vote for Coco Bongo as well. The VIP pacakage is worth the cost of the drinks. It goes on for hours as well. We left at 3am and it was still going.

We used these guys flaviostours.com/about-us/ when we went to riviera maya. Their tours are fab. We did chitzen itza with them and it was so much better than the tours booked through the travel agents. They have a small mini bus with not many people so it is more personalised. They really look after you and everything is included. They take pictures and video all day and if you take a usb they will put it in that for you on the way back. We visited a cenote on the way to chitzen itza and it was so quiet as they pick the right time to go.

Would definitely recommend. We are going back in a few years and will use them again.

Tulum is one of the most beautiful places I've been, definitely try and go there. We did an excursion to an underground cenote and then zip lining across the forest which was really good but I can't remember where it was, it was not too far from playa del carmen. Mexico is a lovely place, have a great trip.

We've not long come back from riviera maya (3 weeks ago) and we booked our excursions at the hotel and found them much cheaper than booking before. We got a tour of chichen itza with a cenote swim and lunch in a Mayan village and booked Xplor park and got a coba ruins with secret beach thrown in for free. Xplor park was fantastic, easily the best day out I've ever had. We found checking YouTube videos before hand really useful for the day trips and looking what kind of thing we'd be interested in. It's a beautiful place to visit and the wildlife was fascinating

Sorry it was tulum ruins not coba with a secret beach

I love monkeys so will definitely check the monkey sanctuary out.

Not sure about coco bongo. I think I will be tucked up in bed most nights as it gets going!

at chicken pizza, thought you were recommending a restaurant at first.

Dd has coeliac disease and is vegetarian so I am a bit nervous about eating out the hotel. The hotel is good for coeliacs apparantly, the chefs will make food for people especially so hoping they can manage with her being vegi as well.

magentarocks you must have enjoyed your holiday if you're going back. Thanks for the tour operator recommendation.

Just read that there's a Walmart as well! I know I'm sad. But I love visiting supermarkets abroad and have never been to Walmart.

thatsepicbro. Good idea about checking out YouTube videos beforehand.

Sounds like I'd be better off booking excursions when I'm there.

Tulum is on the list for sure. Off to google xplor now as well.

Coba was great, a decent trek through the jungle and a hard climb in the humidity but so worth it for the view at the top.

We also swam in a cenote which was cool but be prepared to stink of sulphur for the trip back to the hotel

Another trip to meet a Mayan family of descendants in their village. Another trek through the jungle with a guy and a big machete showing us the gum trees (where most chewing gum originates).

Highly recommend Xel-Ha, man made but swimming with the fish was awesome as was the hundreds of lil lizards and huge iguanas

We also drove speedboats through the mangroves and went croc spotting. The high speed return across open water was bloody terrifying though.

We are saving now to take our kids in a few years. 3 weeks, couple of trips each week. Gonna cost a bomb but so worth it

Love Mexico 🇲🇽

I’m also off to Riviera Maya in the summer. Looking at excursions to XelHa and Xplor. Think I’ll book when I’m there!

Xel-ha is fantastic. Playa del Carmen not anything special tbh.

The beach

Photos from.tjr hotel

The monkey sanctuary is at Akumal. We booked online and just got a taxi there from the hotel rank. When we wanted to go back, the reception at the Sanctuary just called a local taxi for us to come back. Its close to Tulum so the taxi was cheap.

Mexico is very easy if you are a nervous traveller, everything is geared to Americans so standards are high and English is widely spoken.
I've been to RM twice and also Peurto Vallarta on the Pacific side. Absolutely love it.

Snorkeling with turtles at akumal is really good