The Riviera Maya

The Riviera Maya features almost all the activites you can think about for your choice of vacation : Mayan ruins visits, scuba diving, snorkelling in cenotes, golf, zip-lining, sport fishing, ATV, horse-back riding, farniente of course... and Guatemala is only a couple hours drive away.

Mayan Ruins

It would impossible to list al the Mayan sites that can be visited. Herebelow is a selection of some of the most famous sites, close to Playa del Carmen.
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Tulum

The Mayan ruins of Tulum, only an hour from Playa del Carmen, undoubtedly has one of the most breathtaking settings of any city past or present. The only significant large scale Mayan ruin on the coast, it is perched on a cliff overlooking the Caribbean Sea.

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Coba

This grand Mayan site lies less than two hours from Playa del Carmen, and is different from the other big sites in the Yucatan. First of all, it's situated by four natural lakes, which is a rare sight in the Yucatan. These lakes are believed to have given the city its name, which means "Waters stirred by wind". Furthermore, it is not as excavated nor reconstructed as Chichen Itza or Tulum. Coba still has a number of big structures covered with the growth of the jungle, making it a wild place that truly triggers your imagination. It doesn't see nearly as many visitors as Chichen Itza or Tulum and if you're early you might be all by yourself with only birds, monkeys and the dense jungle to accompany you at these mystical ruins.
Just because there are only a few restored buildings in Coba, don't think it's not an interesting ruin. In fact, it's a real favorite. Ruins share space with tropical hardwood, vines and jungle vegetation. Birds and butterflies inhabit the canopy. A number of elaborately carved stelae (vertical stone tablets) have been found on the site, and are still there for the visitor of today. Most of them are found at the Grupo Macanxob, one kilometer after the entrance. It's a beautiful walk, but many of the stelae are in bad shape, so if you need to save your strength, climbing the pyramid should be your priority.

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Chichén Itzá

Chichén Itzá, arguably the most impressive Maya site on the Yucatán peninsula, lies about three hours from Playa del Carmen. Its famous pyramid offers a challenging climb and a breathtaking view over the jungle. This ruined city has several hundred buildings, of which about 30 have been fully restored. Some have been partially restored and others are still covered with the vines and bushes of the jungle. In this article you will get a short presentation of the history and some of the buildings of Chichén Itzá and practical facts and tips for your visit.

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Ek' Balam

This little gem of a Mayan city is rarely visited and you may very well end up strolling around all by yourself among temples and jungle. It's a bit off the beaten path since it's located about 20 minutes north of Valladolid. From Playa del Carmen it's a two hours and 45 minutes trip, which is best handled by car. But if you're into Mayan art and architecture, this is a real treat and should not be missed!

It's near Chichén Itzá, so you can plan a day trip and visit both sites. While you're there you can also make a stop at the cenotes of Ik kil Ecological Park.

Zip-lining, jungle exploration, cenotes and snorkelling

Several tour operators and organizations offer some of these fun expeditions in the jungle, the sea, or the cenotes.

The most recommended tour operator is Alltournative. Alltournative has been recognized as a distinguished leader as a socially responsible company for its impact on the Maya people, the environment and the communities where it operates. It proposes for instance the following expeditions.

- Zip lines + Tulum : a full including Visit of the Maya ruins in Tulum, plus zip-line in the jungle and snorkel in a cenote.

- Jungle crossing : a full day of sea kayaking, cenote snorkeling, 4x4 jungle driving, and a visit to Maya ranch.

- Rio Secreto : Dare to explore the hidden beauty of the ancient Maya's inner earth.If you've imagined what the Earth's center may be like, today you will be able know it.

Hidden Worlds. Situated on the most extensive system of underwater caves and caverns on Earth, the park is home to some of the most stunningly beautiful cenotes in the Yucatan Peninsula.Attractions include our new Ultimate Adventure Package featuring the unique SkyCycle, thrilling jungle and cenote splashdown Zip Lines and Rappel, as well as Snorkeling and Cavern Diving expeditions along the Yucatan Peninsula.

Aktun Chen. Located 107 km from Cancun, along the Mayan Riviera, just 16 km before the Mayan Ruins of Tulum and 4 km past Akumal, you find "Aktun Chen", which in mayan means "cave with an underground river inside". The park has an area of 400 Has (988 acres) of unexplored Rainforest in which the only thing that has been exploited is the gum of a local tree called "chicozapote". Three caves with a "cenote" (underground river) have been discovered in the park. The main cave is now suitable for an easy walking tour which has been enhanced with indirect lighting for a better view and enjoyment of the thousands of stalactites, stalagmites and natural sculptures, all of them formed by water and calcium carbonate throughout five million years.

Scuba diving

The Riviera Maya is full of beautiful places to dive in : Cozumel Island corals, Paa Mul and Yal Ku lagoons, the "Paraiso Shallow"... Cozumel is right accross Playa del Carmen ; Paa Mul, 10 minutes south ; and the cenotes are everywhere.

Cenote scuba

Here are different organizations that offer diving experiences for beginners or experts.

Cozumel Corals

Alltournative (mentioned above) proposes diving expeditions in all possibel places.

Diving Playa del Carmen, Tank Ha Dive Center, and DiveShopMexico are Scuba diving specialists located in Playa del Carmen.

Scubamex is also a specialist, located in Paa Mul.

Dive Aventuras is in Puerto Aventuras.

Deep Sea Fishing

The Yucatan Peninsula offers unbeatable vacation options and the fishing waters are famous worldwide ! Captain Rick can take you fishing...

Peak fishing season runs from early March through early July when Sailfish and Marlin are migrating through the canal. Captain Rick can take you fishing ! Visit his webpage. If you're interested, let us know so that we can see if several of you want to go so that you can contact Rick together.

Captain Rick has also a lot of cool links to other companies offering similar services.

Xcaret and Xel-Ha

Xcaret and Xel-Ha are eco-parks. They feature a lot of water based and ecological attractions.

Xcaret offers Mayan culture attractions as well as a sea trek - you will go underwater without the inconvenients of scuba diving.

If you visit Xcaret or Xel-Ha, take sunscreen that is 100% bio-degradable. Other sunscreens are not allowed. You can of course buy some on site but it's less expensive to buy it online.

Golf

You can find several golf courses on the Riviera Maya.

- Golf Club Playacar. Carved out of the dense Mayan Jungle, the Robert Von Hagge designed 18-hole championship golf course is among the lush foliage of the Yucatan Peninsula and only a few hundred yards away from the crystal-clear, turquoise ocean, and the fine white sands of the Mexican Caribbean Sea.

- Golf Club Cozumel. First club on the Island, this club designed by Nicklaus Design Group took five years to be carved out from limestones and corals.

- Cameleon Mayakoba. The Camaleon Mayakoba is a work of art designed by Greg Norman, located in the luxury resort "The Fairmont Mayakoba". This 18 hole, par 72 golf course is just 45 minutes south of Cancun, in the heart of the mystic Riviera Maya.

- Golf Club Iberostar Playa Paraiso. The extreme beauty of the area occupied by the Iberostar Playa Paraiso Golf Club, inspired P.B. Dye in his latest creation. This golf course, with its 6,800 yards and unsurpassed design, is among the best golf courses in the world. Narrow fairways, undulating greens and deep sand traps will challenge you in a dynamic game from start to end.

More info here.

Other

The below organizations can propose other types of expeditions - or help you organize some of those mentioned above.

- Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve. Centro Ecologico Sian Ka'an (CESiaK) is located on the Caribbean Coast of Mexico, near the Mayan Ruins of Tulum, south of Cancun. A small ecotourism and education center, it serves as a model for sustainable development in sensitive tropical ecosystems. The revenue generated through tours, fishing, beautiful accommodations, and various on-site activities is used to fund conservation and education programs within the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve. The Center operates using ecologically responsible technologies, including systems for wetland waste management, rainwater collection, and solar and wind energy generation. It also operates educational outreach programs and biological research. CESiaK proposes for instance the Canal Tour : this tour is an educational, sight-seeing boat tour through the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve.

Mexico Sol Tours. Mexico Sol Tours offers the classical excursions Mayan Ruins, Xcaret, Xel-Ha) as well as fishing and catamarans short cruises.

Playa del Carmen Tours. On top of traditional excursons (Mayan RUins, scuba, Xcaret, fishing, etc), Playa del Carmen tours offers horseback riding tours and ATV tours, coupled or not with snorkelling.

Paradise Catamarans offers snorkelling, sailing or parasailing.

The activities you will find near the hotel :

- the beach. Note that there is a coral reef on the beach and you will need water shoes to go in it. Mind the jet-skis ! They can go quick and close to the shore. 10 minutes away to the left you can find a "pool" in the middle of the reef, however, there are a lot of people there (it's in front of the Princess).

A few guys offer the same type of activities. One of them is five minutes away, just after the Tides. Another one is 10 minutes away, just before the princess. The last one, that offer the most complete package of activities, is just after the Princess.

- jet ski - Count 45$ for 30 minutes. At first they will tell you 60$, or even 70$. The market price is 50$ but you can go under if you tell them those guys further away make it cheaper. For this, take USD. It will avoid losing on the exchange rate ;)

- snorkelling. The last shop on the beach offers regular snorkelling trips ; count 1H30. They will take you to corals. The trips are 35$ per person and depart at 11am and 3pm daily.

- parasailing. Be careful who you go with, you want some well maintained equipment. But it's so much fun ! Count 110$ for a tour for two.

- deep-sea fishing. Those guys can all take you fishing.

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