Ruins and the beach! Costa Maya - July 23, 2019
Today's port is Costa Maya, Mexico. Today was a day I was really looking forward to! For those who have read my past blogs or who have followed along with my travels, you know I love Mexico and I love ruins! I love all things that have to do with archeology, and the Mayan ruins are fascinating to me! So I was really happy that we would be stopping in Costa Maya on this cruise since it's a port we've never been to, it's in Mexico, we get to go to ruins and we get to go to a beautiful lagoon!
We would be doing a combination tour today that also would give us a bit of free time at the port afterward if we wanted to do anything after our tour.
Once we disembarked the walk to the office where our tour began was fairly long. We knew this going in, so after exiting the cruise terminal area my parents took a short taxi ride, which is a good idea for anyone who may have difficulty walking long distances. The rest of us walked. I will say though that even though we walked pretty quickly, we got there just in time for our departure time, so don't waste any time getting off the ship if you plan to do something like this!
We were separated into groups at the tour office and we boarded smallish vans for the various tours. I would say ours had maybe 16 people or so in it. The first stop would be the Chacchoben Ruins. The drive to get there was about 50 minutes and our guide spent about 40 minutes or so giving us the history of the Mayans, the culture and the region. He was really great!
After we got off the van we all walked as a group down a somewhat long path to get to the first set of pyramids. We had about 5-10 minutes to walk around and take pictures and then we met back up with our guide and he told us about what we were looking at. It worked out really well for him to let us walk around first since we arrived before many of the other groups.
From this point we walked a bit further to another site with some more excavated ruins and were told we could walk up to the pyramids up on the upper level. You can see the steps behind the tree, there are some more ruins up there. Most in our group went up there, and wandered around, taking more pictures.
We had plenty of time to walk around up there and then once we went back down to the lower level our guide spent about 20 minutes telling us all about the history of this site as well as the Mayan culture. He was really a great guide. We only just touched on the ruins here at Chacchoben, but it was a nice sampling of what is there and excavated.
From here we left and were on our way to the Bacalar Lagoon, also called the Seven Color Lagoon. Lunch and beverages were included in our tour, so when we first arrived fresh tacos were set up with all sorts of toppings. They were delicious! And I'm sure I have no pictures!
After lunch the kids and I went into the water and my parents and Keith relaxed along the shoreline. There were kayaks available for those who wanted them, and several people were snorkeling as well.
This is the area where we had lunch, there was a bar, and we had chairs we could use for the afternoon.
After a couple of hours here, we were taken right back to the port. We were glad we didn't have to walk all the way back from the tour operator's office. Keith and my parents went back to the ship, but the kids and I spent some time in the port. The Costa Maya port area is really nice!
Since we had time, I convinced Alex and Megan to go through the Aviary in the port. It was maybe $8/person? I can't remember exactly. But you got a little cup of seed to feed the birds and it was SO worth it! It is a beautiful aviary with so many colorful birds. They seem to be very well kept, and Alex is a birder, and a wildlife person, so he would definitely be upset if they seemed to be in poor conditions.
We absolutely loved our day in Costa Maya!
I have no recollection of where we went for dinner that night. It may have been the main dining room. I don't have any pictures, so it must have been ok, but nothing overly exciting! After dinner we went to the ice show, it's called 1977. We're all always so impressed by the quality of the ice shows, especially on a moving ship!
It was another great day, and another late night! Tomorrow - Cozumel! Cozumel is always a favorite for us!
We would be doing a combination tour today that also would give us a bit of free time at the port afterward if we wanted to do anything after our tour.
Once we disembarked the walk to the office where our tour began was fairly long. We knew this going in, so after exiting the cruise terminal area my parents took a short taxi ride, which is a good idea for anyone who may have difficulty walking long distances. The rest of us walked. I will say though that even though we walked pretty quickly, we got there just in time for our departure time, so don't waste any time getting off the ship if you plan to do something like this!
We were separated into groups at the tour office and we boarded smallish vans for the various tours. I would say ours had maybe 16 people or so in it. The first stop would be the Chacchoben Ruins. The drive to get there was about 50 minutes and our guide spent about 40 minutes or so giving us the history of the Mayans, the culture and the region. He was really great!
After we got off the van we all walked as a group down a somewhat long path to get to the first set of pyramids. We had about 5-10 minutes to walk around and take pictures and then we met back up with our guide and he told us about what we were looking at. It worked out really well for him to let us walk around first since we arrived before many of the other groups.
From here we left and were on our way to the Bacalar Lagoon, also called the Seven Color Lagoon. Lunch and beverages were included in our tour, so when we first arrived fresh tacos were set up with all sorts of toppings. They were delicious! And I'm sure I have no pictures!
After lunch the kids and I went into the water and my parents and Keith relaxed along the shoreline. There were kayaks available for those who wanted them, and several people were snorkeling as well.
All of those shades of blue are why it's called the Seven Color Lagoon!
Alex has become my fish kid! Always wanting to be in the water! And always looking for sea creatures!
This is the area where we had lunch, there was a bar, and we had chairs we could use for the afternoon.
After a couple of hours here, we were taken right back to the port. We were glad we didn't have to walk all the way back from the tour operator's office. Keith and my parents went back to the ship, but the kids and I spent some time in the port. The Costa Maya port area is really nice!
Since we had time, I convinced Alex and Megan to go through the Aviary in the port. It was maybe $8/person? I can't remember exactly. But you got a little cup of seed to feed the birds and it was SO worth it! It is a beautiful aviary with so many colorful birds. They seem to be very well kept, and Alex is a birder, and a wildlife person, so he would definitely be upset if they seemed to be in poor conditions.
The difference enclosures were connected by hanging bridges. Here you can see some of the port area and our ship as we walked between the different sections of the aviary.
We absolutely loved our day in Costa Maya!
I have no recollection of where we went for dinner that night. It may have been the main dining room. I don't have any pictures, so it must have been ok, but nothing overly exciting! After dinner we went to the ice show, it's called 1977. We're all always so impressed by the quality of the ice shows, especially on a moving ship!
It was another great day, and another late night! Tomorrow - Cozumel! Cozumel is always a favorite for us!
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