Skip to main content

Chacchoben Mayan Ruins in Costa Maya


Lucky for us, the Mayans were wrong in their prediction of the end of the world in 2012.  However, they were extremely successful thousands of years ago in building amazing temples and other buildings that formed the basis for large cities throughout the Yucatan Peninsula.  For those of you lucky enough to sail on a Western Caribbean Cruise with a stop at Costa Maya, you can see for yourself just how amazing these cities were.

Most stops in Costa Maya last a short 4-5 hours, which is the perfect amount of time for an excursion to the Chacchoben Mayan City.  The tour starts off with a 1 hour ride aboard an air conditioned coach bus from the port through the jungle and farmlands of the area.  For many people, this is an eye opening bus ride through very poor and rural areas of Mexico.  These villages and rural areas are much different from what we are used to seeing in the resort areas of Mexico.  During the bus ride, your tour guide does an excellent job of providing background history on the historic site as well as pointing out unique animals and vegetation along the route.
       

The actual walking tour of Chacchoben lasts about 2 hours and takes you along winding paths throughout what used to be a village with thousands of Mayan residents.  The excavations of the village began in the early 1970’s and still continue today.  Along the paths, you will see 3 large temples that are still mostly intact.  In addition, there are remnants of various other buildings including homes for the residents.  An interesting fact, Mayans were much smaller than the average human today, and the alley ways between their homes provided plenty of space for walking 2000 years ago, today however, they are much more difficult to walk through.

On the 2 largest pyramid structures, tourists are able to walk part-way up the staircase for photographs and closer viewing of the materials used to construct the temples.  In another temple, there is a covered area that contains a hieroglyphic painting that was uncovered during the excavations 40 years ago.  Most of the painting has been covered back up to protect it from the elements, but if you are lucky like we were, your tour guide will have a replica of the painting to share with you.

Agent Maci and her husband getting up close with the pyramids on their Honeymoon

Throughout the tour, the guides do an excellent job of not only sharing the history of the area, but also giving you ample time to explore on your own and take lots of photographs.  During your explorations you may even luck out and see a spider monkey swinging thru the trees or a lizard lounging on a rock in the sun!

After the tour, you have a little bit of time to shop in a small marketplace with handmade goods for sale by local residents as well as Chacchoben souvenirs.  Then its time to board the bus back to the port, where you will arrive just in time to board your ship and set sail for your next destination. 

If you ever have the chance to explore this amazing historical site, I highly recommend it- I visited with my children who were 6 and 8 years old at the time, who will tell you it was one of the highlights of the cruise for them.

Several of our agents and their families have explored these beautiful ruins and would recommend them.  Most cruise lines with stops at Costa Maya will offer excursions here through their sites, sometimes bundled with other destinations or you can book this on your own.  

A few tips for exploring Chacchoben: it gets HOT in this part of the world, be sure to wear comfortable lightweight clothing, pack sunscreen and hats, and bug spray since you are in the jungle.  There is also quite a bit of walking and uneven terrain, make sure you are up for this adventure and wear comfortable shoes. 



- Stacy L.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Mythos Restaurant at Universal's Islands of Adventure

Located on The Lost Continent of Universal's Islands of Adventure, Mythos is an award-winning, full-service restaurant that offers an otherworldly experience. If you've ever been to Universal's Islands of Adventure, you've undoubtedly walked by this restaurant with its towering rock formations, waterfalls and ancient figures carved into the side of the building. The restaurant has been calling to me for years and I was finally able to give it a try. When you enter the restaurant, it feels like you've entered a cavernous grotto from another world. There are oceanic and mythical touches throughout the indoor dining room and there's also outdoor seating with great views of the park. View from our table The menu features a mix of Mediterranean, Asian and American cuisine including Spanakopita Dip, Pad Thai and a Bacon Cheeseburger. There's also a kids menu for little ones and a dessert menu featuring Chocolate Banana Gooey Cake.  On our first visit to Mythos, we

5 Ways To Get Psyched For Your Disney Trip!

Hey-Howdy-Hey, Disney Guys and Gals!      Is anyone familiar with Barney Stinson's "Get Psyched" Mix? Anyone? How I Met your Mother Fans? Ok, great! So you totally get where I'm going with this! If you have no idea what I am talking about, you can watch a clip  HERE!  Basically, the theory is that no matter what's going on in your life, you can get yourself psyched up and ready for something awesome to happen, all by listening to the right piece of music. Playing off of that theory, I feel that one of the very best things about a Disney trip is actually  preparing  for it, or getting psyched! You can have a whole bunch of crappy stuff happening in your life at the time, but if you have a Disney trip on the horizon... even if it's 564 days away, you have something to look forward to and enjoy preparing yourself for. In fact, many Disney fans, (myself included), pretty much get from one day to the next by preparing for upcoming trips. You may even book a ne

Universal's Volcano Bay Private Cabana Review

On a recent training in Universal Orlando Resort, agents Maci, Ashley, Aubrey and Yaritza and I rented a private cabana for the day at Universal's Volcano Bay. There are multiple locations around the park along with the option to have an upper or lower level, all of which reflect in various pricing. Agent Ashley received an email the day before informing her of where to check-in the next morning. While we were personally escorted to the cabana shortly after check in, the line at the check in location is the same as those getting towels, meaning it was not short. As expressed by an additional guest checking into a different cabana, we would have greatly appreciated a separate line, since this caused our group about a half hour wait. We're all adults and made great use of our time getting some fun pictures before the park was filled with guests, but this is important to be aware of if you are traveling with children.  We had an upper level Cabana which came with a splendid view!