Cozumel Excursion Idea: Touring Chichen Itza

[banderson]

Just back from the Feb. 26 Magic and the highlight of our trip was visiting Chichen Itza. This trip involves a one-hour flight to and from in a 4-seater plane (possibly too small and shaky for the weak-hearted) and costs about US$1000 for a family of four, but it's worth every single penny. If you hate shopping like me and would like to try something other than the commercial excursions Disney promotes in Cozumel, then you may want to look into this. We were met at the pier at 10:30 and were back at the ship by 6:00. At Chichen Itza, we had a personal guide to ourselves and the pilot stayed at the small local airport until we had finished our tour, then flew us back to the ship. Very personalized service from beginning to end.

Our boys aged 7 and 9 got quite a history lesson and climbing the 75-foot pyramid was one of those "take-your-breath-away" moments that we'll remember for many, many years.

Incidentally, this pyramid was built sometime between 1100-1300 A.D. Each of the four staircases has 91 steps for a total of 364, which added to the platform at the top makes 365 steps...the number of days in a year.

The Pyramid of Kukúlcan

The Pyramid of Kukúlcan as seen from the Platform of Skulls

 

[banderson]

bumpity bump

 

[B9erSteve]

I've been to this place. It was grand! The connection to history was amazing. I loved being able to actually touch and walk onto the ruins. Many places of this quality are off-limits to the tourist.

 

[joehips]

I have been looking at going here. Who did you use for the flight. I am thinking about looking to take a taxi or was it easier to fly there. I am on the April 9 cruise and want to take my parents too. There would be 4 of us. Do you know if there is a weight limit or anything like that and do you know if a meal is provided. Thanks

 

[banderson]

I had checked a few sources and decided to go with Intermar Cozumel [cozumel@travel2mexico.com] as they seemed to be established and trustworthy. I handled everything via email, so I needed to know that I was dealing with a known company.

I assume you will be on the Magic, so Chichen Itza is only possible by plane. Forget the taxi because you wouldn't be catching up with the boat again until Port Canaveral.

The plane is very small. My 60-pound 7-year old sat in the rear. He was comfortable but I'm not sure I would have been with my 5'8" height. My 80 pound 9-year old and I shared the main seat. I weight 145 lbs. and we were fine. It would have been confining with two adults on that seat but doable for a 1-hour flight. My husband sat in the co-pilot seat. He's over 200 and it was tight for him as the pilot needed to have access to all the controls on the dash. I don't know of any weight limits, but the space is most certainly limited. See photo of plane below. They may have access to larger Cessnas, but you'd have to check with them.

US$245 per person covered the following:

• Meet & Greet at arrival ship-pier with an handsign on " LASTNAME FIRSTNAME"

• Round trip transfers to airport

• Air transportation

• Transfers at site

• Bilingual guide service

• Entrance Fee

• All taxes

No food is provided and even if it were I would not eat it because in Mexico you cannot be too sure. We started the day with a good breakfast before leaving the ship then bought some bottled juice at the site, which we had with some cereal bars as a snack around 3 p.m. We were fine and you would not want to overdue food on this excursion as the flight is somewhat shaky and the actual visit requires considerable walking in the sun. It can be quite hot and dry because Chichen Itza is inland, so this is not a visit for the weak-hearted. My husband is only somewhat active and he found it somewhat taxing. I was fine as were the kids but we are all very active in sports.

Here are my kids in front of the plane we flew: