Has anyone every done a Tulum Ruins tour on their own?

[Lauri]

We're trying to save money, but we would like to see the Tulum Ruins. The DCL excursion would be almost $400 for the four of us. Has anyone taken the ferry and busses on their own to the Ruins? Is it doable? Thanks for any help.

 

[Drcell01]

We took the excursion with DCL. The trip consisted of a 30 minute boat ride to the mainland and then a 20 bus ride to the ruins. I am sure that it could be done on your own but if it is your first time to visit (like ours was) I would not have tried it on my first visit. I can tell you that it was well worth the trip and would not have missed visiting the ruins. The beach is beautiful and guide was very helpful and informative. If you love the beach make sure to bring (or wear) your bathing suit to take a swim at the beach. Also make sure that you wear a hat and wear sun block. There are no places to find shade once you arrive at the ruins!

Have fun and enjoy your cruise!

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

It's doable on your own. You can use the bus, a taxi, or rent a car. For some good information on different ways people have done this, check out the Cruise Critic boards. They have a Ports of Call section. Enter "tulum own" into the search engine under the Cozumel and Playa Del Carmen/Calica topics, and you can find some good info there.

We took the ferry to Playa, then rented a car. Very easy, and nice to go at your own rate. Definitely pay for a guided tour once you're there.

 

[Lauri]

Thanks for your replies. I'm really enjoying the cuise critic site. Now I'm more confused than ever. It sounds like it would be to long and risky to do Tulum on our own. Now to decide weather to see the ruins on Cozumel, or go to Chakanaab to see the "fake ruins", or just have a beach day at Paradise Beach. Decisions, decisions!

 

[Jeanne B]

My DH and I went on our first cruise in January and we did Tulum on our own. We had no problems at all and saved a LOT of money. I just followed the instructions from some previous posters on cruise critic. I think it cost us around $60 or so for the both of us compared to $110/ea through the ship. We booked the ferry tickets to Playa through the ship (they were available in the shore excursion list) and we took the local bus system to Tulum. The only mistake we made is that we should have bought one-way ferry tickets because the return ferry trip was at 4 pm and we were back in Playa by 2 pm and wanted to do some shopping in Cozumel. We ended up buying return ferry tickets in Playa so we could get back to Cozumel sooner which means we forfeited the return ticket we had purchased through the ship but it wasn't much money.

 

[herrbeeb]

we did tulum through dcl. thr ruins are fabulous, do not miss, but the trip to and from is very long and it includes an unannounced stop at a roadside tourist trap. the lunch was subway, soda and chips.

i wouldn't risk renting a car but i would try the ferry and the bus. the only thing you buy with the dcl tour is the guarantee that the boat will wait.