Visiting the Tulum ruins in Mexico’s Riviera Maya is a must if you are in the area! Tulum is quite different from other Mayan sites in that the ruins are situated on steep cliffs overlooking the ocean. It’s a very popular attraction in Mexico, so it will be busy.
During our Caribbean cruise this past spring, our ship, Norwegian Jade, stopped in Cozumel, Mexico. We had previously visited Cozumel during a Disney cruise but did not have enough time in port to visit the Tulum Mayan Ruins. This visit I knew that I wanted to take an excursion to Tulum. We booked this excursion through Norwegian because it was such a long excursion and involved a boat ride to the mainland and a bus ride. I did not want to risk getting left behind!
Tips
- If you are taking an excursion from Cozumel to Tulum, you will take a ferry across to the mainland. Depending on the weather and time of year, the boat ride can be extremely rough. We rode on the top deck going to Playa del Carmen and the bottom on the way back and we felt that the bottom was a lot less rough.
- There is almost no shade at the Tulum ruins, so I strongly recommend you bring lots of water, a hat, and sunglasses.
- From the parking lot, you will have to walk about 1km to the entrance to the ruins.
- Unlike other ruins in Mexico, you cannot climb or touch any of the ruins there.
- The ruins take about 45 minutes to an hour to walk through.
- Make sure to bring your swimsuit! You can swim at a small secluded beach that is down a staircase to the right of the old ruined castle. Unfortunately, during our visit, the flag was at red, so there was no swimming. However, my daughter was very happy to make a sandcastle.
In the end, while Tulum was beautiful I much preferred visiting Dzibanche. Dzibanche was less crowded (we were the only ones there) and we got to climb to the top of two pyramids!
