Recommendations in Barcelo Maya

[Tmacmi]

I'm not sure of the best place on forum for the question, so I picked here.

We are going to Barcelo Maya resort at the end of March for my son's spring break. The resort is approximately 25 km south of Playa Del Carmen.

We aren't really "sit on the beach" types and I figure some of you may have sailed and stayed in this area.

I'm wondering what recommendations you might have to explore this area. In addition to the normal must do's in the area, we'd be open to hearing about some out of the way experiences. (not too out of the way, my wife is convinced we will be taken by drug smugglers and held for ransom if we stray too far)

One of the items on my bucket list is to charter a catamaran to go on a snorkeling trip. The resort offers one but its $1,300 for 4 hours. (with captain, drinks, equipment etc.) So I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance for the ideas.

[BjarneK]

I stayed in the area for a while. The way I handled security was to not walk the streets of Playa del Carmen or Tulum at night. We did go for dinner in Playa del Carmen sometimes, but then got a taxi at the restaurant to get home. Driving around in the daytime, we had no worries and we drove around quite a bit. We made it all the way to Chiapas and back. Taxis are great in that the have fixed prices and do not expect tips. If you are a little more adventurous, you can use the public busses (the Collectivos). They are cheap and seem safe enough except for the fast driving and no seat belts.

The main thing I would recommend is to go to the Cobá Maya ruins. They are not too crowded and have great pyramids. The Cobá ruins are also spread out over a bigger area than most, so you get a little hiking in the jungle as an added benefit. We prefer the Cobá ruins over Tulum which are way too crowded. The Chichen Itza ruins are probably even more crowded so we never went even though the structures may be even more impressive than Cobá.

Another great thing about Cobá is that you can go to one of the local cenotes afterwards. They are really nice. They are called Multun-Ha, Tamcach-Ha and Choo-Ha. I think I have been to all of them and they are all great.

We always went to Cobá in our own (rented) car, but I am sure you could also go on some arranged tour. I prefer not to use a guide there since a big part of the enjoyment for us is to walk around in peace.

Another thing to do is to see the local cenotes in the area you are going to be staying. They are very different from the ones at Cobá, but still very nice. Cenote Cristalino is right across the road from where you will be staying, so you can walk there, no problem.

If you are into nice food, there are some good restaurants out by the coast by Tulum.

[Tmacmi]

Thanks for the feedback. Then cenote and the ruins you mentioned are added to the list.

Apparently there is good snorkeling right off the beach, but I am interested in getting on a sailing cat and going off away from the resort.

Still struggling with getting to the bottom of the opportunity to charter through the resort.