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At the end of July a couple of church groups are going to Playa del Carmen for a mission trip. I am trying to convince the leaders that going to Chichen Itza, or some other ruins would be more culturally enriching for high school age kids rather than going to the beach, and shopping. When I went to Cancun I went on a bus tour to the ruins, is there something similar to take us to the ruins for a pretty low rate.
There are a lot of different tour groups that can get you there - however, I think it's a great option ....... you can combine beach, the ruins, some fantastic views and only eat up a couple hours total for transportation (you'll spend more than that one way to chichen itza - which is also fantastic and IMO a bit better as far as ruins ..... but for HS kids the difference won't mean much compared to the time issue and being able to play on the beach)
If you want to go to from Playa del Carmen to Chichen Itza or Tulum, it's a piece of cake and inexpensive. Go to the ADO bus terminal in downtown PdC. They run first class, very clean and safe buses that cover the entire Yucutan and southern and eastern Mexico. Stop by the bus station a day or two in advance, they will give you all the info needed. They run buses every hour or so that go to Tulum, and they have 4 or 5 departures a day that go onto Chichen Itza. You can easily make a same day round trip to Chichen Itza and have plenty of time at the ruins if you take the early morning bus. Tulum is a no brainer from PdC. Get off at the ADO bus stop for the Tulum ruins, which is about 2 miles north of the main ADO bus station in the town of Tulum.
Warning, in July it will be dreadfully hot and humid at Chichen Itza. When I went to Chichen Itza, it was in December 2010 and it was beautiful for walking around outside all day long. No heat stroke, no sweat. July could be miserable to make sure a trip, although the buses have cold air conditioning.
I've been to Cancun, Tulum, Chichen Itza, Coba and Merida a few weeks ago. I do not like bus tours, so just took a rental car at CUN airport, then planned my route down to Tulum, further to Coba, Chichen Itza, Merida and finally skipped Uxmal due to less time. I planned two nights at hotels in Piste (Chichen Itza) and Merida.
How large is your group? You could rent a Chevy Express van for smaller groups or charter a complete bus, in case of a larger group. With more than ~30 people, this would probably be cheaper than other bus tours and you could plan your route individually. As you are writing about "a couple of groups", I am not sure if regular scheduled tours have enough seats avaliable.
I also liked the monastery and church in Izamal, Yucatan.
I was really impressed with the Coba site, but in July it would be miserably hot there and they are very spread out.
With a group of kids, the Tulum ruins may be a better choice. There should be a cooling breeze, the site is relatively compact and the setting is spectacular. After seeing the ruins, you can head down to the beautiful beach in the shadows of the ruins for a swim. Another option would be to hit the Tulum ruins in the AM and then head down for an ecotour in the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve just south of Tulum on the beach road.
Warning, in July it will be dreadfully hot and humid at Chichen Itza.
I was there in July - towards the end of the month ...... it was hot & humid, but still relatively busy and it didn't really slow anyone down
The area by the Cenote was actually pretty shaded and a good place to rest ...... there were also some good trees that you could sit under throughout to get out of the direct sun
Some student may be sensitive to it ........ also, living in Phoenix and going there following a week in MN where it was a heat wave in the high 90s as preparation my "heat sensors" may not be the best to judge
I'm just looking back at my teenage years and some of my teenage travels and spending 6+ hours travelling on a bus in any given day would put a damper on the travel
Also, the appreciation level generally just isn't there ...... priorities and viewpoints are a bit different
that's why I like Tulum for this group - it's closer, it gives a manageable taste of some cool ruins, allows for some spectacular photos to show people back home, they can hit the beach and get a bit of everything
So on our "free day" we had the option of going to the Playa Del Carmen beach or the Tulum Ruins. A friend of the one of the mission leaders from Belize drove us down there for $40 a person, and I think we paid $40 for transportation from the parking lot to the ruins and an hour guided tour for the group.
I was there in July - towards the end of the month ...... it was hot & humid, but still relatively busy and it didn't really slow anyone down
The area by the Cenote was actually pretty shaded and a good place to rest ...... there were also some good trees that you could sit under throughout to get out of the direct sun
Some student may be sensitive to it ........ also, living in Phoenix and going there following a week in MN where it was a heat wave in the high 90s as preparation my "heat sensors" may not be the best to judge
I'm just looking back at my teenage years and some of my teenage travels and spending 6+ hours travelling on a bus in any given day would put a damper on the travel
Also, the appreciation level generally just isn't there ...... priorities and viewpoints are a bit different
that's why I like Tulum for this group - it's closer, it gives a manageable taste of some cool ruins, allows for some spectacular photos to show people back home, they can hit the beach and get a bit of everything
the biosphere reserve is also a neat suggestion
$40 a person is a huge ripoff. you can take the ADO bus for like $3. Busses are super nice and comfortable ice cold ac, super comfortable seats, movie playing on the way. its a pretty short ride and drops you right at the entrance to the ruins.
i origionbaly put a $10 deposit down on a day trip with a company called easy tours was supposed to pya the balance of like $80 when they picked me up. it included entrance, lunch and a trip t ocenotes but i dont like group trips and i also realized it was super expensive when i looked online nad saw a bus ticket was like $3 and entrance to the ruins like $4 or $5.
after ruins a trip to downtown tulum is only like 50 pesos at the most which is what $3
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