randy_almquist Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 going to cancun at the end of september for seven days. i will rent a jeep for three or four days. willing to drive but only want to do day trips(all inclusive resort!) have info on 5 or 6 ancient ruins within 3 hours, what else is worth snapping? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swenson Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Chichen Itza ruins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.martin___ Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Tulum is another obvious choice. I would also spring for a decent guidebook; the Lonely Planet Yucatan one springs to mind. And if you give up a day of your all- inclusive, and plan to spend a night somewhere else, you could see some of the other ruins reasonably accessible out of Merida, like Uxmal. With any of the ruins, early mornings, before the tour buses and the heat arrive, are usually best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellis_vener_photography Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Having done a few shoots there, Cancun itself is one of my least favorite locations. Pure and simple it is a tourist trap --by design the existing villages on the site were bulldozed ino oblivion and therewas a small massacre of the Mayan people who lived there when the Mexican goverment built Cancun -- Go to enjoy the beach and don't expect much in the way of scenery. Hopefully they have recreated the beaches in the past ten years (most of the sand in front of the large resort hotels was washed down to where Club Med is by a hurricane in the late 1990s. Tulum is very good in the late afternoon, Chichen Itza is astonishing and worth visiting bit I recommend you plan for an over night stay . See if you can find a small town and go for Sunday or Saturday market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spearhead Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Ellis is right. The only reason to be in Cancun is that there's an airport there. If you do go to Chichen Itza and aren't going to stay overnight, leave as early as possible to arrive right when it opens. There isn't much point in going later in the day, it's overrun with people and not much fun. Also, tripod usage costs $35 at some sites and is forbidden at others. You don't really need a jeep to hit the ruins. The most important thing is to have a vehicle with air conditioning. Music and Portraits Blog: Life in Portugal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethan hansen Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 If you visit Tulum - it's fine early in the morning before the tourons arrive - head inland to Coba. This is a huge site that is slowly being extracted from the grips of the jungle. Great ruins, birds, and far smaller crowds than at the bigger places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donsorsa Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 For a non-Cancun view of Mexico, try Isla Mujeres. Rent a golf cart to get from one end of the island to the other, enjoy the small square, watch kids play basketball and soccer, shop at the market. Google will point you to online resources. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen_allan Posted September 2, 2004 Share Posted September 2, 2004 Lots of good sites mentioned here. If you do make the trip to Chichen Itza, I would recommend taking the toll road - it's not expensive, and is virtually deserted most times of the day. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manuel_garcia5 Posted September 2, 2004 Share Posted September 2, 2004 Another vote for Isla. The ruins are a must if you've never been. Get there as early as possible. I spent a week there in June and had a great time. Photos will be hard to come by but what tourist spot doesn't have people? And I loved nothing better than at the end of each day going back to my 5 star hotel ordering room service and later taking a dip in the pool(Fiesta American on hotel row). Don't let the other memebers sour it for you. It is VERY huimd in Cancun so you'll have to learn to live with swetting all the time while your down there. Take care when you move from a cool room to the humidity (lens fogging) Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_woodlief1 Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 I know you want only daytrips, but from a money standpoint Merida is possible. We were staying in downtown Cancun (not all inclusive) and didn't mind keeping our hotel in Cancun while spending one night in Merida because we got a place there for about $30 per night. That was enough time to enjoy the Sunday festival in the city and spend a few hours at the beautiful and very photogenic Uxmal ruins. The Coba-Tulum combo is a great way to spend a day. Tulum is no more than two hours from Cancun, and Coba is another 30-40 minutes inland from the Tulum ruins. I also completely agree with those who advised getting to Chichen-Iza as early as possible. I have a section on my Web site from a few years ago. I had just gotten into photography at the time. You may get some ideas from the photos and travelogs - Cancun, Merida, Uxmal, Chichen-Itza, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Coba, Tulum, and Xel-Ha are covered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_woodlief1 Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 I meant to say I also covered Isla Mujeres in my Web site. A great choice that is easy for a daytrip. Nice beach there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olivier_koning Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Chitzen_Itza, obviously (and other temples). Just like in Angkor Wat, Cambodia, I would recommend shooting in B&W. These temples are vrey grey-ish, vegetation around the complex is very sparce, therefore you get a much stronger sense of place and time of the complex shooting in monochrome, that's my opinion (or shoot both if you wish). Go very early or later (it's a 2-3 hour long trip, bring WATER), the place gets really hot and swarmed with tourists. Isla Mujeres is OK for an afternoon visit (I think the beaches are overrated, but the inexpensive boat trip and the proximity of it from Cancun is worth it), the local cemetary is interesting as a photo subject for instance. Other than that, Cancun is a tourist trap. Cheap Corona beer though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevierose Posted September 17, 2004 Share Posted September 17, 2004 Do you speak Spanish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy_almquist Posted September 17, 2004 Author Share Posted September 17, 2004 no habla espanol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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