Chacchoben Mayan Ruins from Costa Maya
Recommended by 92% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Costa Maya, Mexico
+5
- 4 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
This half-day tour of the Chacchoben Maya Ruins—one of the most popular attractions near Costa Maya—also offers an optional trip to a beach club. Meet your guide near the port in Costa Maya and head out to the archeological site, which you’ll get to explore deeply, from culture to flora and beyond. On the return journey, stop at a beach club at Playa Mahahual (optional) before drop-off.
- Experience a day that mixes history and culture with relaxation
- Explore the ancient temples and other structures with a guide
- Stop at a beach club on the way back to Costa Maya (optional)
- Hassle-free round-trip transportation from Costa Maya
What's Included
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Travel Insurance
- Bottled water
- Soda/PopAt the time of your check in you have a complimentary drink which can be: a beer, a soda or a shot of tequila (these only at check in) and bottles of water (unlimited).
- Licensed Tour Guide
- After the ruins, an additional 90 minutes on Mahahual beach with the facilities included (optional)
- Gratuities
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting points
Select a meeting point
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End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Arranged start time
Confirm time with the local provider in advance of your experience.
- 03/08/2020 - 10/06/2027
Monday - Sunday : 7:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Itinerary
Make your way to the meeting place, just one block away from the Costa Maya Port at Mahahual, where you will board an air-conditioned vehicle with bottled water and soft drinks for the ride to Chacchoben. Dating to 200 BC, Chacchoben is one of the least explored Mayan sites in Mexico.
At the archeological site, you’ll have around 1.5 hours to walk around to see the important structures and temples at the site, with a licensed guide to provide more background information and deeper insights on the ruins, Mayan culture, and the flora and fauna in the surrounding jungle.
On the way back, you’ll have the option to spend time at a beach club with amenities at Playa Mahahual before being dropped off near the cruise port.
At the archeological site, you’ll have around 1.5 hours to walk around to see the important structures and temples at the site, with a licensed guide to provide more background information and deeper insights on the ruins, Mayan culture, and the flora and fauna in the surrounding jungle.
On the way back, you’ll have the option to spend time at a beach club with amenities at Playa Mahahual before being dropped off near the cruise port.
1
Zona Arqueologica De Chacchoben
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
2
Playa Mahahual
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Infant seats available
- Not recommended for travelers with back problems
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- Wear comfortable clothing and footwear. Consider bringing along sunblock and insect repellent.
- no hay acceso para scotters
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 50 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.7
based on 1,662 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
The tour was vey interesting and the site is impressive.
I am giving four stars because the microphone on our bus was not working well and you could not hear the commentary clearly.
And it did not sound like this was the first day that if happened
I would recommend doing some research before you get to the site as the guide had a lot of information, but I was left wanting more.
Lastly they have a large building and sign at the end of the block
So they are easy to find, but that does not match any of the info ration that we were given on how to find them.
This was a great excursion once we got to our second and third destinations. I was nervous about locating the company and transportation to their office, but everything worked out well. The entire Toucan Tour staff were so kind & professional! Thanks to Antonio for an easy check-in process! Thanks to Eliseo for an excellent tour, and to Huitzi for driving us around! The food stand before entering the ruins had wonderful tacos! I truly enjoyed my experience to the ruins with this company!
Awesome experience our guid Carlos was amazing and full of facts and jokes. Would recommend to everyone
Wonderful experience. The bus and tour guide staff were very friendly, entertaining, and enthusiastic. I came solo and it was a great way to meet new people. The ruins were beautiful, and the staff was very accommodating and welcoming. They made sure we can it back to port Costa Maya at the perfect time. I highly recommend this experience.
The "Chacchoben Mayan Ruins from Costa Maya" was $58 a person. The excursion was well run by a highly coordinated team from Toucan Tours.
They usually have enough tourists with each cruise, so you are not forced to an exact time to leave the boat for the tour. When you get to the Costa Maya port plaza exit, you will start seeing employees with Toucan shirt. Feel free to engage them and they will point you to their van (has AC). Once a van (seats 6-8) is full they will move you to their station nearby and another van will take turn to wait for more customers. The walk from port to this van is minimal. Literally right at the port exit.
From there, you will get out of the van, check-in at the starion, receive the free drink, and wait for the rest of customers to fill a big bus (modern, nice, AC) to depart. The drive to the ruin site is long and rough roads but the bus provides premium comfort. The onboard tour guide will spend a portion of the driving time giving history cultural context. You may rest if that's what you need. They are not pushy or salesman like. Very professional.
They provided bottled water (from Sam's club) for the rest of the tour as well since Costa Maya is very hot in the summer.
Other than the drivers, all the guides spoke fluent English. They were able to address any questions. They were very flexible and will adapt to your need. For example, they stopped by a fruit street vendor by request of the people in the bus. Also if you have special circumstances that needed to alter your tour, they would coordinate their team to help. They have team members stationed between the tour stops and cruise port so they know the traffic condition and will guarantee you making back to your boat with no issues at all. You could technically pay less for the same entire experience if you coordinated all the legs of the trip by yourself (which is what I usually prefer), but I would highly recommend all novice tourists to Mexico to use experienced guides like this. Once I realized how big their team is and how well they run their operations, I didn't have to think about anything but follow the instructions and enjoy the tour.
It’s a great full day experience. Great tour guy and history lesson. The town is small but charming. Make sure to eat in local place around town. Authentic Maya’s food. Not Mexican but Mayan.
Well organized, the tour guides were very knowledgeable. Gabriela and Eglios were very friendly and did a great job.
We had a great guide and great time!
We did not have to wait long until the bus and we were provided waters.
They were very knowledgeable and helpful. We had an amazing time. It’s a hour trip the the ruins so enjoy a nice little rest.
I enjoy the big confortable buses and I like the certain stops it was made along the way such as a stop for Fruits. I like the organized itinerary and the amount of complementary beverages that were provided such as water throughout the trip and soda only at check in. It was definitely worth it to be able to spend a couple of hours away from the cruise.
Wow that was an awesome tour! The information concerning Mayan culture was very interesting. Carlos and Victor were a phenomenal duo. Would certainly do again. Getting to the location was a little confusing however after asking some locals for directions we were able to find it. You exit the shopping district through the parking lot exit. Pass the security entrance and continue down. Walk to the end of the road and on the left there is a building that says Toucan Tours.
What a great tour! Eliseo was an amazing guide. He was super-friendly, informative and entertaining! His sidekick and driver, Diego, was a great driver and very attentive. The restored ruins are truly something amazing to see! I wish I would have done the optional beach experience. Awesome excursion!
Very good experience. Everyone is very helpful. Thank you.
If you cannot find where the tour is, just ask around.
It was a great experience seeing the ancient Mayan ruins, but this is not for the faint of heart. Lots of walking and incredibly hot, especially during the summer months. Also, it takes over an hour bus ride to get there and back and the tour of the ruins is about an hour, so plan to be out for 4 hours or so. Longer if you end up goign to the beach afterward.
Booked this trip here instead of going through the cruise line and I’m so happy I did. It was a fraction of the cost and triple the fun! Finding the meet point was extremely easy, I just followed the direction. Our guide was Gabrielle and driver was Daniel. Gabrielle was great! Took the time to answer our questions and actually talk to the group. Book this tour! I would definitely book this tour again.
We enjoyed the walking tour and everyone wsd very nice. Unfortunately, I have to take a star away due to not being able to understand the guide on the bus because either his mic was bad or the bus's speaker was blown. I'm sure he was giving us a lot of information, but it was all lost on us.
Tour was great! Our guide, Carlos was extremely informative. The Mayan tour itself was short and sweet and then we went to the beach shortly after. My advice to anyone coming off of the MSC Seascape is to walk to the far right of the port security. Then go around to the back where the excursions are and tell them you booked through Viator for Toucan Tours. I wish someone would’ve told us this or written this in a review instead of us walking all around for 20 mins! Anyway, bring cash for foods, drinks, and the mango pineapple
stop the tour does as well. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Visiting the Ruins was a real treat. Our guide was very knowledgeable and answered all questions. The RC shopping/pool area was hopping due to 3 ships being in port at the same time. We left and went to town. Had a great lunch on the beach and did some fun sbopping. Fun day.
If you interested in history its worth other wise costa maya port layover its not worth just feel like contributing to local economy
The tour was Very informative. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and engaging. Wonderful experience
Great experience at Chacchoben! The ruins were beautiful, but the beach time was a little short. Carlos was great—friendly, helpful, and very knowledgeable. Overall, a wonderful trip!
Fun cultural experience but wish it was longer at the beach. Getting to location was easy from the port. We had Carlos as our guide who was amazing! Gave interesting facts and even got pineapple and mango with Chile seasoning. Long drive from Port and did a stop for people who didn't want to go to beach and wanted to return to port. Onky had 50 minutes at beach which was hardly worth it. Barely able to get food and back to bus. Overall it was a cool experience but wish could do beach longer
Carlos was very informative and gave you enough time to take pictures.The views are great there are several ruins on this tour all shapes and sizes. The last ones we got to climb to the top where there is another ruins.
Tucan tours took us to their office we're we got water and our bracelets for the trip. After about 15 minutes we were all loaded unto a comfortable bus and took us to the Mayan pyramids. Our guide Eliseo was very knowledgeable and polite. He explained very well the arqueological site and it's importance. On our way back we stopped to get fresh fruits. From there they took those that wanted to go to the cruise back and offer the beach to the rest. The beach and it's surroundings are not recommended, this part is crowed, the beach is small and crowed as well. After an hour and a half we were taken to the ship.
Toucan has very friendly staff. Eliseo the tour guide very professional and knowledgeable. Highly recommended this company. I wish they improve the AC of the bus. The mini van was without AC at all. They turned only the fan. I recommend to the fan around the neck. Also you can buy souvenir from the port much cheaper than from the Ruins.
Great tour and great tour guide.
I recommend it to everyone. The bus trip is about less than an hour.
We loved this tour to the Chacchoben ruins. They were awesome and our tour guide was very knowledgeable and entertaining. We did this instead of booking the cruise tour and I think it worked out perfectly. It felt a little sketchy walking past the cruise booked tours and then getting to our company-but once we were on our bus it was awesome. They brought us to the site and explained a ton of things on the way. Then once there they guided us through the ruins. We were able to climb on a lot of the ruins (there are multiple temples and other structures)
Then on the return they stopped at a small fruit stand and gave us the opportunity to buy the most delicious fruit from a cute little stand. Delicious and well worth the couple of bucks.
Once back to the port we had the option to go to the beach for about an hour and a half or go to the boat and be done.
We chose the beach and had a blast playing in the shallow water with a wonderful beach chair and umbrella on the side. It was awesome. Then they brought us to the port in time before our cruise left!
Ratings-
Checkin- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bus ride-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tour guide-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ruins-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Even for teens-5 ⭐️(but they also love museums so maybe not for every teen)
Fruit Stand ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (bring about $10 in cash)
Beach 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️but better than other options in the area.
Overall-5⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It is a very good experience. The tourguide was super nice and had a lot of knowlage. The group was lrge so it was decided in English speaking and Spanish speaking which i thought was very good. So everyone could understand the guide and have a good experience
Elisio and Paul our guides were fantastic. It was a wonderful day. They were very knowledgeable and kept their eye on everyone and made sure they had the entire group before going to the next spot. My family of 4 thoroughly enjoyed it all and we would recommend to anyone looking to learn about the Mayan culture, experience local roadside stands and have some beach time as well. It was a day well spent!
Fab experience, we got there quite early so was in one of the earlier tours and it was very quiet! The site did get busy when we were leaving but it was still great. Carlos was our tour guide and he was very knowledgeable and made the tour and history very fun and he was very engaging!
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per personWas $58.00(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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