My 1st RTW. Tips for Mayan Riviera / Seoul?

[davidI]

Booked my first RTW airfare (something I've been wanting to do for a long time).
DXB>ZRH>YYZ>CUN>YYZ>YYC>YVR>ICN>HKG>SIN>DXB.

I'll have 5 full days in the Mayan Riviera but one of those days will be my cousin's wedding. I'm not much of an AI guy (though I'm sure I'll rip it up on the resort a day or two) and my main goals are to get out and see Chichen Itza and dive the MUSA underwater museum as well as perhaps Cozumel or the Cenotes. I've never been cave diving before but that would also be of interest. Any suggestions or recommendations on how those activities are best accomplished? We'll be staying at the Grand Sunset Princess.

I'll also have 3 days in Seoul. I was hoping to get up to the DMZ area. Any advice on the best way to do so? Who to book with? What about places to stay and things to do within Seoul?

[Ven]

Ruins are always cool, as is polluting the cenotes. I probably had the most fun in the ocean on seadoo's. ATV tours were a joke. Never dove out there but I've heard good and bad. That is a nice resort. Strong balconies.

[WBB6]

Underwater museum is cool but there isn't much sealife around there, if you want the best diving in that area the day trip to Cozumel is more than worth it. I suggest doing the wall dive 85-100 ft and then a reef/drift dive ~60ft.

[davidI]

Originally posted by Ven
Ruins are always cool, as is polluting the cenotes. I probably had the most fun in the ocean on seadoo's. ATV tours were a joke. Never dove out there but I've heard good and bad. That is a nice resort. Strong balconies.

I hope the balconies are strong as I booked one of the Platinum Suites with the Jacuzzi on the Balcony!


Originally posted by WBB6
Underwater museum is cool but there isn't much sealife around there, if you want the best diving in that area the day trip to Cozumel is more than worth it. I suggest doing the wall dive 85-100 ft and then a reef/drift dive ~60ft.

I'm still trying to figure out exactly where the underwater museum is but I think it's closer to Cancun so perhaps I'm best to just stick to Cozumel this trip. It would be cool to do a different kind of a dive though!

[eblend]

Use Collectivos if you want to get between Playa Del Carmen and Cancun or Talum. It's really cheap ($35 pasos) and super convenient if you just need to get from hotel to a bigger city.

When I booked my DMZ tour I did the whole day tour, includes lunch. which was pretty sweet and seemed like a better deal than the half day tour, you will get to see the underground tunnel, bridge of no return, go to the communication houses on the border and all that good stuff, and lunch is included. It's good stuff and the highlight of my korea trip.

I booked mine in this building, but that was in 2007, but it was really easy and good if you find a company in that building, it's right at one end of the big river walk thing down the city, I don't really recall the names of anything there like streets and stuff, hence the map haha

https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Seoul,+South+Korea&hl=en&ll=37.56903,126.977658&spn=0.000004,0.002411&sll=51.013117,-114.074156&sspn=0.534812,1.234589&oq=seoul&t=h&hnear=Seoul,+South+Korea&z=19&layer=c&cbll=37.569023,126.97784&panoid=ekEs4JCBkE5AofDnOQKZ7Q&cbp=12,284.91,,0,-7.88

[bignerd]

You can't climb Chichen Itza anymore but can climb Coba if that is important to you, apparently at some point they are supposed to close Coba to climbing as well.

[Darell_n]

I would be surprised if you can climb any of them anymore. Tulum is closed off to all the structures now as we'll. Rode my bike to there yesterday.

[davidI]

I'm not too concerned with climbing them and didn't even think about it. It would be cool but I never want to damage any archaeological sites.

How is Tulum? Worth seeing? I'd like to see Chichen Itza for sure, but any other temple recommendations in the area?

I'll probably try to get back for another trip to explore the Yucatan as in this case I'm paying for an expensive resort to see family and it would be silly to spend all of my time going on 'backpacker' adventures (even though that's what I'd really like to do).

[Ven]

Tulum is totally worth it. I'm glad I didn't skip it.

[nj2Type-S]

i wish we had gone to chichen itza, but that would teach me to book a tour from one of those street tour companies at playa del carmen lol! (although, i did save $80 when i booked a trip to Xplor with another tour group from PDC).

tulum was amazing! and yes, just take a collectivo there. have fun!

[Darell_n]

The public buses are cheap, frequent and high quality. Tulum to XPLOR on the bus was $40 Pesos/ea, return by Taxi was $550 return. Other than using a bus stop, the bus ride was more enjoyable and practically free.

[austic]

Seriously if you are even a half way decent diver do the cenotes, i can hook you up with a canadian guy out of puerto adventuras that will make it all worth while. Cozumel is the only other place for diving i would consider. The rest of the diving in the area (cancun and Mayan) are crap

[Phl0xed]

Originally posted by davidI
I'm not too concerned with climbing them and didn't even think about it. It would be cool but I never want to damage any archaeological sites.

How is Tulum? Worth seeing? I'd like to see Chichen Itza for sure, but any other temple recommendations in the area?

I'll probably try to get back for another trip to explore the Yucatan as in this case I'm paying for an expensive resort to see family and it would be silly to spend all of my time going on 'backpacker' adventures (even though that's what I'd really like to do).

I can't really speak as to how Chichen Itza is these days, as I haven't been in almost 13 years now, but I thought it was absolutely fascinating! Did Tulum last May, and it was gorgeous. The beach is great, but it is packed with every other tourist. Not very big to begin with. We stayed at the Gran Bahia so it was nice and close, which was a definite benefit. Not sure if it was the hangover or the sunburn, but I definitely enjoyed Chichen Itza more than I did Tulum. Can't go wrong at either, though! Tour guides always seem to be extremely knowledgeable in my experience. Did guided tours at both places and haven't ever found myself wishing I had just explored it myself.

[davidI]

How do you guys suggest getting to Chichen Itza? Organized tour? Or is it possible on public transport.

[busdepot]

Originally posted by davidI
How do you guys suggest getting to Chichen Itza? Organized tour? Or is it possible on public transport.

Organized tour takes all the guess work out of it. Or take a taxi and just haggle out a price to drive you there and show you around. I have found that cutting a deal with a taxi driver is sometimes a decent deal. Problem is they don't always know much about the sites. Wikipedia does though :)


I have a question for you though. I'm looking to do a RTW (finally hit the 200k mark) and I was just wondering how you found booking it all? I'm going to be heading to places that are well off the beaten path and I was curious about how accomodating AC was with your planning (assuming you're using the AC Aeroplan RTW)?

[davidI]

Originally posted by busdepot

I have a question for you though. I'm looking to do a RTW (finally hit the 200k mark) and I was just wondering how you found booking it all? I'm going to be heading to places that are well off the beaten path and I was curious about how accomodating AC was with your planning (assuming you're using the AC Aeroplan RTW)?

I think organized tour will be the easiest way to go even if it costs a bit more, especially if I've indulged the day before in the resort's AI tequila offerings....

I just booked my RTW through the Book and Fly tool on the Star Alliance website.

I'm an Aeroplan guy myself but wouldn't use my miles for a RTW trip. Have you heard of the concept of Mini-RTW? I think that's the most efficient way to make the most of your points while still seeing a lot of great destinations.

Here's a pretty good FAQ on it all:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-canada-aeroplan/1239124-complete-newbie-guide-faq-air-canada-aeroplan-mini-rtw-5.html