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Place in Quintana Roo, Mexico
Photo: holachetumal, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Chetumal is the capital of Quintana Roo in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. It is on the Bay of Chetumal, a sheltered inlet of the Caribbean Sea at the mouth of the Rio Hondo. This bay, together with the Rio Hondo, forms the border between Mexico and Belize.
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Museo de la Cultura Maya
Get to know the importance of the Yucatan peninsula's Mayan civilization, see many sculptures and scaled down versions of temples and palaces. Learn about the Mayan principal economic activities and how they are carried out while discovering the Mayan numerical system. You can also learn and use the Mayan calendar.
Centro Cultural de las Bellas Artes
Located within the walls of the antique Belisario Dominguez school. Inside you'll find an open air theater, an art walk and the Chetumal museum. There's also a dance school, music school and the institute of culture.
About a 3-km-long walk by the sea. Many restaurants and bars, the governal palace and park, and many sculptures. The board walk ends at the sculpture of the manatees but the road continues to the village of Calderitas.
Monumento al renacimiento
A fishing village with many seafood restaurants. If you are feeling adventurous, get in via the cheap and crowded communal ride that leaves next to the Mayan Culture Museum.
Underwater cenote in the Bay of Chetumal. The blue hole is the deepest sinkhole in the world with a measured depth of 420 meters, though there is some uncertainty about the accuracy of that measurement and the actual depth might be much deeper than thought. No divers or underwater probes have yet explored the bottom of the hole. Local dive shops can take divers there for a partial entry into the hole.
A Maya city which includes small temples, palaces, plazas, etc., about a kilometer from the bay shore. It's open 8am-5pm. Bring some water and a mosquito repellent. You can take a colectivo to Calderitas first and from there a taxi, or a taxi for the whole 16 km.
Ride the Bulebuzz and see the city. Bulebuzz is a small bus that runs down the Avenida Héroes to Boulevard Bahía, which it covers fully.
20 km away. A tranquil village at the very south of the Bacalar lake. You can take a colectivo heading to Puerto Carillo or a second class bus there.
50 km away. A natural water park right in the rain forest. Combis to the Balneario Obregon Viejo are the ones in the direction of Rovirosa, cost around M$50 (April 2022) and take about 1 hour. You can also take the less frequent combis to La Union. For going back to Chetumal, be at the main road of the village not later than 17:30 to catch the last combi.
The city does not offer diving but you can go to Mahahual (140 km) to dive and snorkel with access to Mesoamerican Barrier Reef
Famous for its grand stone carved masks and exotic species of flora and fauna. The temple of the masks was built on the 6th century and is one of the most noticed amongst the Mayan culture.
Mayan city ruins. The temple VI was built around 200 BC, and about five hundred years later Dzibanché developed into a greater city.
Partly well preserved town. It was originally lesser in hierarchy than Dzibanché. Principal pyramid consists of three levels with a wide stairway that leads to two other temples.
Largest Mayan settlement belonging to the region of the lakes.
Tasty hot-dogs. Taste one that has cheese inside the sausage. Price starts at M$15 (April 2022) and includes some self-made crisps.
Very popular among locals. They serve tortas from M$30 (April 2022) which look different than elsewhere and hamburgers.
A simple local restaurant. A menu del dia is for M$85 (April 2022).
An US American chain. A whole pizza is from M$99 (April 2022).
A simple seafood restaurant.
El Horno: Biergarten, café &Snacks
The coffee beverage (cold or hot) that you prefer, prepared according to quality standards of Cafetería La Barra, Mexico City.; The genuine barrel beer at 2°C, as in the famous German beer gardens (biergartens); Snacks, with original recipes of El Horno Creativo (Buffalo chicken wings, roasted ribs, tacos al pastor)
It features A/C, a terrace, lockers and free drinking water. The price for a dorm is M$280 (April 2022). It can be booked on booking.com.
Clean and well located budget hotel. A double room with private bathroom and fan and without TV is M$270 (April 2022) for 1 or 2 persons. With A/C it's M$450 (April 2022).
A basic hotel with private bathroom and without hot water. Some rooms have A/C, others are with fan.
A simple boutique hotel. It looked temporarily closed in April 2022.
Opposite of the bus station. Quite modern looking inside. All rooms have A/C. The hostel offers private rooms, and a 4 bed dorm with only flat beds (no bunk beds). The dorm can be booked on Hostelworld and is for M$250 (April 2022). A private room is from M$480 (April 2022).
It offers dorms and private rooms.
Zona Libre de Belice
Located by the border Belize Free Zone houses over three hundred stores. You can shop at many of the duty free stores for clothing, perfumes, liquors, and electronics. You can try your luck at any of the three casinos or eat in one of the many restaurants. No documents or passports should be needed as you will not go through Belize immigration, but take them with you anyways just be safe.
By car
Mexico's Federal Route 186 traverses the sparsely populated southern half of the Yucatán between Escárcega and Chetumal.
By bus
Several bus companies offer routes across the Peninsula from Escárcega, or north from Cancún and other cities on the Mayan Riviera.
By train
By ferry
San Pedro Belize Express has air conditioned boats leaving Caye Caulker at 07:00 & San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, Belize to Chetumal daily at 07:30. The boat returns from Chetumal at 15:30.
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Chetumal · Regional · CTM
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