Port of Call: Cozumel

Walking in the footsteps of an ancient people, the beach at Tulum is even more spectacular when you imagine the every day activites that took place here over a thousand years ago.

Cooling down on a hot July day is essential, and one of the many splendidly lush places to snorkel is Xel-Ha, an Eco-park located between Playa del Carmen and Tulum.

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Our rental car experience was frustrating here. If you plan on exploring outside of town, however, you'll need a car, taxi, or tour bus.

We parked the rental car and entered the little village gates to buy our tour tickets. From the village, a short walk along a paved road lined with dense jungle foliage takes you to the entrance to the ancient city. A tram is available for a small charge if the walk seems too far. A wall, 16 feet high, protects three sides of this city, with the fourth side being protected by the turquoise sea.

There are many opportunities to hire a guide to give you a history lesson here, but we were on a tight schedule and chose to wander on our own. We would love to have learned more about these incredible structures, but we had to be content with gawking at the wonders.

I had been imagining what it must have been like, so long ago, with the bustle of an ancient society, when I caught a glimpse of the beach. It took my breath away! The sand was bright white and the sea was so turquoise it almost didn't look real. This scene belonged on a calendar! Yes, you are allowed to use this beach as any other. Bring your umbrella and towels and make a day of it.

After taking many photos, we reluctantly concurred that we needed to head to our next destination. We went back to the little village, where the breeze seemed to have been cut off. It was so hot and humid that sweat was even rolling down my arms. Now we couldn't get out of there fast enough! We began to look forward to our next stop: snorkeling at Xel-Ha . Click here for an informative website about Tulum

Xel-Ha , pronounced shell-ha, is a tropical park with many activities to choose from. Gear is available to rent for snorkeling on your own. Other guided options include snuba, reef tour, and a dolphin swim. We only had a couple of hours and all we wanted to do was get out of the humid air and into the water to snorkel. Unfortunately, my husband had forgotten his personal snorkel and had to stand in line for half an hour to buy one. By that time, we had found some lounge chairs in the shade and changed into our bathing suits.

At this point we took a few minutes to really look around us. All shades of green in this jungle-beach paradise. Walkways placed to be unobtrusive and preserve the beauty of the foliage. Bright flowers, twinkling white sand, and blue, blue water. Time to jump in!

Our travel companions had never been snorkeling before and were mesmerized by the whole experience. Swimming around amazing rock formations, schools of vibrant-colored fish swimming just out of reach, searching the crevices for the shy ones, and seeing massive fish hovering in hiding places near the bottom. The Xel-Ha inlet is in a place where fresh water meets salt water. We don't know if it was because of the tide at the time we were there, but there was a layer where the salt water and fresh water were mixing, making vision cloudy. For my husband and I, who have snorkeled many times, this was not the best place we've ever been.

Unfortunately, it was time to head back to catch the ship before it left without us. We said good-bye to this tropical jungle after a quick, unmemorable lunch at one of the food stands, and drove the 30 minutes back to Playa del Carmen.

The cruise line offered a combined tour of Tulum and Xel-Ha, but we thought we'd save ourselves some money by renting a car and hitting these places on our own. It was so hot and humid we wanted to be able to leave Tulum before we wilted and head to Xel-Ha on our own timetable. (Insert flashing WARNING sign here.) Big Mistake!

We'd heard you could take a water taxi from Cozumel across to Playa del Carmen directly from the pier. Not so. A 15-minute cab ride is required to get to the ferry dock, where you then take a 45-minute ferry ride. The ferry returns every hour on the hour, making timing the day critical.

Finally arriving at Playa del Carmen, we walked into a Hertz rental car office and proceded to wait another HOUR to get a car. There was only one desk clerk and someone else ahead of us in line. When it was finally our turn; the procedures took incredibly long. THEN we had to be driven 10 minutes into downtown to pick up the car!

A 45-minute drive south to the ruins at Tulum, a 1-hour tour, 15 minutes north to Xel-Ha, less than 2 hours enjoyment there and back into town to catch the 6pm ferry. Time was so tight we had to persuade the clerk to forget the paperwork for now and just get us back to the pier. He agreed, and fortunately was honest and didn't charge us for any imaginary damages to the car. We barely made the 6:00 ferry, caught a cab for the ride back to the ship and rushed on, among the last passengers to make it back onto the ship that day.

Moral of the story: Sometimes the cruise line actually has the best deal.