While staying in Mérida we decided to rent a car for a day and drive up to Progreso to see the beach. We’d been told by a friendly Uber driver it was a nice drive and that the beach was beautiful. We didn’t want to spend the entire day at the beach though, so we planned to stop along the way to see some Mayan ruins and maybe visit a cenote. Lucky for us, we discovered Dzibilchaltun was nearby and had both on site. So we booked a car online that night, because we’re spontaneous like that (or because there were no other cars available because we left it to the last minute… depends who you ask). Anyway, we woke up the next day ready to get our road trip on.
Or so we thought. For whatever reason, the car they had promised us wasn’t available at the rental car location in el Centro, so they had someone who was headed to their uptown location give us a ride. And then there was some confusion as the driver nearly took us on a small tour of Mérida before we reminded him that we just wanted to pick up our rental car at the other location. It took a while, but we made it there eventually. After filling out some paperwork we were finally off.
The ruins of Dzibilchaltun
Thankfully, it took us less time to get to Dzibilchaltun than our little excursion to fetch the car. The archaeological site is only fifteen minutes away from Mérida and is inside a park with the same name. Dzibilchaltun is home to the ruins of a Mayan temple among other small structures, the remains of a Spanish church, a museum, and a cenote.
The museum hosts artefacts of both Mayan and Spanish origin like pottery, stone tablets, maps, armour and weapons. It also houses several creepy looking (albeit well preserved), doll carvings that were originally found buried inside the temple we would see later. Also of note was the sweet, sweet air conditioning. Even if you’re not a museum person, you’ll probably enjoy this one when it’s 32 degrees outside.
Once we had our fill of ancient treasures (and AC) we walked the long dirt path — once an ancient white road made of limestone — behind the museum to find one of a few structures that had been excavated at this site, the most impressive being the Temple of the Seven Dolls. As you may have guessed, this is where those clay dolls were found. Another fun fact about the temple: twice a year, during the equinox on September and March 21st, you can see the sun through the door early in the morning. The same is true atop the temple at Chichén Itzá. Those Mayans really knew what they were doing.
A pyramid had actually been built over top of the temple, but when the Spanish arrived they knocked it down and used stones from the ruins to build a Catholic church, the ruins of which we would also find further on. (If you’ve been reading some of my other posts about my time in Mexico, you may notice there is a bit of a trend…). From the church ruins to the cenote is a short walk. Even shorter if you cut through the long grasses surrounding the path, but you risk your legs becoming a feast for the mosquitos if you do. Not that I’m speaking from experience or anything.
The cenote Xlacah (still in Dzibilchaltun)
Past the church is cenote Xlacah, which means “old town” in Mayan. The water is crystal clear and full of lily pads and little fish that will nip at your feet if you stand still for too long. Even before your foot hits the water you could see them swimming towards you. Maybe it was just me, but I thought they were a bit aggressive, personally. I know they were just after your dead skin, but surely this was how piranhas got their first taste of meat? I didn’t want to find out so instead I picked a rock under a nearby tree and sat and watched while Justin, who is much braver that I, put his legs in the water for a while. Thankfully he came out in one piece, so my piranha theory may not be true…. yet.
Bite-y fish aside, the cenote was beautiful and we basically had the place to ourselves. Dzibilchaltun is so close to Mérida I would have thought there’d be more than the handful of people that were there, but we didn’t complain.
After Justin was dry (which didn’t take long in the sun) we headed back to the car to blast the AC and set off for the beach.
The beach at Progreso
Progreso is a fishing village turned cruise ship port so we were expecting it to be busy, but there were no ships in that day. It was just us and some local tourists. I’m sure it’s crazy at other times, but we were there to unwind so that was fine by us.
There were quite a few places to have a late lunch with a view of the water, and the beach was a pleasant place to walk around. However, outside of eating, beaching and some water sports, there’s not a whole lot to do in Progreso. That is unless you like looking at churches or want to buy souvenirs from the street vendors. We paid a few pesos to rent beach chairs under an umbrella for a couple relaxing hours and then called it a day.
Some more info about our day trip
Car rental in Merida
Aside from a bit of a detour when attempting to pick up our car, the process was super easy. Though we did learn it’s a bit cheaper to book your car in person. If you can speak some Spanish, even better.
Also somewhat in the topic of cars, though the roads within Mérida are a bit of a mixed bag in terms of (dis)repair, the highways in the Yucatan are surprisingly well maintained. And empty. No traffic or bumpy rides!
Dzibilchaltun
If you drive there like we did, expect to pay 15 pesos to park for the day. Otherwise you can take a taxi or bus from Mérida.
The entrance fee is 118 pesos, and includes entry into the museum, ruins and cenote. There is a change room and a convenience store at the entrance if you need to put on your bathers beforehand or grab some water or sunscreen if you forgot yours. They don’t allow backpacks into the site (only small purses) so you would need to rent a locker and carry your towel and water with you if you intend to swim… which I recommend you do unless you also don’t trust the feet-eating fish.
There’s not a whole lot of shade once you leave the museum, so either be prepared to walk in the bush with heaps of bug spray, or wear a hat and loads of sunscreen. The heat there is no joke!
Progreso
My only tip for Progreso is don’t be fooled into giving your money to the guys standing around empty parking lots. There is heaps of free parking on the side streets around the beach, though that could also be due to the fact that we were there during a quieter time of year.
Okay, just one more. Make sure you have some cash with you. Most restaurants by the beach will accept cards, but if you want to rent chairs or umbrellas, or buy beers to drink on said chairs under said umbrellas, you’ll need a bit of cash.
