Progreso: My Gateway to Chichen Itzá

The longest pier in the world (8 km!) means you wake up staring at an endless stretch of beige beach and emerald shallows. Progreso town itself is charmingly sleepy — men playing dominoes, street dogs napping in shade, smell of marquesitas (crispy sweet crepes) everywhere — but we came for Chichen Itzá and it did not disappoint.

The 2-hour air-conditioned bus ride flies by with our guide's stories. Then you round a corner in the jungle and BAM — El Castillo pyramid rises above the trees like a Maya spaceship. Standing in the plaza hearing 90,000 invisible people cheer when the equinox serpent appears (clap at the base of the staircase and the echo sounds exactly like a rattlesnake — still gives me chills).

We wandered the Great Ball Court (longest in Mesoamerica — 545 ft!), imagined players being sacrificed (winners or losers, depending who you ask), and climbed the smaller Temple of the Jaguars for panoramic views. The Observatory (El Caracol) looks like a steampunk telescope tower — these people were tracking Venus 1,000 years ago!

By the time we got back to Progreso we were hot, dusty, and deliriously happy. Rewarded ourselves with cochinita pibil tacos at a beach palapa — slow-roasted pork in achiote so tender it fell apart, wrapped in banana leaves, served with pickled red onions that cut through the richness perfectly.

The pros: Chichen Itzá is absolutely mind-blowing, and the excursion timing works perfectly with cruise schedules.

The cons: it's brutally hot (100°F+), gets crowded by late morning, and the vendors are relentless.

Practical tips: Book the earliest tour possible (7:30–8:00 a.m. departure) to beat heat and crowds. Wear closed-toe shoes — the site is huge and the stones are brutal on feet.