San Gervasio Mayan Ruins

I went here as a shore excursion. It was very buggy bring bug spray. The ruins are small took about 40 mins to an hr to see the whole park w the tour. After went into a few shops there. A lot of stuff is expensive to buy but they have pretty stuff. The guy was helpful w me picking stuff out and prices. This was about ³⁰⁄₄₀ mins away from the cruise port.

The ruins are not to be missed. A «must» on any tourist’s list of sights to see while in Mexico.
It’s the perfect way to spend just one day on vacation in Mexico just walking around touring the ruins. There is so much to be seen. There’s a small area inside one of the ruins that is supposedly cursed, according to legend (and the tour guides), and anyone who tries to take a photo inside will find his picture didn’t turn out or their phone or camera will break. There’s even a sign indicating no photography, but the docents make a big deal out of the story, so everyone tries it and apparently, no pictures ever turn out. I know, one my first trip here, my boyfriend at the time tried to photograph this interior room and his photo of it didn’t turn out, either. It was just a reddish blur.
Honestly, seeing these sights is almost like walking among the pyramids in Egypt. It nearly rivals them in beauty and historical significance. While I was here, the guides regaled us with tales of ritual virgin sacrifices (for the sake of continued fertility and prosperity) and worship of Mayan deities. They even pointed out the area where the remains of sacrificed virgins were found tossed over a cliff, along with the remnants of goblets laced with poison that they were forced to drink beforehand.
Beautiful, historic and a real treat for anyone with even a passing interest in either history or anthropology. I love all of the pictures I’ve taken at these ruins and look at them often.

Experience the Mayan ruin in its rawest form! Located in the deep jungle of the Cozumel island, San Gervasio Mayan Ruins is the former remnant of the Mayan fertility temple that once housed the moon goddess Ixchel, one of the two most important deities in the Mayan pantheon. This is the Mayan ruins untouched by any restoration with wildlife like iguanas running about.
You won’t see tall structures like you would in more popular ruins like Chichen Itza because San Gervasio is intentionally left unrestored, meaning it was like as it appeared at its discovery to preserve its full authenticity (Chichen was restored up to 89% according to the guide). Therefore, as basic as this sounds, this ruins looks like a random collection of rubbles and stone piles without any explanation, so getting a guide at the door or via your cruise excursion is important to understand the interesting history behind these stone piles! Only then will you understand that this was the Mayan holy ground, similar to Jerusalem and Mecca to their respective religions, and the intriguing rituals that the Mayan pilgrims performed.
I came here on a cruise excursion and thought this was the most interesting part of my entire cruise, so I highly recommend all Cozumel tourists to visit! Dress lightly and be prepared to have sunscreen, because it will be hot and sunny!

I have a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and took some archaeology classes in college. I thought that seeing some Mayan ruins in a Mexican island would be really cool and appeal to my interests a lot, but this place was kind of dull for me and could have been made a lot more exciting.
Most of it really isn’t this place’s fault, though. It was very hot and humid here in mid-​September, but that’s hardly surprising when you’re on a tropical island close to the Equator. With that being said, the tour didn’t exactly make it easy to stop for water breaks, either.
The ruins themselves are exactly that, ruins. The place is in shambles because the Mayans are gone. You can come here to admire what’s left of their beautiful architecture and civilization, but don’t expect anything like giant pyramids or Macchu Picchu. There are some small steps to climb, but the remaining stone structures are fairly simple in design.
Another problem I had here was that we paid Ramon, a tour guide, to walk us through the place and lecture us on the history of the site ad nauseam. He also spoke with a very thick Mexican accent, which understandably wasn’t his fault, but it made comprehension very difficult.
What also made comprehension difficult was how hot it was and how hungry and thirsty I was the whole time. Seriously, my attention span was gone for the majority of this tour session because of how uncomfortable I was. Ramon is very proud of his heritage, but he could not care less about how much you’re interested or even whether you’re listening.
And of course, no place like this would be complete without a gift shop of some sort. They sell things like miniature pyramids, which is interestingly not very representative of this location because I saw no remains of pyramids whatsoever. I’m not sure what relevance necklaces and earrings have to this place, but feel free to buy them if you wish. I bought a little red painted clay iguana here for eight U.S. dollars. That actually is fair because wild iguanas do live in this area.

Hot Jungle Heat, but beautiful local ruins. If you’re on the Island of Cozumel, and have been blitzed with offers to go to Tolum or Chichen-​Itza, consider going to San Gervasio 1^st. It’s not nearly as crowded as the others, and won’t consume a full day. It’s a great economical 1^st step into learning about the Mayan ruins. We found it to be one of the hottest parts of the Island. There wasn’t much in the way of moving air, and someone in our group actually passed out, so we’d highly advise dressing appropriately and drinking water. It’s amazing to see what the Mayans were able to do with non powered hand tools.

I have been to Cozumel about 8 times but only make it here only twice, Get your hiking shows on and get ready for some beautiful views and examples of the Mayan civilazaation. It is best to go in the morning, and at 4pm the gates closed, I missed the site twice. In front are the usual tourist stores to get everything from tequella to that present for mom. The rest rooms are clean and sparkle and there is a chance to buy water or a quick snack but wait until you go to the oceanside where there are a number of great places for snacks, lunch, or a margarita. Parking is free but tip the guard a dollar to watch you bike or car. Hasta LLego

You know, it’s pretty cool.
Really wasn’t expecting much from a ruin on Cozumel. This was better than my expectations.
There are a number of sites, most of them small but very interesting. There is privilege in witnessing how and where the Mayans lived. It is a privilege to get to drink in this ancient culture.
It’s a meandering walk, and a pleasurable use of an hour and a half on Cozumel.
I’d definitely recommend you stop by San Gervasio if you’ve rented a Jeep like we did.