Museum of Mayan Culture — Attraction in Chetumal

My sister and I visited this museum a few years back when our cruise ship was diverted from the intended port of call to Costa Maya instead. We disembarked and decided to walk around a bit before deciding what to do with our day. We could see the museum right away and since we are both kind of museum fan girl dorks, we had to check it out.

Folks, this isn't the Smithsonian. This is a small town, labor of love type museum but there are a lot of interesting exhibits and information about Mayan history and culture. While we visited, there were two men running the place (owners?) and they were extremely friendly and happy to answer questions and just chit chat with us. They were clearly very excited and passionate about sharing their knowledge about the Mayans.

There is a nice little gift shop that included some cool handmade items so my sister and I both purchased some souvenirs and gifts. I've seen some complaints about the bathrooms but they seemed fine to us and about what one would expect in a pretty rural area of Mexico. (if you've not traveled outside the US and Canada, you should be aware that you are going to find a VERY wide and sometimes confusing/terrifying variety of bathroom facilities and plumbing in other areas of the world. Always carry some hand sanitizer and a bit of tissue or wet wipes in your bag)

This is a fairly small museum so I wouldn't plan for more than an hour or two, but it is definitely worth stopping in if you like museums, have interest in Mayan culture, or just want to chat with some friendly locals. We enjoyed it and would definitely go back if we found ourselves in...

I really liked this museum! In otherwise depressing Chetumal this was a total refreshment! Yes, the museum has downsides like really bad lightning (probably the worst I have ever seen :D ) and copies of artefacts, but its really interestigly done: big murals, fake giant trees in the museum, everything explained in English, details I havent seen in Maya museums before, a great depiction of middle, upper and underworld (you have to go floor down to see the underworld and floor up to see the upperworld part!), together with an awesomely creepy sound in the underworld area which is heard in the whole museum and you constantly wonder: what is it, what is it?! :) I like how the explanations are written in first face plural, making a whole experience very personal, like Mayas themselves are talking to you! The museum is obviously under construction (nothing distracting), as we have seen workers doing some major fixing and painting + in the outside patio a huge mural is being drawn right now on all four surrounding walls and since almost half is finished, I can tell you it looks awesome! Also, outside a house can be seen as a depiction of how folks lived in that time, at what types of houses etc. All in all, a really nice surprise! Thanfully the AC is not so strong and you don`t get shocked by the temperature difference + the information: we payed an entrance fee of 106 pesos per person...

The museum itself deserves 5 stars, but some serious maintenance is needed to earn the 5 star reviews others have given it.

First, it was 90 degrees outside with 80% humidity and the air conditioning was not on. It was actually hotter in the museum than the streets of Chetumal, almost to the point of being unbearable. Nevertheless, we stuck it out because we had traveled far to see it. We left dripping in sweat, and went straight to a pharmacy to buy cold water.

The exhibits are excellent. So much good information to complement our visits to many Mayan archaelogical sites. But dozens of interactive screens throughout the museum were either broken or just turned off. I found a single one that was working in the entire museum.

The Tren Maya is coming to Chetumal. It will bring thousands of tourists anxious to visit a well-done museum like this. But if they find what we found today, they will be surely disappointed. I hope the museum can resolve its issues quickly and I wish it all the best. I just wish we could have...