Maya Adventure: Coba & Tulum Ruins with Cenote Swim

The tour delivered on all they promised. The timing of the day was much longer than communicated in TripAdvisor. Instead of 10-11 hours it was more than 13 hours. Here was our timing: We were staying toward northern end of hotel zone around km 12. We were scheduled to be picked up at 7:50, imagine others, further south were picked up earlier. We were not picked up til 8:15, not super big deal. could have been due to late arriving tourists -- don't know, but had no idea what was going. Would think in 2024 the tour could send text or WhatsApp just telling us they were delayed. We met up with other buses at 8:50 where people from the pick-up bus were distributed to differen tours. We arrived in Tulum at 10:50 and met back at bus at 1:00 - which was a good time for Tulum. We then went to Coba --arrived almost 2:30 - though we were delayed by :25 because one of the tourists was sick. Coba was great - we took the bike/taxi ride to the end and walked back. When we boarded the bus around 4:10 they did share a snack -- would have been better to have snack as we were arriving in instead of departing from coba - should definitley bring along your own snacks or get something quasi-substantial at the end of tulum. We arrived at Cenotes around 5 and had "lunch" at 5:15. All good. After "lunch" and swimming in 2 cenotes and demonstration on making chocolate and blessing from a shaman. We left a little before 7:00 PM. We arrived back at our hotel at 9:20 - > 13 hours after start. I t was all good but positioning was not clear, at least to us, after full length of the day.

There was a group of six of us that booked the ATV/snorkeling/cenotes/zip line experience while we were staying at Sun Palace. Besides the 3 hours it took to get there (totally not the fault of our drivers/guide - Peter and Armando) ….. the experiences were amazing. My husband lost grip of his GoPro while zip lining and Armando and a few other employees spent a lot of time looking for it near the zip line platform, to no avail. The trip back to the hotel was shorter, but the construction in the area makes traffic a mess! Peter and Armando both deserve awards for being able to drive through that chaos without being involved in a collision! They were great drivers!

Amazing day snorkeling with Maya adventure, visiting cenotes, grotto and seaside at the end. Transport was a efficient, guide very friendly and attentive and food was good as well. Highly recommend for a nice day of activities with kids (16, 10).

Wasn’t sure when I booked this if the teens would enjoy or not, but it was the best thing we did in Cancun. We would have loved fir the snorkeling to have lasted longer though. The boats were a blast and scenery was beautiful.

First things first, don't wear sunscreen as it isn't allowed in the cenote. Bring it with you to apply after the cenote swim. Wear your comfortable swim suit. Don't bring a towel, they have towels. Wear comfortable shoes sturdy enough for light to moderate hiking. We started with a hotel pick-up time of 6:30 am from Dreams Playa Mujeres in a 12 passenger van. Luis was both our driver and tour guide and was outstanding. We were a small group of 10 who stayed together the whole tour. There was a stop at another hotel, so we drove around 2.5 - 3 hrs each way. Don't let that hinder you from the fun! I did take dramamine and was glad for that as the last 1/2 hour of the drive was twisty and hilly. Upon arrival, we were able to put extra items in lockers on-site and visited the restrooms. We were in swimsuits for the hike. The hike was fun, but rocky. Wear sturdy sneakers because I didn't and felt ALL the rocks. We crossed a suspension bridge on our way to the cenote. Sneakers and t-shirts or hats were left at the repelling for the cenote area on shelves. We rappelled down to the cenote and landed in a large inner tube waiting in the water, which was amazing. We spent some time in the cenote and Luis told us all about this cenote, the depth, fish, etc... There was a rope ladder to out again or you could get elevated out on the same rope you went down on by the workers. Next, we did a short zipline..wheeee! Hiked a little more and did a longer zipline. So cool with beautiful jungle scenery. We hiked a little more to canoes and crossed a small lake area in our canoes. Authentic Mayan lunch was waiting for us. It was so good and there are some vegetarian choices. After a fairly long lunch time, we could buy extra drinks, snacks or souvenirs on site. Also, you can't take your own camera in unless it's a go pro, so if you want to, you can purchase the pictures they took for 60 or 70 dollars depending on if you want them on a disk or thumb drive. We bought them and I thought they were very good. After all, when will I ever get photographed repelling or ziplining again? After lunch, we hopped into the van to head to the temple climb at Coba. Again we had a knowledgeable tour guide at Coba, I can't remember her name, but Luis joked it was his fiance. She gave us details on the Mayan culture. We then were able to hike, take a bike or hire a rickshaw (Luis called it tricycle) driver to take us to the main temple. We went the rickshaw route as it was hot and we weren't sure how the hiking would go after a temple climb. It's steep and the steps can be slippery and we aren't young. Lol! Hubby made it up to the top and I took pictures. After returning to the meeting spot for the bus drive back, there are bathrooms, souvenirs and drinks and food to purchase, and enough time to even sit down and eat some chips and guac from restaurant there. I had my doubts about a 9 year old on our tour, but she was adventurous and was a curious learner. So it was right for her. If your kid hates hiking and adventures, this might be a poor fit. A great time was had by all! Thanks Luis and all the staff who showed great hospitality!