Day Trip To Tulum, Coba And Cenote Maya

Loved seeing the ruins and learning about the Mayan culture, but wished they provided us more than what I could have googled myself. We spent a lot of time in the bus/ van, touring different resorts/hotels picking up people, and then once we got to the site, there was another long wait getting the tickets. They do this everyday, and quite disorganized still! In Coba, there was a demo of a Mayan spiritual blessing ritual. The shaman picked a few people ‘to be blessed’ . We were handed a carved images they sell at the gift shop. After this, we were asked to meet up with him, as he has a ‘special message’ for us. We did not want to be disrespectful, so we did see them; but only for him to ask if we wanted to purchase the item. We said no, and he told us that we have ‘negative energies. Omg!!! The Cenote experience was awesome; sadly we were with a group of ladies, who were so loud! Could not get to enjoy at least few minutes of peace with nature. Buffet ‘lunch’ was delicious; probably because only we were all starving, having the ‘lunch’ at 4 pm. I’m giving 2 stars for the crew who are friendly and I know they are really trying their best. And another for the food and the Cenote. Overall, will not recommend if you value your time. They will not explain schedule with you, since you re stuck with them all day! If you can find a tour that has smaller group, that is priced higher, then go for it; well worth all the hassle! We have travelled may places; disappointed with this tour.

Tour guide was rude not helpful left people and made them catch a taxi we spoke English and many others did but the workers would hardly translate and when we asked him to he would get mad , spent most of the time on A bus and was rushed at every stop we went to

What an amazing day full of history and many Myan experiences....a must do for anyone visiting the Myan Riviera. Unexpected extras we did not expect.

Tour Bus Driver Fransisco and Guide Eddy were nice to all, cooperative, and provided the right advice and good history knowledge. We enjoyed the whole day trip. Very friendly Guide

Terribly disappointed. Booked this day trip after reading about it through TripAdvisor. The contract said I would be picked up from my hotel. I was then instructed via email to wait at a pick up point 18mins away from my hotel. Still it was fine as I am fit and well enough to walk. We were also reminded to be punctual or would be considered 'No show'. I got to the pick up point 25 mins early. At 8.30am the pick up time, there was no one there, no representative. I had to make long distance calls to the office twice having to wait each time. The representative on the phone said the guide is on the way to pick me up, every time I phoned them. I was running up and down the street looking for the representative and asking for any information., in the hot humid weather all sweaty. They finally arrived 45mins late without apology nothing. I was then transported to another coach bus where we all had to wait and pick up more passengers. The tour didn't start until after 12pm. A few of the guests told me they were picked up at 7am and had been waiting since. The tour was very rushed perhaps to make up for the time. It ended around 7pm. We wasted half a day on the road. Also, the tour guides and coach driver were promoting/pushing their products like drinks and rides. They stopped being friendly and ignored me throughout when I refused their products.

I was taught that if I don't have any positive to say better not to do it. My wife and I are upset with the service, that's it. Thank you

Tulum was beautiful and Pablo was a great tour guide.he was very knowledgeable. I likes that he spoke in Spanish and English. He even taught us words in Maya language.

The trip was rushed. You complete 4 sites but with little to no time to actually enjoy them. The cenote/Mayan lunch was disappointing. The food was good however when we arrived a Mayan blessing was given to the group which felt more like a sales pitch. I understand that sales support these communities and its important to purchase souvenirs or tip locals when you can, but with so little time, our tour guide went on and on on how lava rocks saved his life, pretty much gave us his entire life story in the sales pitch which didn't help with such limited time that we had to eat and enjoy the cenote. As soon as we got in and my kids started enjoying the water we were told we had to get on the bus. Our last stop was in 5th ave in Playa del Carmen. Since we were staying in Playa del Carmen we were asked if we wanted to be dropped off first at our hotel because if we went to the last stop we would have to take a taxi on our own to our hotel (the package included pick up and drop off at hotel). I didn't complain because that was our plan all along to just ditch the group in the last stop, I figured they would only give us small amount of time on the last stop anyway. This was a cheaper tour option from what we browsed so I guess you get what you pay for. I wouldn't recommend this tour.

The sites on this trip are well worth seeing. The pick-up was easy and the regional lunch was pretty good. Once we got on the bus, our leader suggested we spend another $18 per person for life vests, water/beer/soda and bike rentals, which we didn’t do. Life vests (about $3 usd to use) are a requirement to swim in the cenote. If you want to see the grand temple at the Coba sight, there isn’t time unless you take a bike option. When we realized that, it was too late, wish we’d been told upfront that we really needed to select a bike option. (I think it was about $9 usd for 2 people to have a local person pedal a trike with a bench seat.) But even with no bike, it was still a great site to walk around and explore. I would have appreciated more explanation about the history of Tulum and Coba, we were just set free at the sites and told when we should be back at the bus. Guess I should have researched more history before we went!

The stops were all great. The food was good and authentic. Pick up was fine, within 5 minutes of the time we were told. The guide was pleasant although they didn't tell us much historical information, particularly on Coba. The driver stayed with the van so we were able to leave our things in the van, which was nice particularly with the cenote. However, there are several extra fees that sound optional but actually aren't. E.g. if you want to swim the life vests at the cenote are required and they cost extra, and there's not enough time to walk the 2 kilometers at Coba so you have to rent bikes if you want to see the main temple. We didn't bring very much money with us so this was stressful and frustrating. If we had known beforehand it wouldn't have been a problem, and I suspect it's left off the tour description to make the tour price sound lower than it actually is

Tour guide was great. He was really informative and spoke clear English. They kept to a tight itinerary and it was well organised.

This was a great quick tour. Wish we could have had more time at each stop especially at Coba. We could have spent all day there. As Americans some of the history the guide was explaining was hard to understand, but the guide did a great job explaining off to the side for us if we had more question. It was a long tour but very interesting

Gustavo was an incredible tour guide and my boyfriend and I had a blast! I would highly recommend this package

My partner and I loved this tour! We started the day visiting Tulum ruins, which was absolutely beautiful! We then visited a Mayan village at the Kuxtal cenote, being part of an ancient ceremony before a delicious Mexican buffet lunch. The cenote was magnificent, complete with a swing and a ledge you could jump off! Coba was our highlight, riding bikes through the jungle exploring the ruins. It’s about a 4km round trip, so definitely worth the 60mxn to rent a bike and zoom around! Finally, we visited Playa Del Carmen on the way back to Cancun, and we able to enjoy the beach at sunset. Our guide, Gustavo, was friendly and knowledgeable and always down for a chat. Additionally, our driver was also punctual and efficient, getting us to and from our destinations safely. We would definitely recommend this tour!

Worst experience. I paid for a English guide and I didn’t hear anything in English. I really wanted to learn about the Moyen culture but unfortunately could not. The tour was extremely disorganized and our guide ended up, leaving six people in Tulum. And we started at 7:30 AM and the pick up went on until 10:30 AM and we finally reach Tulum at 11:30 AM. After a couple of hours the guide managed to lose six people in our group in Tulum, and we left to Cobá. They were able to provide his lunch only at 5 PM when we were really tired overall extremely disorganized and anyone who doesn’t know Spanish is have no clue what’s going on was very disappointed.

Very nice tour! We enjoyed it a lot. Great guide with English and Spain translation. Beautiful spots without not so much people. Lunch was very tasty and in the nice location, be careful with the spicy souse 😁 perfect timing! Thank you!

We aren't fans of all day tours so we booked this tour because it was described as 6 hours long. However, we were told we'd be picked up at 8:40 am (which was really 9:00 am) and were then shuttled to a parking lot where we were told to stand in the sun until the charter bus came, which was another 15 minutes. Once on the tour bus (9:30 am) the guide spoke in spanish and english. His english wasn't great and at times he was difficult to understand. The sites of Tulum, Coba and the cenote were interesting. I'd recommend seeing them. The same tour guide is your tour guide at the sites. I wasn't all that impressed. I saw other guides there giving better tours with more information. When we were finally dropped off at a random part of Playa Del Carmen, it was 6:30 pm. The drive back from the sites was 2.5 hours long.

The tour was fantastic but BEWARE it was 15 HOURS! When I saw a day trip I thought that that was just what it was. I don't really call 15 hours a day trip! If I knew that I wouldn't have scheduled it because I was sick the rest of my trip because I overdid it on my first day.

A lot of fun! Great tour and self time mix of the ruins. Lunch was excellent! Come ready for the Center swim!

Our WestJet consultant at the hotel suggested this Gen Ex tour. I wish we had gone with another company. Our guide was knowledgeable but needed to tone it down a little-he talked non-stop. Coba and Tulum were fascinating and gorgeous. What an amazing opportunity to learn about the culture of the area. The Cinote swim was exhilarating. The “snack” provided was a balogna sandwich in white bread, a juice box and a cookie. The “delicious authentic jungle meal” was terrible with 100 peso “ tax”, the place was filthy, tortillas hard, meat inedible and the vegetables tasted like they came out of a bag of frozen mixed -I had two sips of my juice and realized my glass was filthy-everyone from our hotel that went was sick that night.

Boyfriend and I did the Tulum/Coba and gran Cenote tour from playa del Carmen with easy tours. It was a long day but really good. Guide spoke good English and we split into groups of different languages so we could all understand our guide. Tulum was busy. Coba was brilliant. We hired bikes (50 peso each. Cash only) and cruised around the jungle finding ruins. That was a real highlight. The gran Cenote was bloody awesome. Our first one (and best we went in) Our tips would be take water. Take snacks. Go toilet when ever you can as they are few and far between (outside Tulum they are revolting) and take snorkels/Goggles for the Cenote

Thank you Pepe and Alex from Alltournative for such a great experience. Extremely informative guides. Excellent drivers. We enjoyed traditional Mayan food and ceremony. The water on the cenote was perfect and crystal clear. What a rare experience! Can't wait to book more excursions with AllTourNative

My mom, daughter and I took this all day excursion. It was so much fun! WE got to make our own tortillas, ate a traditional Mayan meal, swam in a cave, saw iguanas & coatis and saw the beautiful ruins in both Coba and Tulum. Our guide Josh was awesome! He made the day so much fun! It was a long day and we were exhausted afterwards, but enjoyed every minute.

Wonderful experience !!! The guide Freddy was nice and helpful, as was the driver !!! Everyone was great, highly recommended

The guide practically left us free time, explained very little on the tours and offered many things to sell, I would have preferred a better attitude from the guide.

Unmissable! The day trip was unmissable! Nothing to claim and everything to enjoy and admire!! The weather was also very friendly and we hired a guide inside the Coba - otherwise it doesn't make cultural sense if you don't explain the ones you're seeing - brings a lot The xenote experience was wonderful as well as Tulum that there is nothing to claim with the beaches (that day ) without laggard

Dear Sirs of Tripadvisor On February 28, 2023, I bought a tour on the Tripadvisor page that included a visit to Tulum, Coba, cenotes and Fifth Avenue in Playa del Carmen. I then received an email confirming the purchase and providing tour information with several telephone contacts. As I am a cautious person, I immediately contacted Tripadvisor with Mr. Edgar M. who graciously answered my inquiries and confirmed that they would pick me up the next day at 08:05 AM. On March 1st with my son we arrived promptly, at 8:00 AM, at the lobby to wait for the vehicle that would pick us up but this arrived only at 8:30 AM because there was supposedly traffic. Then, we went to pick up other families who were at great distances from each other and we were touring the city for an hour and a half or two, until the vehicle completed each of its seats with passengers. We were in the back of the van and I decided to give up my aisle seat to the last person who boarded because, being much bigger than me, I would not be able to sit in the available seat. How you will understand we travel like sardines in a rather old, insecticide-smelling vehicle. Later, at about 10:30 or 11 a.m. we were transferred to a bus that was almost full of people, in fact I had to ask a passenger to please change my seat because otherwise I would be separated from my 12-year-old son. As an additional detail, my seat was not firm and reclined forward or backward as the driver braked or accelerated; and, the seats from front to ours were completely reclined backward, unable to lift because the lever did not work, therefore, we went very tight in the seat throughout the trip. Up the bus and just on the way to Tulum the guide tells us that we would go to see the ruins mentioned above, then to Cobá and then to two cenotes and on the way from one to the other we would go to visit a Mayan family to know their customs and as we would enter the jungle we had to have insect repellent. Although I had bought one for the trip, that day I did not take it and had to buy a very small repellent for USD 10 being that the value in my country is 6 times cheaper. Then when we arrived in Tulum, as there were so many of us, they made us walk fast and we only stopped at two points to explain to us the history of the place what seemed more like a story of esotericism and astrology than history... When we reach the third point, near the sea edge, the guide tells us that “we had 20 minutes to take pictures in the most beautiful place of the excursion and to RETURN TO THAT SAME MEETING POINT” within the agreed time frame. So we set off to take pictures. After about 18 minutes my son and I returned to the point specified by the guide and there were already on site 4 people waiting, 3 Mexican tourists and a fourth Swiss, all were part of our group. Later came two more couples, a Chilean marriage and a Peruvian mother and daughter. We were all waiting, a little surprised that no one else arrived and looked everywhere to see if anyone else showed up. After a while I took the initiative to tell the rest to leave for the entrance of the park to look for the rest and board the bus. They all followed me and and we set off in a group so we wouldn't get lost because the driveway is long and we weren't going with anyone to guide us. As we walked stride, one of the people who accompanied us, an elderly person, a Peruvian national, went to the bathroom with his daughter and we lost sight of them. As soon as we get to the parking lot, the gentleman watching the vehicles tells us: “The bus just left.” We were all stunned because we were clear from the information received that it was waiting for the guide at the meeting point but she never arrived. Neither she nor her two assistants we didn't see during our short visit to Tulum. Concerned about my son, my things and the others who were with us, I decided to call Edgar, my contact with Tripadvisor, to tell him what had happened and after about 35 minutes of waiting and exchanging messages he offered to take a taxi, which would be fully refunded when we sent the voucher, to head to Cobá which was the next tourist spot we would visit. I explained to Edgar that I didn’t have enough money to take the taxi and I had to manage to pay for it as it cost $76, equivalent to the 1300 Mexicans on the voucher, but I paid it in dollars. When we arrived with my son in Coba, they told us to wait on the bus because if we tried to go to see the temple, the bus would leave again without us. The truth is that we were very disappointed because it was one of the reasons why we hired this tour on their page instead of doing it at the hotel was because it did not give us this option and that of visiting Fifth Avenue. From then on everything got worse because none of the tour managers gave us an explanation but the tourists told us in detail everything that had happened. Many of them warned the guide that passengers were still missing and to please come and find us or wait a while longer but the guide turned a deaf ear and continued explaining that it would consist of the rest of the tour, without even stopping to answer the passenger locations. There were several families who demanded for us, including American, Chilean, Hindu and Brazilian families, and who approached us in solidarity to express their concern and tell us everything that happened. The next destination of the bus was lunch, by now I didn’t have any money, not even to buy a soda because everything I had spent in the taxi. I also had no money to rent life jackets because then we would enter a cenote so I decided to talk to the guide in charge of the tour. However, when I approached Miss Melly, she was very rude and high-handed and far from wanting to talk she told me she wanted to have a quiet lunch. I told him that it was disrespectful that he had abandoned 12 people from the tour, especially that we had followed his instructions to the letter and because we had all our belongings on top of the bus and the next day I was returning to my country. She boasted that she had evidence that they had waited for us before leaving. And then I kindly asked her to show me such evidence because we stayed where she told us for over 20 or 30 minutes. And then she sarcastically replies “but the others came, you are the one who can’t hear”, then I replied that it was not only about me but that I had grounded but 12 people in total and she listened the same as my son and I. That’s when she toned me up and told me that she wasn’t going to talk to me anymore and that if she had a claim to do it where it belonged because she wanted to be calm. I then asked for her name so I could formally make the claim but she did not agree and that is when I asked my son for his cell phone and recorded her face so I could identify her. There the tone of voice rose even more and with my nervousness I could not register everything because she fled the place trying previously with her hand to lower my phone to avoid being recorded and making a strong show in the restaurant. It is important to clarify that if the others arrived at the bus, it was because they decided to leave directly to the parking lot, omitting the directions of the guide that had already generated antipathy with several of the members of the tour and others simply preferred to visit the place at their own pace and then leave for the good one, instead those of us who were disciplined in following the instructions stayed down. Considering we were already too bitter I decided to go to the cenote to relax with my son. Unfortunately, as I said earlier, we had no money to pay for the life jackets and the internet was not working to use my credit card. Therefore, I had to talk to one of the assistants of the guide, since she disappeared from the place, to help me with the vests and to be able to bathe. At that moment we were treated almost as if we were beggars and handed a pair of vests owned by the tour company, full of mushrooms product of moisture and with a terrible smell but we had no choice. Honestly we didn’t deserve a deal like this but my main concern was my 12-year-old son because this trip was part of a birthday present and was his last day in Mexico and I didn’t want him to be left with such a bad impression; although it was inevitable. After a few minutes we were put back on the bus and part of what we had been promised, the blessing of the shaman, the visit to the Mayan family for which I had bought my repellent did not materialize either. Then we started the return and on that journey I talked with most of the tour members and everyone, without exception, was very disappointed and upset with the treatment of the guide and the dismal quality of the tour. Many said they would formally complain and one of those people is the one who wrote the letter I attached to Edgar via WhatsApp a couple of weeks ago. As a final destination we were taken to Fifth Avenue in Playa del Carmen and arriving at the place, one of the young people asks me if any vehicle was going to pick me up to take me to my hotel because the bus left for Cancun. I replied that I had no information about it but that someone should leave me at the hotel because that was agreed when I bought it. As I no longer had any strength to continue arguing or want to continue having a hard time on the worst day I could imagine on this trip we decided with my son not to make any more trouble and return us in a taxi to the hotel. For all this I tell you and for other families who suffered these and other abuses on this tour is that I request you to: 1. Proceed to the full refund of the taxi that I was suggested to take from Tulum to Coba, as I only received $70 and I paid $76. There's still $6. 2. Proceed to reimburse me for the entire tour because I only lost time and money in addition to receiving the worst treatment from the guide and the company in charge from the first moment we boarded the van until the end when we had to go to the hotel alone. 3. So they should also refund my taxi back to the hotel because even that did not guarantee us. 4. And as a suggestion, remove this tour from your offer on the Tripadvisor page because in the end it is your brand that is smeared since no one knows what the name of the company that organizes the tour is. Considering that too many days have passed and we still do not have a reply to everything reported, I ask you to contact me promptly and proceed to refund my money. Without another particular, he bids farewell Danisa A.

Antes de reservar la excursión contáctanos con viator para verificar que la duración fuera de 6 horas tal y como se indicaba, ya que no podíamos llegar tarde al hotel, tras confirmarnos que era de 6 horas y nos recogían a las 7 de la mañana decidimos contratarlo. Cuando nos recogen en el hotel, al subirnos al autobús escuchamos que la duración del tour es de 14 horas, en ese momento nos ponemos nerviosos y pedimos que a los “guias” por llamarlos de alguna manera, cabe destacar el señor Arturo debido a su falta de empatía, amabilidad, profesionalidad, indiferencia, chulería y poco respeto a los clientes, que nos ayudaran a buscar una solución para poder llegar al hotel a tiempo, la respuesta de los guías fue que la única opción que nos daban era dejarnos en mitad de la carretera para que nos buscáramos la vida para volver al hotel, le explicamos que estamos en un país que no conocíamos y que no teníamos línea telefónica, pero aún así nos reiteraban que no nos iban a ayudar, le pedimos que nos dejaran llamar a la agencia y se negaron rotundamente. Tras ver que no teníamos ninguna solución, decido activar mi teléfono ( llegándome 80 euros de factura por 10 minutos de conexión) y me pongo en contacto con viator. Tras exponerles el problema, me reconocen que efectivamente está mal y que el tour dura 14 horas, cuando le pido que por favor me envíen un taxi a tulum para llevarme a mi hotel me dicen que no y automáticamente se desconectan dejándonos desamparados. Tras todo lo expuesto, evidentemente no nos quedó más remedio que quedarnos en el tour ( obligados). Referente a la calidad del tour, LOS FREETOUR LE DAN MIL VUELTAS. Cuando estamos en el bus, se paran como en 20 sitios para recoger a personas, así que se pierde como 4 horas en recoger y dejar a gente. Cuando están todos en el bus en vez de explicarte la historia de Tulum y coba se ponen a vender una pulsera que te cobran 16 dólares para que puedas beber cerveza y te incluya bicis en coba. Cuando llegamos a Tulum, el “guía” nos dio una explicación de literalmente 3 minutos en la puerta de Tulum y nos dijo, venga os dejamos una hora para que lo veáis, hola? Yo he pagado un guía turístico, para enterarme de lo que había un tulum me tuve que pegar a otro tour. Una vez llegamos a coba, empezó a diluviar, le dijimos a Arturo que si podíamos esperar a que aflojara, y el con su chulería no dijo, hacer lo que os dé la gana. Cuando decidimos entrar, vamos a por los boletos de las bicis que hemos pagado previamente con la superpulsera de 16 dólares, con la sorpresa de que no había NINGÚN guía esperando y que no teníamos el boleto, es decir, pagamos bicis y entradas a coba y no pudimos entrar por la incompetencia de el tour. Cuando vamos a reclamar a Arturo, el nos contesta diciendo que no es su problema y que le da exactamente igual. Cabe añadir que, en Tulum el señor Arturo Iba con su paraguas para no pasar calor mientras todos nos deshidratábamos y en coba él iba con el paraguas para no mojarse mientras los demás nos empapábamos ( esto lo digo porque en otros tour y más baratos nos han dado paraguas a todos). Cuando llegamos al cenote, nos encontramos con el peor cenote que he visto en mi vida, y encima indican que la entrada al cenote está añadida, y nos encontramos que el cenote es GRATIS. Cuando llegamos a playa del Carmen, nos tuvimos que coger un taxi ya que íbamos a llegar al hotel a las 22 de la noche. Es decir, NO CONTRATAR ESTE TOUR, es un engaño y no explican nada.