Chacchoben Mayan Ruins with Local Experience Costa Maya Excursion

Carol was great, we enjoyed the smaller group and the ability to move quickly when needed or double back if we wanted to. The quick stop at the Lighthouse on the way back to the port gave us a great photo opportunity with the MSC Seashore in the background

Carol was a great host. My family learned so much. The bonus was seeing the spider monkeys in the jungle. 10/10!!

Absolutely wonderful experience. Carol was the best guide. She was just absolutely amazing all day. The communication was top notch leading up to the excursion. Best I have ever had. They reached out the day prior via WhatsApp and we stayed in communication through walking off the ship as we docked a bit late. Her knowledge about the site was amazing and the kids really enjoyed it more than i expected since it wasn't necessarily adrenaline pumping.

This was wonderful. We had Karol as our guide and she was so enthusiastic, friendly, and kind. My kids took to her immediately and she had endless patience while my 11 year old peppered her with questions on Mayans. I chose this experience as I thought a smaller group experience then what was offered by cruise excursions would be better for my kids to learn something and be more engaged. It absolutely was the case and highly recommend this excursion. On our way back we also stopped at a fruit stand where she purchased delicious fresh fruit for us to try. We discovered Mamay there - it is not to be missed. Be sure to get some if you stop there! Thanks Karol for a great time.

We could not have been more blown away by this experience. Rafael was an absolutely fantastic guide that taught us so much about the Mayans as well as local culture. The tour was about 4 hours and was packed full of activities. Rafael had a cooler for us with waters, sodas, & beer, AND snacks for the road! After touring the amazing ruins, we stopped at a fruit stand and had some of the most delicious fruit I’ve ever tried. We stopped for chips and salsa & even tried mezcal - it was genuinely such a blast. I can’t recommend this tour enough!

Wonderful experience! Our tour guide Carol was the best. She was so kind, informative, and caring. We had snacks and drinks on the drive over, they were easy to find, and she shared lots of great information. The ruins were really great, very beautiful in the jungle and we even saw spider monkeys! There were bathrooms on site at the ruins. On the way back we stopped in the pineapple village for some fresh fruits which were amazing! We also stopped at a local spot where a resident made varying hot sauces and snacks we could try. No one pressured us into buying anything but we did buy some hot sauce to take home! Overall, it was a great experience and we felt safe the whole time and really enjoyed seeing the ruins.

Leo our guide was amazing! Explaining everything with patience and passion the history, and the culture.

We had an awesome experience. Carol, our German guide, has lived in Costa Maya for 14 years and was very knowledgeable. She provided information about the island and the Mayan culture on it and the surrounding areas. She had pictures to give visuals for the information she was sharing. We stopped at a fruit stand and were provided with generous helping of any local fruit we wanted to try. We also stopped at a shop that made its own different habanero salsas that we got to try and then could purchase. Our final stop was a lighthouse. The group was allowed to decided how long they wanted to be at each stop. The tour was interesting, relaxed, and a great experience. I highly recommend it. (Note: I am 60 and only in moderate shape and did not have any difficulty. I would not recommend this tour to anyone who has difficulty walking or is in a wheelchair or scooter, as the paths are very uneven, the climb up to the ruins is steep, and there are no ramps.)

It is a bit of a drive there, but the tour guide talked to us about Costa Maya on the way. The ruins were neat, and you could ascend some of the stairs (the base structures, not the upper structures). We even saw a few spider monkeys. Wear walking shoes. The group was small (13 tourists), which made the tour a little flexible and gave plenty of opportunity for questions.

I messed up on the starting time. I thought it was 9:30am, but apparently other cruise ship people were out at 8:15am. The tour info said they would usually wait until 9:30am so I think I was still within the expected time frame. Had to walk outside the port shops which was a bit hard to do, the exit sign wasn't clear, but eventually we've had a local guide that walked us to the tour picking up spot, then we had to take the car to a secondary location where other tour members were already waiting. The 1st car ride took almost 1 hour, then we joined the actual tour guide. Once the tour started it was very informational. I liked how detailed the guide on explaining the Mayan culture and the things we saw. I liked that bottled water and snacks (dry ones and one bag of fresh fruit per 2 people at the end) were provided and included in the price of the tour which was a huge plus. We had 10 people in total for the tour group so it was really intimate. The guide took us to the locations to avoid the large groups so we had ample time to take pictures. Some steps were steep, but it was still okay for my 75 year old mom as the guide took some people to the "easier" climb. (still steep but have rock wall to grab/balance) We went to the lighthouse at the end for a quick photo stop, then we went back to the ship.