Tulum & Coba All Day Experience

The tour needs to be better organized. We waited for a long time to get going to pick up more individuals at their hotels, logistics at a stop to pick up people and turn in paperwork took a very long time; and then it took a long time to get to the first destination, Tulum. We did not arrive to Tulum until about noon, we were picked up at 7:30. Once there, it took at least an hour to get an English speaking guide to get there and lead the English speaking group to the tour. The tour guide, Valentin, was very nice and he tried very hard to communicate in English with the group, but the group needed better communication. I believe if the tour is better organized, people can spend a little more time at the sites without being so rushed.

Only take this trip is you don't care about your personal time or understanding what's going on around you. Our guides English was not acceptable. He addressed us a few times but no one understood what he was saying. We were bussed to a place to wait, to wait again and then wait some more. Then we waited again. When we finally got to Tulum 4 hours later, (drive takes 1.5 hours) the English guide for Tulum did not show up. Then we waited again and an English guide came and spoke to us for 10 minutes in 1 spot and left. We saw lots of other tours in Tulum wandering all around with guides speaking their language. It was at this point we called a cab and left the tour. I value my time too much. This was a total scam! If it was simply a bad day for this company, they should have refunded us as I asked. But they seemed to think everything went fine. If this is true - no one should ever take this tour.

Wonderful experience. Tour guides were kind, attentive and knowledgeable. Food was delicious. Tulum, Coba, and Cenote in Coba….amazing!!!

We booked this trip with Tripadvisor. We were picked at the hotel . When we asked for a place to stay in front because my boyfriend is tall they brutally refused saying that is the pickup bus. Ok. But the attitude was jerky. When we got to the meeting point we were asked to pay a tax . We knew we had to pay and that was fine. But we weren’t able to pay with any of our phones. Although we paid everything everywhere we went, in Cancun, even at the small sellers at Chichen Itza. With our Apple pay and phones. Here it was impossible to, after repeatedly trying to. We are in airport now and we paid at the same bank they used on the payment terminal. We paid at Cobo when we went with a private tour the same day. We got angry and very disappointed. And asked for our money back. They refused. They let us there, at the edge of Cancun with no transportation. We paid a taxi back to our hotel. We asked for our money back from Viator. Viotor told us that the company ( same company that let us there although we paid their trip !!! ) refused to refund our money. They are crooks. This is theft. And disrespect for the ones who pay for so called tourism and Mexican services. We DO NOT RECOMMEND this company. And pitiful we no loger desire to travel with Viator either. They don’t respect their customers, too.

We visited these two Mayan cities with the whole family and had a great day, I recommend you to buy the package with drinks on board the transportation so you will save a lot of money on drinks. I suggest you take into account that it is not a private service so the guides take the time to pick up all the visitors of the day at their hotels. It is a very good experience because you know the history of the Mayan civilization and in the same day you swim in a spectacular cenote and an express ride along the 5th avenue of Playa del Carmen, without a doubt a very complete tour.

The staff were wonderful. Your trip advisor listing should let people know that there are limitations for entrance to the park and extra fees. Not exactly what I thought it was.

It was a great tour! Our guide Hector was friendly and answered all our questions along the way. The sights and scenes were incredible as expected, it was a fun trip with a smaller group (7 of us total). The bus we rode in was smaller it fit 10-12 total, it was a rough ride on many of the roads so be aware of that going in. Because of how many stops you make-Tulum, Coba, lunch (plus an odd “blessing” from a local Mayan shaman that had us making another stop after swimming), Cenote, and then Playa Del Carmen, the time you get to see the two cities feels a little rushed but it’s great timing to see everything in the tour! For the price I don’t think you can ask for a better experience!

Daniel, Juan and Luis were amazing throughout the whole trip. The cenote we saw was not the one advertised on the website, but it was a better one, so it was definetly worth it.

Opportunities for improvements I want to mention: 1) Were 2 pick up times: first one at the hotel, which supposed to be by 6:30am and was delayed by almost 1 hour; second delay for another 1 hour in a store waiting for the bus, driver and/or the tour guide. We didn't know. Finally, began the trip by 9:30am, which delayed the return to the hotel to 10:30pm. 2) It was a run-for-your-life tours, causing that I can't enjoy them, as following: a) first tour-Tulum: the tour guide explained in about 15 minutes regarding all buildings and his explanation was great, but the time to enjoy the place was too short. b) second tour-Coba. Departed from Tulum at 1:15pm. A long trip going to Coba and once there, it was raining and the tour guide explained in hurry how to get into the ruins and how to get out of them and then, he left us to go by ourselves, with only 45 minutes to walk and see, going back to the bus immediately in 45 minutes or less. We didn't have any explanation on the ruins that we would see and didn't give us time to buy a poncho or something to cover ourselves before sending us to get into them. By the way, my niece got home sick with a cold because of that. c) third tour - lunch and shaman ceremony. We were so hungry when we finally arrived for lunch by approximately 3:15pm, finalizing with the shaman ceremony, staying on the place for a long time after to be able to buy stuff from there. d) fourth tour - arrived to the cenote after 5:00pm, leaving by 1 hour later. e) fifth tour - arrived by 8:00pm to the 5th avenue in Playa del Carmen with around 2 hours distance under really heavy raining, tired, hungry, thirsty, bad odor due to the use of the bathroom for #2 by some people that were not able to relief themselves or that got stomach problems after the food. The bus didn't stop at any place to get something to eat or drink. Finally, we had to return to the bus by 8:45pm. All places were almost full, including places on the street in front of where the bus stopped. There weren’t enough restrooms to get into or places to eat that hurry. 3) Finally, we began the returning to the hotel by 9:00pm. A woman returned to the bus a little late and went back for her husband, when the bus tour guide waiting few minutes later, decided to leave and left them in Playa del Carmen. I understand that they didn't follow the specific instructions provided by the tour guide from the beginning that we should respect the other people being on time to the bus, but: a) the tour guide was the first one who began late our tour, which delayed our return to the hotel to 10:30pm, when it supposed to be by 8:30pm and I lost an appointment I had for dinner and having to pay for a hurry and bad dinner by myself in Playa del Carmen when it was included in my hotel payment. By the way, my daughter was so hungry that she decided to eat immediately on the street, beside where the bus stopped. She ate a crepe with strawberries, kiwi and nutella, getting sick with diarrhea the whole day after. b) the lady left behind in Playa del Carmen called to her or her husband phone, which was at their backpack in the bus. c) another participant heard the phone ringing and pick it up, because the tour guide didn't care about it, saying that he wouldn’t answer the phone, even we let him know. d) the lady asked for the tour guide Julio and he didn't want to talk to her, allowing that another person looked into the other participant's belongings, and pick the backpack with him to his hotel, where the couple agreed to retrieve it later. I understand that the couple were wrong being late, but also the tour guide did the same in the morning. On my opinion, he shouldn't allow another person to get into somebody's else belongings and also, take those with him. I believe that someone's belongings on the bus are the tour guide responsibility and he should take them with him to the person's left behind hotel. There was a reason to left them behind, but there is not any reason to what he did with those person's belongings. Well, I see all of this as opportunities for improvement and my recommendations are: 1) these tours are so faraway long distance one from another and probably the two places should be split into two different tours, with good guide explanations like I saw another tour guide was doing in Coba. Both are great places with their own great stories to tell. 2) If the tours travel will take too long time, the bus should have at least water for people, like the bus we used for Chichen Itza tour on Tuesday, Dec 24. 3) places should be identified, where the bus could stop at least every hour for people to be able to buy snacks, water or going to restrooms. 4) if the tour bus or guide arrive late, the people shouldn't be penalized trying to cover the scheduled places without any consideration of the people. 5) if it is raining, like it was from cenote to Playa del Carmen, the people should be considered into taking the decision to continue with the itinerary or stop it, going back to the hotel earlier after a heavy and difficult day due to the rain. I felt that the guide HAD to follow the itinerary not matter what, sacrificing the people in the way we were. There wasn't any reason why to stop in Playa del Carmen because we didn't see anything of interest for us, especially at the time and in the way we were: tired, hungry, upset, thirsty and needing a bathroom, which was difficult to find out. What do I liked? 1) Explanations by the tour guide regarding the maya calendars. 2) Explanations by the tour guide regarding Tulum ruines. 3) Explanations by the tour guide regarding Coba people culture. I won't recommend this tour experience as it has been designed, even I will say Yes below. It should be split into two different experiences at a lower price, probably the half of this tour. Maybe... 1) Tulum, cenote and Playa del Carmen 2) Coba (ruines, including people culture and shaman), cenote and Playa del Carmen.

It was a very busy day! We started in Tulum. I was very happy that our tour leader made sure we started each stop with a bathroom visit. Then we walked around the ruins. Unfortunately the guide for the English speakers (Pepe - not our tour leader) was pretty terrible, he was impossible to understand. After Tulum we drove to Coba, where we could see everything without walking, by using the 'Mayan Ubers' (tricycle taxis). The guide here was excellent. The last part was a Mayan meal, followed by a traditional ceremony and a swim at a cenote for those who wanted to. There were opportunities to shop at the Mayan village and on 5th Avenue in Playa. The tour leader was excellent and told us many interesting facts. The bus was very comfortable. All in all the tour was well worth it!