Deluxe Trip to Casa Tortuga Cenotes and Tulum Site from Cancun

Very MID tour, save yourself the time and hire yourself a private driver.

Unfortunately, this tour was very mediocre and honestly not worth the money and the amount of time we spent in the van. The description states that the tour starts at 7 AM and lasts 12 hours. What they don’t mention is that you should be prepared to sit in the van from 7 AM until around 12 PM because they spent HOURS picking up other guests. We were not told beforehand that the pickups would take that long, and it really took away from the experience. Our first activity was the ruins. It was extremely hot, and honestly, everyone was over it pretty quickly. Most of our group ended up coming back to the van early. Our next stop was Alquimia Hotel, which I actually really enjoyed! The vibes were cute, and this was probably my favorite stop of the day. After that, they took us to a restaurant for lunch that they described as a “buffet.” I personally wouldn’t consider it a buffet because it was essentially a plate with one protein option, rice, beans, and vegetables. One thing that REALLY rubbed us the wrong way was that we were told we couldn’t bring our own water inside and had to leave it in the van. So naturally, we assumed waters would be included with the meal. After grabbing our plates, someone at the end of the line asked what we wanted to drink. The options were water or soda, but at no point did anyone tell us that we would be charged separately for the waters. When our tour guide eventually told us it was time to leave, we got up and started getting ready to go. Then he walked up to my friend and made a “shame on you” gesture, which completely confused my friend. He then told us that we needed to pay for the waters. The total was $20 USD for 4 waters. I was honestly offended by the way the situation was handled. We were never told the waters cost extra, and instead of simply explaining that there was a charge, our guide approached us as if we were trying to steal the drinks. I mean they put us in a position to where we didn’t really have a choice.. it was either choke on your food or pay $5 for a water bottle. The biggest issue throughout this entire tour was the lack of communication. After lunch, we finally made it to the cenote park at around 4 PM. We stayed until about 5:30 PM, and at that point we decided to call an Uber from Tulum back to Cancun because our driver told us we probably wouldn’t get back until around 9:30 PM. Our Uber got us back to Cancun from Casa Tortuga in 1 hour and 15 minutes, rather than the estimated 4 hours we would have spent in the tour van. It cost us around $100 USD total, which split between the four people in our group was absolutely worth it. My advice: just hire a private driver and do the tour yourself. You’ll have much more control over your time, you won’t spend half the day picking people up, and you won’t have to deal with the poor communication. I would not book this tour again.

Response from the operator: Dear Anh Go... Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and for providing such detailed feedback about the aspects you feel could have been better. We are sincerely sorry that certain elements of the experience did not meet your expectations. We would, however, like to clarify a few points so that both you and future travelers have a complete understanding of what this experience entails. First, this excursion is designed as a shared group tour, which means transportation is provided together with other travelers and requires picking up and dropping off participants at different locations along the route. We completely understand that private transportation can offer greater flexibility and significantly reduce pickup times; in fact, that is one of the main differences between the two options. For travelers looking for a fully personalized itinerary without stops for other passengers, we recommend considering a private experience. Regarding your comment about the heat during the visit to Tulum, we understand that high temperatures can be uncomfortable. However, warm weather is part of the natural conditions of this region and of the outdoor activities offered throughout the Riviera Maya. For this reason, we always recommend that our travelers come prepared for the tropical climate, especially during the warmer months: staying hydrated, using sunscreen, wearing light clothing, and taking the day’s weather conditions into consideration when choosing this type of excursion. We would also like to clarify your comment regarding lunch. Our experience is not advertised as a buffet, but rather as an included lunch, as clearly stated in the tour description and inclusions. We are sorry if a different expectation was created regarding this aspect of the experience. Regarding beverages, the information provided in the tour’s inclusions and exclusions specifies which items are included and which may involve an additional cost. The restaurant also has its own policies regarding bringing outside food and beverages into the premises. Nevertheless, we understand that any additional charge should always be communicated clearly and respectfully to the traveler, and we will take your comments regarding how this situation was handled into consideration. Finally, regarding the return travel time, this can vary considerably when using shared transportation due to traffic, road conditions, and the different drop-off locations for our passengers. The total travel time of a shared excursion cannot be directly compared with the travel time of a private transfer from a specific location back to Cancun, as these are two different types of services. We especially appreciate you pointing out the importance of communication, as this is an area where we can always continue to improve. We will review your comments regarding the service you received with our team to ensure that our travelers are provided with clear information and courteous assistance throughout their experience. We also appreciate your positive comments about your visit to Alquimia Hotel. We are glad to know that this was one of the highlights of your day. Finally, we encourage all future travelers to carefully review the tour description, inclusions, exclusions, and recommendations before booking. This helps ensure that everyone has a clear understanding of what is included, how shared transportation works, and what to expect from each activity. We are sorry that this particular experience was not the right fit for you. At the same time, we appreciate your feedback, as it gives us an opportunity to clarify our service and continue working to ensure that our travelers know exactly what to expect before, during, and after their experience. Kind regards.

via Viator