Tour Reviews

Carolyn Simmons
Florida
Dzibanche Ruins Premier
Norwegian Jade

Perfect Day

This was one of the best Maya trips we have had and we have seen, perhaps 25 sites. Enrique was our knowledgeable guide, Miguel our excellent driver. Both men made us feel welcome In Mexico and did their best to make our trip memorable - which it was. Going back in January, 2018, with Native Choice to see Kohunlich. Can't say enough good about the experience. Definitely a 10!

Robin L.
Edmonton, AB, Canada
Chacchoben Extreme
Norweigan Jade

Great Tour

Just a short walk outside of the port, and locals are friendly and help point you in the right direction, is where you will find The Native Choice. The guides we had were great story tellers- Rose and Edder. Our lunch after the ruins was delicious, authentic Mexican food in a location that was a surprising jem in the middle of the jungle. The genuineness of wanting to share their culture really made the tour. It is hard to find this same experience with more 'touristy' establishments, though there was no sacrificing professionalism. When returning to Costa Maya this would be our first choice for tours. Well worth the price.

Jay Brown
Seminole, FL
Dzibanche Ruins Premier
Norwegian Jade

Dzibanche Experience

Our Guide, Enrique, and driver, Miguel, both excel in their respective arenas. Miguel was an exceptionally able driver on good roads and back tracks. Enrique provided personal knowledge and information about Dzibanche, plus all the areas from the port at Costa Maya to our destination.

The tour of the site was was great because there were only ten people or less at the site the entire time we were there (our tour group had 3 people) and the Mercedes van was clean, new, and comfortable. We stopped en route for fresh pineapple seasoned with chile (great taste by the way, the chile enhances the fruit's sweetness). We climbed all the temples and structures where it was allowed (great views). We learned that Dzibanche was the parent city of Calakmul and that the war with Tikal did not involve the latter place until Dzibanche had defeated Tikal.

We had had a great lunch a few years earlier in Bacalar after our tour of Kohunlich and stopped again at another restaurant, Cenote Azul, on our way back where the food also was excellent.

The 7 Color Laguna Bacalar is as beautiful the second time as the first. We now have only about 4 or 5 more sites to see on Route 186.

Great tour, saw what was open to be seen and there were lots of great buildings, vistas, and history in which to indulge. The Native Choice excursions group is a great one with which to deal. You will enjoy your trip especially if you get Enrique and Miguel.

Jay Brown

Patti & Larry
Florida
Chacchoben Ruins
NCL Getaway

Best excursion - Ivan and Al

Our hopes is that we can convey to all what an incredible, once in a life time excursion we experienced with Native Choice and Ivan Cohuo as our main guide. Accompanying us was “Al”, a lovely guide that was readily available to take pictures – Thanks Al! (Can’t remember her full name, but she also went by Al to make it easier for us all to remember). First of all, visiting the Mayan ruins was such a great adventure, but imagine having your personal tour guide whose father found and reoccupied the ruins of Chacchoben and was born at the ruins site and grew up having the temples of Chacchoben as his playground! Talk about first hand knowledge! He explained so much and answered all our questions no matter what the subject. He was information about his culture and about his country. Upon climbing one ruin he showed us a building that was his mothers outside kitchen and where his home was located. Can you imagine!! Being he continues his passion in archeology he was quick to locate pieces of ancient pottery pieces and explain what it was. There were several groups, but we were all divided into small groups and traveled to the ruins in a very modern and comfortable van. The girls at the counter when you first arrive are all very pleasant and helpful. Drivers hand out water and are very pleasant. I will add that I sent inquiry emails and was promptly replied to by Ivan before booking. So we had to walk about 4 blocks outside the port area, but it did not take very long and it was a pleasant walk. It’s a shame the cruise ships feel so threatened by local companies that they prevent them from coming close to the port for their customers – shame on you cruise companies!! People, this was our first cruise, first out of the country and first private excursion and please trust me, we were nervous and booked the other port excursions on the ship, but having read so many reviews on Native Choice we decided to go for it! Plus their excursions are much less than the ship, and I hardly believe you could find a better tour group!! Upon our way back they were allowed to drop us off at the port which was very nice. We can not highly recommend Native Choice and especially Ivan as our tour guide enough!!!!!!!! Thank You for a once in a life time adventure and hope we can make a return visit!!

Cathy L
Palm City, FL
Chacchoben Ruins
Oasis of the Seas

Great Experience!

Native Choice provided one of the best excursion experiences ever. From the clean van driven by Edgar, who provided water at the beginning and end of our trip along with individual cool washcloths, to our very knowledgeable guide, Kasi, whose love of her family's heritage helped us as we toured the ruins. This group does a great job showing the Mayan culture through their tour of Chacchoben ruins. Thank you Native Choice!

Marcy Dark
QUEENSBURY
Chacchoben Ruins
Anthem of Seas

Chacchoben Ruins

Our tour guide David was great. He talked with us all the way out and back as well as a wonderful tour of the ruins. We never felt rushed and David was very knowledgeable. He shared so much information and showed good spots for taking pictures. Thank you David from the 5 of us (Marcy, Jeff, Chris, Statia and Nataleigh) for a wonderful time. Would definitely go through Native Choice again. Everyone there was pleasant and helpful.

Sue Swan
Ames, IA, USA
Mayan Experience
Oasis of the Seas

A great company; great tour

This was such a delightful tour. Elena, our guide, was delightful and spoke English perfectly. The ruins were great and even more fun was making the tortillas and enjoying the wonderful meal that we had at a Mayan home after seeing the ruins.
My husband and I had been on one of the Native Choice tours in February and found Ivan (the owner) and Rose to be wonderful tour guides.
This time we were traveling with friends. We thought they had been to Costa Maya before and did not want to see the ruins again. We were also under the impression that our ship's arrival time would prevent us from being able to go on any of the tours. The night before we arrived in Costa Maya our group of 7 suddenly wanted to go our and see the ruins since none of them had seen them previously. We could have possibly still gotten on one of the very expensive ship's excursions, but I e-mailed Native Choice about 7:30 PM and quickly received a response back saying that they would be glad to accommodate us that very next day. They were so helpful and wonderful to work with.
My husband and I have now done both the Mayan Experience and the Extreme Adventure (February, 2016) excursions. Both were absolutely wonderful. The vehicles they use are comfortable, clean and fresh with excellent AC. Water is provided as you need it.
I'd highly recommend this company if you are in Costa Maya. Such *wonderful* folks to work with! And the prices are great!

Cliff Grimes
Missouri, USA
Kohunlich-Dzibanche
Royal Princess

Gotta Do this

One of the main reasons for choosing this cruise was to make my first visit to Mayan ruins. A little research got me to Native Choice, and while the cruise had the same tour I choose Native Choice hoping for a more real experience, I was a little concerned about getting back in time since it is a long excursion. I MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE. They Native Choice team was professional, but very personable. One couple got wrong directions at on the way to the office(watch out for this - use the supplied directions) but they waited and we made up the time without feeling rushed at all. The driver (Miguel) was good, and Kasi was great as she explained the history of the area as well as the current culture. She answered all our questions about the Mayan society and how they interacted with other groups. We had time to visit the ruins and watched as the HUGE busload from the cruise were not getting the same detail she provided. Well organized and informative Tour. Well Done Native Choice!!