Tour Reviews

Jim & Debbie
San Diego
Mayan Experience
Norwegian Dawn

Chachobben Ruins

We were extremely pleased with our tour, from the early morning arrival at The Native Choice office, the comfortable Mercedes van, the pleasant guide Maria, and then, the supremely knowledgeable guide at the site, Ivan; and, finally, the wonderful Mayan meal at Victoria's.

Ivan's knowledge and pleasant delivery is unsurpassed in our considerable excursion tour experience. This is a tour everyone should experience. We are so glad we booked with this company instead of with the tour offered on Norwegian's website.

Ross Kramer
USA
Chacchoben Extreme
NCL Dawn

Awesome Day

WOW- what an awesome day.
After a five minute walk to the Native Choice we boarded our mini bus for the tour. Only 8 of us in the bus so we were not crowded. Met our fantastic guide Diego, who was very easy to understand, and Driver Raul. Off to the ruins but first a stop for fresh pineapple from a road side stand. Yum Yum. Arrived at the Chacchoben Ruins and had an excellent tour. We were surprised that there were so many ruins. We expected only one or two, not over a hundred. Diego brought us cold water during the visit- really appreciated it! Then off to a resort for lunch and laying around.

We were very surprised how plush the resort was. The one lane road to the resort was a bit bumpy so we did not expect an outstanding resort overlooking the bay. Had a delicious lunch with drinks. Yum Yum Then off to the water. Laid around and swam. Diego and Raul made sure that our drinks were never empty. Our friend said she felt like Brooke Shields at Blue Lagoon.

The return to the ship was smooth with ample time to board. I would definitely recommend Native Choice and especially Diego and Raul !!!!

Vincenzo Mottola
Florida
Kohunlich Ruins Premier
Carnival Pride

Take this tour

We went on a fabulous Mayan ruins tour with guide Edder. 2 hours to the site, 2 hours at the site, and 2 hours back. We learned so much about the Mayans from this knowledgeable and well prepared guide. He loves to teach about the culture, and his enthusiasm shows. This was the best tour of our entire cruise.

Judy and Bernie
Pennsylvania
Chacchoben Ruins
Carnival Pride

Well worth the price

Had a beautiful drive through the countryside to the ruins where our tour guide shared his extensive knowledge of the culture of the Mayans and the ruins.

This was well worth the price. We had a small group which made it easier to hear our guide.

Lisa
Utah & Tennessee
Chacchoben Ruins
Carnival-Pride

Awesome!

There were 9 of us, 3 teenagers, 5 in our 40-50's and my 85 year old, spry mom on this excursion. My brother booked this and I was a little skeptical since there are so many scams out there. When we got off the ship and walked through a sketchy town, I was really feeling doubtful. Then, when we got to the place, the staff was really friendly and like others have said, gave us cold water bottles and then we drove out to the site. Rose was our tour guide on the bus. She had our driver stop and we got to sample some pineapple with chili powder- She was super! Edger was our driver and the guy who did the actual tour was great too. (It probably took an hour+ to get there) He answered many questions and was very educated about the area and his English was great. The location is beautiful and the ruins were fantastic. There are only a few areas where you can still climb, but that was fine.

We were hoping to see what other excursions they offered at the different ports, because like others have said, the ship offers the same thing but it cost a lot more.
There was also a shop to buy items and clean restrooms.

We all really enjoyed the ruins and took several pictures. It was a highlight of our trip.

Thom Howe
Melbourne, FL
Chacchoben Ruins
Carnival

Eric is the Man!

Did a holiday cruise with Carnival and decided to use non-Carnival excursions at 3 of our 4 ports. This Native Choice tour our of Costa Maya was highly rated on trip advisor as well as several good write-ups on cruisecritic.com.

We had Eric as our guide an he was absolutely great. His passion for the ruins is obvious (shared some stories of playing at the ruins as a child). Very friendly - his ability to entertain the group and share some or the history during the ~1 hour bus/van ride to the site made the trip seem shorter. Had plenty of cold water and stories to keep us all in a good mood. We had our family of 4 along with another family of 3 and a couple traveling together...the van was a bit of a tight fit, but the AC worked and the weather was pretty good during December. The roads are a bit bumpy - but kind of expected that. The trip back the cruise terminal was made all the more pleasant by stopping in a small village along the way and purchasing fresh pineapple through the van window from the locals - this was a big hit with our group!

The ruins themselves were great and Eric is an awesome guide. I'm not sure if you can request him (because they tour company dispatches several vans at once). We got to Native Choice quickly and were the first van to leave...maybe that is the key to getting Eric??

There is a bit of physical effort required to walk the ruins - but you can limit your need to walk up stairs if you are willing to wait while the rest of the group goes up to the higher level. I don't really recall how long the whole experience lasted - perhaps 3.5 hours (including the ~ hour van ride each way). There is a small gift shop (whose prices are negotiable and quite a bit cheaper than the cruise terminal) as well as a snack bar selling pre-packaged drinks and chips/candy.

These are the only Mayan ruins I have visited - so I don't have personal experience to compare it to others. But I would highly recommend using Native Choice and requesting Eric if possible - you will enjoy yourself for sure!

Richard and Diane
Simpsonville, SC
Chacchoben Ruins
Carnival Glory

Best deal in Costa Maya

We decided to try this because it was about $40 less than an almost exact same tour offered by the ship excursions. The groups from the ship were on buses of at least 30 people. This tour takes you on a smaller 12 passenger Mercedes air conditioned van and the tour guide is a trained local that is very knowledgeable and personable. Most of the guides have helped the archaeologist at the ruins and asked them many questions to learn more about the sight. It is about a four block walk to the office from the ship, but they provide an excellent map. We went in December. I imagine the walk would be very hot in summer. The air didn't quite work, which was no big deal because it was a beautiful breezy day, but the guide told his boss and he had him stop and buy everybody a beer or soda. I only heard words of praise from everybody in the van. Save yourself some money and have a much better time seeing the Mayan ruins. Book this one, you will not regret it. Ask for Joel and Raul.

Gerry and Sylvia
Montreal, Canada
Mayan Experience
Oceania Riviera

Unforgettable day

We started the day with a little walk to the Native Choice tour building. (can't be closer due to local politics) We were offered bathroom facilities, bottles of water and we checked in and were organized into small groups. We went with our guides (Jasmine and later Kasi) and driver (Abel) into small but clean and air conditioned vans and drove to the Mayan ruins. Our guide was personally tied to the area having grown up there. She was extremely knowledgeable and could answer any of our questions. She spoke excellent English and had a very nice rapport with the group. Very professional.

We tasted honey pineapple, learned some Mayan words and a lot of the social aspects of the Mayan people, who still exist.

The ruins were spectacular. We learned about some of the plants, saw some monkeys, birds and butterflies.
We then went for a Mayan lunch in a Mayan village. This is not a village for tourists, but a real neighborhood. We truly felt like we were being invited to our new friend's house. They were so hospitable and the hot meal was absolutely delicious. We were assured of the safety of the food and the water used to prepare the meals and the drinks. There was no problem at all.
We felt really cared for. We will always remember it.

We will echo what many others have said: that we have no problem strongly recommending Native Choice Excursions. It was the excursion that stood above all of our other excellent excursions.