Tour Reviews

PJ and Larry Colando
Irvine, CA
Chacchoben Extreme
Norwegian

The most wonderful tour of the ruins

The most wonderful tour of ruins, punctuated by Ivan's personal knowledge and tender memories of his childhood home site, followed by lunch and relaxation by a pristine lake with water sport opportunities. It does not get better than this tour. Authentic. Terrific.

Michael Anderson
Burlington ON Canada
Mayan Family + Seven Color Lagoon
NCL Star

We could not have been more pleased.

We had been to Costa Maya a few times, so we were looking for something different on this visit.

The Native Choice "Blue Lagoon Adventure" sounded interesting so we booked it.

The staff at their meeting point were friendly and helpful. We were the only ones who booked this tour so we were put in a car for the 45 minute drive to the lagoon.

I must admit that during the 45 minute ride through flat and wet scrub land, I started to question what were we doing.

But on arrival at Bacalar Lagoon Resort we could not have been more pleased.

The resort is new, with beautiful, well planned landscaping. Flowers were everywhere and set the stage for our visit. We knew we were entering something special.

The change rooms were very clean, the Palapas well placed and clean. The water was warm and the sun hot! A perfect combination. The staff were very friendly. We enjoyed kayaking at our own pace on a beautiful lagoon.
Lunch was also up to the same high standards.

We were only at the resort for a few enjoyable hours; but it was so nice we will plan a trip to spend a few days there in the near future. Simply outstanding!

During our stay the Native Choice staff were present at all times to ensure we were pleased. They too could not have been more helpfull or friendly.

Thank you!

Paula Smith
Tampa, FL
Chacchoben Extreme
Carnival Magic

A great tour

I booked 4 cabins aboard the Magic but my adult son wanted to handle the tour. He had never been on a cruise and I was leary of letting book a tour which was not handled by the ship. On top of that the ship did not dock till noon and we would have to be aboard by 6pm. Course you know what I am thinking, we miss the ship and we are toast.
The tour was paid for online and when we showed up about 15 mins early at our assigned location to meet the tour, they were waiting. There were 8 of us and another couple and two kids joined the tour. We were in a van that easily held us all with a tour guide. The guide was wonderful and informative. Water was included in van. After a guided visit to the ruins we had a visit to Bacalar lagoon for kayaking. Lunch and drinks (including beer and more) he stopped for us to buy fresh pineapple from street vendors. We always were about 15min ahead of the cruise busses which made for a great tour. We did not see the Bacalar included in the cruise tours and while we were there no cruise busses.

Great tour and highly recommended. We would book Native choice again

Renee Coley
Pataskala, Ohio
Chacchoben Extreme
Jewel of the Seas

Beyond fantastic

From the moment I booked this tour back in July, I was confident that it would be great. Emails were promptly answered and the confirmation emails were much appreciated.

The tour office was easy to find and was within walking distance of the port (I think that this is a new procedure and place to begin the tour and it is flawless). We were able to make our final payment in USD and that was helpful.

David and Faby whisked us away within ten minutes of reaching the office. We were a party of 12 so we had a van to ourselves. The van was spotless and already cooled for us. Faby shared some information about Quintana Roo along the way. She also shared some personal information which we all found interesting and appreciated.

The tour of Chacchoben was beyond fantastic. Juel made it such a wonderful experience for us. It is obvious that he loves what he does and has a passion for his heritage, the site, and the desire to teach others about the Mayan culture. He is knowledgable and personable.

After Chacchoben we went to a Lagoon for a wonderful meal, MANY margaritas, kayaking and swimming. It is obvious that time, effort and money has been spent to make this lagoon a nice stop for tourists. The eating area is beautiful and the swimming area was clean and comfortable. Faby and the others were wonderful hosts always asking if we wanted more drinks or if we needed anything else.

We had plenty of time in both places and we were taken back to the original meeting place an hour before our all aboard time.

I've been on a Mayan ruin tour before but I did it through the cruise ship excursions. That tour can't even come close to comparing with this one. The level of service, professionalism, knowledge and treatment doesn't even come close to what we got through The Native Choice. Please don't hesitate to book any excursion with them. I certainly won't for my future cruise stops!

Diana
Grapevine, TX
Dzibanche Ruins Premier
Mariner of the Seas

This tour was fantastic!

This tour was fantastic! We have been to other Mayan ruin sites before but this was definitely something special.

First of all bring bug spray and something to eat. It's a long day and it was hot when we went in December.

They provide water but if you want something else then I would suggest getting it when they stop at the gas station on the way out. Try the brownies they have at the gas station which are made by a local family - oh so good!
We bought tortillas, ham, & cheese and made simple wraps and some pringles to top off our lunch :)

The ruins were amazing - Seeing things up close and climbing to the top. The group loved seeing the family of howler monkeys as well.
We also made a stop at another close by ruin which is still being worked on. That was the highlight of our trip. Seeing what people saw before the jungle was stripped away showing these pyramids was amazing. The views were spectacular and I could imagine the Mayans looking over their land.

There were two bus used for our tour. One large family in one bus, my family of four and a family of five in our bus. The buses were very nice and comfortable.
Loved Louisa(spelling?) and Francisco. Each brought their love of the area and the Mayans to us.

Thank you thank you for a great day!

Jacki Schwartz
Houston, TX
Chacchoben Extreme
Carnival Magic

What a great day we had.

What a great day we had. I didn't know how my twin 8 year olds would feel about the ruins so debated on if we should leave them on the ship that day at the Kids Club. So glad we took them. They got a little antsy during the tour but enjoyed climbing and running around the ruins. Our guide was informative and kept things moving and gave us time to wander a bit and take pictures.

Though I have to say my fave part was the lunch and lagoon part of it. The place they took us was beautiful, first we ate in a very large open air hut. Everything was clean and looked fairly new. They served us chips and the freshest most delicious pico de gallo I ever had. The meal was chicken fajitas with beans and rice, everything was delicious. They brought us more if we wanted it which we kept loading up on the chips and pico. Then it was an open bar, beer, daiquiris, margaritas, pina coladas.

After lunch we went to the lagoon which was the bluest water. We kayaked and the kids played on the water trampoline and slide for hours. Very relaxing and it was a small group so not a hundred tourists. Fantastic day!!

Deadra Watkins
Tahlequah, OK
Chacchoben Ruins
Carnival Conquest

Very happy with our tour and personal attention.

I just wanted to say that we were very happy with our tour and personal attention. There were 8 in our group and we wanted to be outside the crowd on the ship and booked on our own. It did take a bit to get to the building (but we were told you are moving this month to be closer) but the tour made everything better!

Thanks so much!!!

If we have the choice to use Native Choice we will!

D. Hudson
Salt Lake City, Utah
Dzibanche Ruins Premier
Carnival Conquest

What a great trip.

Our family booked with Native Choice to see the Dzibanche Mayan Ruins.

What a great trip. We go off the boat and walked to the area to catch a bus to the NC office. The bus was a little late, but we made it - paid the balance in US dollars and were off in a van for our 1:45 minute ride to the ruins.

Our guide was Francisco. He was a wealth of information about the Mayans - their lives, their culture and their calendars. Then when we arrived at the ruins we basically had the city of ruins to ourselves. My wife and teenage sons absolutely loved the experience. The ruins, the stories the Howler Monkey at the top of the trees. It is worth the long drive if you want to climb to the top of the ruins and be in a place that is peaceful and beautiful and tourist free. Plus, the views from the ruins are amazing.

We brought our own bug spray - and I didn't even notice bugs during the 90 minutes in the park.

There is a rest room at the entrance. Bring a big memory card for pictures. I was concerned about booking this trip in a foreign country, but will go with Native Choice the next time we are Mexico.

The Hudsons