Tour Reviews

Sara Sick
Corning, NY
Chacchoben Ruins
Norwegian Pearl

An excellent tour at Chacchoben

Frine took us on an excellent tour at the Chacchoben Mayan ruins site. She was an amazing tour guide. She was very knowledgeable of the ruins themselves, the natural habitat surrounding them, and she even told us some mythological Mayan stories! I was extremely pleased to have such an excellent tour guide take us to see the ruins which was the highlight and purpose of my entire trip/cruise.

I would highly recommend Native Choice.

Rachael Prater
Kansas City, MO
Mayan Experience
RC Mariner of the Seas

Just book the tour already!

Just book the tour already! What an operation, what planning, what a tour! All of your fears should be allayed. This native group runs a tight ship. Our tour guide, Joel, was even more concerned about the time than I was. That was remarkable and allowed me to relax and look around, soak up the sun, the ruins, culture, and everything this area had to offer.

Bato (sp?) transported us in a timely manner and we arrived safely at each destination. The vans were air conditioned, spotless, and had seat belts. I was personally very impressed with their condition. They looked almost new.

The Mayan Experience Tour included being taught how to make tortillas Mayan-style and a FANTASTIC buffet of traditional cuisine. After hearing nightmares of passengers picking up norovirus ashore in Cozumel, I was concerned about eating, well, just about everything. I took the plunge and devoured everything that was offered. I used the silverware, plates, and drank the amazing juice from an actual glass. There were no consequences whatsoever. The food was handled with gloves, in a sanitary manner, and hand washing was strongly encouraged for everyone.

Like many other cruise travelers, I hesitated about booking with a private group not affiliated with the cruise line. However, there is no other way to go. We should be supporting these grass-roots operators and allow them to explain their culture and their history.

Kudos, Native Choice!

Damon Wisdom
Atlanta, Georgia
Mayan Experience
Carnival Dream

What a great experience!

What a great experience! I have to admit, I was bit nervouse about booking privately and not through the cruiseline, but this was a flawless excursion!!! They run a great operation there.

The ruins were fantastic, the archeologist guide was superb and very knowledgeable.
The lunch at the village was a fantastic, fantastic, experience. My entire family; me, my wife, daughter (12 years old), and my mother in law were completely blown away by this event. The food was unbelievable, and the people were so nice and sweet.

Thank you Native Choice for an unforgettable "Mayan Experience" !!!

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!