Native Tours: Extreme vs Experience

ACK! My husband and I cannot decide between Native Choice Tours "Extreme Tour" (Chacchoben + lagoon stop) or their "Mayan Experience Tour" (Chacchoben + Mayan cultural experience).

ANY thoughts would be so fabulous! (Has anyone done both??)

They both look like a blast, and we just can't seem to make up our minds! :)

We did the extreme tour in January. The lagoon was so beautiful. I wasn't really sure what we were getting because the pictures do not do it justice.

The ruins are interesting. Not as impressive as others, but the guides were super informative. Then you load up in a van and drive to the lagoon. You spend a long time on a bumpy road through pineapple farms and then you arrive at a resort. They have maybe 8 guest cabins there. It is so pristine and you have lunch overlooking the lagoon (fajitas were good, rice was nothing special). They start bringing drinks and will continue to bring them the entire time you are there. The pina coladas were very good and went down very easily!

We didn't kayak because it was windy and seemed like a lot of effort compared to sitting in the sun and drinking pina coladas. But sitting on a private beach with only about 10 other people from your tour group and swimming in that lagoon was wonderful.

I agree that the village and the lagoon sound so amazing and we can't decide which to select.

More families seem to comment on the visit to eat in the village, so I wonder if that might be the one we select .

Mary

I always figure one beach day is enough to get a tan. Fresh water does sound enticing though.

The chance to be with other people and cultures is what cruising is all about. We'll do the Experience again later this year.

We did the Mayan Experience recently and loved it enough to consider doing it once more if in the port again. The time at the ruins ( closest one to the port) is very sufficient to have a tour, some photo time on our own, a bit of shopping, and clean bathroom visit.

But the best part was the village visit, with 5 ladies cooking our food, helping us make a small tortilla and cooking it over a wood fire, serving us delicious food, with many ingredients grown in their own gardens ( which we toured with them), and a chance to buy some of their own embroidered goods. The tiny Mayan home was so interesting, the food so authentic and beautifully presented, and all clean and sanitary, including bathrooms. A great chance to speak or practice Spanish while learning first hand about local culture, both ancient and current.

A knowledgeable guide, new air conditioned van, and on- time return to port also pluses.