Progreso Exceed our Expectations

We stopped on Progreso for our Carnival cruise. We came to Progreso with the intention to go to the Hacienda Sotuta de Peon, but it is about an hour and a half inland and my family couldn't manage to get ready on time. It is difficult to coordinate a family of 6. Well, after blaming each other about our late start, we decided not to risk our return time and see if we could do something else. But after realizing it now, missing the boat is not that big of a deal since Cozumel is only a few hours away and we could catch the cruise the next day by spending the night in Cancun or Playa del Carmen and riding via ADO bus. Maybe an unplanned stop at one of the many Cancun hotels wouldn't be so bad and then get back to the boat.

Well after all drama and family blaming each other, we decided to book a tour in the free shuttle bus stop by the flea market. We wanted to go to the Hacienda Sotuta de Peon for the beautiful cenote and informed the tour guy about it. He recommended to take the Ruins, salt formations, and beach break for $15 per person including transportation. At this point I was arguing with my sister about missing the hacienda's cenote and the tour guide suggested to stop at a cenote on our way back from the regular tour as a complimentary stop; I started listening at that point and agreed to give it a shot. Let me tell you we had one of the most memorable excursions that we ever had. The salt lake was a highlight for my nephew, he got several grains to show his class and up to this day he talks about it with great joy! The ruins were just the right size, I've been to Tulum, Chichen Itza, and Altun Ha in Belize but I am not a fan of staring for long periods of time at buildings made of rock. You can only look at rock buildings for so long and I think we stayed at the small ruins for the right amount of time. So far a great trip.

We then went to the beach club at $20 per all inclusive or a la carte option. We stayed there for about 1 1/2 hours and order a la carte. We had chips and guacamole, a few alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks for 6, each of us had at least 2 drinks, a plate of fish tacos, french fries, 2 fried fish plates, and quesadillas and it came to be about $60 including tip (Great price for lunch and drinks for 6 people). It was a fabulous stop with a beautiful pool, music, and private beach (no vendors).

After beach club it was time for our cenote stop; we parked next to a river where we paid $2.00 per perspn to get into the cenotes park via a short boat ride. The cenote El Corchito was better than expected, I knew that it was not an inground cenote like the ones in Playa del Carmen or Sotuta de Peon, but it was an experience like no other, from the boat ride to the nice, well taken park where the cenotes are located everything was an ahw moment. We saw different wild animals, I think coatis, roaming free. It was also refreshing to swim under a thick canopy of trees. The park was full of trees and it was relaxing and fresh with a nice breeze. They have three cenotes one that is deep enough to dive in about 10 feet deep, another shallow enough for kids to stand and have a safe time in the water. There were not that many people maybe 4 families counting ours, so it was like our private piece of nature. We stayed there for about an hour which I know it was a little rush because everyone was enjoying the water, understand that this was just a little extra stop and had to go back to ship. We returned to the boat with more than enough time and we all had a great time.

We spend less than $30 per person in a tour that included Mayan Ruins, salt lakes, beach break with lunch and drinks, and a beautiful park with cenotes. At the end we gave our guide a tip which he definitely deserved since we had a great time and he was always very accommodating. The van was air conditioned and we always felt safe.

If you go to Progreso, make sure you book a tour and you'll have a fantastic time, and if your time is limited because someone in your party got up late book it when you get to the flea market after taking the shuttle into town and you'll have a great time. I believe it is the same company that Carnival uses, Autoprogreso, the ones that are in the flea market.

I have not visited the public beach, but I've heard mostly negative comments. So do yourself a favor and plan on taking a tour.

thank you . . .this sounds perfect for our family of four (me, hubby, 2 college kids). We were considering Uxmel (which is also provided by Auto progresso for $49, no food included) but this sounds even better and costs less.

Is this one of Auto Progresso's regular tours that is always offered? Do you think we easily can get the cenote elcorchito added regardless of who our driver is? (We would like to stay there for about 90 minutes).

Where is the flea market from the ship, and how long was your tour from start to finish? What time did you start? (what time did you get back to the ship -- we are cruising on the Carnival elation)

Ideally . . .if the tour drops you back to the ship, then we would like to shop a little at the flea market prior to doing the tour.

You dock in Progreso, but it is about 5 miles to the actual city. The company that takes you there is Autoprogreso. To get to their shuttles you go exit the market right by the pier or ask someone for the free shuttle.

As you drive to port you will be getting information about different excursions they have mainly what they have listed on their website. Do not commit to anything just yet.

You will then arrive to their unloading location where if you look around you will see the Double Decker Bus in the same parking lot. Walk around and go past the massage place (white curtains all over), but don't exit the market, there's where we found another tour representative with the different tours and the Flamingo/Xcambo was only $15.00 per person. The flamingos are not memorable, far away and not that many, so if you are a bird enthusiast you might get dissapointed. Tell him about wanting to go to El Corchito Cenote as well and you do not care much about the flamingos, more than likely he will agree or will try to accommodate your needs.

We were informed that our tour was going to start at 10:30 am so we had about an hour to walk around. At that point I didn't look around and noticed the double decker because I was still upset about missing Sotuta de Peon, but Double Decker would be a good alternative to look around and kill time without wasting money in souvenirs while wait, (no place to keep them).

We returned around 3:00 pm and had a 30 minute massage for $10, extremely good, I wish I can go back again just to have a full hour massage.

at 3:30 we boarded the last shuttle to the Triumph.

I think our actual time went like this: 30 min. driving to salt, flamingos, and ruins (about 1 hour spent there) at 12:00 we headed to the beach club and stay there until about 1:30 pm, then headed to the cenote and spend another hour there. Another 30 min. to drive back, massage and back on the ship.

Great day!!!!

My sister has the pictures of the ruins, I will post those in the future.

So, did you tell them you wanted to go to the beach club or did they just go there? When I go to buy tickets should I tell them I want to go to the salt formations & the ruins & would like to go to the beach club & cenote?

Just reread your first post.... ;)

This sounds perfect for our family! I must have missed it, but what ruins do you visit? The tour was through Autoprogresso?

There are a bunch of shops and bars right at the ship, which actually have pretty good prices. In town where the shuttle drops you off there is a flea market type area, and as you walk the drag near the water there are many more shops as well as on the back streets.I too think the double decker is a good idea if you have not been to Progreso, and if you grab a beer for the ride first, get one at a convenience store where they are el cheapo compared to the bars..We are not really wild about Progreso, but I guess what it lacks the most is pretty water. If you sit and eat along the water at Buddy,s ,for example, you will be approached by a ton of vendors and guitarists who want to play you a song...

We visited Xcambo ruins

and El Corchito Cenote