Amazing Secret River (Rio Secreto) from Cozumel- Awesome review...

[Mud_Shark]

We considered this tour but chose one slightly different - but also extremely worthwhile.

 

We did the Cenotes and Turtle Swim excursion (with the ship - Caribbean Princess). (cruised in November 2016). If you like secret river excursion, I am guessing you will like this other one.

 

Same deal. We took the ferry over to Playa Del Carmen and then met our guides for the day. We were divided up into groups of 10 and shuttled around in very clean, new mini vans that could seat 12. We were told to leave all valuables in the Van at each stop as our driver would stay with the van. That worked out excellent. They offered bottled water, bananas and these very tasty "cookie bars" as snacks whenever we wanted a bite. It was great.

 

1st stop was about 25 min south of Playa Del Carmen at "The Place of the Turtles" (has Spanish name that means that). They provided snorkel gear and we snorkeled for about an hour or so, seeing multiple turtles, a few rays and a few other interesting fish.

 

2nd stop was our first Cenotes. Took about 20 mins to get there from the turtle beach. A Cenotes is a sinkhole. They are large caves connected by underground waterways. The water is a swimmable but cool temperature. The water is fresh water, crystal clear with a beautiful blue hue. These sinkholes are maybe open 75 yards or so where snorkelers can swim about and dive down but divers can actually swim between the sinkholes through miles and miles of connected underground waterways. We saw plenty of divers heading off down the passageways. Small colourful fish swim about and there are under water type stalagmites and such (from a time when obviously the cave was not underwater). Just beautiful.

 

We then walked a few minutes to another Cenotes that was even bigger and more beautiful. Could not get enough of these! Spent about 2 hours at the Cenotes altogether.

 

45 minute drive back to Playa Del Carmen and we went for lunch at an all you can eat authentic Taco bar in a restaurant right on the beach that had a sand floor and rustic chairs and tables, but fabulous food. I asked for authentic hot sauce and wow - I paid for it later - but it was good. Very good spread of food and they gave you two free drinks.

 

After that we had barely 20 minutes or so to shop and our guide showed us where to go to not have to haggle over prices and where stuff was not over inflated in prices. Not much time but most picked up a quick trinket or two.

 

Then back to the ferry and immediately we were on our way back. The entire ferry was reserved for Princess excursions, so even though we all got back to the ship close to an hour after all aboard time, the ship was waiting for us all. Probably several hundred of us. They scanned us all in and hoisted the gangway and we were underway within 15 mins of us getting on board.

 

I cannot recommend this tour enough. Best tour we have ever been on. Next time we will do the secret river tour and am sure we will love that one too, but the cenotes tour was fantastic. (our guide was PePe and he was terrific. The service was top notch.) They just got the contract with Princess and we were one of their first Princess tours - but they are great and very well organized. Their name was something like Playa Del Carmen adventures or something but they were actually located in Cancun.

 

Don

[cruisin lady ca]

Thank you for your review. It was quite helpful - and the photos are great.

[SmartDogDallas]

Thank you very much for this review. We are doing this excursion next week. Not excited about the shopping, but I'm totally stoked about the cave!

 

Sent from my Pixel using Forums mobile app

[Mellowjourney]

I did this shore excursion with Royal Caribbean on 02/10/2017. My significant other and myself were very happy with it.

 

The ferry ride from Cozumel to Playa del Carmen is about 45 minutes and pretty rough so beware if you experience sea sickness and take precautions. Fortunately, we didn't have this problem but we saw several people with barf bags which were being passed out on the ferry. They also have bottled water for sale on the ferry for $2 which is half the price of a bottle purchased on the cruise ship unless you have a drink package of course.

 

We were met at the pier in Playa del Carmen by two guides with a clearly marked sign. One guide, Yayo saw us through every part of the day until we returned to the ferry in the afternoon. He was fantastic! Super personable, great knowledge, and really looked out for us all.

 

We were loaded into a van in groups of 10. Those groups were your group for the entire day. There were 7 cruise ships in port on the day we were there so we had members from both Liberty of the Seas and Allure in our group. There is a 15 minute drive from the ferry to the Rio Secreto site.

 

Once at the site we were taken to lockers and given keys, stripped down to our swim suits and asked to shower off any chemicals on our skin in the outdoor showers. After that, we were taken to the equipment shack and given our wetsuits, life vests, and helmets. Wetsuits are optional and are available in sizes small through XXL. I brought my own for the trip, and one gal went without. The water is about 75 F (24 C) in the caves, so you will get cool after awhile. Life vests came in sizes small through XL. I am a bigger girl and wore and XL which was snug, but that is how they are supposed to fit. They zip up the front rather than having straps so either they are going to fit or not. There really isn't any way to adjust them.. Life vests are mandatory as were the helmets with the built in headlamps.

 

After outfitting ourselves we headed to the entrance of the caves and received our instructions and started the tour. As you are not allowed to touch any of the formations and the ground can be fairly uneven, we were happy to have taken a walking stick when offered with the equipment. Thank you to the cruise critic member who suggested it!

 

The tour in the caves requires mild climbing up and down through the formations, walking while bent over to get through some tight areas, and swimming. If you are not a swimmer, you should be okay because you basically sit upright in your life vest and gently paddle along. Your head need never get wet.

 

If you are claustrophobic, this may not be for you. There was one area where we were asked to turn off our headlamps and float in total darkness for a few minutes to really experience the cave. I thought it was quite peaceful, but it might make others nervous. A professional photographer will follow you through the cave taking individual, family group, and whole group pics. You may not bring your own camera along.

 

After the tour, you return your equipment and have an opportunity to view and order pictures if wanted. The cost is $25 for one picture or $99 for a thumb drive with all of your photos. We were very happy with the thumb drive.

 

After dressing, your guide will take you to the lunch area where you are served chicken, rice, beans, salad, and fresh fruits buffet style then you have time to relax in an outdoor lounge area before heading back to Playa del Carmen. Once at Playa del Carmen, you will have approximately 90 minutes to shop and/or walk along the beach (which is what we did). Your guide will give you a meeting spot and time. They will then escort you to the ferry and give you your ticket for the return trip. There is only one ferry back to Cozumel so they warn you not to miss it. We got back to Cozumel just in time to board the ship and get ready for formal/lobster night.

 

We were both really happy with this entire day and how professional the Rio Secreto group are. Well worth it!

[Mellowjourney]

Rio Secreto 02/10/2017

 

[taylortime05]

Hi everyone! I am going to try and post a full review here on the Rio Secreto excursion we took on Carnival from Cozumel. I will list the good, the bad and the ugly-lol.

 

I do have to forewarn, this excursion was quite a bit of money , but imo so well worth it as I do not believe we will ever do anything like this again and you know, you only live once... I will post a few pictures here for everyone to see:

 

 

This excursion is a bit strenuous, but you do not need to know how to swim.Our tour group consisted of and 11 year old all the way up to n elderly grandma in her late 60's.

 

So let me back up to the beginning... We met in the dining room on the Breeze to take this tour at 7:45 am. It is actually on the mainland in Playa del carmen, so we had to take a ferry from Cozumel there.The nickname for the ferry is called the "vomit comet". Yes, gross, I know... but it deserved it's name as the water was a bit rough and had quite a few people succomb to its' evil:o I would recommend if you get a bit nauseous, wear a seasickness patch, take a motion sickness pill and sit on the bottom deck of the boat in the middle. This ferry takes approximately 35-45 minutes to get to the mainland. We booked the full Rio Secreto ( Amazing Secret River) tour with NO SHOPPING, but I will get to that part at the end of this review... ( One tour is just Amazing Secret River and the other is Amazing Secret River and 5th Ave shopping)

 

Okay. So next we board a bus to take us to the underground cavern. I say it took maybe 20-25 minutes. the van was like an American style van that seats about 10 with nice air conditioning.Now the really bumpy part is when they turn off of the main roads into the property. There you will have a bumpy ride. When we got there, we were shown where to change ( ideally you should wear your swimsuit there under your clothing and bring undergarments with you to change into AFTER the tour). They issue you swim shoes if you did not bring any,a wetsuit, a helmet, a lifevest, and walking stick if you would like one. I HIGHLY recommend taking one. It was great at keeping one's balance while walking and swimming through the cavern.

 

 

And yes, the water in places looks as blue as the pictures and so clear you can see individual grains of sand at the bottom of the cave.It was just breathtaking!!!

 

You are not allowed to bring in a gopro or any cameras, do not wear any jewelry, you must wash off your deodorant, sunscreen and makeup if you are wearing any. They try to preserve the cave as much as possible. If you wear glasses to see ( not sunglasses) you can wear them through the tour.

 

So after getting ready and meeting your guide, off you go to get a blessing from a Mayan Priest. Then down some rickety stairs into the cave. You stay dry for a little whole and then off you go through the water.It is very cold at first, but with the wetsuit, your body adjusts quickly. This excursion you might get a little bit scraped and bruised, but expected with this type of activity. If you have any mobility issues, this is not for you. We went in July, not the rainy season, so we did not have any issues with high water levels. If you do go during rainy season, in some spots, you will only have a small area to keep your head afloat to get through to the next "room". There are areas where you have to crouch and crawl or/and float on your back to get through if you are very tall. Some spots you could not touch bottom, but remember you are wearing a lifevest and other friendly people and your guide will help you out if you can't swim or need help.

 

 

There is a photographer who goes around the cave with you on tour and takes pictures of you, your group/family. The pictures came out really good. They cost $89.00 USD no matter how many were in your party/group. We were a family of 5 and received 100 pictures on disk. About 50 were generic pictures of the caves as you see on here, the other 50 were of our family members, as a group, and individuals.

 

 

After the tour which took about 1 1/2 hours, we changed, saw where to order our photos, and went to eat. It was buffet style. It was more of a full lunch for those who would eat everything on the buffet. there was beans, rice,veggies, salad makings...But still keep in mind, you are in the middle of the "jungle" and bugs everywhere. ( to each his own). If you really enjoyed your tour, you tipped your guide. Most tipped between $10-$20 . Then we were off to get back in the van and g back to the ferry...or so we thought...

 

As we got off the van a new guide told us we had to stay there to shop for about 2 hours. It was HOT and NO SHADE anywhere. We asked to take the ferry we saw at the dock to go back to Cozumel. She told everyone no and noone would get a ticket back to the mainland until after they shopped for 2 hours. I was very upset because we did not buy the tour with the 5th avenue shopping , but it did not matter. the shopping area was a few blocks away and it consisted of many high priced shops down a very long avenue. There was a mall that consisted of high end shops that you would find in the states, but if you were looking for souvenir tees, you were looking at starting prices of $20/$25 USD for the cheap ones. To get out of the full sun, you have to go in the shops. They do hassle you in these. There are not any benches you can sit in to get out of the sun either. We found a Haagen Daas ice cream shop that we stopped in. It had air :) We 5 all ordered ice cream and a coffee. The cost? 631.00 pesos. yep, that's right, they will take US dollars, charge you pesos, give you back pesos and will not tell you the monetary conversion.We were told that it was $39.00 USD. Got home and saw it was really $33.32 USD. I do not blame them for this really. I really am more upset at the ferry people as it was they who made us stay and we were not prepared at all for this 2 hours shopping excursion.

 

So we were also told to be back at 4:30 pm sharp as the ferry would not wait. We get back, and yep, you guessed it, one of the other tours was 45 minutes late. So we waited on the ferry for them to show up. They fill the ferry with every tour to the mainland and will not go anywhere without it being full. So, needles to say, we got back to Cozumel with no shopping time there and we were the "pier runners". lol. An experience to say the least.

 

BUT even with the end, I would so HIGHLY recommend this excursion if you are fit to do this. The cave itself was so enjoyable and we even got to see a clear/blind catfish in the water inside the cave and baby bats on the ceiling.

 

I would also recommend wear your swimsuit there, buy/bring your own swimshoes and bring socks/walking shoes to change into after the excursion because the sand will make your feet raw when shopping if you wear your swimshoes afterwards,they provide towels for you so leave them on the boat, and bring clothes to change into after you are done with the caves.

 

Hope this can help anyone thinking about this excursion as when tried to do research on it, I could not find much information out there for it.

 

I would like to see your pictures but when I click on the link it keeps saying "Update your account to allow 3rd party hosting". Is it something I need to do or are the pictures no longer available? I would love to see the pictures.

[stressedmomof3]

Photobucket started charging outrageous prices for photo hosting. Let me see if I can resize some of my photos and upload them here as they seem to be too large to post at the moment.

[stressedmomof3]

trying to test posting a pic of Rio Secreto here- and yes it was this beautiful...

[stressedmomof3]

[stressedmomof3]

and some more pics. Hope this helps. These are from the photos I got on disk along with the shots of those wo were in my family too. As you can see this is just a sample of the gorgeous shots that will be on your disk too.

 

 

This last pic is of an albino fish swimming in the water