If you've done an Edventure Tour...

[blessedwith12]

Do you know of any other port besides Calica where you can snorkel in a cenote? We loved our Edventure Tour - Ricardo was the best! We are planning our 2nd cruise and would like to go to Calica again - but it looks like the Holiday is the only ship that stops there. We loved the Holiday but are thinking of trying a different ship. Where else would you suggest? We are considering ports of Grand Cayman, Half Moon Cay, Nassau, and Freeport.

[fla_momuv3]

blessedwith12,

I'm hijacking for a quick note to you that Edventure tours Rocks!!! We loved it. Thanks for all your info. We knew what to expect. Snorkelling was the best--although I had a mild panic attack at first with all the equipment on. The cenote was awesome, the lagoon, relaxing, the ruins must be seen, and ending the day at La Buena Vida was truly the cherry on the cake of our day. We had Eddie as our guide, and Mamo was our driver, and very sweet. Thanks for your input. I loved it and so did Kim from 3boysvus.

[blessedwith12]

blessedwith12,

I'm hijacking for a quick note to you that Edventure tours Rocks!!! We loved it. Thanks for all your info. We knew what to expect. Snorkelling was the best--although I had a mild panic attack at first with all the equipment on. The cenote was awesome, the lagoon, relaxing, the ruins must be seen, and ending the day at La Buena Vida was truly the cherry on the cake of our day. We had Eddie as our guide, and Mamo was our driver, and very sweet. Thanks for your input. I loved it and so did Kim from 3boysvus.

We had such a good day with Edventure Tours that I'm having trouble planning our next cruise. I want to go back to Calica but the Holiday looks like the only ship going there next March. We loved the Holiday but are almost afraid our next cruise won't be as good if we just repeat everything. We're looking into the Inspiration going to Grand Cayman and Cozumel. At Grand Cayman, we'll only be there 7-2 so I'm not sure what we can do there. I e-mailed Bonnie to see if she thought it would be possible to do their tour by taking the ferry from Cozumel. She said it would be too rushed. I'm really torn between going back to the cenotes and Akumal and doing something new. I'm glad you had a good time. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone! Our new saying is: It's not the best day of your vacation. (Their advertising motto.) My daughter says instead, "Her life will never be the same!"

[fla_momuv3]

My daughter says instead, "Her life will never be the same!"

 

Ditto! :) I'm already encouraging people to take the trip if they are even thinking about trying to go somewhere. It is truly life changing--especially not having to share with hordes of tourists. Good luck with your next adventure, wherever that may be!

[stray1on]

I am so glad to hear such good reviews on here!! I have booked an edventure tour for May. I am so excited about this!!!

I do have one question for those of you that have done this before...the biodegradeable sunscreen.

Do I buy it before we go, or just get it there? Do you know how much it costs there?

Thanks!

[blessedwith12]

I purchased mine ahead of time on Ebay - Mexitan. But Edventure does sell it in their shops and I think it was about the same price if not cheaper. I think it was somewhere around $ 12.00.

[stray1on]

Thank you so much for the information. I had been looking at it on e-bay and wondering if I should get it now or wait.

[jlooneyb]

Hi- You all have me excited about edventures...but how do I find them to book a trip??? Thanks

[blessedwith12]

Hi- You all have me excited about edventures...but how do I find them to book a trip??? Thanks

 

Their site is edventuretours dot com dot mx. (Tell Bonnie the mom of 12 sent you:) )

When you get on their home page, there are pictures from their tours and a guest book. Read some of their reviews. Also search on here - that's why I chose them. Tulum is gorgeous. Snorkeling in a cenote is an unbelievable experience. And the Lagoon was much prettier and more exciting than I expected. Lunch on the beach at Akumal was also wonderful and beautiful. They pack so much into one day - you'll never forget it.

[jlooneyb]

Thanks Mom of 12. Can I ask you something personal? Were you o vacation with your 12 children?? I have 5, that's alot these days too, but wow!! All of mine are now over 18 and once that happened which was just last year we have really begun to travel! We went on a Med cruise to Italy, France and Spain to celebrate our "emancipation"!! Now we are going to Playa del Carmen, (not on a cruise this time) for our anniversary. We use to MAYBE go away for the night or two, so this is pretty neat. Anyway, back to "edventures"

Thanks for the info. What do they charge?? I have a e-mail out to them and just going to wait to hear back. I worried I will be a little afraid, esp. those underground rivers, but it sounds so exciting at the same time. ANymore insight or tips would be great! THANK YOU!

[blessedwith12]

Thanks Mom of 12. Can I ask you something personal? Were you o vacation with your 12 children?? I have 5, that's alot these days too, but wow!! All of mine are now over 18 and once that happened which was just last year we have really begun to travel! We went on a Med cruise to Italy, France and Spain to celebrate our "emancipation"!! Now we are going to Playa del Carmen, (not on a cruise this time) for our anniversary. We use to MAYBE go away for the night or two, so this is pretty neat. Anyway, back to "edventures"

Thanks for the info. What do they charge?? I have a e-mail out to them and just going to wait to hear back. I worried I will be a little afraid, esp. those underground rivers, but it sounds so exciting at the same time. ANymore insight or tips would be great! THANK YOU!

No, I escaped with my sister and 2 oldest daughters (16 and 21).:) My husband spent the week with the rest of the kids at my sister's cabin in the mountains fishing so everyone had a great time. We've been dealing with a serious illness with our 6 year old and I really needed a break - a time to recharge for the next phase of our battle. It was a wonderful break - I had never done anything like this - and we are already planning another girl's trip next spring.

 

About Edventures - their base rate was $ 55/person. Transportation from the port to their shop was $ 60/group (I think). $ 10 extra/person for the turtle sanctuary. $ 6/person for Tulum. They provide snorkeling equipment, guide, entrance fees to cenote/lagoon/turtle sanctuary. You pay for lunch. They are very considerate people who also happen to be a lot of fun to be with. My sister had a health issue that required a little bit of scheduling around. Our fabulous guide Ricardo was very considerate of her needs and did his best to make us feel comfortable. It was the first time my sister and I had snorkeled and we had trouble getting the hang of it. He was so concerned about us getting to see the cenote that he pulled my sister around parts of it. We decided to stay in the first area you come to while he took my 2 daughters on back in the main part of the trip. The first part of the cenote is open to the sky. While it is a river - I didn't get the sense of moving water. I don't remember a current at all. There are steps there and you can stay in that first main area if you are uncomfortable. If you're not sure if you're comfortable snorkeling - ask for a life jacket. Even though I can swim - the snorkeling threw me at first. I used a life jacket in the ocean/turtle sanctuary and I was much more comfortable. At the lagoon, I finally kicked into gear and didn't need the jacket there.

 

We ate lunch at Akumal at a restaurant called La Buena Vida. The food was delicious with huge portions. The view was beautiful. Ricardo made sure we had an oceanfront table. We had fajitas and tacos. The four of us could probably have split 2 meals - although I did eat my whole meal! The meal plus tip was $ 60 for the 4 of us. Edventure will set you up with a cooler of the type of drinks you want.

Well, congratulations on your "emancipation". My youngest is 3 so I have a ways to go! Yes, 5 is large these days. We are a regualar freak show.:D

As a family, we usually go to the Outer Banks, Myrtle Beach, or last year we went to Topsail Island, NC. We homeschool our kids so we can go in September or October when the rates drop. We then rent a huge beach house where we can spread out.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask. I love talking about my day with Edventures.

[jlooneyb]

Thank you for the info Blessed with 12. It was neat reading your story. I hope your six year old gets better. Boy, I sure hope I didn't come off as happy they are gone, I miss them, but this is a new phase in our life that we are enjoying!! I am only 44 and already have a 3 1/2 yr old grandson which has been so awesome in our life.

I did get a response to my inquiry from Bonnie and it sounds exciting, my husband is a bit unsure but can't explain why. Maybe because we have had alot of ideas of what we want to do on this short 4 day trip, that we want to pick the right ones!! I would love to go horseback riding, and we had talked about Xel-Ha or Xcaret. But we cannot do all of that, cost and time. Plus I want lots of time to "laze" around!! Anymore convincing words?

 

[blessedwith12]

No, I didn't think you were happy they were gone. But I can understand the excitement of a new stage in life.

I guess one of the things I like best is the personal attention you will get from Edventure. Ricardo had the day planned so well. We ordered lunch before snorkeling at the turtle sanctuary and then our meals were ready when we were done. When Ricardo saw that the visibility wasn't very good in the ocean because of the waves that day, he adjusted our day so that we could go to the lagoon. He knew we would have better snorkeling there. He was able to get us in and out of the different sites quickly so we were able to do a lot in a short period of time. He was very aware of the time constraints he was working with, without making us feel rushed. I just got my slideshow from the trip online today. The link is posted beneath my signature. (Warning:It's about 125 pictures). The Edventure Tour starts with Tulum and then has pictures of a spider monkey, only 1 or 2 from the cenote (no good place to leave our cameras there), Akumal (turtle sanctuary and restaurant), and the lagoon.

Are you going on the Holiday?

[jlooneyb]

Actually we are not going on a cruise this time. We are just flying in to Cancun and driving down to Playa and that is where we are staying. WE were just on NCL and went to Cozumel in Feb and went to Nachi Cocom too. We loved it!!!!!

I found your thread because someone mentioned on trip advisor about this trip and said you could find out more info on cruise critic. So I jumped on here and looked through the ports of calls and threads and found yours. I have been thinking about this trip all day with edventures and told my husband this is what I want to do. Was it just four of you? There's just two of us, do they put you with other people? Thanks again...

[blessedwith12]

It was just the four of us. When they picked us up at port - they had a van that brought us back to their shop which is at Tulum. We did ride with another family back to the shop. At their shop, we paid the balance of our tour and then toured Tulum at our own speed on our own. When we were done at Tulum, we went back to their shop and met up with our guide Ricardo. From that point on, it was just the four of us with Ricardo. He took us back to the ship. Just recently, I saw someone write on one of the threads that Bonnie asked if they were open to being grouped with another group that had the same itinerary. I'm sure you could tell her your preferences. Have you looked at the guest book on their site? It has some great referrals also. If you didn't want to take a tour, seeing Tulum and eating lunch at Akumal would be easy to do on your own. We liked being with Ricardo for the cenote, turtle sanctuary and lagoon because he was able to get us quickly in and out. No standing in lines, paying fees, etc. I think he even got preferred parking sometimes. It was just a very comfortable day with no worries. Didn't you love Nachi? Akumal is not as deserted as Nachi but it is so beautiful. We loved our lunch there - and in fact Bonnie had to meet us (I forgot to sign the back of some checks) and had lunch with us. All of us want to go back to the cenote. Seeing the underwater cave formations was truly awesome. I hope you have a wonderful trip. Tell me where you end up going.

[jlooneyb]

Blessed w/ 12,

I got a response from Bonnie and she said "You must be talking about Patty! She is a nice lady!"

Thought I'd pass that along to you!

[blessedwith12]

Bonnie, Eddie and Ricardo were very nice, friendly, funny people. I'd love to go see them again! Did you decide to book a tour?

[jlooneyb]

Hi!!

Yes...I JUST got done sending them the money through paypal right now! I can't wait, yet I am a little nervous at the same time. :)

[blessedwith12]

I am excited for you! What is it about the tour that is making you nervous? Maybe I can calm your fears!:)

[jlooneyb]

Good Morning

That would be being in water with live animals!!!

and seeing them!!! (and that is also part of why it will be great too!)

[BeverlyS]

Blessedwith12, I just watched your slideshow!!!! Now I'm really excited!!!

 

I just sent my information to Edventure and am sending her our deposit now... Gosh, we can't wait to go!

 

Bev

[jlooneyb]

Bev- When are you going?? Looks like you'll be on Carnival on the 19th one day AFTER we have our time with edventures! Have a great time!

[Worstof]

Blessed,

After reading all the great reviews, our family of 5 is also going with Edventures...already put down the deposit and really looking forward to it. In fact, I was so impressed with the descriptions and favorable reviews, this is our 'big day' and happens to be our 15 year anniversary. So, I really hope we have fun that day...I'm sure we will.

 

My question has to do with lunch and tips. Are we supossed to buy lunch for our guide or does he just go and do his own thing while we eat? Also, did you tip your guide at the end of the day and how much? Not trying to be cheap and I would imagine I would tip him...just trying to budget it all out.

 

Thanks.

Bill

[blessedwith12]

Good Morning

That would be being in water with live animals!!!

and seeing them!!! (and that is also part of why it will be great too!)

I really don't consider myself a very adventurous person - I tend to worry about things. I really felt very comfortable all day on the tour. I ended up swimming right over a stingray - something that normally would concern me if I thought about it ahead of time - and it was great. There were no critters in the cenote except some tiny, guppy sized fish so no worries there. The fish in the lagoon were the happy, harmless looking type :) and once again I was very comfortable. In the ocean, there were other boats and people around, and the water was so clear that things like sharks and baracudas just seemed very unlikely in that close. (We did see where someone had caught a baracuda right after we got out of the ocean.) The whole day was just so amazing that we were on sensory overload. I am a somewhat vain person (I'm not very attractive unless I put some work into it;) ) and the whole day I never once thought about whether my hair was combed (didn't touch it all day), whether I had mascara all over my face, or even if I remembered to put on a cover up. My normal self was gone and I was completely caught up in the adventure of the day. Plus Ricardo was a fantastic guide. We felt so very safe with him. In the cenote, my sister was struggling with snorkeling and he was pulling her around to show her everything. She was concerned about where me and my daughters were. He assured her, "Your neices are over there, your sister is behind me, I have my eyes on everyone." We teased him that we were sure that if a shark attacked he would throw himself between us and the shark.

When you get back, you'll have to let us know how it went.

[blessedwith12]

Blessed,

After reading all the great reviews, our family of 5 is also going with Edventures...already put down the deposit and really looking forward to it. In fact, I was so impressed with the descriptions and favorable reviews, this is our 'big day' and happens to be our 15 year anniversary. So, I really hope we have fun that day...I'm sure we will.

 

My question has to do with lunch and tips. Are we supossed to buy lunch for our guide or does he just go and do his own thing while we eat? Also, did you tip your guide at the end of the day and how much? Not trying to be cheap and I would imagine I would tip him...just trying to budget it all out.

 

Thanks.

Bill

 

You will have a fantastic time. The day was really life changing for me and my two daughters. We will never forget it and the Edventure Tour people are great. Everything went so smoothly, it's hard to believe how much we did in one day!

For lunch, Bonnie happened to be at the restaurant when we were there so we had lunch with Bonnie and Ricardo, our guide. We had ordered our lunch before snorkeling at Akumal, so when we were done, our lunch was ready. Bonnie, Eddie and Ricardo are very easy people to be around and we enjoyed our lunch with Bonnie and Ricardo. We also wondered if we should offer to buy his lunch, but then we thought maybe the restaurant comped him his lunch for bringing groups through. I don't know. Anyway, we didn't offer to buy his lunch. We had a group of 4 and we tipped Ricardo $ 40.00 when he returned us to the ship. This was our first tour like this, so I don't know if we tipped high or low.

I hope you have a fantastic time. If you have any more questions - I just love talking about that tour!