Great! - We had an amazing time on this excursion! The driver and guide were both very friendly. The only thing was they took us to another cenote rather than Grand Cenote mainly b/c of crowds. They provided snacks, water, and juice, which was nice to have. Very time efficient, too. We were back at our hotel before 2pm.

Perfect day of history and adventure! - Wonderful combo because I got to learn about Tulum and the kids had the excitement of feef snorkling and cenote swimmimg. The details: lasts from 7-2 so not a full day which is what we wanted. Picked up at our Hotel north of Playa Del Carmen, they then meet at a gas station/quickie mart to consolidate vans depending who is doing which tour (Coba, etc). We lucked out that we ended up with our own personal van the whole day. Tulum was beautiful, our guide Jorge was amazing, his deep understanding and respect for the Mayan culture comes through. They get you in early because Tulum (aka the parade of white vans) fills up fast. After Jorge gave the history he gave us about 30 min to roam and take pics. Part 2- short drive to the beach, they escort you onto a boat and only go out 100-200 yards to the reef which was brilliant. None of us are snorklers but this was so easy, saw rays, eels and sea turtles up very close! Then part 3 short drive to Grand Cenote. Tip- bring swimming googles or you have to rent masks. Tip 2 - The beach bathrooms are small, public and they charge you to use them but Grand Cenote had a large one that comes with your ticket. All in all perfect day, Yalku tours and Jorge the guide and Jose our driver made it very easy and enjoyable, highly recommend.

Ruins and an Open Air Cenote - Been to the ruins 6 times and worth going every time. Did a cent (not sure which one) but it was excellent! Highly recommend this tour

Don't miss this one! - We booked this tour to see Tulum and got sooo much more. Carmen and Javier made this trip. We were picked up at our hotel at 6:45 am, made one stop to pick up one more couple and were off for a quick stop at a store to pick up breakfast and and any other snacks you wanted (only water is provided) During the drive to Tulum, Carmen gave us LOTS of information about the ruins and the Mayan culture. When we arrived we took about a 10 minute walk to get to the ruins. (wear comfortable shoes!) Once inside, she explained what each building was and how it was used. Walked all the way to the top of the cliff--what a view! From there we had about a 30 minute drive to Playa Paraiso. Got in a boat that took us out to the reef. The water and current was tough and even though you have a life jacket on, it is a strenuous swim. Told Carmen seeing a sea turtle was on my bucket list--they delivered, saw fish, manta rays and two turtles. Grabbed a quick drink at the beach bar and then headed back to the van to drive to Gran Cenote. You walk down the stairs into another world. The water is so clear, and you can touch bottom in most places. You can snorkel here or just swim through the cave to the other side. We learned so much about Tulum and this part of the world from Carmen. She is a gem and we would go on a tour with her again in a heartbeat.

Fantastico! - If I could only write one tip, it would be : Ask for Carmen! We did the combo Tulum, Grand Cenote, and snorkeling tour. PIck up at our hotel was on time, in a super clean van. No one else had booked, so our family of 5 had their own private tour. Carmen was amazing- chatting with us throughout the tour, and on the ride there and back. She knew her history and pointed out many cool things about Tulum. Then we took a short ride to the beach, where we got into a boat and headed out to the reef to snorkel. We saw a sea turtle , sting ray, and tons of fish. Then we headed to the cenote, where we again snorkeled. This was a huge cenote with tunnels. Overall a great experience and literally half what the people at the resort wanted to charge us. Price included snorkels at the beach, but not the cenote, but they provided snacks and drinks which was much appreciated! Would do again, especially if Carmen were leading the tour

Exciting and educational - This excursion was just what my wife and I were looking for on our trip to Mexico. It was exciting to learn the history of ancient Mexico and the views were spectacular. Also the tour was just long enough. It didn't drag on, we felt it was well worth the money.

A Wonderful Day - We had such a fun day. Alex was brilliant and I loved all his information about the history at Coba and Tulum. The snorkelling guys were really good and the cenote was so amazing, the girls talked about it for the rest of the holiday. We all loved the whole day and if we could have done the day again with Yalku Tours and Alex we would have done. Definitely recommend them. If you go on holiday here you should see part of this lovely country and this trip is a brilliant start, I came home wishing I could have travelled around more.

Perfect outing for a short stay in Playa del Carmen - Our first trip to Mayan Riviera was a short one---only 4 days, so we wanted to fit as much as possible into our one day off resort...but we also didn't want to be away from the resort the entire day. This excursion was PERFECT. It gave us a little of everything we wanted to see/do--Ruins, Snorkelling the Reef and Cenote. Timing was also perfect---it was just enough time at each location that we were not bored and nor did we feel like we wanted to stay any longer. Our guide Leticia was outstanding. She brought so much interesting information to us and personalized the trip. She made excellent use of her tablet to provide us with examples at the ruins. On the bus, she handed around obsidian and showed us how to use it to view the sun, just as he Mayans had. She even showed us her birth certificate to demonstrate how the Mayans counted and used pictures for numbers. She kept our group together and moving. The entire excursion was outstanding. The only reason we gave it a 4 star was because there was the start time...we were up and ready to go at 6:45 but we ended up waiting at a 7/11 for our guide (not her fault) for a very long time, before the start of the tour. Seems the tour company has some logistical issues to work out, in this regard. Still, wait was worth an amazing day...and we were back at our resort by 3:30 to catch a late lunch and relax on the beach. Would highly recommend!

Tulum was an interesting sight and... - <p>Tulum was an interesting sight and fun for kids to see all the iguanas now ruling the land. <br/> The snorkeling on the reef portion was waaayyy too short for our liking- so much to see on top of friendly turtles. <br/> The cenotes were absolutely fabulous!</p>

The experiences offered in this tour... - <p>The experiences offered in this tour were outstanding. The Tulum Ruins were accessible and our tour guide had a lot of helpful background and interpretive information. The Grand Cenote was beautiful, and our driver not the guide more on that below explained the history and geology of the cenotes and the sacred nature of the cenotes for the Mayans. Finally, the snorkeling opportunity at Playa Paraiso, off the coast of Tulum, was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Our driver, Orlando, was absolutely wonderful: warm and friendly, easy and fun to talk with.</p> <p>The tour description was a little misleading. The tour provider offers several different combinations of tours in the area, and they shuffle guests between vans according to which options they've chosen. So, for example, for the Tulum Ruins tour we were with one driver and our guide, Sandra, but after the tour Sandra and the first driver dropped us off at the Grand Cenote with our other driver, Orlando. We didn't see the guide again, which was OK because Orlando was wonderful guide too. This shuffling was a little disconcerting while it was happening, although again, we were glad in the end because Orlando added so much to our experience.</p> <p>Also, the description says the tour is available in Spanish and English, but that might be the same tour. We had two Spanish-language guests in our group of about 8 people, so the guide said everything in Spanish first and then translated to English. I was able to follow along reasonably well, though I certainly didn't learn as much as I would have if the guide hadn't needed to translate everything, and it seemed as if the Spanish explanations were longer and more frequent than the English translations.</p> <p>Finally, and this is a small point, our guide Sandra explained that snorkeling equipment was not included at the Grand Cenote, though after returning home I noticed the description includes it.</p> <p>I would return to this tour provider and to the Viator network primarily because we enjoyed the part of the tour that Orlando managed for us, and we liked him so much he was a great ambassador for Viator and Yalku the local provider.</p>