AVOID IF POSSIBLE - NOT IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH ALL INSTRUCTIONS AND INFORMATION WAS PROVIDED ONLY IN SPANISH. I tentatively booked about a week before the date of excursion, and sent a message via viator chat and then through WhatsApp. I wanted to know if the taxes of 765 pesos could be paid in USD, but got no response. So a friend who was leaving to Mexico later than I picked up pesos. This likely should have been my warning to cancel, but I tried to stay positive. I got a message from J Capital Travel informing me of the tips on what to bring on the excursion and saying a more precise pick up time would be sent to me 24 hours prior to excursion. This did occur and I was happy to also get a 35 minute notice of our bus arriving. I had booked for 5 adults and my cousin booked the same tour for 2 so we were a party of 7. We boarded a very nice bus with room for 60 people, and our booking stated a max of 50 would be on the tour, so we got comfortable. Paired off and one of us in a seat taking the items from the others. We were picked up right on time 7:15am, about 10 minutes later we were told to get off the bus and wait for our actual bus with the tour guides. Yes we were dropped off at a convenience store or tour department company location, not really sure as we were not allowed to go inside any area to wait, but picked up more water at the oxxo. We were waiting outside on a curb in the increasing temperature with Cancun humidity for about 45 minutes. So an adventure we expected to start at maybe 7:45 after all pick ups started even later. The bus that picked us up was not the original tour company we booked with, but we were put on their tour. The guides had the multiple parties waiting at the oxxo line up and then tried to charge us the extra fee before we boarded, which again since it seemed as many of us had booked with multiple companies we had different instructions on additional fees, so there was disagreements. Eventually multiple people in line informed the guides we had been waiting long enough in the heat and that we were all getting on the same bus and to let us board into the air condition and then they could come to each party to collect. It was then that they allowed us on and agreed to do that, when I boarded the guide told me about the 765 pesos per person and then said an additional 75 pesos pp for something else. As we were boarding they informed us that the bus was full, 60 passengers and there would be no open seats so one in our party would be seated with a stranger. When the guide (Pablo or Beto) came to me and attempted to collect, I provided the 765 for 5 people and refused to pay more showing them the message from the travel agencies showing exactly what extra fees I’d be expected to pay. Whichever was collecting attempted to intimidate me saying he’d call the boss to confirm, I didn’t even acknowledge this remark. The description states we would get sandwiches after visiting Tulum for a bus sack lunch, but we were given the lunch bags then, I suspected this was to ensure they didn’t have to be responsible for our lunch. We got to Tulum around 10ish and told to try ice cream to be able to use the toilet for free or we’d have to pay to use the toilet. Then we were split into groups of 14 to board 15 passenger vans that took us to the Ven A La Luz statue, again the day was already heating up, and we were on these vans for another 15 mins to then go stand in line to take photos. We took full advantage of this, but many of us were already sweating and just getting hotter and grumpier and most of us trying to stay positive as we were all on vacation! Then back to the vans to go to the ruins entrance where we were told we had 2 hours to walk through the market to the main gait to have bags checked and then continue walking to the ticket center to actually enter the ruins area. It should be noted that Tulum does not allow plastic disposable bottles into the area, so YOU SHOULD BRING YOUR REUSABLE WATER BOTTLE FULL! We had 3 between the 7 of us, and being in the ruins from 12:30ish to 2:40 we were quickly running out of water. The tour says this is free time and it absolutely is, but trying to explore and read on your own in the heat of the day in an area that was purposely cleared of trees and therefore has little shade was not conducive to any type of actual learning. The youngest in our group (19) was quickly “done” and wanted to return to the bus/meeting spot. It takes about 20ish minutes to walk to the entrance of Tulum, and another 5-10 mins to get through the bag check. So you don’t have 2 hours you end up having about an hour and a half to explore and attempt to not dehydrate or get heat exhaustion. I love the ruins of the Mayans and I was sad that the rest of my group who was there for the first time did not have a similar experience as I had on my first visit. I attempted to recall the things I’d been educated on, but again in the heat of the day it was mostly impossible. TULUM RUINS are absolutely BEAUTIFUL and getting photos with the ruins and the sea in the background are A MUST! We re-boarded the big bus were given a 16 oz bottle of water, I was glad I had already bought our group 2 32 oz bottles when we exited the ruins, and we had lukewarm bottled water we’d brought from the hotel in our bags. A highlight!!! I’m vegetarian and my vegetarian sandwich was really one of the best I’ve ever had. It had sprouts, tomato, mushrooms, and black olives. The rest of my group was not impressed or felt their sandwiches inedible, the sides of an apple, granola bar and juice box were what they were sustaining on. As we ate what we could and I pulled out protein bars to share with my group, we were told that after our Casa Tortuga Guided Tour we’d be able to eat at a buffet (not on our original itinerary and none of us expected that). At Casa Tortuga thankfully we were divided into two groups of 30, which was still really big to be able to fully understand the whole tour. Free time was incorporated into the hour 15 minute tour and was plenty, these cenotes are great and refreshing! When it was over we were told to find our guides to be told where the food was. Our guides were no where to be found, when asking park employees they looked at our bracelets and told us we had to pay extra to get food, it wasn’t until 10 mins before we had to be back to the bus that we found out where we could get food, so 3 of our group went to get food for all of us, and were able to grab about two tacos a piece for us. Once on the bus, our guides asked for a verbal survey on the food. Turns out the whole bus was upset about the lack of food, lack of options, lack of flavor, and then those of us who were misled that we had to pay more. We were told we were on the way to Playa del Carmen, and most people on the bus were just done, but onto the market we went. During this drive they also passed around the tortilla holder to ask for tips, and since our group was in the back we saw that almost no one put anything into the holder. Playa Del Carmen was nice to be able to actually relax and stroll and not be sweating a ton since it was now about 6 PM to 7PM. Upon drop off we were dropped off at the end of the driveway of the resort instead of at the lobby as every other excursion we went on took us back to the lobby door. I’m thankful we were not dropped off at a convenient store to catch a different bus as it happened in the morning, but still disappointed that after such a long day they couldn’t drive up to the door. DO CASA TORTUGA on a different tour if you can, and if you can find an early morning Tulum guided tour, I’d recommend going then and getting that talk, yes getting up early isn’t fun, but sweating through all your clothes and feeling dehydrated isn’t either. Our group was in agreement the Ven A Luz structure is cool, but it’s a tourist trap and if you are staying in Tulum, then go to it, but coming from Cancun, it delayed what we really wanted - Tulum ruins and Casa Tortuga Cenotes. Hope this helps the next travelers.