Top Playa del Carmen Travel & Transportation Services - page 10

This was such an exciting trip! It was our first main tour of a few we did in our 9 day holiday at Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, and it certainly set the bar high. First we went out of a boat with our guides and a group of about 15 others to go snorkelling on the second biggest reef in the world! We were given a floatation jacket, snorkel and mask, and flippers, and then once out at sea (maybe a 10 minute boat ride) we jumped off the edge of the boat to explore the beautiful under sea world of the reef and some amazing sea creatures. We saw plenty of fish, a turtle, a few rays and even a barracuda! There was a fair bit of swimming required, although the guide who lead us did have a life ring on a rope, if needed. We swam for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, and to be fair, I was exhausted by the end, being a confident but less than fit swimmer. We were never that far from the boat, but certainly quite a way out to sea, so no sloping off to the beach for a rest. Bear this in mind if you are not the most confident swimmer - let them know before the swimming begins! I have snorkelled before but not for a couple of decades. My wildlife loving partner had never snorkelled before and he absolutely loved this experience, as I had hoped he would! We then got back on the boat via a ladder and returned to the harbour at Puerto Morelos, just had time for a quick coffee and slice of cake to recharge my energy levels (these were included in the price), ready for our next adventure at Rio Secreto underground river and nature reserve. For me, this was the most exciting part of the day. We donned wet suits and hard hats with a head lamp on, and water shoes (take your own if you have them) and our wonderful guide, Diago, took us first to meet a shaman for a blessing for our journey, and then we went down into he cave complex amongst the most incredible stalactites and stalacmites, wading through the waters of the underground cave. If you have swum in a cenote, which we did in a subsequent trip, this is different as you have to walk in a line along the river, in and out of small lakes and streams and tunnels underground, lit only by head torches - it was incredibly atmospheric! Diago made it really fun and also paid attention to our safety, and we had 2 other guides with us - a photographer and a second guide to make sure we were all ok. There were some tight spaces to navigate, rocks to climb over, and lots of steps up and down under the water, which Diago lit with his torch under the water so it was easier to find my footing. He is clearly really passionate about caving, and his joy was infectious - rarely have I had so much fun, it was like being a child all over again! At one point we all turned our torches off and were in absolute pitch blackness for a few seconds - truly breathtaking! Honestly, if you want to have an adventure, give this trip a try, but be aware that you need to be relatively able bodied to really enjoy the underground river as once you're in, you need to keep going through the cave system with your group. That said it was enormous fun and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Thank you Diago for making it such a special experience.

Jhony was a 6 (!!) star guide for our express tour. Picked us up on time at our hotel in a comfortable SUV—3 people party. Drive to Tulum interesting and informative—even stopped so we could get coffee. Early September so site not at all crowded. Pointed out many fun details on walkway in—huge termite nest in tree! Had a huge selection of photos/illustrations on iPad to help explain the site once inside. SO informative. One of our party who travels extensively said he was a primo guide. Return trip got us to hotel on schedule. All of us were very pleased with this service. Highest recommendation. Note: site rules forbid taking plastic water bottles into the site, and it gets hot there. Maybe a FULLY stainless steel bottle would be acceptable?

We had a great experience. Our drivers, Ramiro and Victor made us feel safe and comfortable and communicated with us well. Walking out of the Cancun airport, it was very easy to find our driver and when we were ready to leave our hotel at the end of our stay, our driver was waiting by the lobby right when we discussed. I would gladly use this travel service again.

It was nice to have the private transfer from the airport to Playa del Carmen. It was easy to find our driver at platform C. I unfortunately forgot the name of our driver, but he was very informative on our trip down and was very friendly and helpful.