On our recent trip to Banyan Tree Mayakoba, we knew we wanted to get off property and explore some of the surrounding areas, since we had never been to Quintana Roo, Mexico before. This resort, and all other resorts in the Mayakoba area partner with a tour company called Mayakoba, for all of their airport transfers and tours, so you’ll get the same offerings and prices no matter where you stay in Mayakoba. The tour company also has a large office at the resort, so you can ask any additional questions or make additional bookings very easily when you arrive. For this tour, we booked in advance, and it was pretty seamless.

The tour company itself is very good – all emails and questions were answered quite promptly and all inclusions, etc. were quite clear. I would note that the private tours cost about 9-10x more than going with a group, and the group sizes are kind of all over the place, depending on where you want to go. They do offer about 20 different off-site experiences, and since we were only doing one day, I wanted to cram in as many places as possible. We opted for the private Tulum, Yal-Ku Lagoon and Cenote tour in a van (rather than an SUV) to save about $150.00. The tour itself was nearly $900 for about 6-7 hours, which I think is pretty steep no matter where you are in the world.

We did have a very large van to ourselves, and they do offer little packets of nuts and complimentary water, sodas, gatorades and beers on the tour. We had a driver and a tour guide who spoke relatively good English, although we have definitely had much more proficient English speakers on other tours in places like Belize and Costa Rica. On the approximately one-hour drive to the Tulum Mayan Ruins, our guide told us all sorts of things about Mayan culture, much of which we had heard before.

We arrived at Tulum, and the tickets to the site were included. I have to say the Tulum Mayan ruins were spectacular, and so different than other Mayan ruins that we had previously visited. There are really nice paved walkways throughout the site, and the buildings are well preserved, although roped off. You could see some of the original paintings in some of the buildings, which was unusual.

The best part, though, was the fact that these ruins were right on the ocean, which is also unusual for Mayan ruins, which are usually further inland. The backdrop of the sea and crashing waves was very dramatic behind the old, white ruins, and made for some very cool views. Our guide told us about some of the different buildings and pointed out some interesting things along the way. While our guide was around for the rest of the tour, he didn’t offer much more information beyond what we got in Tulum, and seemed mainly along for the ride the rest of the time.

After about an hour or so, we headed back to the van and we were taken to the Yal-ku lagoon. This is an area where the fresh water from the Cenotes meets the sea, so the fresh and salt water get mixed. The result is an absolutely stunning aquarium full of incredible fish all around! Honestly, snorkeling here is like cheating – it’s almost as though these massive colorful fish were just put here for our viewing. The biggest parrotfish I’ve ever seen, colorful purple and black angelfish, tangs, and all sorts of other marine life were just swimming around like they were there for our pleasure. This lagoon can get a bit crowded with people, and I do recommend getting fins and a snorkel mask and tube at the shop before diving in, but I thought this was a really cool way to get to see some marine life. I would note that they have really good changing rooms and bathroom/locker facilities here, so you can comfortably change out of your street clothes into your swimsuit.

Finally, we warmed up in the van on our way to a “private” Cenote. Cenotes are natural sink holes that are filled with water and dot the area. There are a ton of different ones to go to, and we went to one off the highway that was not marked, although there were quite a few other people here. At this place, you started at an above ground cenote where you can jump in or zipline into. I opted for the stairs. It was pretty to look at from the surface, but the water was chilly and not really all that interesting and there were quite a few people jumping in. We were provided a guide that was a specialist of the place to explain a bit more about the cenotes.

The second cenote was an underground cenote, and it was filled with stalagmites and stalactites which made it very dramatic. Our guide pointed out cool structures and recommended that we try to remain quiet and respectful, as these places were sacred to the ancient Maya. We tried to oblige, but there ended up being a large, loud group who followed us into the cenote, so the peace was gone. I have to wonder how respectful it is, though, to have a professional photographer in the cave set up to take photos. We thought they were cute, so we bought them, but there seemed to be a contradictory vibe here. This underground cenote was very cool overall though, and a highlight of the day.

When I booked the tour, they did tell me that lunch was included, and we did have lunch in this cenote area. Unfortunately, the lunch was very basic and not that good, and honestly quite disappointing considering the price of the tour. It was basically like a lunch that you would make at camp, with some grilled chicken and some salad and taco fixings. Pretty paltry overall and regrettable considering how hungry we were after a very full morning of touring (we left at 7am having skipped breakfast AND coffee!). I took no photos of the sad, serve-yourself buffet.

Finally, we had a very hard sell from our cenote guide for a tip, so we obliged her. We got back to the van and were taken back to the resort and we arrived around 2pm. It was a full day. Considering the massive up-charge for the private tour, I was hoping that there would be something extra – however everything was pretty basic, especially the lunch, and if you don’t mind hanging out with 10-12 other people, I would probably suggest skipping the private Mayakoba tours as it’s just not worth the 8-9x up-charge. Even my husband couldn’t drink enough Coronitas to make up for the difference in price!

Apart from the price, though, I did enjoy visiting all three of these places in one day. You really don’t need more than an hour at each, so if you’re conflicted about which tour to take, I would highly recommend the combo tour, however it would probably be fine with a small group and spending about $700 fewer dollars!