This trip offers a perfect melting pot to discover the true wealth of the Mayan Riviera. Gone are all-inclusive resorts that leave out Mayan communities and give them a folksy character. We have created this tour to try and balance perfectly the pleasure of enjoying beautiful white sand beaches, swiming with beautiful sea turtles, taking a dip on cenotes (sinkholes), learning how organic chewing gum is made and listening to Mayan tales. Good to go? You just need to be ready to learn and enjoy yourself, we will do the rest!
Sustainability
This trip is designed so that you can visit must-see destination in the Yucatan Peninsula combined with off-the-beaten-track rural spots where to meet with the real Mayans and learn about their culture and ancestral history. Along the way, you are going to visit several community-based tourism projects that work towards cultural and natural heritage conservation. You will support these projects with your visit and you will get involved in real cultural interaction through the workshops and activities selected.
Our general goals are:
- Continue raising awareness, promoting and disseminating responsible tourism among citizens. We consider responsible tourism that respects any society, helps development and is based on the values of sustainability.
- Developing an activity that will provoke a positive impact on society, not only on the economy, but also on the culture and the environment.
- Developing our activity, based on ethics, responsibility and transparency.
- Assuming our responsibility regarding the possible negative impacts of our activity, and trying to reduce them.
- Contributing to the local economic development, to the improvement of the life quality of the local communities, to the enhancement and preservation of the Natural and Cultural Heritage and to the creation of more human and fair relationships among locals and visitors.
- Offering our clients top quality products and services, looking for innovation, creativity and professionalism, taking care of each detail in each visit or short trip that the travellers take with us.
What’s Included
Twelve nighs accommodation in hotels and ecolodge, activities described on the itinerary, Some food and beverage, local guides, rental car or private transfers (depends on the option you choose) and taxes.
What’s Not Included
Personal taxes, international flights, food and beverage not specified on the itinerary, activities not mentioned on the itinerary, gas and tips. Private transportation not included in this price.
Trip Itinerary
Day 1 – Welcome to Riviera Maya: Cancun airport – Puerto Morelos
Arrival at the international airport of Cancun, where your local hostess will be waiting for you to go together to the car rental agency to pick up your car.
You will be provided with a map and a mobile phone to use during this travel journey. Once you have your car, you can head towards Puerto Morelos, a charming little town, very close to the airport (approx 20 minutes).
Day2 – Puerto Morelos – Mayan Cooperative Ek Balam – Valladolid
After breakfast, you will head towards the Mayan community of Ek Balam (2h 15min).
Head to the entrance of the archaeological site to go to the cenote. At the main gate, you can take bicycles (or a Taxibike, depending on what you have booked) and ride a 1.5-mile Sacbe (Sacbe means “Camino Blanco” in the Mayan language) to reach the Xcanché cenote. Once in the cenote, you can cool off and take a dip. In the area, they have some options to taste the regional food offered by the members of the cooperative (not included in the price).
After this, you will head towards the town (5 minutes by car), where a guide will be waiting to take you on a community walk, in which you will visit three homes to see the daily life of the Mayan families. You will learn how to make tortillas by hand, as well as weaving hammocks. Finally, you will participate in an embroidery workshop.
When you have finished, you can take your car to the colonial city of Valladolid (30 min).
Check-in at your hotel and a free night to walk through this beautiful city.
Activities included: community tour in Ek Balam and entrance to the cenote by bicycle.
Activities not included: ticket entrance or guide to the archaeological site.
Day3- Valladolid – Chichen Itzá – Magic Town of Izamal
After breakfast, you will leave very early to visit the emblematic Mayan ceremonial center of Chichen Itza (guided visit and entrance included – we recommend arriving at 8 am). This pre-Hispanic city was the most outstanding capital of the Mayan area, at the end of the Classic period and the beginnings of the Postclassic period. Upon the arrival of the Spaniards, it was constituted as the center of worship and pilgrimage of the Yucatan peninsula.
At the end of this visit, you will continue the route to the Magical Town of Izamal.
Free afternoon to explore this beautiful yellow town.
Day4 – Izamal – Mérida – Uxmal
After breakfast, you will go to the white city of Mérida (1 hour) where you will meet your local guide for a tour of the city center.
Mérida developed a very strong cultural and political identity, due to its isolation from the rest of the country. The city is a symbol of the Mayan legacy, something that you can discover during this guided cultural tour, where you will visit the local market (Lucas de Gálvez), known for its endemic food products, very typical of traditional gastronomy. Here you will be able to taste exotic fruits and Mayan dishes with different types of corn tortilla. You will also be able to witness the particular religious life, discovering the prehispanic and Christian syncretism that characterizes the Mayan culture. In addition, you will discover icons such as the cathedral, the main square, the government hall and its incredible paintings, which tells the history of the city, as well as other interesting buildings.
When finished, you will head towards Uxmal (1 hour) to rest at the hotel.
Day5- Archaeological site of Uxmal – Muná – Uxmal
In the morning you will head to the beautiful archaeological site of Uxmal, one of the most important archaeological sites of the Mayan culture.
Here, you will have a guided tour of the area to arrive at the Mirador Muná Chac-Nah (15 min), a beautiful project that preserves local biodiversity and culture. You will be invited to participate in a jícara engraving workshop and visit their craft workshop and ecological museum.
When finished, you will head towards the ecological center of Mun-Ha to taste delicious regional food.
Time to explore the area and return to your hotel to rest.
Day6 – Uxmal – Mayan Community of Chunhuhub: Mayan house and mystical mid-jungle trail
After breakfast, you will drive to a Mayan cooperative located in the village of Chunhuhub (approximately 3.5 hours).
The hospitality of the members of this ecotourism center will make you feel at home. Upon arrival, you will visit their facilities to then participate in the experience of being in a traditional Mayan house, discovering how the ancient Mayans lived.
You will have time to have lunch and rest or explore the area in the afternoon.
Around 7:00 pm, you will set out to discover the Yu’um Lu’um trail. Before beginning the trail, a purification ritual is carried out to allow you enter the jungle, guided by torches and your local guide, you will reach a meeting point on the path, where your hosts will share stories and legends with you, while enjoying a typical drink of the region called Balché (only for adults, as it contains alcohol).
Return to the ecotourism center for dinner.
Day7 – Chunhuhub: chewing gun extraction – Bacalar
The season of chewing gum coincides with the rainy season, making it ideal for this activity from May to November.
Today you will get up very early to take an initial light breakfast (usually fruit) at 7 am, to then head into the jungle to see the interesting process of extracting the chewing gum resin from the tree. On the way, you will learn about medicinal plants and the interesting biodiversity of this mid jungle.
When you return from their walk, you will have a proper breakfast at the ecotourism center (eggs and other foods).
Time to relax for a bit to hit the road again! Today you are heading to the famous and incredible Bacalar lagoon.
Check-in at your hotel in Bacalar and a free afternoon.
Day8 – Bacalar Lagoon
The Bacalar Lagoon is famous for its seven colors and fresh water, always at warm temperatures. You will enjoy this wonder of the world today!
We suggest you to enjoy a kayak ride (on your own, without the tour) to relax in the calm waters – depending on the hotel, this service will be included or you can go to a club where you can use the kayaks for free if you buy a drink.
Day9 – Bacalar – Felipe Carrillo Puerto – Tulum
After check-out, today you will travel to Tulum (2.5 hours).
Along the way, we recommend that you stop in the small village of Felipe Carrillo Puerto (1h 20min) to taste the delicious Yucatecan food from a village restaurant. You will continue to Tulum to check-in at a charming hotel in the town center (15 minutes from the beach).
Free afternoon to relax.
Day10 – Tulum – Muyil: Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, archaeological site and floating water channels
Today, at early doors, you will go out to explore some of the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve.
You will arrive at the Sian Ka’an center at 8.15am to have a light breakfast and then take a transport with the rest of the group (this is a group excursion). You will explore an archaeological site hidden in the jungle and enjoy a path in the middle of nature. If you do not have vertigo, you will be able to go up to a viewpoint to observe the incredible views of the lagoons!
Next, you will take a boat to visit the beautiful lagoons and the mangrove forests, and then reward your senses by floating through crystalline channels of fresh water leading to the Muyil Lagoon. Its gentle current will drag you very slowly towards the endpoint.
After this activity, you will walk a path to return to the center, where a regional meal will be waiting for you.
Return to your hotel in Tulum.
Day11- Tulum – Archaeological site of Cobá – Nuevo Durango
After breakfast, we suggest visiting the archaeological site of Cobá, to explore its ancient white roads, known in the Mayan language as sacbé, to discover Nohoch Muul, the highest Mayan pyramid of the Yucatan Peninsula (entrance and guided tour not included ).
Next, you will get on your way to the community of Nuevo Durango. Nuevo Durango is a traditional Mayan village that has retained a strong cultural identity, in terms of language and customs. Their conservation project has created an ecotourism cooperative. Discover the beauty and tranquility of life in balance with the environment.
The town has a small insect museum with a very interesting history. You can not miss the beautiful sunrises and sunsets when thousands of swallows swirl fly around the old well that serves them as a refuge. Today you will discover a cave to take advantage of a moment of isolation and freshness in a particular environment, accompanied by a local guide of the cooperative.
Dinner at the community.
Day12- Nuevo Durango – Punta Laguna – Nuevo Durango
Today you will visit Punta Laguna (15 min by car), a beautiful natural environment, managed by a Mayan cooperative. You will enter the jungle in search of the spider and howler monkey. You will also have the opportunity to take a canoe ride and explore some of its huge 90,000 m2 lagoons.
If you are adventurous, you can also descend in rappel through its underground cenote to take a swim in its crystal clear waters.
Lunch in Nuevo Durango and a free afternoon to explore something else if you wish, or relax.
Day13- Nuevo Durango – Cancún Airport – Return home
Program And Price
13 days – 2 minimum 12 maximum
