We were in Merida for a week and the best two days of our trip were the two we spent with Polo. He…read moreis from Merida and knows everyone and everywhere. He took us to Cenotes which were not super touristy but also very safe. He knows the history and geography very well and can explain so much about how things are. He speaks both English and Spanish very well. He can design your day and take you to spots you would never discover otherwise.

I have used Yucatan Excursions for private tours throughout the Yucatan peninsula. Although the…read morecompany does transport people between hotels and Airports or other transportation centers, I think the company excels in custom tours. I have used Yucatan Excursions several times in the past three years. The day trips I have taken are a great value. Not only did we visit the locations on my "to do" list, but Polo had excellent suggestions on places to visit that are off the beaten path. I saw Mayan ruins that are not publicized but are way better than Those swamped with tourists. My suggestion is for you to have an idea of what you want to see, and ask Polo for suggestions. You won't be disappointed. Polo speaks fluent English, and his a wealth of historical and cultural information. You may have heard of Rick Steve's Europe Through the Back Door. I see Polo as being Yucatan Off the beaten path. One thing I didn't mention in my initial review is that Yucatan Excursions is a locally owned small business. It is not part of an international hotel chain or travel company. When you use this business you are supporting a local business and the local economy. In the days of multi-national corporations I think it is very important for travelers to support the communities they are visiting. You are also getting personalized service that is tailored to your specific wants and interests, and not to a pre-determined set of criteria intended to cater to the overall assumed desires of all tourists.

We have been on several cruises to Progreso and never got off the ship until this visit, and I'm so…read moreglad we did. We were traveling with multiple families with kids ages 2-14 and adults up to their 70s. Every single one of us had a great time. We had a private van (like a Sprinter) with plenty of seating and nice cool AC. The ride to the cenotes was over an hour, but our guide kept us entertained with history and stories about the area. The cenotes themselves were amazing; they were breathtakingly beautiful. They weren't crowded - we were literally the only people at one. The kids loved the rope swings, and one from our group braved the 30+ foot jump from the top. At the end, we were served an absolutely delicious meal by a sweet group of local ladies. Even the picky eaters found something to enjoy. We didn't want to cut it close with our ship's departure, and our guide was sensitive to this. We returned with an hour to spare as we requested. Bear in mind that the cenotes are in remote locations, so facilities were limited and restrooms were rustic. Once off the main road, it was very bumpy for the last 10 minutes or so. Also, lots of steep stairs led to the cenotes, so this isn't a great fit for anyone with mobility issues. That being said, it was totally worth it in our group's opinion. We will return the next time we end up in Progreso!

amazing tour with Elias. experiencing a private cenote swim was like a dream- followed by an…read moreincredible freshly cooked over a wood fire lunch. one of the best private tours we have had- and we have had many! Highly recommend Elias- and YucatannCrnote tours. Well worth the cost. And we visited Mayan ruins as well!

Visit Jan 2021 Museum is closed…read moreCenote is closed because of COVID. Too many people visit here would be no way to manage social distancing in the cenote Within Merida city limits Go early and have the place to yourself and beat the heat Can climb the other pyramids- not the one you seen on the postcards Like others have said. Read up on what you are looking at and you don't need a guide If you've been to the big two (uxmal and chichen itza) this site is much smaller but well worth the visit

Love this place. Very interesting. A lot of walking. Will take future visitors there in the future.read more

If you can understand basic Spanish, then this tour might be for you…read more Needless to say, it wasn't great for me who can only understand very minimal Spanish. Hubbers and I deliberately made time to experience this tour just so I can learn more about his family's hometown. And because I couldn't understand most of what was being said, didn't really learn much. Party of three, we met up with the host and was told the next bus run wasn't going to be for another half hour, so the three of us killed time by cooling off with sorbets at the dulceria nearby. We came back and we ended up waiting another 20 minutes. I'm guessing they were hoping for more passengers. Hubbers and his cousin decided to take the tour upstairs - under the sun. That was a no-no for me since it was way too hot for me to hangout there for an hour, so I stayed put downstairs. I searched for headphones to plug in their translation outlets: nothing. Them outlets didn't even look like they were working. But just for curiosity, I asked the driver if there were headphones. He told me, "NO." So, I had to put a quick thought in this: should I join Hubbers and cuzzo upstairs and maybe he can translate for me but suffer the blistering sun, or just stay downstairs and be more comfy? I went for the latter. So, yes, disappointing. I also need to mention the windows were open, so this is not an AC'd one-and-a-half-hour ride. I did enjoy seeing some structures, I understood a bit of description of some of them (but not enough to learn about them). We made one stop - just to pick up more passengers, and we were back in front of the cathedral in no time. Not recommending for non-Spanish speakers. I can't remember how much it was but wasn't worth it for me. One-and-done.

Their website is full of lies! This tour is only available in Spanish, unlike it says on the…read morewebsite. Even on the registration, it asks for English or Spanish, but it did not matter. Unless you speak Spanish, do not take this tour unless you just want to drive around the city for an hour and a quarter (which was also shorter than the website claimed). Also, it is not a hop on and hop off ride like it says on the bus and on the website. The bus never stopped. I am giving it to stars because it was nice to see the city and one of us spoke Spanish and they understood the history. We took the barrios tour.

I had been wanting to visit a salt flat for a while. We were staying in Merida and wanted to do…read moresome day trips, and Laguna Rosada is an easy drive from the city. We drove our rental car and used Google Maps, and had no problem finding it. It is only $1 USD to get in, and there is no tour, so we explored on our own and took lots of photos. Very interesting and scenic! There is also salt harvesting actively taking place at the flats.

This location is a few minutes from the Mayan site of Xcambo. So you gotta drive right past it…read moreanyway. We were there on Jan 3, 2021, not much in the way of pink water but there were a couple of Flamingos pretty far out in the water. No real place to park on the side of the road so be careful on traffic & people both ways. There is some shack right after the turn off from from 27 but from the looks of it they didn't have anything more that we could see from the side of the road. Again maybe its better during a different time of the year.

It's a must if you are ever in Mexico, we had gone years an years ago during our trip to Cancun and…read moredid a day trip to Chichen Itza and it was a great tour filled with so much history. It's one of the 7 wonders of the world so its a must! It's a 79-foot step-pyramid with 365 steps to match the solar calendar. There are a lot of temples to check out locally. There is also a scared cenote nearby that is a mayan archeological site - Columbian Mayans made a lot of sacrifices into the cenote to the rain of god Chaac. Overall a good day to learn about the history, it was super hot before and it started thunder storming, and was a breathtaking experience

Beautiful experience soaking up the history and architecture of the place…read more Get a guided tour it's worth the extra $ to get the real history of the place It was hot and humid but there are shaded areas to find some relief when needed Out tour was 1 hour guided and 1 hour free time to wander around get some pics and slides and barter with the locals selling their hand carved and other merchandise of which there is no shortage, they take pesos , USD and some take credit cards or Apple Pay ' Well worth the trip

This spot was pretty cool. You can tell the local comes here and really like it. I've been to a…read morecenote before and this place wasn't as strict as the others. They are strict about bringing your belongings. They have at least 3 cenote within walking distance of each other. I recommend wearing water shoes. You park them pay for admission then take a boat to the Cenote. They have these raccoon looking cat don't feed them they bite. Leave them alone and they will leave you alone. Bringing food isn't allowed. We did on a cruise ship tour. My husband and I had a good time.

I think the reviews of this place should strive to be a bit more honest. The water stank, like…read moresmelled very bad, only one cenote seemed really clean enough to swim in and even for a small mexican business the bathrooms were really bad. Like, no toilet seat on any toilet including the handicap stall, meaning disabled people can't use the bathroom. It was very cool to see raccoons and birds and crocodiles up close, but I wish that they did a better job of maintaining the preserve as there was plastic trash around the edges. I loved seeing the animals and I appreciate what they are trying to do but overall I could not recommend this place.

Ralf, from Lawsons Original Yucatan Excursions, and I have been emailing each other on and off for…read morea couple of years, looking for the right adventure and the right timing. We finally found it. We started off our day at the Punta Laguna Monkey Reserve where we wandered along numerous jungle trails trying to locate some of the elusive spider monkeys after participating in a traditional Mayan ceremony, asking for permission and protection to enter the jungle. Our guide, Julio, finally managed to locate a few mammas and babies high in the trees having a morning siesta. Even if we hadn't seen any the hike thru the jungle was lovely. We didn't rappel into the cenote - access in and out was via a rope ladder and neither of us have that kind of upper body strength! Next up, we headed to the lagoon and a lovely cooling breeze. The plan was to canoe - we ARE Canadian after all - but both my mother and I were exhausted. However, someone was looking out for us - when we arrived, a local Mayan family were at the docs and a couple were getting baptized. It was beautiful to witness their faith and be allowed to share in their experience. A huge orange butterfly also flew around the gentleman as he was baptized. After a rest and a Coke to bump up our sugar, we headed even deeper into the jungle for an afternoon visit and lunch with a different local family. This experience... it didn't hit me until after we left and I was back at our resort alone in my room but I came very close to crying. Not with sadness but with joy. Located beside a lagoon with no electricity, no plumbing, they seemed so perfectly happy. They were genuinely pleased to share their way of life, their history, their home and their food with these random strangers. We chatted about the family (immediate and extended), day to day life, shared laughs about our differences and I think, bonded over similarities regardless of culture. Then it was lunch time! We were invited to try making our own tortillas before sitting down to probably the most enjoyable meal I can remember (pollo pabil). Kept company by their beautiful children and their adorable dog, Tobacco, this family made us feel incredibly welcome and it was our honour to meet them. As a sweet treat to end our visit, we got to see their beehives where they harvest their own honey made by the local, stinger-less (and oh so tiny) Mayan bees. FYI, its delicious. A HUGE thank you to Ralf for putting together this incredible, life changing day for us. Finally getting to meet you was like getting together with an old friend.

Our family enjoyed a tour with Lawson's Original Yucatan Excursions on May 22…read more We were picked up at our Airbnb in Chuburna by Ralf and our driver, Jose. By the end of the day, they both felt like old friends! Early in the day, we went to a market to shop for food with Inez. She then instructed us on what to do to prepare an authentic Mexican lunch, giving each of us jobs. Once the prep was done, the chicken needed to cook (underground!), so we headed to our next stop - Uxmal. We had a very knowledgeable guide at Uxmal, and we enjoyed it very much. Next, we stopped at Choco-Story, where we fed monkeys, watched a Mayan cacao ceremony, and sampled drinking chocolate. After Choco-Story, we traveled back to our foodie experience with Inez. The food was delicious, and we were ready for our next adventure - a cenote. It was a beautiful day for the cool water and the perfect way to end the day. Ralf was the ideal guide. He made stops along the way, was engaging, and full of fun stories/information. If we wanted to talk, he did if we wanted quiet, he sensed that as well. There were little touches throughout, like providing cold drinks in the cooler and making sure we tried ice cream and smoothies after the heat at Uxmal. Ralf heard us talking about the birthday of our son-in-law on the ride to meet up with Inez. She and her helpers provided a cake complete with a candle and sang 'Happy Birthday' at our beautifully set lunch table. It was a magical, memorable day, and one our family will always treasure. Thank you, Ralf! 5 stars only because there isn't an option for more

I did not get what I paid for at all. I bought tickets to take a semi-private van (four families)…read morefrom my hotel in Mérida to my hotel in Cancun with a stop in Chichen Itza to see the ruins and have lunch. But they had no intention of taking us to Cancun. At Chichen Itza, the tour guide informed me they were going back to Mérida and we had find our own way to Cancun (they recommend a bus company). So they stranded me, my wife, and my special needs child half way to our destination. They lied to us and stranded us probably because they didn't have enough people booked to Cancun. They should have been honest with me so I could make proper arrangements but their greed outweighs their decency. I urge everyone reading this review to look elsewhere for a tour of the Yucatan. Estos descgraciodos quebradon mi contracto. Deberian llevar me de mi hotel en Mérida hasta mi hotel en Cancun. Estos larones me dejaron en Chichen Itza y me dijieron que nesecitaba consiguir un bus y taxi para llagar a Cancun.

This business has no ethics and won't think twice about screwing you. We booked a tour from Merida…read moreto Cancun with a stopover at Chichen Itza. Instead of taking us to Cancun as promised they dumped us at Chichen Itza and told us we had to take a public bus to Cancun. We were shocked, horrified and angry. Luckily, I paid with a credit card and I'm fighting the charges. Unscrupulous liars.

Yesterday we had a tour of Merida from our friendly and competent guide, Emilio…read more He took us through the old town square and told us about its history. We then walked through the cultural center of town where he told us about the legends and fables of the area. Finally, he ended the tour in one of the lively town squares where he gave us information about what's happening in Merida today. The tour was free- they just ask for a tip at the end. At no point was Emilio pushy about tips (he didn't even ask about it), he was genuinely grateful for the pesos we gave him at the end. We highly recommend this tour and hope that Emilio has great success in his endeavors.

We took the free walking tour through central Merida with Sofia as our guide. They meet daily in…read morefront of the cathedral at 9:30 am. She was super informative and fun and the pace was perfect for our group of people of all ages. She talked about the history of the cathedral and the people of the Yucatán from colonial times through the Mexican revolution to today in modern times. The tour is free but she accepts tips! I highly recommend this tour for anyone's first visit to Merida.