High praise for the most awesome tour-Edventures!

[irisheileen]

My sister and I booked a 4 night cruise just to "get away". The excursion we took with Edventures made our trip very memorable. It ranks up there with my all time favorite excursion in Alaska where we took a helocopter to the Juneau Icefields and did dog-sledding!

 

For our tour we chose:

Snorkeling at the cenote through an underground river filled with Stalagmites and Stalagtites. (It's easy, don't be afraid). I felt like I was in another world, similar to the awesome feeling I got at Herbert Glacier dog-sledding.

 

Playing with Spider Monkeys (so cute and friendly)

 

Snorkeling at Akumal Bay with the Turtles, Sting Ray and thousands of fish! We couldn't believe the HUGE school of fish we were swimming with!

 

Snorkeling at a secluded Lagoon that was beautiful. You step into the lagoon with the tropical fish swimming all around your feet!

 

Just imagine having dinner served to you while sitting on the beach under a Palapa! It was Heaven!

 

This is what vacations are all about-getting away from our routines and experiencing the unusual.

 

At lunch the day before this port, we told our tablemates about our plans and they asked to join us. Bonnie was able to accomodate them. Our new friends Harry and Melanie were as thrilled as we were with the excursion. He kept saying that this was the best day of his life! Three quarters of the way through the day, he thought the excursion was over and was blown away to realize that we were still headed to a private lagoon! He couldn't get his head around the thought that all of this was only $50.

 

We had Bonnie pick us up and drop us off. That added $60 for the four of us total. $15 each for transportation is great! Bonnie even added a case of beer on ice for the day! $50 total for 5 dinners ON the beach is a bargain. I don't know when I last paid $10 for my dinner(included tip!)

 

Don't worry about being on a Private excursion- Edventures is a very reputable business with lots of recommendations. They know their stuff and will get you back to the ship on time!

 

Questions?

Eileen

[Coolmama_1]

Sounds great! Thanks for sharing.

[clackey]

Don't worry about being on a Private excursion- Edventures is a very reputable business with lots of recommendations. They know their stuff and will get you back to the ship on time!

 

Questions?

Eileen

Thanks for the info. Did they have a list of things to do or did you just tell them what you wanted? We are going in Dec. and I have already put their website in favorites, but haven't contacted them yet. The last time I had everything super planned, Katrina tore up everything. I sure don't want to jinx this trip, too.(Sorry folks, I didn't mean to.)

[Tigergenesis]

My sister and I booked a 4 night cruise just to "get away". The excursion we took with Edventures made our trip very memorable. It ranks up there with my all time favorite excursion in Alaska where we took a helocopter to the Juneau Icefields and did dog-sledding!

 

For our tour we chose:

Snorkeling at the cenote through an underground river filled with Stalagmites and Stalagtites. (It's easy, don't be afraid). I felt like I was in another world, similar to the awesome feeling I got at Herbert Glacier dog-sledding.

 

Playing with Spider Monkeys (so cute and friendly)

 

Snorkeling at Akumal Bay with the Turtles, Sting Ray and thousands of fish! We couldn't believe the HUGE school of fish we were swimming with!

 

Snorkeling at a secluded Lagoon that was beautiful. You step into the lagoon with the tropical fish swimming all around your feet!

 

Just imagine having dinner served to you while sitting on the beach under a Palapa! It was Heaven!

 

This is what vacations are all about-getting away from our routines and experiencing the unusual.

 

At lunch the day before this port, we told our tablemates about our plans and they asked to join us. Bonnie was able to accomodate them. Our new friends Harry and Melanie were as thrilled as we were with the excursion. He kept saying that this was the best day of his life! Three quarters of the way through the day, he thought the excursion was over and was blown away to realize that we were still headed to a private lagoon! He couldn't get his head around the thought that all of this was only $50.

 

We had Bonnie pick us up and drop us off. That added $60 for the four of us total. $15 each for transportation is great! Bonnie even added a case of beer on ice for the day! $50 total for 5 dinners ON the beach is a bargain. I don't know when I last paid $10 for my dinner(included tip!)

 

Don't worry about being on a Private excursion- Edventures is a very reputable business with lots of recommendations. They know their stuff and will get you back to the ship on time!

 

Questions?

Eileen

 

How long were you in port? I just received an email from eadventures listing all they have to offer. They mentioned everything you listed, but I was wondering if we could fit in Tulum and the zipline that they offer. I want to do it all, but don't know if we'd have time. We are planning to be on a Carnival cruise in April that will be in Calica from 7am-5pm.

 

Where did Bonnie pick you up - at the port?

[irisheileen]

We followed Bonnies instructions to take a taxi right from the dock(can't miss them!) for $10. They tried to charge $15 until I said that I was told it would be $10.

Tell them that you want to go to LAPIS which is a shopping center/building. This may change in the future as Bonnie had trouble with the management of the center while we were there.

[irisheileen]

We were scheduled for 1PM-9PM.

We got off the ship a little bit after 1PM and had to be back by 8:30.

I hare zipline is a waste of time and $.

Tulum takes about 1-1 1/2 hrs, per Bonnie. Ask her that day, depending upon when you actually get off the ship.

I don't know if there is a list. I used peoples suggestions from this board to make up my mind!

 

Go for it!

[MarkFromFL]

My Wife and I just got off the Inspiration today, sailing last Saturday from Tampa. I wanted to find an alternative to the "cattle call" shore excursion while we were in Calica, going to Tulum and doing some water based excursions. Boy did we luck out!!

 

After checking here and finding the positive reviews about Edventures, I called them last Friday, the day before we sailed. I received a quote from them a few hours later, and sent a minimal deposit to them via PayPal to confirm our spot for Tuesday.

 

This was the BEST DAY OF OUR CRUISE!

 

We were scheduled to be in port in Calica from 9:00am to 6:00pm ship time. We docked late and did not get off till approximately 10:00. The ship graciously extended our "Liberty" till 7:00pm. Hector from Edventures was right there with the Edventures sign with our name on it. He quickly directed us to an air conditioned van to wait a few minutes. Another group of 8 joined us for the van ride to The Edventures shop at Tulum. We were all quite comfortable in the van, even with 10 tourists, Hector and the driver!

 

We drove to Tulum, with Hector providing some background and history about the area along the way. We quickly arrived at Tulum, with our every need being met and expectations exceeded for the rest of the day.

 

Edventures quickly coordinated our group of ten with our Tulum tour with a private guide. The train ride (a nice tractor pulling four open air carriages) from the commercial Tulum area and our admission to the ruins is included of course. Our guide took us through Tulum. He chose very nice shady spots to tell us all about Tulum. After about an hour with him, we were allowed to freewheel it and then proceed back to the Edventures shop at our leisure.

 

After riding the train back, we were fitted with snorkel gear (we brought our own masks and snorkels, and they provided fins), offered something to drink and were soon off in EDDY'S own car! Ricardo was our guide. I can't say enough positive things about him. Oh and did I mention that it was JUST MY WIFE AND I!!! You can't get much more private than that!!

 

So off we went. The first thing we did was the Zipline! Adventure is a good way to put it. Live a littel and do it. You'll have a great story I promise!

 

By this time it was HOT! Ricardo wisked us off to Cenote Dos Ojos! Where he told us the water would be "refreshing." Yeah! All 72 degrees F of it! After the initial plunge it was great. We were all over the cenote, and Ricardo was a terrific guide through Dos Ojos IN MANY WAYS!! There are divers there that will take pictures of you during your cenote tour, and you can purchase them with a chock full of goodies CD at the end of your cenote adventure. Imagine laptops powered by car batteries in a thatch roof hut previewing images and burning your CD. PRICELESS!!

 

Then it was off to Akumal to the Lagoon. Turtles, Schools of Fish, Sting Rays, Barracuda, beautiful coral and wonderful warm, clear water.

 

Off to La Buena Vida for lunch. Picture yourself in the Carona ad with table service right on a beautiful lagoon. WOW!!!

 

The day was getting late but there was STILL another lagoon to visit! Ricardo said it will be like swimming in an aquarium and he was right (of course). After a while there we got out, showered there and everyone piled into the van for the trip back to Calica. They timed it all wonderfully and we arrived with 15 minutes to spare.

 

Did I mention that we had water, soda and beer available all day? Nice....

 

Edventures gets my vote for the #1 Tulum/Snorkling/... probably everything you want private excursion choice in Calica.

 

So to recap:

 

1. Transportation directly from the Calica dock to Tulum

2. Small group with expert Tulum guide and all costs paid for Tulum.

3. Personal guide for my wife and I for the rest of the day. JUST US!

4. Zip Line Run (Paid 10 per extra for that. Do it!!)

5. Cenote Dos Ojos snorkling. Great!

6. Akumal Lagoon Snorkling. Great TOO!

7. Totally reasonable lunch at a FANTASTIC LOCATION!

8. Aquarium like snorkling with VERY FEW OTHERS!!

9. All day water, soda, beer.... Yeah.....

10. Perfectly timed return to the ship.

 

All this for only $80 pp for my wife and I.

 

THANKS EDVENTURES!! Thanks Ricardo! Thanks Eddie!!

 

Mark and Daune Ellis

[Tigergenesis]

Thanks for the review! About how long were you at each stop?

[MarkFromFL]

We were at Tulum from 11:00 to around 12:30. The zip line was about 10-15 minutes away and took about 20-30 minutes. Then we went to the Cenote Dos Ojos. We were there for about 1-1/2 hours. Then on to Akumal which was about 15-10 minutes away. We were there for about an hour. We swam out from the beach til we reached the reef. Then swam parallel to the beach along the reef to a certain point then swam back in. After Akumal we went to lunch at La Buena Vida for about an hour. Then the final lagoon for about another hour. Then about a 25-30 minute ride back to the ship at 6:50pm, arriving with 10 minutes to spare. Carnival extended our shore time an hour due to arriving in port late, and Edventures made it very easy to adjust our schedule to stay later.

 

I did not have my eyes on my watch all day, so some of these times may be off. Ricardo kept us on a perfect schedule. We did not feel rushed at all during the day, nor did we feel that we did not get enough time at any location. All inI all a GREAT DAY!! If you see Eddie, Ricardo or Hector tell them Mark and Daune from 7/10/07 said hello!

 

I'm going to upload pictures from our day for viewing. I'll provide the link later. Does anyone have a preferred site for photo sharing?

[pch]

thumbs up to bonnie and eddie...they are the best

[Fran Record]

Great reviews! Thanks! We are going with Edventure on our 8-4-07 cruise! Very excited. I have a question that I could bother Bonnie with but perhaps you can answer. Did they supply a floatation device (belt or blow-up) with their snorkel equipment? Friend talking about taking her belt but if they supply, she won't need to do that.

 

Fran

[Majik]

Sounds like a great private contractor. We did the same thing with a great guide in Jamaica. Does Edventures have a web site, (am sure they do after reading previous posts), so could you share the web site please? (if you can)

Thanks in advance. Wife and i are going in 39 days, so need to get on the ball.

[Fran Record]

web site: http://www.edventuretours.com.mx

 

e-mail: edventure68@hotmail.com

 

Sometimes it takes Bonnie a few days to answer but she does answer.

 

Enjoy your cruise and we will be back about 8-10-07 and if you would like, I'll post our experience for you. Fran

[mavteaches3]

My family and I just got off the Fascination we used Edadventures tour company and did we have the time of our lives. They picked us up at the pier around 12:30 pm took us to Tulum their shop to get our snorkel equipment. We had told Bonnie via email that we didn't want to tour the ruins since we had been their twice. That was no problem they set us up with Hector, Eddie's nephew and sent us on our way for a full day of snorkling and fun. Our boys did the zipline first then off to the Cenotes they are beautiful. Next we went to Akumal to swim with the sea turtles the beach is beautiful. We then had a wonderful lunch at Buena Vida's on the beach. Again we moved onto the Lagoon to swim in a natural aquarium. My son loved this stop and wished he had more time here.. What I loved about this company the most, was how accommodating and caring they were about us having the time of our lives. Hector and our driver Tao were awesome and made this a memorable day. :D

[DebbyCruiser]

My family and I just got off the Fascination we used Edadventures tour company and did we have the time of our lives. They picked us up at the pier around 12:30 pm took us to Tulum their shop to get our snorkel equipment. We had told Bonnie via email that we didn't want to tour the ruins since we had been their twice. That was no problem they set us up with Hector, Eddie's nephew and sent us on our way for a full day of snorkling and fun. Our boys did the zipline first then off to the Cenotes they are beautiful. Next we went to Akumal to swim with the sea turtles the beach is beautiful. We then had a wonderful lunch at Buena Vida's on the beach. Again we moved onto the Lagoon to swim in a natural aquarium. My son loved this stop and wished he had more time here.. What I loved about this company the most, was how accommodating and caring they were about us having the time of our lives. Hector and our driver Tao were awesome and made this a memorable day. :D

 

 

Can I ask you 2 questions about this:

1. How old are your kids? We're taking our kids for the first time on our cruise in October and are considering Edventures, but I haven't seen any other posts about kids with them....

and

2. If you don't mind, how much did you pay for this edventure? It looks just like what we're looking for!

Thanks in advance!!!

[irisheileen]

Can I ask you 2 questions about this:

1. How old are your kids? We're taking our kids for the first time on our cruise in October and are considering Edventures, but I haven't seen any other posts about kids with them....

and

2. If you don't mind, how much did you pay for this edventure? It looks just like what we're looking for!

Thanks in advance!!!

 

I'm the original poster and we paid $50 for our edventure. Look above to we what we did. We used them for transportation which was $60 per car load. dinner ON the beach (incl tip!) was only $10!

When I came home I told everyone all that we did and then asked what they thought it would cost- everyone was very surprosed at the affordablility of the day.

 

How old are your kids? If they are old enough to swim competently on their own, they could go. Email Bonnie and ask about her experience with other kids in the past.

Eileen

[knight2096]

Hello everyone, I emailed Bonnie at edventure68@hotmail.com on Monday. I know I have read that it may take a few days but Its already been 6 days and I still have not heard anything. I will try to email them again from thier website and hopefully I get a response. Is it normal for them to take this long? I'm wondering if anyone else has had to wait this long? I dont want to miss out on a great day lol :) . Thanks

[Tigergenesis]

Hello everyone, I emailed Bonnie at edventure68@hotmail.com on Monday. I know I have read that it may take a few days but Its already been 6 days and I still have not heard anything. I will try to email them again from thier website and hopefully I get a response. Is it normal for them to take this long? I'm wondering if anyone else has had to wait this long? I dont want to miss out on a great day lol :) . Thanks

 

The first time I emailed them I never got a response. About a month and a half later I emailed her again and I got a response the same day. I wasn't in a huge rush because the cruise I'm looking at isn't until April 08. You might just email again. :)

[mavteaches3]

Hi, I am sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. My sons and I finished the rest of our vacation this week. My sons are 14 and 16. I did see a family with a 5 and 9 year old also go into the caverns and the kids loved it. I hope this helps you.

[mavteaches3]

We paid 65 a person that was with transportation for 4. The boys paid an added 10 dollars each for zipline.

[knight2096]

Thanks Tigergenesis, will do. Hopefully I will hear back from them. vbmenu_register("postmenu_11006318", true);

[knight2096]

I just wanted to give an update. I sent another email to Bonnie from the Edventures website the same day I posted here, I got an immediate response back (within just a couple of hours). Bonnie was very friendly and answered all our questions. We are set to go on our tour and we cant wait. :)

[suziqz007]

Just got back from an awesome tour...let me know if you have specific questions!

[Tigergenesis]

Just got back from an awesome tour...let me know if you have specific questions!

 

Can you tell us what you did on your tour and what you would/would not do again (suggestions, etc)?

[suziqz007]

Can you tell us what you did on your tour and what you would/would not do again (suggestions, etc)?

 

We were picked up at the port in an air-conditioned van and from there we drove 25-30 miles to their shop. Here is where they collect the money and pass out snorkeling equipment if you don't have your own. I checked out a wet suit, too, (FREE) as the cave waters are 75 degrees and I don't like cold water for swimming. Glad I took one although others seemed to be fine. Depends on your tolerance.

 

**Hint: If you need to use the restroom at the first stop, ask Eddie and he will show you where the free bathrooms are located. Otherwise you have to pay...only a few peso's but there ARE free ones. I would also suggest taking along some toilet paper for bathroom stops (and your blinders). You cannot flush anything in the toilets.***

 

After getting settled in the van and meeting our guide Hector, Eddie's 22-y-o nephew, we drove to the zip-lining and although it was a fun experience, I probably wouldn't do it again. It wasn't very high or long and the entire experience took too long...but that was the vendor's doing...not our guide. Probably a good zip-line choice for children or beginners, though. They WILL help you out by taking pictures of the first few who come down and riding on the "Mexican Hummer" was and unexpected experience!

 

While we were zipping, the van driver went to pick up the drinks, ice, beer, etc., whatever (and how much) we requested. When we had finished zipping, the van was cooled off and ready to go, so everyone grabbed beers, water, soft drinks...whatever...and we were off to the cenotes.

 

On the way there, Hector gave us some history while we drove several miles into the jungle We put on snorkel equipment, wet suits, and jumped into the cold cave waters. What an experience! We had all ages in our group from 17 to nearly 70 and EVERYONE was blown away. Hector led our group through the caves, always reminding us of what we should be looking for and making safety a priority. After getting our fill of this stop, we headed back to the van and drove to the beach.

 

At this stop, you leave your shoes on the beach and take only the snorkel equipment. At the shoreline you will get on a boat that takes you out into the ocean. Everyone jumps out and then you snorkel around the reef. Again, Hector gets in the water with you, guiding everyone to the areas of interest. Then you start swimming and making your way to shore while viewing and swimming along with the turtles. We swam through a HUGE school of fish and saw a small stingray. Spectacular!

 

Then we got back in the van and headed to La Buena Vida...restaurant on the beach. We ordered chips & salsa and then most of us took Hector's advice and ordered the steak tacos. We each had 1-2 margarita's and then we all enjoyed a fun shot or 2 of primo tequila...even my 70-y-o MIL got caught up in the fun...and we invited Hector to do a shot with us! (There was a mix-up in the number of plates we ordered, so Hector gave his taco's to my MIL...very sweet of him.) This was just a very fun place and I would LOVE to go back there! Actually, I could spend the entire DAY there! There are beach chairs, food, the sea...BEAUTIFUL.

 

Finally, we drove to the lagoon area and once again snorkeled with the fish. Hector does not get in this time as it is very easy to snorkel around without a guide.

 

We left and drove back to the pier with plenty of time to browse around the vendors set up along the pier. Not a LOT of time to spare but we made use of every minute of our day in this port.

 

I would definitely do it again, preferably with a smaller, more intimate group of 4. (We were on a big family trip and there were 11 in our group.) As stated before, I consider this to be an "easy" zip, best for children, beginners, or those who might be scared of trying it. REALLY easy. Because of that, next time I do this tour I will do the ruins instead of zipping.

 

Hector did a top-notch job of keeping our group together and on track without anyone ever feeling rushed. Next time I will request him to be our guide. Our tour was from 9:30-6:00 and our cost was $60...$70 if you did the zip-line. Price included transportation to and from the pier, zipping, all equipment, all entrance fees, and as much beer, soda, water as we wanted. Ten stars! :D