Edventures!!!

[J Mack]

We just returned from our Carnival Imagination cruise. While in Calica, we booked with Ed and Bonnie to spend the day. It was, by FAR, the best excursion we've ever taken. We snorkeled in a cave, with sea turtles and in a very peaceful lagoon, the more daring in our group went on a zip line, we had a fantastic lunch of fish and shrimp tacos at a treehouse restaurant, beer, water and pop in between locations and lots of great stories about the area. I can't say enough about our day! We had two seniors, six adults, two teenagers and a two year old toddler and each of us loved it all! I'm happy to answer any questions you might have and can not recommend Edventures strongly enough! It was absolutly fantastic!! Bonnie and Ed were very thoughtful and made sure we got the most out of our short day!

[Isailaway]

It was great to hear such a positive report on Edventure Tours, as we just booked it for our day in PDC on Dec. 12.

 

Was the water fairly warm to snorkel in -- or chilly this time of year?

 

Were you able to see alot of sea turtles? Did you take pics w/an underwater camera?

 

Was there an additional cost for those who did the zip-lining? I believe we were quoted a price of $50 for the day to do the tour, plus $20 or maybe less, depending on the number of people who sign up, for the transporation. So far 4 couples from our ship are signed up to go.

 

Did you have lunch at La Buena Vida restaurant? Do you recall what was on the menu? Any comments about the restaurant.

 

Anything you would like to share would be greatly appreciated. We are counting down the days and getting so excited.

 

Thank you!

Kathy

[J Mack]

Hi Kathy! I think you'll love your day. We really did. I can't say enough about them!

 

The water was fine. A bit chilly in the cenotes, but I'm a wimp and I got used to it in two seconds flat. They do offer wet suits at the shop if you're interested though. Nobody in our group used them and we were all fine. You'll be so amazed by your surroundings that you won't even think about it!

 

We DID see the turtles, three of them, and that was incredible! There was one directly under my daughter and she didn't even notice until I pointed it out! Truely fantastic! We also saw several stingrays and a HUGE puffer fish! We took pictures but haven't had them developed yet. We spent so much time pointing everything out to each other so nobody would miss anything. Ed was so awesome about pointing stuff out to us as well.

 

The zip line was $10 extra for us (but we had a group of 11, not sure if that affects the charge or not??). My father who is in his 60s liked it the most, I think ;) But everyone loved it. Quite a rush! But not so huge that it scared anyone away. Those of us who didn't partake just waited at the end and took pictures.

 

Since we had such a large group (and several new snorkelers), we started running a bit behind, so Ed called La Buena Vida and ordered for us, we never saw a menu. We had chicken, beef, fish and shrimp tacos and chips. The shrimp tacos, by far, were the group's favorite, followed by fish and then chicken. The beef ones didn't go over very well. The restaurant was so neat, swings at the bar and a treehouse and right on the water. Great music! Very fun! We still had more to do so we didn't spend much time there, but it was really cool and we'd love to go back! (for three orders of each type of taco, plus sodas or beers for each of us, it cost $110ish, plus tip - very reasonable).

 

I can't say enough about Ed and Bonnie. They are absolutely fantastic. We were met right at the dock, right off the ship and they took great care of us until their driver returned us (in plenty of time before the ship left). It was such a great day. Anyone who can make our entire group happy, keep us on task and on time and in line... well, that's pretty amazing. They are great. I'm sure you'll have such a great time!!

[wsphac]

My wife and I just got back from the same tour. I agree it was

the best excursion we have ever done. The cave snorkling is unreal,

water is not very cold. Reef snorkeling was very good, saw all kinds of

fish, a huge puffer fish and a stingray or two. Farther towards shore we

seen 5 or 6 sea turtles. One of the large ones swam up beside me, it was

great. We skipped the lunch, had already ate to much on ship, so we swam in a lagoon, I do not remember the name but it was a very nice

easy unguided snorkeling. My wifes favorite part was the local spider

monkeys at the Dos Ojos caves. Bonnie was our private guide through

the caves then we joined another group led by Ed. Everyone had a great

time. I just wish we had more time as our ship ported in Cozumel and we

had to take the ferry over, but of our 5 times in Cozumel, this is by far the

best way to do alot of different things for a very reasonable price. I did

get great underwater video of everything but I just got the camera before

the trip and have not figured out how to download everything yet. I will try to post video as soon as I can. Thanks to Bonnie Again.

Tim & Laura W.

[BSQ]

It was great to hear such a positive report on Edventure Tours, as we just booked it for our day in PDC on Dec. 12.

 

Was the water fairly warm to snorkel in -- or chilly this time of year?

 

Were you able to see alot of sea turtles? Did you take pics w/an underwater camera?

 

Was there an additional cost for those who did the zip-lining? I believe we were quoted a price of $50 for the day to do the tour, plus $20 or maybe less, depending on the number of people who sign up, for the transporation. So far 4 couples from our ship are signed up to go.

 

Did you have lunch at La Buena Vida restaurant? Do you recall what was on the menu? Any comments about the restaurant.

 

Anything you would like to share would be greatly appreciated. We are counting down the days and getting so excited.

 

Thank you!

Kathy

 

isailaway the add-ons are: 1 zipline $10, 2 zips $15. Cliff Jumping $5, Ruins admission & guide. Monkeys, a donation.

 

We hooked up with edventures on a recent land vacation, and I agree with the others it was the best day we’ve ever spent in the area (and I’ve been to just about every tourist attraction in the area).

 

The water was a bit chilly in the cenote but nice in the lagoon & bay. The coldest part was rinshing off in the showers or with the hose after each part. Brrrrr. I have a waterproof housing for my canon digital camera … thing is I was so busy swimming and taking everything in, I didn’t take a lot of pictures, or I kept drifting so I had some focusing issues. Eddie was also really good about taking the camera from me and taking pictures of BubbaQ and I in the caves and such. Anyway, here’s one of my favs from Akumal. There were also 4 good sized turtles grazing with us here.

 

 

You all will have an amazing day. It’s not very often you come across a tour operator than everyone raves about (I’ve yet to read a bad review on edventures). The raves are well deserved here.

[queenbee2]

Hi Kathy,

We toured with Bonnie on the 17th of November.

The snorkeling was great.

You inquired about La Buena Vida.

It's a small restaurant on the beach. You can eat at a table on the beach, swing the swings at the bar, or even climb high to a treehouse.

The menu is standard mexican fare, with yummy margaritas.

We had chicken nachos and shrimp tacos. It was all good and cheap too! But after a day of snorkeling and sun, on the beach, what wouldn't taste great! FYI: La Buena Vida will accept dollars, pesos, or credit cards.

We fell in love with Akumal and plan to travel there again without the cruise.

We will always sing the praises of Edventures, they were a true treasure!

[craigmol]

We went with them last March and we all had a blast!!! Best day of my life!!! It was soo much fun! We had a young group of 21-24 year olds. We all had a blast and I would recommend them 110%!!!! We are going back to Playa this coming March and I am talking the group into going again! I can't wait.

[tw67]

I can't say enough positive things about Ed and Bonnie! There were 10 of us, and we had a blast! Ed had a van driver for us, his name was Carlos! We felt so safe! They were great with our kids also!!

[rotomu]

Queenbee2-If you want great info on Akumal, locogringo.com is a great resource. Very nice board if you need any questions answered about the area. Please don't tell too many of your friends about Akumal, it's nice to keep it a "secret"!

[queenbee2]

Thanks. We were on the site before the cruise, and will revisit it when we travel to Akumal again. I hear what you are saying about keeping great places a secret! However, I believe the pot holes alone will deter many of the tourists! Seriously, what a great village. We fell in love with it.

[Crrbncrzn]

If we do a tour with Edventure Tours and go to the cenotes, should we skip the cave tubing in Belize? Is it more of the same?

[Isailaway]

You will find that your money is well spent on the Edventures tour! Ricardo was waiting for us when we got off our tender - he had a sign with our names on it - very easy! We snorkeled in 3 separate places -- swimming with the sea turtles was AWESOME! Many in our group loved the cave snorkel best - but I loved the turtles. We also went to a lagoon and it really was like swimming in an aquarium. Lunch at La Buena

Vida was yummy -- so much food that we could have easily split it -- a little pricey, but we felt more than okay about paying it to those people. I got the impression that beyond tourism, the area is very poor.

My husband enjoyed the zip-lining, which was an add-on option. Playing with the spider monkeys was alot of fun too. There is an adorable little girl there - it is nice to give her a little money, if you can.

 

This excursion more than met our expectations. Ricardo was our guide for the day and he is extremely entertaining -- you will enjoy him. It is all very well organized and Bonnie is very quick to answer any and all e-mails.

 

We were picked up right on time and delived back to our tender area exactly when they promised and in plenty of time to tender back to the ship. No worried there.

 

I would highly recommend Edventure Tours!! It is a day that we will always remember!!

 

For the person who asked about the comparison to cave tubing - it is a completely different type of activity, so you would be safe to book this one in PDC and the Cave tubing in Belize.

 

Hope this review helps some people with questions and who are considering Edventure tours.

 

Kathy

[dolfansam]

I can't say enough positive things about Ed and Bonnie! There were 10 of us, and we had a blast! Ed had a van driver for us, his name was Carlos! We felt so safe! They were great with our kids also!!

 

I agree with you Terri. They were fantastic. They were especially great with the gentleman who did not swim. Ed, Bonnie and Carlos made it one of the most memorable excursion I have ever been on. I have recommended them to a couple of my co-workers since I have gotten back. One is going to Cancun Christmas Day and mentioned they will be taking something called and Edventure tour. I showed him the card they gave us and told him he would not be let down.