点评:Before we went to Tulum we had not made any decisions about whether to explore sites on our own or to do tours. When we arrived 3 things became apparent:
1) it’s possible to explore on your own in most places, without a guide ( there are some where one is required )
2) you can visit a site and hire one of the many guides offering their services around the entrance and take your chances or
3) you can book directly with various tours or use a tour company like iTour. This will be a long review…
We chose #3. Firstly, the iTour site has a good description of each tour available so booking is streamlined. The price also includes all fees you might encounter which alleviates having to bring lots of cash to cover those expenses during the tour. Secondly, you pay a small deposit online and then the balance at the iTour office on the day of the tour. Third, Marco is responsive and a great source of information as well as incredibly helpful.
First a note about the iTour office. We had a lot of difficulty finding it because it islocated (Feb 2025) in an area that seems to be under construction. It is located on 307 Cancun/Chetumal-Chetumal/Cancun where 15 turns into 109. It is across 109 from the Super Aki market and if you have a car you may safely park your car all day in their parking lot. When you cross the street and start along 307 the first door you get to will be the iTour office. There is a sign on the door.
We booked 4 tours. I have reviewed each under the name of the company (below) but briefly: (longer reviews at each company's site-if interested)
1) “Chichén-Itzá & Cenote Original” was EXCELLENT. The tour is through Ekinox. We had an excellent guide, Javier, who along with Luis, who did the Spanish version, and Javier #2, the driver, provided a day of fun, a wealth of information and a comfortable journey throughout. We HIGHLY recommend this tour. Be aware, because sunblock of any type cannot be worn in a cenote you will always be required to shower (head to toe) before entering one. The NoolHa cenote in this tour was not one of the more impressive and was more geared toward those wanting to use the zipline to drop into it or simply swim around in the pool. No caves or passageways with stalactites but very refreshing.
2) Akumal, Cenote and Turtles Half Day - through Blue Caribe Tours. Enrique, our guide, had a tremendous amount of information, was a truly entertaining guide and we enjoyed his commentary and insight. He explained in detail the rules for viewing the turtles and about them (Green Turtles) However, the masses of other groups, many of whom ignored or had not been told to stay horizontal to avoid kicking up the sand made viewing the turtles extremely difficult . The water was silty, a number of people were beginning swimmers at best and there were frankly FAR too many people in the water at once. We saw several turtles and I would suppose that for someone who has never seen one in the sea it would be exciting but for us it was underwhelming. Part 2 of the tour was two cenotes at Yaax Mul. The first is a guided tour and the second you can explore on your own. The first is quite good the second is good for those who might be afraid to venture into the caves of some of the cenotes. Regrettably for us, despite having been told our belongings were safe in the van, at some point they were not. I discovered after we returned that 2 credit cards had been removed from my wallet which was in my purse. The thieves left my US driver’s license and health insurance card so had an idea of what they were doing. They managed to charge over US$2000 worth of goods and services in the time they had them. I notified Marco immediately and he was and has continued to be extremely helpful in working with the company to determine what happened. We recommend this tour with reservations: be aware that the turtle viewing may not be great. And I would caution you to take your valuables with you in a waterproof bag. * We met a couple who went to Gran Cenote on their own and were able to snorkel and observe turtles in the crystal clear water of that cenote. If your desire is to see turtles that may be a better option.
3) Tulum and Cobá, Cenote and Aldea Maya - in preparation for our journey I read that the Tulum ruins are almost as impressive as those at Chichén. It would stand to reason that each site of Mayan ruins (only a few of the many original cities still exist at all) would be interesting so we looked forward to this tour through Maya Adrenaline Tours. The first part was very rushed, no water was offered, despite the presence of some elderly and children the guide decided to walk us to the site-a 20 minute walk in the hot sun. Having told us we would have some free time to explore and giving us a time to rendezvous we, along with several others did not hear his announcement when he finished his part and there was some confusion before resolution. We then continued, with a different group of people to lunch. A long trip along rutted roads (providing a “Mayan Massage”) we gathered for a lunch that was so-so. We then continued to a cenote where we were also rushed. With an entirely new set of people except one couple, we continued to Coba and there the tour became wonderful. Our guide, Nico, who is a teacher of the Maya language, gave us a complete and interesting history of Cobá, took us to the first ruin, “The Church” and then showed us how to hire a tricycle (a bench on the front of the bike with a local guide pedaling) and we rode along the cool, tree shaded route to the main temple and others.We did not feel rushed at all by Nico and our last stop was at a Maya village (Aldea Maya Yuum Kin) where we were served fresh tortillas with 2 traditional fillings, scrambled eggs with chaya (spinach) and a pumpkin seed and tomato sauce paste) DELICIOUS. There is a small shop there as well with handcrafts. We recommend this tour though be sure to drink water before entering the Tulum site or bring your own refillable bottle (no plastic bottles). Your iTour payment will cover all entrance fees however some who’d booked on other sites had to pay at the time of the tour.
4) The Muyil Forest and Floating tour by Community Tours Sian Ka’an rivaled our first tour for our favorite. Entirely different activities but the same excellence, passion and knowledge as well as organization. This tour starts VERY early but you will stop for breakfast before continuing to ride in a panga boat across the lagoon, view the ruins which are under renovation, then float for ~45 minutes in a natural channel whose current carries you past a variety of flora and fauna and then reboard the panga to continue looking for fauna (sting rays, crocodiles…) to the sea where you’ll have a brief time to swim before returning for a DELICIOUS lunch which you have been able to choose at breakfast. We HIGHLY recommend this tour. The ages ranged from 5-75 so it is appropriate for anyone except (I believe) pregnant women.
Through ALL of my communication with Marco I felt well taken care of. You may pay by card or cash in your local currency or pesos. Marco speaks a number of languages and has been involved in tourism for many years so has a wealth of information. We really appreciated his rapid responses at all hours, the fact that all fees are included and when we had out problem he did not hesitate to start working on it immediately.
翻译:在去图卢姆之前,我们还没有决定是自己探索景点还是参加旅行团。到达后,我们意识到了以下三点:
1) 大多数地方都可以自己探索,不需要导游(有些地方需要导游)
2) 您可以参观景点,在入口处雇佣一位导游,然后碰碰运气
3) 您可以直接向各种旅游团预订,也可以使用 iTour 等旅游公司。这将是一篇很长的评论……
我们选择了第 3 项。首先,iTour 网站对每个旅游团都有很好的描述,因此预订过程很流畅。价格还包括您可能遇到的所有费用,这样就不必在旅游期间携带大量现金来支付这些费用。其次,您可以在线支付少量押金,然后在旅游当天在 iTour 办公室支付余款。第三,Marco 反应迅速,是很好的信息来源,而且非常乐于助人。
首先介绍一下 iTour 办公室。我们很难找到它,因为它位于(2025 年 2 月)似乎正在建设中的区域。它位于 307 Cancun/Chetumal-Chetumal/Cancun,15 变成 109。它位于 Super Aki 市场对面的 109 号,如果您有车,您可以将车安全地停放在他们的停车场一整天。当您过马路并沿着 307 号开始时,您到达的第一扇门就是 iTour 办公室。门上有一个标志。
我们预订了 4 次旅行。我以公司名义对每项旅行进行了评论(如下),但很简短:(如果感兴趣,可以在每家公司的网站上查看更长的评论)
1) “Chichén-Itzá & Cenote Original” 非常棒。这次旅行是通过 Ekinox 进行的。我们有一位出色的导游 Javier,他和讲西班牙语的 Luis 以及司机 Javier #2 一起,为我们带来了充满乐趣的一天、丰富的信息和舒适的旅程。我们强烈推荐这次旅行。请注意,由于任何类型的防晒霜都不能涂在天然井内,因此您在进入天然井前必须先淋浴(从头到脚)。这次旅行中的 NoolHa 天然井并不是最令人印象深刻的天然井之一,更适合那些想要使用高空滑索进入或只是在水池里游泳的人。没有洞穴或有钟乳石的通道,但非常清爽。
2) 阿库马尔、天然井和海龟半日游 - 通过 Blue Caribe Tours。我们的导游 Enrique 拥有大量信息,是一位真正有趣的导游,我们喜欢他的评论和见解。他详细解释了观赏海龟和有关海龟(绿海龟)的规则。然而,其他团体人数众多,其中许多人无视或没有被告知要保持水平以避免踢起沙子,这使得观赏海龟变得极其困难。水很浑浊,许多人充其量只是初学游泳者,坦率地说,水中同时有太多人。我们看到了几只海龟,我想对于一个从未在海里见过海龟的人来说,这会很令人兴奋,但对我们来说,这令人失望。游览的第二部分是 Yaax Mul 的两个天然井。第一部分是导游,第二部分你可以自己探索。第一部分相当不错,第二部分适合那些可能害怕冒险进入一些天然井洞穴的人。遗憾的是,尽管我们被告知我们的物品在货车里是安全的,但在某些时候却不是。我们回来后,我发现钱包里的两张信用卡被拿走了。窃贼留下了我的美国驾照和健康保险卡,所以知道他们在做什么。在窃取这些物品和服务的时间里,他们成功骗取了价值 2000 多美元的商品和服务。我立即通知了 Marco,他一直非常乐于与公司合作,查明发生了什么。我们建议有保留地参加这次旅行:请注意,观赏海龟可能不太好。我提醒您将贵重物品放在防水袋中随身携带。 * 我们遇到了一对夫妇,他们独自前往 Gran Cenote,能够在那个 Cenote 清澈的水中浮潜并观察海龟。如果你想看海龟,这可能是一个更好的选择。
3) 图卢姆和科巴、Cenote 和 Aldea Maya - 在准备我们的旅程时,我读到图卢姆遗址几乎和奇琴伊古城一样令人印象深刻。按理说,玛雅遗址的每个地方(许多原始城市中只有少数几个仍然存在)都会很有趣,所以我们期待着这次玛雅刺激之旅。第一部分非常匆忙,没有提供水,尽管有一些老人和孩子在场,导游还是决定带我们步行到遗址——在烈日下步行 20 分钟。导游告诉我们我们会有一些自由时间去探索,并给我们一个会合的时间,我们和其他几个人没有听到他结束部分时的通知,在解决之前出现了一些混乱。然后我们继续,和另一群人共进午餐。沿着坑坑洼洼的道路走了很长一段路(提供“玛雅按摩”),我们聚在一起吃了一顿马马虎虎的午餐。然后我们继续前往一个天然井,在那里我们也匆匆忙忙。除了一对夫妇外,我们和一群全新的人一起继续前往科巴,在那里的旅行变得非常精彩。我们的导游 Nico 是玛雅语老师,他给我们讲述了科巴完整而有趣的历史,带我们去了第一个遗址“教堂”,然后教我们如何租一辆三轮车(自行车前面有一张长凳,当地导游踩着踏板),我们沿着凉爽的树荫骑行到主庙和其他地方。我们一点也不觉得 Nico 催促我们,我们的最后一站是玛雅村(Aldea Maya Yuum Kin),在那里我们吃了新鲜的玉米饼,里面有 2 种传统馅料,炒鸡蛋配上 chaya(菠菜)和南瓜籽和番茄酱)非常美味。那里还有一家小商店出售手工艺品。我们推荐这次旅行,不过在进入图卢姆景点之前一定要喝水,或者带上自己的可再灌装水瓶(不要带塑料瓶)。您的 iTour 付款将涵盖所有入场费,但是有些在其他网站上预订的人必须在旅行时付款。
4) 社区旅游公司 Sian Ka'an 的 Muyil 森林和漂流之旅与我们的第一场旅行一样,都是我们最喜欢的。完全不同的活动,但同样出色、充满激情、知识和组织。这次旅行开始得很早,但您会停下来吃早餐,然后继续乘坐小船穿过泻湖,观看正在翻修的遗址,然后在天然水道中漂浮约 45 分钟,水流会带您经过各种动植物,然后重新登上小船继续寻找动物(黄貂鱼、鳄鱼……)到海边,在那里您将有短暂的游泳时间,然后返回享用美味的午餐,您可以在早餐时选择。我们强烈推荐这次旅行。年龄范围从 5 岁到 75 岁,因此除了(我相信)孕妇之外,任何人都可以参加。
在与 Marco 的所有交流中,我都感到受到了很好的照顾。您可以使用当地货币或比索通过卡或现金付款。Marco 会说多种语言,从事旅游业多年,因此拥有丰富的信息。我们非常感谢他随时的快速回复,所有费用都包含在内,当我们遇到问题时,他毫不犹豫地立即开始工作。