Private Tulum Mayan Ruins & Swimming with Turtles Experience
Description
Two of the most remarkable experiences in the area, snorkeling with turtles at the beautiful Akumal beach and visiting the Tulum Archaeological site. Your journey starts with a smooth ride directly to Akumal Beach, mornings increase the chances to spot turtles at Akumal. Once you arrive at Akumal beach, your local tour guide will give you a safety briefing, you will gear up as you are about to enjoy a beautiful and remarkable experience, snorkeling with turtles in Akumal is an outstanding experience. The snorkel experience, will provide you not only with the opportunity to see turtles but also a to enjoy Akumal´s clear waters, a wide variety of colorful fish and beautiful corals. As you say goodbye to the beautiful Akumal beach, the next leg of the journey will be Tulum Archaeological Site. Enjoy skip-the-line access and be led by a local tour guide whom will teach you everything you always wanted to learn about one of the most advanced civilizations the world has ever seen.
Tour Options
Itinerary
One of the most popular attractions in the area, snorkeling with turtles at the beautiful Akumal beach. Gear up and after a safety briefing you will be ready to snorkel and see the amazing marine life that mother nature has to offer. Turtles in this area can be seen, be captivated by their smooth swimming on their natural habitat and enjoy a remarkable experience. Led by a local tour guide, your activity will be as pleasant and safe as it could be, ideal for all ages.
The Mayans were one of the greatest Civilizations that the world has ever seen. Tulum was a port city of great relevance for the Mayans, within its walls, there is a lot learn about them. Your local guide, will teach you everything you always wanted to learn about the Mayans, their findings, their advanced knowledge and their deep understanding of all things that surrounded them. Visit the castle, the observatory and their main temples on a guided tour through the archaeological site that promises to be an enrichening experience.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
You will confirm your exact departure time with the local tour operator.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Children 2 and younger are complimentary.
- This is a private activity, only you and your party would travel together.
- An additional surcharge of Mandatory fees of 750MXN per traveler. (Government tax 420MXN, Tulum fee 100MXN and natural reserve 230MXN) is payable in cash on the day of your activity.
- You will confirm your exact departure time with the local tour operator.
- Please note that as of January 2nd, 2025, Mexican federal government has imposed a new additional mandatory tax for all visitors attending Tulum Archeological Site (Mayan Ruins). As a result, a mandatory surcharge of 750MXN pesos per passenger is payable in cash on the day of your activity.
Reviews(9)
We arranged for a private tour to be more intimate and have a personalized experience. Our driver Adrian was fantastic, we felt safe with him and made the travels in the van enjoyable. Our two tour guides were less than helpful. The first guide at the snorkel with turtles stood on the side, we were unclear of her purpose. Our guide for snorkeling was fantastic, the water conditions were less than ideal but made the experience memorable especially for our 10 yr old. The third guide at Tulum offered a very limited tour then gave us our own free time. While the guides might not have been perfect, they were there and we felt safe. The last stop was lunch and visit to cenote. Lunch was very good and cenote was beautiful. Overall, glad we did the private tour but it was very expensive.
Super experience for the entire family. Absolutely loved swimming with the turtles in their natural environment versus a tank. Highly recommend 👌
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! We’re thrilled to hear that the whole family had such a great time swimming with the turtles. It’s truly a magical experience, and we’re so glad you loved it! Your recommendation means a lot to us, and we’re excited to hopefully welcome you and your family back for more unforgettable adventures in the future!
This was s prefect choice. The 4 hour adventure was just the right amount of time! With a pickup that was easy to find, a tour that was helpful and personable and amazing tacos at the end! Definitely recommend!!
We spent the week on Isla Mujeres and took the ferry over for the day for this tour. Setting up our day was easy and our driver, Adrian, picked us up at the Puerto Juarez terminal, so convenient. Our guide, Mary, contacted us the night before with reminders of what to bring and what to expect as well as that morning to make sure we met each other. Mary was so knowledgeable and we got lots of information on the drive to Tulum. Be prepared for a day in the car, but it's worth it. Our 12-year-old son slept on both drives, but younger kids may need other entertainment. Mary took such good care of us. Don't be afraid to ask for pit stops. Adrian and Mary were happy to oblige. Mary even switched out our experiences making the turtle swim first so we could spend more time in Tulum. Turtle swimming can get crowded, but this VIP tour is allowed into an area with fewer people. Our guide there (Liz) was also great and took amazing videos which she shared with us. She also took care of our locker, let our son put his shoes with her things on the beach and gave us so much cool info about the turtles and the particulars of why they hang out in this area. The guides are mostly careful about conservation and you are not allowed to touch the turtles. Also, be aware, that you are not allowed to put on sunscreen right before getting in the water (even if its reef safe), so make sure you're screened up more than an hour in advance. We spent about an hour in the water and saw many turtles and one swam right up to our son. Awesome experience. We had our own snorkeling gear, but they'll fit you if you don't have it and you're required to wear life vests. (It is a lot of swimming, so I preferred that anyway.) Mary and Adrian made sure we had food after swimming and we needed it! Sandwiches were just perfect. Tulum was beautiful! This tour includes all admissions and Mary took care of everything. She gave us so much information as we walked in and through the site. Be prepared for heat! It was recommended that we bring water and, thankfully, I had frozen our water bottles (only metal, refillable allowed into the site) the night before. I had been on several ruin tours in the past and this is by far the most beautiful site, but the smallest. Touring the ruins took about an hour and a half and there is some shade for breaks, but no place to sit or eat inside the site. We would do this tour again! It was so nice just to have our family and not be trying to gather a bunch of different groups. Everything, every detail, was taken care of which made this tour well worth the time and price.
Jerry and his driver gave us a lovely tour. Swim with turtles was great, could have done a demo how to use snorkel 1st though. Tullum tour was interesting, but would have been good to go around the ruins and give info rather than too much chatting at the start
Dear figujjjvffcf Thank you for such a nice review! We truly appreciate it. Both Jerry and our drivers, along with the rest of our staff, work tirelessly to ensure our guests have a lovely and memorable experience. Being able to get up close and personal with the turtles is a one of a kind experience! The briefing at the start of the guided visit to the Mayan City is to properly explain our route and to offer information that during the hustle and bustle within the site might get lost. Hasta Pronto! The Cancun Travel Experience Team
Swimming with Turtles was amazing. Tulum really hot, interesting, but needed to go around the ruins with guide. Gave an extensive explanation, which was great, but could really do with breaking down in parts rather than all at once. Overall really enjoyed.
Dear Ann_H Thank you for reviewing our Tulum Ruins & Turtles Experience, we appreciate your feedback. Being so close with the turltes is truly an amazing experience, we are glad you enjoyed it! We aim to make the guided visit as easy and friendly as possible, the route our guides make is perfect to discover our sacred Mayan Heritage with the time alloted. Hasta Protno! The Cancun Travel Experience Team
Want to thank Miriam (tour guide) and the driver for spending time with our family and taking care of our every need during this tour. We were able to see several turtles during the snorkling part of the tour. The guides swimming our group out to the turtle location were professional and friendly. The hardest part of the trip was the Tulum ruins. Heads up, be prepared to walk appx 400 meters from the parking lot to the ruins entrance, then the normal 60 minutes to see all the ruins. Kudos to Miriam for her expert knowledge of the ruins and explanation of what we were looking at.
Hello Robert90746, Thank you for your kind review! We are glad to hear that you had an amazing experience! This experience is so amazing, the swimming with turtles is powerful! Thank you! We hope to see you back again soon! The Teavel Experience Team.
Wonderful tour, a great time in a comfort way. Really recommend to go private as it is at your own pace. Turtles at Snorkel is the highlight, Tulum ruins are a great chance to learn some history. Our guide Guido was the best
Dear 463esteer Thank you for reviewing the Private Tulum Mayan Ruins & Swimming with Turtles Experience, we really appreciate your feedback. It helps us further improve our service. We are very happy this was a wonderful experience for you, our guides and staff are masters of their craft and always do their best to ensure our guests have a great time and are comfortable all throughout your visit. The turtles are such beautiful animals, being able to get a close view with them is a one of a kind experience. We thank you for booking this Private Experience with us, we hope to see you again soon! Until the next time, warm regards. The Travel Experience Group
Me and my family had a really great time on this tour the Akumal snorkeling was really good we saw a lot of turtles and our tour guide there was amazing (sorry forgot the name) tulum was really nice and our food was delicious we want to thank our driver and host Miguel he was outstanding very nice driver and also really friendly person gracias
Dear MarKrEg7719, Thank you so much for your review on our Tulum Mayan Ruins & Swimming with Turtles Experience. We are very happy you enjoyed the experience and could appreciate a lot of turtles, part of our nature and our culture. We are glad to share a little bit of us with you so more people can come and enjoy this beauty. We will gladly be sharing your kind comments with Miguel, we are sure he will appreciate this a lot. Thank you for taking the time to comment about him. We hope next time you visit this wonderful destination, you could let us be part of the experience again. Warm Regards, The Cancun Travel Experience Team
