Ancient Chacchoben Mayan Ruins & Mayan Experience from Costa Maya

Great day in chaccoban!

We loved our guide yoshi she was so knowledgeable and funny. She brought the ruins to life. The mayan family we had a meal with were lovely, it was delicious and it was great fun to make tortillas and learn what is put in the mayan salsa.

Mayan culture at it’s finest

We loved being with the Mayan people. Our guide was fabulous. The food was delicious. Everyone was so kind and gracious. We love that this is a small group experience and we felt like we had seen the real deal and not just another tourist trap type experience.

10/10 Ruin Tour & Interactive Meal w Locals!

10/10, could not have asked for a better way to spend our day in port! Even better that it was with a small local company. Before the tour, we were sent detailed instructions on where to go, with a map and pictures, so we could very easily find our guides upon exiting the port shops. When we met the guides and checked-in, an air conditioned van with chilled waters were waiting for us. Our tour group had people from Royal and MSC boats, but the guides double-checked when the various departure times were and ensured that we all had plenty of time to spare before boat departures. During the ride to the ruins (~45 minute drive), our tour guide, Elliot, was exceptional. Not only did he have excellent historical knowledge about Mexico and Mayan culture, but he also grew up in the Mayan village that we later visited and provided lots of personal details and anecdotes throughout the tour. Fernando our driver was also excellent taking us to the ruins, to the local village (~15 minute drive from the ruins) and back to the port in a timely and comfortable way, with waters available throughout. The ruins were great to see and learn more about (we spent about 1.5 hours there) but the real highlight was the trip to the village. It was a beautiful space and Elliot provided more information about Mayan language, customs, cooking, and medicine as we toured (and sampled from) the garden. We then watched tortillas being made and had the option to make our own. Finally we were sat down to a delicious meal and dessert before being taken back to the port. We couldn’t be happier with our experience and loved that this was a local company! Thank you Elliot, Fernando, and the Native Choice team!

True Mayan Immersive Experience

Wow, wow, wow!!! We chose this experience instead of going through our cruise-line excursions. Our expectations were met and exceeded. Elliott, our guide, was extremely knowledgeable and gave us a true taste (literally and figuratively) of the Mayan culture. I cannot recommend this experience enough… 5 stars across the board.

Excellent tour with knowledge local guides.

Our driver, guides and the lovely ladies who made our lunch were all incredibly knowledgeable and kind. I would recommend this tour, Elliot and Joel to anyone who will listen. Amazing time and service!

Unique experience with local family

We really enjoyed this tour! We were on an NCL cruise, and the tour company did a great job ensuring that we were back in plenty of time before our departure. The food that the local family made was delicious, and there was plenty to go around.

Satisfied but ...

Our excellent, knowledgeable guide (with a masters degree in archeology), Erick, provided historical information about the Mayan ruins and environs we saw in addition to visuals (images) from his album. His competent driver and assistant Fernando carried extra waters for us, which we needed 🌞☀️🔥. Thank goodness the walk was 90% shady (👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽) and the path we'll laid out. Sadly due to time constraints due to our ship's arrival time, the tour company dropped the village visit and authentic Mayan meal, which we were looking forward to just as much as the ruins. If this is a regular occurrence, I recommend adjusting the offer and prices. We immediately requested a partial refund in writing from both tour operator and Viator. Waiting for their response now.

Cultural adventure

The meal at the Mayan village. Secondly the information about the Mayan culture while visiting the ruins.

Very detailed history of ruins and the Mayan people, lacking on the food tutorial portion.

We enjoyed the ruin tour with Edder, he was very knowledgeable and gave us a ton of detail on the ruins and Mayan people. We were very pleased with how thorough he was! Unfortunately we weren’t able to learn much about the traditional foods or make the tortillas, which were a decent part of why we booked this tour. We did this excursion with three kids (ages 10-6) and while they thought the ruins were neat, they didn’t really care for the history of it, so we wish we could’ve spent more time on the food tutorial portion. The food prepared for us was delicious, and so were the grounds of the family in the Mayan village.

Great Mayan experience

So glad I booked something separate from the cruise ship excursions. Our guide Edder was fantastic as was our driver. Edder was extremely knowledgeable about the ruins and gave us lots of information and was able to answer all of our questions. It was incredibly hot while we were there but the driver brought cold water as we were walking around which was much appreciated. While the ruins were amazing, I feel like we were so lucky to get a taste of the current Mayan culture by visiting a Mayan community and having some locals cook us the most amazing meal. My teenage boys could not get enough (although there was plenty to go around) because it was so delicious. Our ship was over a hour late to port but we still did not feel rushed and got to do everything that was promised and they made sure we would be back with time to spare. Truly a highlight to our trip. Would highly recommend this experience.

Great Mayan experience

Make sure you do this tour. The village experience was second to none with excellent food. there was some waiting to get our bus, but they were well organized.

Well organized, very interesting Costa Maya tour

Before the tour even began, I sent questions to the tour operator to which they responded very quickly and provide all the information I needed. Our guide, Lorenzo, was excellent and delivered interesting information and guidance throughout the entire day. There were a total of 14 or 15 people in our group so it was small enough to get personal attention from our guide. He made the Mayan ruins experience very interesting. On to the private local family for our meal. We learned how to make small tortillas and had a very delicious meal provided by the family. It was a very well organized tour and one I would recommend to anyone visiting the Costa Maya area.

Fun experience!

Edder was a great guide, we really enjoyed him. The Ruins were really cool to see. The family garden where we had lunch was really nice and peaceful, the family was really nice and the food was REALLY good! It was fun to learn about their culture and their lifestyle.

Ruins and Tamales

Joel did an outstanding job of explaining a culture believed to be annihilated. My party throughly enjoyed the lunch with the ladies of Mahahual! Fernando is a sweetheart version of speedy Gonzalez and got us where we needed to go! Highly recommend

Do it!

Great tour! Very interesting. Our tour guide David was very informative. An extra special part of this tour was when we went to David’s village and made tortillas and ate a wonderful, traditional meal. Would highly recommend taking this tour!!!

Informative and fun experience!

Informative and fun day learning about the past and current local Mayan culture. Our guide Eder was excellent and personable while driver Thaco was safe and attentive. Interesting to see the countryside and reality of life in that area as well as enjoy a traditional meal.

Unique Mayan experience

This is a very unique and interesting tour. You will have a hard time finding an experience like this where you are able to immerse into an ancient culture totally in their space. It was a bit of a rough ride to get there. Lorenzo deserves a shout out as he deserves it. All good.

Fun and delicious

Our tour guide Eliot brought so much energy and information to our excursion. Also, the food prepared by Orchedia and Victoria was spectacular. I highly recommend this outing.

Enthusiastic and knowledgeable guides!

David and Rosie were the best guides we could have. They were enthusiastic and were genuinely caring for our group. David has a vast wealth of knowledge and taught us so much. Rosie also taught us about the area, flora and fauna. It was such a treat to have the delicious homemade meal prepared by the Mayan ladies. They accommodated our dietary restrictions and everything was superb. Highly recommended excursion!

Great experience! Great food!!

Great experience, our guide explained the ruins the staff we’re hopeful, informative and we’re all great people. The meal was amazing!!!!!!!

A great Mayan experience, including the ruins of Chaccoben and a intiment afternoon with local Mayan family

This was a truly remarkable experience. The ruins were breathtaking to say the least. Our guide was very knowledgeable and nice. We were spoiled with very personalized conversation and catering by our tour guides. Our visit to Victoria's home in the village was epic. We were treated like family. Our attempts at making Tortillas were lack luster at best but in record time, Victoria came to the rescue to save us and our maise tortillas. The food was absolutely delicious, fresh, and authentic, as the ingredients are all sourced from Victorias property.. I would most definitely do this excursion again.. Remember to dress light as the weather / heat can be brutal... an abundance of water was provided thank God...

Fascinating Journey Through Chacchoben

From start to finish, every aspect of the tour left me enthralled and eager to learn more about the rich Mayan history. Our tour guide, whose impressive credentials include a master's degree, played a pivotal role in making this excursion truly exceptional. His extensive knowledge and passion for the subject matter were evident from the moment we set foot on the archaeological site. Throughout the tour, he effortlessly answered our questions and provided us with a wealth of captivating information about the ruins, the Mayan civilization, and its cultural significance. His expertise truly added depth and meaning to the entire experience, elevating it from a simple visit to an unforgettable educational adventure. Beyond the captivating ruins themselves, the tour offered a unique opportunity to peek into the lives of the locals residing near the Chacchoben site. Visiting the homes of the welcoming local ladies provided us with an authentic glimpse into their daily lives and traditions. However, it was the mouthwatering, home-cooked meals they graciously prepared for us that stole the show. The delectable flavors and unique culinary creations truly showcased the richness of the local cuisine and left me yearning for more. It was an honor to partake in their hospitality and savor the essence of their culture through the taste of their traditional dishes.

The Only Ruins Tour You Need

Did the tour on June 22nd. We were on a RC cruise. Miguel and Lorenzo were fantastic. Everything is well organized. The meal was out of this world. Such a unique experience. The company will email you with directions on finding their kiosk outside of the port.

Great explanations from tour guide.

The ruins look cool. But hearing about them from our awesome guide turned them into an unbelievable site. The Mayan lunch was then a real treat. Loved the day.

Great Overall Experience

Tour guide (Lorenzo) was wonderful and the meal was amazing. One star off for the transportation. The vans were fine and had AC, but fellow American tourists were so oversized that it made it cramped/uncomfortable (several couldn’t really fit in just one seat).

Experience was great - booking was messed up.

The Mayan Experience was amazing. Our guide Lorenzo was very knowledgeable and made sure to cater to my 82 year old mother. The best part was the lunch. The woman who made the lunch were so kind and fun to talk with. They made the experience great. Only 4 stars because our reservation for June 1, 2023 somehow got booked for August 10. This almost kept us from doing the experience because we had a group of 7 and the tour company was not expecting our group. Not sure where the mess up occurred - with Viator or Native Guide Tours, but that was a stressful 30 minutes waiting to see if we’d get to do the tour.

Best Excursion of the Cruise

Our Tour Guide [Diego] was very informative. The pride in his heritage was very evident. Sharing his culture was quite natural and gave everyone a great experience. Our favorite part of the tour was visiting the village and enjoying the local food. I would recommend this tour to anyone wanting to experience an authentic Mayan Mexico.

Very memorable experience

We were doing a Caribbean cruise with our 7 - and 12 year old kids, but we didn't just want to do beach trips. We wanted them to see some ruins and experience what life is like for people from other countries. This fit the bill perfectly. Our guide was fantastic and very knowledgeable. The ruins tour wasn't too long, and the meal with the family was just the right length of time. We loved the meal and walking around the gardens in their village. Warning.. the drive to Chacchoben is about 60 minutes on a bumpy road. If you get motion sick, consider yourself warned. Anyway, I'd highly recommend this tour for an atypical Mexican excursion.

Experience Mayan Culture on this small Group Tour in Costa Maya

Our driver Ozzie and tour guide Eliott were amazing. On this trip, we learned SO much about the history and culture of the Mayans in the Yucatan. Eliott shared personal experiences with us, and we loved the visit to the Ruins, the gardens and the Mayan home for lunch. Making tortillas was so fun, and the lunch of chicken, vegetables and hisbiscus tea was amazing and satisfying. We learned to say hello, please and thank you in Mayan language, and how to write numbers in Mayan While most were taking the packed tour buses organized by Carnival, we truly felt lucky to be in our very small group on this intimate tour. The tour was well organized and safe. HIghly recommend when going to Costa Maya (which is not a town, but made for tourist port..)

History made personal

This was so informational. Our guides, Danny & Giraldo, were humorous but passionate about the people of their home state. We experienced great hospitality through cooking and walking through the community center. The ruins were quite modest but still eye-opening when standing next to them and learning about the heritage of the region. Come prepared to tip, but do come and have our Mexican neighbors and their history become personal.

A day we will remember!

We had a wonderful afternoon with Diego who shared with us many interesting facts about the Mayan Culture during our tour of the reunion. Then we went to a Mayan home and got to observe the making of tortillas and had a wonderful Mayan lunch. : Diego walked us thru their garden where we tasted many of the herbs and observed many plants and flowers. It was a wonderful experience!

Great excursions for our family of 4 teenagers.

The tour guide, Eden, was knowledgeable and friendly. Our driver Edgar made us feel secure and even walked bottle waters to us during our visit to the ruins. We were able to see monkeys at the ruins and were able to hear the details of the Mayan rituals. The house was our favorite as Eden shared his knowledge of the local plants and we made tortillas. We were surprised by the huge lunch that was provided. The bus was new and roomy.

History is so important

Our tour guide Elliott was amazing!!! He was so knowledgeable and educated us so well on everything needed to know for this awesome tour!

The mayan family visit was canceled.

The ship was late into port, canceled this part of our tour, but we did receive a small refund, thanks!

History and Homemade Cooking

Great day with some history and local home visit. The Mayan ruins were mind boggling. Our guide was very knowledgeable. The house visit was great! We learned from the local family and guide how to make tortillas. Got to make our own too. The food was amazing, flavorful and beautiful. Learned about all of the organic plants on their property that they used for cooking. A great cultural experience for Mexico.

Tour great, Viator sucks!

The tour was excellent but don't go through Viator, they charged us $90 more than just going straight to the company. We will never book anything through Viator again because they are a rip off.

Excellent cultural experience

My wife and I took this tour while on a cruise. The meet up location is just a short walk outside of the cruise port. There we got in a well maintained and AC van for the hour drive to the Mayan ruins. We have an excellent driver Miguel and our guide Edgar talked gave a great history lesson along the way. The tour takes you to Chacchoben where there are three main temple on sites. We spent just enough time there to learn and take pictures of them. There is a gift shop and restrooms at the visitor center. Next we drove to a modern Mayan town and had the lunch. Again Edgar did a great job of teaching us historical and current Mayan culture. Lunch was delicious and plentyful before the hour drive back to the port. There is not a lot to do in Costa Maya, so it is well worth the time it takes to travel to the ruins. Highly recommend for all ages.

Once in a lifetime experience

What a fantastic, unique, educational experience this was! We were so honored to learn about past and current Mayan culture in an authentic and intimate way. The tour of the ruins was detailed and you got to learn what the tour books don’t tell you. Water was continually provided and the air conditioned van was most welcomed. We suggest getting the $4 taxi from port to the excursion office when it is hot in summer. The family kitchen experience is the best possible thing you can do in Costa Maya— you won’t regret it! Thanks to all of our guides and hosts for the incredible memories!

great tour but very hot in July

This is a great tour with a good operator. Our guide was Salina and driver was "Pancho". Both were excellent. Salina was very friendly, had tons of water, and stopped on the road to get us fresh pineapple to eat. The first part of the tour at the ruins was nice, but very HOT in July. The traditional mayan visit was very nice for the kids. We all made tortillas, watch them cook, and ate them. The other food served was very tasty. We took a 7 day cruise, and the traditional family visit was the highlight with the kids.

Great excursion

It was a great excursion.. We enjoyed everything. Bring bug spray for the ruins. The traditional Mayan family visit was awesome and the food was great. Me and my daughter loved it.

Magnificent Experience!

This was an amazing experience from the booking experience on Viator to being dropped off back at the port terminal on the very cool and air conditioned shuttle bus. I waffled back and forth about booking the excursion with a "third" party provider versus with the cruise line. In retrospect after having such a great experience, I shouldn't have had any concerns at all. Our tour guide Rosie was absolutely wonderful, so kind, humble and appreciative. You could tell she loved her job and was grateful to be taking us on our tour. The shuttle bus was top notch, comfortable and had ice cold air conditioning. The Mayan ruins were a very unique experience, hearing that we were in the same place that a "city" use to be going as far back as 300 B.C. The highlight of the excursion was no doubt the Mayan home cooked meal and making of the tortilla's. My 11 year old son was totally into the whole experience. The lunch that was made for us, and served under the outdoor cabana was very delicious. I couldn't think of anything that would have made the experience any better for our family. If I had one that I could suggest to Viator/Native Choice it would be e-mail the instructions for the meeting point of the excursion before people leave on their cruise due to potentially not having internet. Ours was e-mailed the day before our excursion was scheduled. I didn't get the internet package on the cruise ship, and my internet/e-mail didn't work at the port terminal, so I had no idea where to go when we got off the ship. It wasn't a big deal because I just had to ask a cab driver and they knew exactly what direction to point us. Overall rating 5+ stars.

Great tour!

We loved the meal the Mayan family prepared for us. This was the highlight of the day! The only problem we had was the distance required to walk. We are 87 and 78, so it was a little tough. It would have been nice to have periodic benches available. Joel was our guide. He gave us a lot of interesting information and did a good job.

Eddar was a wonderful...

Eddar was a wonderful guide.. the family home was beautiful, and lunch was delicious! Highly recommend this tour!

Had amazing two guides,...

Had amazing two guides, David & Joell, one for the ruins tour and one for the village. Appreciated both the professional background and humanity they brought to the experience. Miguel our driver was also fabulous. Visiting the Mayan village and family home was a treat and they were patient & gracious hosts.

Awesome experience

Edgar (driver) and Eddard (guide). Wonderful guide and driver. Very informative. Had an great experience. The family visit, lunch and garden was awesome.

Don't Miss Out On This Trip!

This tour was great! Erick was a perfect guide to show us the Ruins. He was knowledgeable, pleasant, and professional. Having lunch afterwards with "the ladies" in a small village was the icing on the cake. If you like getting submerged in local colors and flavors, this tour's definitely for you! I highly recommend.

Don't Miss Out On This!!!

We thoroughly enjoyed this excursion. Erick was a very pleasant, knowledgeable, and accommodating guide. The meal with the ladies after our Chacchoben tour was the icing on the cake! If you love connecting with locals when you travel in addition to learning history, this excursion is definitely for you! I highly recommend!

Book This Tour!

I couldn’t be more impressed with the quality of this tour experience! Edder is a phenomenal guide. His knowledge was top shelf. His English is really tremendous, and we felt so much better educated on the area, culture, traditions and community having taken this tour. We felt safe and came away well informed, as well as fortunate for our experiences.

Great alternative to cruise line tours.

We especially liked the guide's narrative of the history of the Mayan people and their religion. We also enjoyed the meal in a Mayan home and learning of their culture.

Great tour.

The company is not a cruise terminal company so there is a little walk, but worth the reward. The trip to the ruins was great. Great photos. Our guide Edden was very knowledgeable and explained everything. The visit to the Mayan family with lunch was excellent too. Great food with natural spices