Bacalar Private Charter Shore Excursion

Great experience at the lagoon and local cuisine!!

Originally, this excursion was supposed to have 3 stops of near equal time at each. Unfortunately, our cruise ship (Mariner of the Seas - RCI) docked an hour late. The lagoon was incredible. We spent about an hour there. The water was some of the most beautiful we'd ever seen! Our cruise guides even took us to a local pineapple store for fresh fruit and to Taco Loco for regional cuisine! Since we were running short on time, our guides took us briefly to see the old fort and the cenote. We know we want to explore more of Costa Maya on our next visit! Side note - our daughter requires the assistance of an electric wheelchair. The guides picked this 300 lb chair up and down into the van at each site! Incredible! We were concerned about time and might become pier runners, but they ensured we would make it (in the nick of time!) Would highly recommend it! A+++

Not worth the drive

The drive was longer than both the stops combined. By the time we got to each location, we had only 20-30 minutes to actually swim. The lake and the cenote were both nice, but probably not worth the drive. Stay in the port, where there’s plenty to do and freshwater pools.

Great experience!

We loved this private tour. The guides were very knowledgeable and friendly. We loved hearing about the history and stories from local people. Would highly recommend this tour.

Family trip

We were a group of 12 with 3 children(4, 3, 1). Carole was very knowledgeable about the area and history. You could tell she loved the area. We had a great driver (Dani)! They took us to a wonderful restaurant for lunch which was delicious! They were both very accommodating as it can be difficult travelling with young children. We had plenty of water and a cooler with ice which made the heat tolerable. Check in and location of tour was easy to find. We would definitely use them again.

Barclar Private Shore Excursion

My group of 10 just returned from our shore excursion, Bacalar Private Charter Shore Excursion. I am very sad and disappointed that I suggested this excursion to the group of 10 I was escorting and am glad the others in our group went elsewhere. The map and instructions were great. We were offered water and that was nice, but no snacks were ever offered. We got on the van, which was dirty because there was dirty tissues, hair things, and wrappers were left in the back of the seat pockets. The young lady that was our tour guide, Cinemara/Sinemara or something, barely spoke to us. We learned nothing about the Bacalar Lagoon and why it is called the Lake of 7 Colors and never heard about the Fuerte San Felipe Bacalar - we drove past it - not what did it signify, why was it built and who built it. We had some history teachers with us and they would have loved that. Then we went and ate lunch at the Cenote Azul, but know nothing about it - how it was formed, where the caves are, nothing! For the science teachers with me, they were so unhappy. The driver was very nice and I could usually find him when I needed something, but the guide was often not around. Coming off of two other tours where the guides were VERY interactive, this was really a let down. I feel like we know nothing about your area and we would have liked to learn. I sent a message to the vendor as soon as we returned to our ship and have heard nothing in two weeks. I don't want others to be disappointed.

Best swimming!

The swimming was absolutely amazing!!! Bryan was so knowledgeable and accommodating to everything we wanted to do. The whole family had a great time. Only down fall is it’s about an hour and 20 min drive from cruise port however the kids napped and it worked out amazing!

CJ Tours Bacular lagoon tour

We had a wonderful time on our tour with call me CMTours. Ishmael was our tour guide and was excellent the entire trip. He made sure we were comfortable and took great care of us.

Cenote Azul for the win!

We didn’t realize what we were getting when we signed up for this excursion but we had a blast. The drive to and from is much further than we expected so the time at each location was short. We opted to skip the fort and really could have just gone straight to the cenotes. The food there was amazing and we could have spent all day just eating and swimming in tranquility.

Waste of time and money

Of all the excursions I've done over the years from cruise ports, this was the worst experience. It's a bit of a walk to get to the pick up point, which was fine but when we got there we were bounced back and forth between people since no one knew who was supposed to be taking us. The "guide" didn't speak to us the entire route. We were dropped off on a cold and rainy day, the lagoon was.. rustic...we were the only tourists and they all stared. It was rocky and we quickly left due to the cold (obviously not the fault of the excursion). Next we stopped at a fort in the middle of a city. There was an admission of about $2 that was covered by this excursion. Didn't take more than a few minutes to walk around and then let the kids play at a nearby playground. Next went to a cenote azul which I clearly misunderstood. I thought it said underground river and I was picturing going in a cave ( I could swear there were pics that showed that). Nope. Just a large pond. Freezing cold because the WATER comes from underground. Back to the port early. Again zero conversation from the guide. Biggest waste of money and time. I hate to waste a day on a seven day cruise and this was a waste. Next time I'd stay in port Costa Maya and just relax at a pool. The excursion said it included drinks and fruit from a farm stand. There was bottled water, not cooled. No other food.

Amazing Bacalar Tour

Our extended family of 12 took this private charter through Bacalar and we all loved it! We had our own van and personal driver for our entire group. We loved seeing some of the local attractions that were not commercialized or over populated…beautiful swimming areas. Our personal driver even stopped at a few local stores for us to shop. Great experience! Highly recommend!

Clear blue water great for floating

This was my favorite excursion out of the 3 days on the Royal Caribbean cruise. At Bacalar the water was calm and clear and great for floating. I would recommend bringing a small floaty for maximum enjoyment. The cenote azul was beautiful and big. It is very deep so they provide life vests and have a rope you can hold on to. Again having a floaty was great. The restaurant at the cenote was delicious and had a beautiful view. They had one of the best octopus dishes I've had. I like having the private transportation although the van was basic, nothing fancy. I also liked that the locations they took us to were not busy and I didn't see any cruise people there. I would recommend booking this excursion.

Perfect tour with little kids and family

Brian and Jose was simply amazing. I highly recommend this tour if you want to explore Bacalar without getting on a boat. Brian was very friendly, informative and went above and behind to accommodate us. Thank you so much!

Highly Recommended Excursion

Highly recommend booking this trip! Ferdi and Hector were great guides. They actually catered the trip to our needs and we got to spend however much time at each place plus added places they recommended. We went to this water park type area by the Bacalar lagoons, venite azule, a ruin by the cruise port. Ferdi was more than willing to help us with anything we wanted. Definitely the highlight of the cruise. Originally thought it was a private boat, but it was a minivan which was fine because Ferdi made sure we had a good time, especially since there were 4 kids. Def recommend meeting up with them at 9 am as it can take an hour to get to the Bacalar area. Don’t buy the ship tours or anything by the port, get this and it’ll be worth your while

Amazing experience!

This trip was the highlight of our cruise! Our guide Ferdy was SUPER! he knows every single street in Costa Maya, and made sure we are very well taken care of! We had so many requests (local fruits, local tacos, local tequila, etc...) and he accommodated for all our requests. It truly makes the difference when you have a great guide like Ferdy! This is our first time, but surely not the last. Ferdy, if you are reading this, THANK YOU, we will see you again my friend P.S. the owner of the agency was also in contact touch with us and Ferdy, to make sure we are enjoying it. When you have this type of customer service, nothing will go wrong!

Great Tour, highly recommended.

Unbelievable excursion with Ferdi. We were so lucky to have him. He knew the town inside out and helped us customize our tour. He even gave our 5 year old a beautiful keepsake gift. We had a great time and Ferdi made sure we got back to our cruise on time. Highly recommended. Thank you

Great experience!

Great tour! The ruins were amazing and Bacalar even more amazing ! Didn’t realize you had to pay to swim in the Cenote Azul as it was beautiful! Lunch at the Cenote was amazing! Would definitely recommend!

Great Family Excursion!

We took this excurstion from our cruise the day we were in Costa Maya. We have a family of 6 and it was such a great time! We went to the Bacalar lagoon and the ruins and then the Cenote Azul - they were all beautiful and we had plenty of time to enjoy each one. Our guide was incredible and took great care of us and made sure we got back to the ship on time!

No boat ride

The Lagoon was beautiful and we were able to swim in it but for some reason the boats were not running on the day we were there so we did not get the boat ride that was supposed to be included with our tour. That was very disappointing. Basically, we paid for a private ride to swim at a public location of the lagoon. Not at all what was advertised to us.

Amazing tour

This private tour is great. The places were empty so we were able to enjoy. Make sure you get to your tour early because you have to follow an itinerary. It’s about 40 min drive going and 40 min back. Jimer our tour guy was so nice he even stopped to get us fresh pineapple. Highly recommended

Amazing natural beauty and cultural private tour

Great tour with an excellent tour company. The communication of this company leading up to the tour was excellent and they exceeded our expectations. Very congenial and well informed guide named Rafael collected us from in front of the Cruise ship port and took us on a five hour tour. We visited beautiful lakes and cenotes as well as cultural sights including Mayan ruins. Rafael is fluent in English and is very kind and attentive and is an extremely well informed guide who made sure that we had a great day surrounded by amazing natural beauty as we toured important Mayan Civilization sights.

Wonderful day ⭐️

This is by far one of the best excursions I have ever been on. We are a family of 8 with 6 teens. Jimer was our guide and he did everything to make us more than happy!!!! We first went to the 7 color fresh water lagoon. Simple beautiful and we were able to experience the culture (added bonus)! Next we took pictures by some ruins. Last we went to cenote and swam there. Just an amazing experience all the way around!!!!! Also jimer stopped and got us fresh pineapple and bread at a local road market!!!! 100 stars!!!!

Local resort with a laid back vibe

The private tour was really nice and took us to a more local resort that was laid back and not as crowded as other places. I at first was surprised we would not be given a private boat tour because of the name of the excursion, so know that about this specific tour. You can rent a boat once at the location but it is not part of the price. we did not do the museum and instead spent more time at the cenote which our group loved. Our tour guide was over the top accommodating and flexible based on what our group wanted. Super great day!

Excellent..

Amazing Seven Color Lagoon . Nice View! Crystal Clear Lagoon..Genesis Tour Guide very nice. Nice Place to Visit.

Hermoso Bacalar

Bacalar es un lugar hermoso, espectaculares vistas, el paseo en lancha padrísimo, estuvo excelente!!!

Excelente

El guía y chofer súper atento y capacitado, lo recomiendo al 100% los lugares muy padres y las vistas igual