Native choice tour

[c-leg5]

On 8/15/2023 at 5:08 PM, abdulazeez77 said:

Yes all excursions booked. As follows:

 

1. Roatan booked with Let's go Roatan for sloth visit, sightseeing, chocolate factory, rum factory and dolphin swim

 

2. Costa Maya booked with Native choice tours for Chechoben ruins and Lake Bacalar

 

3. Cozumel booked an all day at Mr. Sanchos

 

Also purchased the travel insurance. All prep activities completed. Now I can start shopping. This has been fairly nerve racking so far. I thought planning for a cruise would be easier than planning a vacation.

Just wondering, now you are back, if you made it to the meeting point for Native Choice OK?

 

I heard the weather wasn’t too good in Costa maya that day?

[abdulazeez77]

1 hour ago, c-leg5 said:

Just wondering, now you are back, if you made it to the meeting point for Native Choice OK?

 

I heard the weather wasn’t too good in Costa maya that day?

I am waiting in the airport to take the flight to PHL which is now delayed several hours. The overall cruise went fine but we had to cancel the Costa Maya excursion due to a personal reason. So maybe next time but we did do the excursions at Roatan and Cozumel.

[c-leg5]

7 minutes ago, abdulazeez77 said:

I am waiting in the airport to take the flight to PHL which is now delayed several hours. The overall cruise went fine but we had to cancel the Costa Maya excursion due to a personal reason. So maybe next time but we did do the excursions at Roatan and Cozumel.

Oh OK, glad you had a good time. Good luck with your flight.

[luckyinpa]

looking at native  choice for our trip with only 2 other ships in port. just looking to do the 50 minute ride to the ruins and back. just curious about the bus ride..comfort, roads, air conditioning etc. one review said to the lagoon was bumpy dirt road but we wouldnt do the lagoon as no interest in getting in the water.

 

also i do see when you book they ask what ship you came in on so basically everyone would be in the same boat so to speak if the ship was late and they would have to wait.

[clackey]

On 9/3/2023 at 3:27 PM, luckyinpa said:

looking at native  choice for our trip with only 2 other ships in port. just looking to do the 50 minute ride to the ruins and back. just curious about the bus ride..comfort, roads, air conditioning etc. one review said to the lagoon was bumpy dirt road but we wouldnt do the lagoon as no interest in getting in the water.

 

also i do see when you book they ask what ship you came in on so basically everyone would be in the same boat so to speak if the ship was late and they would have to wait.

We used Native Choice for the Ruins tour back in May.  We had 13 people in the van counting our driver and guide.  The van was comfortable with good air conditioning.  Arrived at the ruins a 1/2 hour before the ship tours.  Great guide, good tour and would not hesitate to book with them again.

 

Can't help with the Lagoon tour.  I knew that we would arrive in port late morning and wouldn't have time to do the lagoon, so we didn't book it.

[J and G]

On 8/13/2023 at 5:12 AM, abdulazeez77 said:

Thank you all for your help.

We are booked with Native Choice for December.  This was the map they provided.

[luckyinpa]

i booked in october because of all these good recommendations

 

ditto with toursplaza in cancun

[KatNiss Houston]

I went in September to Chacchoben and Bacalar Lagoon. I really recommend this. We had a great tour of Chacchoben and our guide knew EVERYTHING. He was very passionate about the history. 

 

Native Choice was great. It did take us a while to find our way out of the port - the second map posted which shows cutting THRU the shops is definitely best. They waited on everyone to arrive and even sent us back to pick up a few stragglers when we were about a mile or so out. They did want to cram us into the vans, and 4 people in that back seat was squishy and hot. Fortunately enough people complained that they split us up. 

 

The road to Bacalar is very bumpy, but it was fun. Pack your sense of adventure. It wasn't terrible at all. 

 

Bacalar is beautiful and very clean. September was the off season, so our tour group was the only one there. About 15 of us had the place to ourselves. It was GREAT!  Bring water shoes and dry clothes to change. Bathrooms were clean. Food was good.

[cmich068]

On 9/22/2023 at 4:58 PM, J and G said:

We are booked with Native Choice for December.  This was the map they provided.

 

 

Just for the benefit of anyone reading this, I recently booked with Native Choice for January and my confirmation says the Tower exit shown in your map is no longer open. Here's the version of the map they provided in my confirmation for reference. 

 

Edited October 15, 2023 by cmich068

[c-leg5]

1 hour ago, cmich068 said:

 

Just for the benefit of anyone reading this, I recently booked with Native Choice for January and my confirmation says the Tower exit shown in your map is no longer open. Here's the version of the map they provided in my confirmation for reference. 

 

it is About time they updated their map. This is what many have been saying for some time. 
 

The arch may be open and you may be able to use it but officially it is for ship tours and you end up fighting with the crowds boarding busses. We prefer to cut through the “huts” and go above the swimming pool. Some follow the above route but cut through one of the shops. 
 

I think the map is the “official” route through the port passing all the shops!

[Jaynay]

Thanks to all for this info. I'm trying to plan for 4 adults and this is giving me ideas. thanks again.

[luckyinpa]

earlier this month we took the mayan tour. the guide was fantastic. you knew he lived and breathed for the history. the breadth of knowledge he had was amazing. best guided tour i ever had!

 

the walk to the hut is simple. but of course as with every port, the maze of junk you have to walk through to get out of the port is just horrific. i felt like a huge bag of catnip and every single shop owner was a cat had different witticisms to try to get you to look at them or engage so they got a piece of me. ive never known a single person to be forced into buying something so unsure why this practice keeps happening.

 

once you get to the native hut you need to make yourself known and check in and pay your balance due or just get your wristband.  I didnt count but my guess is the van holds 12 to 14 people. they do ask for volunteers to sit up front. 2 seats are there if you are so inclined. during the trip out he gives you tons of local knowledge. and you can ask anything you want of course.

 

also in case theres any doubt, this is walking through a jungle. there are some paths but there are many tree roots, rocks, and tons of obstacles. you need to pay attention to where you walk. i saw strollers but based on what i saw, that really wasnt fun for those people. theres one optional viewing of 2 temples on top of a hill and the steps to get there are somewhat challenging. im old and out of shape but i made it but if you are scared of heights you probably cant do it. on the way down it's a bit challenging. but the reward at the top is worth it. also i recommend taking the steps on the left. vs on the right. they are smaller and easier to navigate. 

 

also put your SHIP CARD a very safe place. someone in our group lost it and the driver (who by the way is tasked with carrying umbrellas AND water for us, which is AMAZING) went back and found it. another group saw the ship card on a tree so someone just picked it up and put it there for people to see. i heard in another group the same thing happened. while you can def get on the ship without the pass, you will have a hard time getting through port security without it. 

 

i also have to say as a child id probably be bored stiff with all the educational stuff but there's enough stuff to climb on and walk through the jungle so they probably will be ok. but as an adult i soaked up all the fascinating knowledge. 

 

5 stars!

 

 

[MochiiOwl]

On 10/3/2023 at 11:33 AM, KatNiss Houston said:

I went in September to Chacchoben and Bacalar Lagoon. I really recommend this. We had a great tour of Chacchoben and our guide knew EVERYTHING. He was very passionate about the history. 

 

Native Choice was great. It did take us a while to find our way out of the port - the second map posted which shows cutting THRU the shops is definitely best. They waited on everyone to arrive and even sent us back to pick up a few stragglers when we were about a mile or so out. They did want to cram us into the vans, and 4 people in that back seat was squishy and hot. Fortunately enough people complained that they split us up. 

 

The road to Bacalar is very bumpy, but it was fun. Pack your sense of adventure. It wasn't terrible at all. 

 

Bacalar is beautiful and very clean. September was the off season, so our tour group was the only one there. About 15 of us had the place to ourselves. It was GREAT!  Bring water shoes and dry clothes to change. Bathrooms were clean. Food was good.

I'm thinking of booking this exact tour.  For the Bacalar Lagoon, was there a lot of good spots to sit and relax?  My husband doesn't want to get in the water and is looking forward to lounging when we get to the lagoon.

[KatNiss Houston]

34 minutes ago, MochiiOwl said:

I'm thinking of booking this exact tour.  For the Bacalar Lagoon, was there a lot of good spots to sit and relax?  My husband doesn't want to get in the water and is looking forward to lounging when we get to the lagoon.

My experience in September was YES. Our tour group was really small and there were tons of extra chairs. There were nice little palapas with chairs over the water also. Only a few of those, but they're very nice if you can get one first. If you're going in the busy season, I'm not sure how full it gets but there were also tables and plenty of places to sit in the shade it seemed.