This English/Spanish spoken guided daytour to the nature reserve of Ria Lagartos and the amazing Maya site of Ek Balam make this combination of nature and archaeology a must do during your visit in Valladolid. You won´t regret it!
Posted By : Erin_G
This was an amazing day trip with our excellent guide Gilberto. The boat trip at Rio Lagartes was excellent - I can't believe how close we got to the crocodiles and I loved seeing the flamingos (and so many other birds that Gilberto was able to identify for us).
Ek Balam was incredibly impressive, with a great tour & information provided. The Xcanche cenote afterwards was a perfect end to a very hot day!
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Posted On : 2024-04-22 21:15:24 
Posted By : Underarmour66
Great tour! José our guide was a wealth of knowledge. Not only was he our driver but also our guide at Río Lagartos and at Ek’Balam. He shares a lot of information about the Ek’Balam
Kingdom and provides many visuals to show how the kingdom might have looked in the past. I appreciated that the form of transportation was a Toyota Sienna, which was very comfortable and made the ride smooth along the bumpy roads. I would highly recommend going to Ek’Balam over Chichén Itzá, as it’s less touristy and still has the natural environment, giving it a more realistic sense of what it have been like back in the day. At the time that, I went, we were able to climb up tje steep steps all the way to the top of the Ek’Balam.
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Posted On : 2024-04-02 17:08:04 
Posted By : Chelsea_P
Firstly, we will start with the positive. Our guide Jose was great - we couldn't fault him. He picked us up on time, he was very knowledgeable and helpful.
That being said, this was the most expensive tour we went on during our time in Mexico and I really cannot understand where the money we paid goes. It obviously pays toward the tour guide (Jose), it paid for fuel and maintenance of the vehicle Jose was driving, it paid for lunch and paid for the boat tour, but there is no way any of that comes close to the money we paid for the trip (over £285 for 2 adults). We were told we would be able to visit both Ek Balam and the Cenote but we didn't (we had to choose which one we would prefer) and we had to pay additionally to enter to what we had already paid for the trip. We were under the impression we would see the pink lakes of Los Colorados but we didn't.
In all honesty I wouldn’t recommend the tour for the price we paid. It was gutting to get all the way to Rio Lagartos and not be able to see the pink lakes as that is what we had booked the tour to see and we only had this day to do it so there was no other opportunity for us to see it.
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Posted On : 2024-03-27 15:11:11
Posted By : Alun C
A great day out exploring Rio Lagartos and Ek Balam. The boat trip up the estuary took us to see crocodiles, flamingos, pelicans and a whole range of other birds. Afterwards we visited a local restaurant for a nice lunch. In the afternoon we headed back to Ek Balam. The archaeological site is fascinating and much quieter than Chichen Itza. Took a dip in the cenote to cool off afterwards. Make sure you take enough pesos to cover the cost of both Ek Balam entrance fees as they don't take cards. Finally, a note on our host and guide Jose, a friendly and very knowledgeable guy who helped make the day such a fantastic experience!
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Posted On : 2024-03-25 05:28:56
Posted By : breinca
Amazing and unique experience with a very informative guide. We left the trip with more knowledge about the unique ecosystem in Rio Lagartos as well as the Mayans in the Yucatan. There wasn’t a question which was left unanswered.
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Posted On : 2024-01-16 12:18:20
Posted By : Ambra_C
We enjoyed so much the experience with our guide Jilberto, very funny and knowledgeable guy. The time of the visit at the different sites has been very well managed (no rushing feeling at all) and the experience has been very intimate. We did this tour at the end of December and just a few flamingos showed up, however there were enough crocodiles to make us happy!
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Posted On : 2023-12-31 21:26:43
Posted By : Bailey_M
We had a fantastic day with Jose seeing flamingos in all their uniqueness, covering ourselves in mud, and getting a knowledgable tour of Ek Balam. From the helpful communication at booking to our guides care throughout each part to the mouthwatering food served at lunch, we would tell anyone we know going to Valladolid to book this tour! Between our guide Jose and the boat captain, any question we had about birds and mangroves could be answered. And Ek Balam has so many details you would miss if you were there without a guide. We swam in the cenote afterwards and it was worth the extra cost to cool off after walking up the main structure. Spend a day doing this, absolutely!
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Posted On : 2023-12-27 12:02:41
Posted By : Andrew_H
Absolutely superb trip. Our guide was excellent company. The food at Rio Lagartos was great and we loved the boat ride, seeing the flamingos and crocodiles! Ek Balam was also stunning, especially the recently discovered Mayan sculptures. We thought it was more interesting and visually spectacular than Chichen Itza. The cenote at the end with the rope swing and zip line was the icing on the cake. Would definitely recommend this trip.
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Posted On : 2023-12-08 12:09:28
Posted By : Nimay_K
Amazing experience! Our guide was very informative and having him enhanced the entire experience. A wide variety of sights covered on this tour, and you will learn a ton. Highly recommend
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Posted On : 2023-11-16 14:35:39
Posted By : natpaniel
Amazing trip! The sites are beautiful and the itinerary was very well planned taking into consideration the heat. José was funny, kind, and incredibly knowledgeable about Mayan history and culture and the nature at Rio Lagartos - he answered every question we had. Tour size was also small so it felt very comfortable and we felt personally looked after. Would strongly recommend to all!
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Posted On : 2023-08-13 19:35:32
