I don't like to leave the less than stellar reviews but this activity was pretty mediocre. My friends hated it, I thought it was an over-priced series of transfers and bumpy rides. I considered my sub-par experience to be because of dehydration (do not go hungover, fam), but they were straight up mad about it. About five hours, and maybe 90 minutes was actually in the caves.
Lots of waiting on arrival--don't do the transfer if you can help it, just do the ~7-10 min taxi ride from PDC for like 20 pesos or whatever. And you can get there much closer to the start time and not have to wait around for over an hour of pickups and sit around and think time.
Once the groups are ready to go after an hour or so, it's another ~20 minutes (feels like a nauseous purgatory eternity with a hangover... again... just don't!) in a cramped van over bumpy jungle roads getting to a cave entrance. Just so you understand how the time works out. No one was having a good adventure time in the vans. Arrive at the next point, change, shower, put on your gross reused wetsuit that you hope no one peed in, walk a few minutes to a hole in the ground, and you have finally arrived!
I thought cave time was a nice experience, a comfortable swim, some difficult terrain in sloshy water shoes, but I've been to New Zealand... if you can spring for that trip, that's where it's at. My friends thought the caves were cool, but they want to make it clear that you must be a good swimmer and ability to tread water because there are areas where you must swim through deep pools.
Oh yeah, and because you are not allowed to bring in your own cameras (thankful, it would be way more annoying waiting for the selfies), there is an excruciating amount of time spent waiting for the photographer to get each group to pose at what was maybe a dozen stops along the way. Wish we could have elected whether we wanted pictures and gone with a no-photo group. Or, a single pose at the end or something. Photos are incredibly over-priced.
Very efficient and get in/get out once the cave time starts. Which is great because you don't want to be simmering in that group wetsuit. Um the lunch spot had really cute iguanas.
If you have never been caving and this is your chance, do it but don't expect it to change your life.
Also, to the tour company, freaking pay your drivers a wage. Till then, travellers, remember your pocketfuls of propinas for everyone and don't forget your driver's!
This was such an exciting trip! It was our first main tour of a few we did in our 9 day holiday at Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, and it certainly set the bar high. First we went out of a boat with our guides and a group of about 15 others to go snorkelling on the second biggest reef in the world! We were given a floatation jacket, snorkel and mask, and flippers, and then once out at sea (maybe a 10 minute boat ride) we jumped off the edge of the boat to explore the beautiful under sea world of the reef and some amazing sea creatures. We saw plenty of fish, a turtle, a few rays and even a barracuda! There was a fair bit of swimming required, although the guide who lead us did have a life ring on a rope, if needed. We swam for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, and to be fair, I was exhausted by the end, being a confident but less than fit swimmer. We were never that far from the boat, but certainly quite a way out to sea, so no sloping off to the beach for a rest. Bear this in mind if you are not the most confident swimmer - let them know before the swimming begins! I have snorkelled before but not for a couple of decades. My wildlife loving partner had never snorkelled before and he absolutely loved this experience, as I had hoped he would! We then got back on the boat via a ladder and returned to the harbour at Puerto Morelos, just had time for a quick coffee and slice of cake to recharge my energy levels (these were included in the price), ready for our next adventure at Rio Secreto underground river and nature reserve. For me, this was the most exciting part of the day. We donned wet suits and hard hats with a head lamp on, and water shoes (take your own if you have them) and our wonderful guide, Diago, took us first to meet a shaman for a blessing for our journey, and then we went down into he cave complex amongst the most incredible stalactites and stalacmites, wading through the waters of the underground cave. If you have swum in a cenote, which we did in a subsequent trip, this is different as you have to walk in a line along the river, in and out of small lakes and streams and tunnels underground, lit only by head torches - it was incredibly atmospheric! Diago made it really fun and also paid attention to our safety, and we had 2 other guides with us - a photographer and a second guide to make sure we were all ok. There were some tight spaces to navigate, rocks to climb over, and lots of steps up and down under the water, which Diago lit with his torch under the water so it was easier to find my footing. He is clearly really passionate about caving, and his joy was infectious - rarely have I had so much fun, it was like being a child all over again! At one point we all turned our torches off and were in absolute pitch blackness for a few seconds - truly breathtaking! Honestly, if you want to have an adventure, give this trip a try, but be aware that you need to be relatively able bodied to really enjoy the underground river as once you're in, you need to keep going through the cave system with your group. That said it was enormous fun and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Thank you Diago for making it such a special experience.