ATV and Clear Boat Ride Full Experience in Cozumel

Good taking care of the big group, we haven't ride in a clear boat before which it was great experience, see the fish through this,its beautiful , as well as snorckeling ..really good. I just want to suggest: 1. feed the fish under the water to have the chance to see more on the boat or snorckeling. 2. To Viator: on your website, please make sure that the meeting point with the excursion guide in Cozumel be RIiGH for whose are coming for the Cruise ..there are different ports depents of the Cruise lines. We got this good excursions out of the Royañ Caribbean offers and i was sure days before , calling the ecxursion place because the directions on the Web and even by phone didn't correspond with the Cruise Port.

My wife, son (16) and myself came in on a cruise and were excited to give this excursion a try. They had never driven an ATV and it would be a new experience. We booked on Viator weeks prior. Here is a summary of how it went.... (also keep in mind my wife is fluent in spanish and was able to remove any language barrier issues) We met Victor at a 7-11 about a 5min walk from the cruise port exit. We didn't know to meet there until I emailed the company the night before so I am glad I took that initiative since the instructions are vague after you book. Victor was polite and on time. We were the only 3 on the tour and he told us he would be our guide. From there we walked around the corner to the companies travel stand (there were a few other employees with company shirts there. We filled out some paperwork and received wrist bands for the ATVs. We also informed them that we would be skipping the clear bottom boat portion of the trip as we wanted to ensure we had enough time to get back to the port area before the ship left. This caused them some confusion and a phone call or two was needed to figure it out on their end. This also saved us $20 each since we weren't going to the beach/boat area. Ultimately they were ok with the change. After that we got into Victor's car and he drove us about 20min down the road. We came up to a gate with two people standing there in matching shirts, the one lady scanned our wrist bands and the other guy raised the gate. Seemed like an entrance to a park/living area as there were small shanty houses and an overall village like atmosphere. We passed a place in there that Victor pointed at and said "we will stop here for a tequila tasting after the ATVs" which we thought was a nice added on bonus we did not expect. Of course I figured there would be some pressure sales from it but more on that later. We arrived at the ATV staging area which was really just a dirt crossroad with two shantys acting as an "office". There were maybe 10 ATVs scattered around and a few people coming and going on other ATV tours. Victor directed us to our ATVs and an employee that was handling them. He then said "ok two on this one and one on that one". Now having read the reviews of this excursion before, I kind of expected this. Other customers complained that they did not know they would be paired up. I looked at Victor and said "no, we paid for 3 riders" to which he replied that the reservation says 2 riders and 1 passenger. NO WHERE on the booking on Viator does it give those options so this is clearly an attempt to reduce usage of the ATVs. To save gas? To rent out to others? They overbooked? Who knows, but regardless, who wants to ride on the back when you paid to actually drive one?! So trying to find an agreement, I offered a subtle "how much to make sure we get 3 ATVs" to Victor, knowing money talks in Mexico. He made another phone call. He then gets off the phone and says "sorry, he has to be 18" to which we reply, "he has his license". Another phone call. Finally they agree to give us the 3rd ATV at no additional cost. Again, my wife speaks spanish so this certainly was helpful during the negotiations. Victor started each of our ATVs for us which were ALL in terrible shape. These things hadnt been cleaned in years and I am surprised they didnt break down on us during the ride. We put on nasty/stink helmets and he then led us down the dirt road. We went down one dirt road (you need a face mask, we brought our own) and then turned on to the paved main road. Passed the two people at the gate we came through. Turned around, went back down the main road and again through the gate. Then went down another dirt road, turned left, turned right. Really no set trail or direction, just random turns by Victor. We eventually went out into an open circular lot that clearly used to be some sort of building that was cleared out. The whole area looked like a construction site. Lots of dust which we were all covered in at the end. But we were enjoying the experience and ignored most of the unsightliness. We then turned down another road which turned into some trails through a wooded area. This was probably the best part of the whole ride, bumps, inclines, a fun trail. We eventually arrived at an area in the woods where there were at least 30 ATVs scattered around from other tours. This was a Cenote viewing area, again a nice touch that we didnt expect. We got off and explored the water/cave area from above for about 10min. Some people were jumping into the cenote from other tours which looked really fun, but we later saw all of the bats in the cave, all of their poop was falling into the water. Not ideal and potentially hazardous for swimmers. Got ate up by mosquitos and then left on the ATVs. We rode back down the trail in the woods, back into the circular area, back through the left/right town area and back into the ATV staging area. All told we were on ATVs for maybe an hour tops! Not really ideal but whatever.. We got back into Victor's car and started to drive out of the town area when he stopped at the tequila place he mentioned earlier. I wasnt really interested in buying anything but figured why not, lets taste some and throw them some tips. We were led into an outdoor greeting room by I am guessing the manager/curator of this so called "Tequila Museum" for Regalo de Dios. He sat the 3 of us down and proceeded to teach us about tequila and where this specific brand comes from. He was a very nice man and seemed very knowledgeable. Honestly it was a nice "class". He then led us to an air conditioned room where the tasting samples were set. He proceeded to give each of us (even my 16yr old son, which we were ok with) a small shot of each of the bottles he had displayed. They were ALL delicious. My son even enjoyed them. This changed our minds from not wanting anything to wanted to get a bottle. We purchased the "7yr old Anejo" bottle for $119. When we went to the counter, the bottle was prewrapped in carboard and tape which should have been the first clue. But thinking nothing of it and happy for the experience I gave them the cash and we left. We got back in Victor's car and drove back to the meeting area we started at. Said goodbye and went back to the ship. The cruise took the bottle as they always do to hold onto until the end of the cruise. However while we were on the ship I wanted to learn more about the tequila we purchased, mainly, how much should we really have paid. Thats when I see ALL of the terrible reviews for that place and that brand. Turns out its all a bait and switch! What we tasted is not what is in that bottle. We got home and tried it, tasted just like any other crappy tequila on the shelf. Not the delicious smooth tequila we had at the tasting. They got us.... Stupid tourists right? Whatever.. But what does it have to do with the ATV tour? Well Victor led us right into this scam, he knew what we were walking in to. I am sure tours get a cut of anything sold. There are SOOOO many negative reviews out there, its clear this is a racket. Bait and switch tastings. Sorry for the short story but I felt like it all needed to be said. Avoid this excursion. Book through the cruise line if you can so at least you have some recourse after if you get screwed.

Atv along the beach was amazing. It was a full day guided. The snorkeling was also great we saw lots of fish!!