Private or Shared Mayan Temazcal Ritual from Tulum

Exceeded my expectations!!! We did the shared group experience. The groups were divided by language; the English-speaking group was not big so it made it easy to hear all the instructions. The actual temazcal was amazing. Yes, it was hot/steamy which I was surprised I was able to endure it (~30 min in the actual temazcal) and I’m not fit by no means. It’s an experience worth trying.

I was so excited about this experience but I feel like I've been sold something totally unauthentic. First, the pick-up was at a 30-min walk from my hotel and not in front of it and the driver was +30min late. So I started it waiting alone in the dark on a parking lot. No apologies from the guide when he finally arrived. Then we got lost on our way to picking up 2 other people. We arrived at the ceremony with more than 1,5 hour late. Everybody was waiting for us and was very tense which is not the best way to start this king of ceremony. We were more than 40 personas which is absolutely too many. Nothing felt authentic. Because of such a big group, there were no cohesion, no good vibes nor energy. My guide was absolutely useless, i didn't see nor hear from here. The other guide were just here to translate but seemed to discover this ceremony for the first time. Only one woman, the "main" guide knew about the Temazcal because she had done +300 already and was angry and yelling at us the whole way. To put it in a nutshell, I have just lost 120 pounds for which I demand a Payback.

It was something totally new. The place of the ritual is like a stone igloo, in the center there is a circle where hot stones are placed that when wet with water release steam, turning the place into something like a Turkish bath, while whoever officiates the ceremony sings, plays a small drum and adds leaves that aromatize the place. It is a purification ritual. In my opinion it is not recommended for those who suffer from claustrophobia or breathing problems.