A Great Family Friendly Tour In The Riviera Maya

Published by Cassie on 30/01/201930/01/2019

Cave Exploring In The Riviera Maya – A Perfect Adventure Day For Kids

Photo provided by Nature Reserve Indio Tours

If you’re visiting the Riviera Maya for a family vacation and are looking for something a little off the beaten track for your family, then read on as I have the perfect kid-friendly day trip for you. While I say it’s kid-friendly, it is also a great trip for anyone else too, it just isn’t so hard or scary that little kids won’t want to do it.

When I was telling my parents about this, they immediately asked why I hadn’t arranged it for when they were visiting and whether they’d be able to do the tour themselves. There is no answer to the first question (!) but the second is a clear yes. I’d say this is an accessible tour with nothing too difficult to manage.

My family was invited by Juan from Nature Reserve Indios Tours to join him for a morning’s exploration of some caves in the jungle around Akumal, Quintana Roo. This is a sponsored review. We were invited, we did not pay for our tour, however, everything in this article is my opinion.

Akumal is a small pueblo between Playa Del Carmen and Tulum. It is primarily known for the sea turtles that hang out there but it’s also a great location for checking out some of the lesser-known cenotes in the area.

Whether you’re staying in Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Akumal, or Tulum this Akumal day trip is perfectly accessible. You could even double-up for a full day of excitement and head down to Akumal Bay for a snorkel with the turtles afterwards.

Turtle, Akumal, Mexico

Why Did I Agree To Write A Review Of This Kid-FriendlyTour?

Normally I don’t feel the need to document why I want to write a review of something I’ve done. I either accept the invitation to attend, or I don’t, I write the review or I don’t. However, here I do want to note my reasons because they’re important.

1. The Riviera Maya is clearly full of resorts and large companies offering tours to visitors. While I have nothing against choosing a large company, I do think that the little guys often have a lot to offer and their value can easily be overlooked when there are flashy alternatives available.
2. There are just a handful of local tour guides in Akumal. They stand at the bridge and compete for business. This isn’t fun. Often very gentle and kind people have to come across as pushy and brash in order to get noticed by passing visitors.
3. I fully understand that it can be hard to trust tour guides when they’re touting for business. You don’t know what’s what, what’s worth visiting or who is worth listening to. It’s hard when tours feel expensive, you want to have a good experience and not feel overcharged.

Who Are Nature Reserve Indios Tours?

Basically, the company is Juan and his wife. They’re locals. Juan’s dad is actually the local shaman. Juan has been working as an independent tour guide for around five years. He is one of just 13 tour guides qualified to give snorkelling tours in Akumal Bay (to see the turtles).

By choosing a local guide like Juan, you’re choosing someone who not only knows the region but also cares about, and has a stake in, the region. This is Juan’s home. He wants to protect it and keep it safe. He also wants to protect and care for the turtles that have their home in Akumal Bay, on just the other side of the bridge. You’re choosing to work with the local cooperative that is working to preserve the natural beauty of their area.

Juan. Photo taken by Nature Reserve Indios Tours

Juan offers three tours: the sea-turtle tour, a snorkelling tour of nearby Yal Ku Lagoon and the tour we took to Santuario De La Diosa Ixchel. I choose the last tour because my family loves caves and we already took a turtle tour a few years ago. For my kids, snorkelling is always hit or miss as to whether I’ll be able to persuade them into the deep water with masks on. Caves? Always a win. Juan did make it clear that all three tours are open to everyone though.

You can find more about Juan and his tour company on Facebook by following this link.

Juan isn’t flashy, he isn’t loud. He clearly loves the region and knows all about it. He’s a genuinely nice guy to spend time with. He also speaks good English and has kids so has seen all the nonsense any kid could throw at him. Handily I didn’t put this to the strongest test but he certainly wasn’t horrified when my son sang the same song at him over and over and over and over!

Tour To Santuario De La Diosa Ixchel

This tour lasts around three hours and takes in two caverns: La Gran Caverna, La Caverna Del Jaguar, and one cenote: Caverna Los Aluxes.

Do you know what the Aluxes are? They are a mythological sprite or spirit in the Mayan tradition. They are considered to be small (I always think of garden gnome size) and dressed in traditional Maya clothing. They are generally ‘found’ in nature, in caves or forests. My friend, Faith, wrote a good article about them if you’re interested in reading more about the Aluxes.

We met Juan and Daniel (who helps out) in town and drove off into the jungle. After around 20 minutes we got out and started to walk deeper into the jungle.

My kids were basically humouring me at this point. They clearly felt they were being dragged along on yet another of their mother’s harebrained adventures.

And then we came to the first of the two caverns (above). My well-travelled kids were blown away. They were handed torches (flashlights) and told to wade through shallow water in dark caves. Truly something they could get behind! Both kids were incredibly excited by this and the six-year-old repeatedly told us this was the best adventure ever!

We explored two caverns in this way before coming to the true highlight of the trip: the cenote. We stopped a few times to discuss various points in the caverns. I suspect we could have had far more information too had we not had kids zooming ahead constantly.

Now, if you know me at all, or if you’ve read much of my blog or seen my Instagram feed, you’ll know that my family loves cenotes. We can regularly be found (or not!) checking out cenotes.

Click here for more information about cenotes in the region

This one, called Cenote de Aluxes, is a fully covered, cave cenote. We bumped into one other group in the cenote (and were told this was the busiest they’d ever seen it!). While they were left to get on with their own swimming, we were taken on a proper tour of the cave. Honestly, I would never have swum around the cave in this way if we hadn’t been guided around it but I’m so glad we were. We went all the way to the back of the cave, got out and had a little climb around, saw why the cenote is called ‘Cenote de Aluxes’ and then got to do something super cool. I’m torn between telling you and letting you experience it for yourselves here! Maybe I’ll just say that we did something I’ve never done before and that it was really fun. If you truly want to know what it was, email me and ask me!

After as long swimming as we wanted (the water is cool, not cold) we got out and walked twenty minutes or so back to the car. Juan then took us back to where we’d left our own car at the entrance to the grounds.

Do be aware that it looks a little touristy when you arrive at the starting point for the tour. This is because a larger tour agency (still Mexican) uses this area as a base point for many of their tours. It doesn’t mean your tour will be rampacked with other groups though.There is also a cenote at this site that you can use when you’re finished with the tour should you wish to do so.

We were told about some of the wildlife that abounds in the jungle but clearly, we saw nothing but a racoon. Anyone remember that I mentioned one of my kids singing the same song over and over? Let’s add in that they were also pretending to be dinosaurs and yelling about being the tour guide and you’ll know why we saw nothing.

For more ideas of interesting things to do along the Riviera Maya, check out these two articles: Alternative Tulum and Day Trips From Playa del Carmen. 

The Verdict On The Kid-Friendly Day Trip In The Riviera Maya

This was exactly the right level of adventure for small kids, even those who haven’t been exposed to great big cenotes or jungle trips before. We loved that we were just our family, we weren’t with thirty other people. We really enjoyed being able to ask our questions about what we were seeing, local culture and the history of the region. We felt like we were in safe hands (always good when you’re being driven off into the jungle by complete strangers!) and the kids had an absolute blast. They were gutted when the tour ended and we had to say goodbye.

Follow this link if you’d like to know more about kid-friendly cenotes across the Peninsula

Tour Details

You can contact Juan through facebook @naturereserveindiostours, you can call (although I believe the phone will be answered by his wife who doesn’t speak English): +52 1 984 210 7755 or you can check out their website.

Tour prices do vary depending on size of group and what the group expects but count on around $800 pesos per adult. (I am not an affiliate of this company, I do not get anything from people booking tours with Juan).

The cost includes entry to the site, transport from Akumal to the start of the tour and life jackets for those who wish to use them in the cenote.