Reserva natural de Río Secreto desde Playa del Carmen

De esta excursión hay 3 variables: - Esta es la más senzilla: autobús hasta el lugar (cuidado que aunque llamas para verificar la hora pasan antes y encima dicen que no esperan), espera allí hasta que se forma grupo con tu mismo idioma, nuevo paseo con bus por un camino de cabras, allí hay que dejar todo en unas taquillas incluido el teléfono aunque tenga funda para agua y joyas y demás abalorios, entrega de traje de neopreno, de manga corta y pantalón corto y casco con luz, paseo por la cueva con estalactitas y estalagmitas con el agua fría mientras te van haciendo fotos (que luego venden carísimas), la guía era encantadora, y finalmente un buffet libre (con poca variación y mucho picante). -La segunda lo mismo pero después del buffet visita a una cueva seca -La tercera o PLUS es en otro emplazamiento, la cueva se ve que es más impresionante y luego hay un paseo en bicicleta por la selva donde ves todo tipo de animales.

Ángel, nuestro guía fue maravilloso y nunca olvidaré la experiencia de verte iluminar el techo. Un punto negativo fue la venta de las fotos durante el viaje. ¡Pero de lo contrario no me lo perderé por nada del mundo!

Incredible experience! About a two hour hike and swim through the caverns followed by a tasty lunch. Definitely need to be fit to do this excursion with no fear of the dark or small spaces.

My family thought this was a great tour. It takes some time to get logistics together when you first arrive, but after that it was very memorable. Our guide (Fillipe) had a great since of Humor and did an awesome job keeping us separate from other groups in the cave. I enjoyed the tradition of the blessing entering the cave (even if it is just for show) and the ceremonial "shot" after leaving. Would highly recommend.

This tour was one of the highlights of our trip to Playa del Carmen. Our tour guide Olek Sanders, was very informational and spoke god English. They split groups into English speaking and Spanish speaking making it easier for everyone taking the tours. The caves were awesome and so was the swimming. You wear life jackets so you don't have to be a strong swimmer. There was some hiking and the path in the cave is uneven so this is a physical activity but overall moderate for most people to be able to complete the tour. You are not allowed to take your own camera and the pictures are expensive but this truly is an experience of a lifetime and I highly recommend everyone try this activity.

One of the most awesome experiences you can have! We have done this three times over the past few years and continue to be thrilled. Only issue was with the tour company that could not get our pick up time and place established correctly. With a bunch of back and forth emails it was finally resolved but sure left a sour taste in our mouths for this particular tour company!

I am living in Playa Del Carmen for a year. I booked a tour to the Rio Secreto Nature Reserve. My first disappointment was that they would not pick me up from my condo. Nevertheless I decided to go anyway because I could go to the closest hotel. However, I wasn't told that when the hotel is in Playacar I could not pass the entrance gate to the compound. I had to stand in the rain outside the gate and get the drivers attention. Okay after arriving at the reserve we took a shower, suited up in a wetsuit, shoes, helmet and walking cane. In order to get to the cave we needed to run through the forest as fast as we could to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes. Of course that was impossible. My legs back and arms got bitten the worse. The same thing happened going back. The luncheon food was very bland and not enough variety of food. Except for those unforeseen thing the tour was incredible.

FABULOUS tour. They provide you with everything you need - helmets with lights on them, wetsuits, water shoes, life jackets, and walking sticks. The underground caves are INCREDIBLE! You must hike a little bit to get to the caves, and also hike and walk in sometimes waist deep water and sometimes you have to swim a short distance. We are a couple in our mid sixties and it was easy to do. Certainly not over-challenging such that anyone should worry that they are not fit enough to do this tour. At the end of the tour they give you a shot of some kind of native alcoholic beverage and then a full Mexican buffet under a pavilion. AWESOME experience. I would highly recommend it. I agree with others that it is a shame what they charge for photos ridiculous amounts of money and they don't let you take any cameras or cellphones into the caves.

We booked our tour on the TripAdvisor website via Viator. The company that ultimately set everything up was Cancun Vacation Experts. We had a small group tour- only 9 people. Everything went as smooth as can be. Rio Secreto is a natural wonder that we felt privileged to explore. It is a National Geographic site that, to date, only about 80,000 people have had the opportunity to visit. It has only been open to the public since 2008. Our guide to the underground world was Alondra and although our tour was bilingual, she did an excellent job switching back and forth between the two languages. She was knowledgeable, witty and very informative. From the main entrance, you will board a small motor bus and drive 7K through the jungle to the staging area. You will need to wear/ bring a bathing suit and you will lock up all of your belongings as you may NOT bring cameras, cell phones or any other belongings except for perscription eyewear, that might get wet or lost. You will be required to shower off in cool water any lotions, creams, etc., so as not to pollute the fresh water. So don't bother with bugs pray or sunscreen...there are no mosquito's or sun in the caves. Don't worry about photos. They have professional photographer's that accompany you among the journey. Next you will be provided with non-skid water shoes, wet suit, life vest and helmets with headlamps. This is not a tour for very young children, people with mobility, balance, joint issues or if you are claustrophobic you do go through some tight spots or afraid of the dark. You must also be comfortable in water over your head. After you suit up, you will walk a few feet into the jungle where a Big Man like a Shaman will perform a Mayan blessing for your safe journey to/from the underworld. Greet him with Maloob Kin or Good Sun in Mayan. The caves are vast, about 17 miles long with only about 24 of them being fully explored. You will descend about 45 feet underground where you will enter the Secret River. The water temperature is between 69 and 72 degrees F. There are 4 different entrances/routes that can be explored. Our route was called Joy, so if you come back you can have a different experience. The tour takes about 2 hours or so even though you will only have travelled about 1/2 miles. The tour ends with ceremonial toast of Xtabentun, a Mayan spirit that is made with honey and anise and is about 20 alcohol. A buffet lunch was also included with our tour, with choices of salads, lime soup, pulled chicken, rice, pasta, beans and various hot sauce's all served under a palapa. Lunch was very good. As with any attraction, photo packages are available for purchase, we chose the 135 package as it included a USB drive with about 50 photos and you get a choice of any 4 souvenirs including t-shirts, hats and the Xtabentun the Mayan hooch. This was an absolutely amazing experience and definitely unique.

The cave is not as pretty as it looks in the pictures but it was still a fun adventure. There arent any safety mesaures inside of the cave so you just step where u can and its sometimes deep, slippery, and you can lose your balance easily. I would definitely not recommend for children under 12.