Overall: This tour was amazing. I highly recommend it. Solo, group, kids - great for all ages.
I got picked up from Cancun so the ride down was about an hour or so. I completely forgot the name of the bus driver and chaperone, but they were great. The chaperone was funny, he kept the bus alive with his little jokes at 7:00 AM. Once you get to Rio Secreto, you are divided into language groups English and Spanish/Portuguese - I believe I heard some French, too. From there you take a van to meet up with your tour guide to get prepped. The ride is about 10 mins and it's a bumpy, dirt road so if you get motion sickness take some non-drowsy dramamine or chew on some ginger. Once you arrive to meet up with your tour guide, you will be taken to the lockers and shower. They require you to shower before heading into the river. Also, no earrings, watches, etc. in the river. After that you'll be given water shoes, helmet with light, wetsuit, life vest, and a hiking stick if you want one. I highly recommend the hiking stick. There's a 5-10 mins hike down to the river - the path is uneven, slippery, and there are some poisonous plants and trees on the way to the river so you don't want to trip and land on something that can harm you. Right before you head down the river you will be blessed by a Mayan shaman. You can opt out of that if you want. After the blessing it's time to head down to the river. Words cannot even describe the feeling you get just looking at this place in person. If you think the photos are beautiful just wait til you see it with your own eyes.
Unfortunately, there are no cameras of any kind allowed, but they do have a photographer following you taking photos for purchase at the end of the tour. Price per photo is 25USD or purchase the entire package for 99USD. I purchased the package because our photographer was great, and I wanted memories of this magnificent place. The photographer was really happy I liked his photos after I told him I was going to purchase the package. We only get to see 10 of a really long and deep underground river that's still being explored and mapped out til this day. The revenue from this tour helps conserve and protect the rest of the river/nature reserve which is roughly 1.5 million years old - let that sink in no pun intended. The buffet they provided after the tour was decent. It's food, and I was hungry so I ate it. Don't expect to be given Michelin star food or authentic Mexican cuisine here.
My tour guide was Lu. She was awesome. She provided information about the river, history, and made sure we didn't slip or fall by lending out her hand every time we came across a difficult path. I went on this tour solo and was grouped with some older folks - which I love. My group was lively and entertaining. We all looked out for each other along the way. In the end, I'd do this tour again as they continue to discover more of this underground river.