Pink Lake Tour from Las Coloradas with lunch and boat ride

Posted By : Jielu_Y
Terrible experience. Upon booking, the website had said $20 USD per person for the federal reserve tax. When they used WhatsApp to message me with the booking confirmation, they changed the price to $24pp. I messaged back a pdf of their booking webpage and asked that they conform to the price that was listed when booking, but their response was to change the price listed on the website and ignored my message. I asked if this fee is paid by cash or credit card, and they said both work. The night before the tour, I texted the WhatsApp number again to ask for bus and driver details so that I know who and what to look for in the morning pick up, but my messages were ignored. In the morning, I texted 30 mins before scheduled pick up time to ask, and no response. We waited outside the hotel. 5 minutes after the scheduled pick up time, we get a WhatsApp call frantically asking us where we are, told us that the bus is outside the hotel, and saying that the bus will leave without us. We told them that we’ve been waiting outside the hotel but there was no bus. I sent them a video of where we were (there was no bus) and asked for the driver’s information and location, but the caller from the tour agency only repeated that the bus is right outside and will leave in a minute. Turns out the bus was a block away from the hotel (smart oasis) and across the street. As soon as we got on the tour guide asked us to pay $24pp of the federal reserve tax. Again I asked why there is a discrepancy between the listed price at time of booking and the current price, and the tour guide said this is what the company told him to charge. I then asked to pay in card, and he said that’s fine, I will have to pay $24pp on site at Las Coloradas. At Las Coloradas, he led us to the ticketing counter and said there is an added 5% fee for using card, and that the price is now $26 per person. I then asked to pay with cash. The tour guide insisted that the price is now $26 instead of $24 due to the difference in currency exchange rates between Cancun and Yucatán. This didn’t make sense; if I had paid him in cash on the bus and the currency exchange rate makes the price $2 higher in Yucatán, when the tour guide hands the $24 federal reserve tax in cash over to the ticketing counter at Las Coloradas, does that mean he’s paying $2 extra per person out of pocket? I asked him that and he said currency exchange rules are complicated. Feels like this tour guide is scamming or trying to make money from the price difference. I then talked to the ticketing counter at Las Coloradas in Spanish and the staff there said that the tax is $24pp. This experience left a sour note from the very start of the tour. In terms of the tour overall, the itinerary was packed and the activities were decent, but not enough time at each stop. The mud bath is extremely underwhelming: they give you a small bucket of clay and you take some in your hands and smear it on your body. The lunch was also quite underwhelming. The “guides” at Las Coloradas are just workers who can help take pictures; there was no guided tour or explanations. I was also expecting commentary or explanations of the sites we are visiting and the local culture, but our tour guide did not do that. At the end of the night, they dropped some passengers off on the side of the highway because the ramp to their hotel was closed, which felt dangerous especially because there was not much lighting. My group got dropped off across the street from our hotel, the whole tour being 15 hours. Between the discrepancies in pricing, lack of explanations and commentaries during the tour, and the rushed itinerary despite a very long day, the experience was unpleasant. I would not recommend this to others.
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Posted On : 2024-02-23 00:59:03

Posted By : Lijun_Q
The trip is unforgettable! Nice tour leader and great driver. The trip was very smooth. Thanks Viator to introduce such nice tour for customers.
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Posted On : 2024-02-07 22:17:45

Posted By : Agnes_Y
It was a great experience, knew the ride would be long but it was long. The experience override the long ride and long day. Be prepared to be back to your hotel late, we got back around 10pm
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Posted On : 2023-12-30 18:05:54

Posted By : Miriam_S
Was cool seeing the pink lakes but they’re not as pink as the photos- maybe depends when you go! The boat ride was super fun, and we got to see crocodiles and lots of birds including flamingoes. Our guide Toledo was friendly. Prepare for a long day - our trip was 15 hours.
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Posted On : 2022-12-13 12:58:24

Posted By : Clive and Clair... B
We enjoyed our trip from Cancun to visit the Pink Lagoon at Las Coloradas. We stopped at a crocodile 🐊 farm on the way and also went for a boat 🚤 trip to Rio Lagartus. The boat trip included a stop to apply some mud which we were told was great for your skin.

The late lunch was great and luckily we had some snacks to keep us going, otherwise we would have been really hungry.

Worth the long journey and the people in our bus were good company. We have been even better if our tour guide filled more of the dead time on the bus providing us with some local insights.

If you were only planning a single excursion during your stay I would prioritize touring Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula visiting Chichén Itzá, Cenote and Valladolid.
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Posted On : 2022-11-03 11:26:53

Posted By : dimoir
Pink Lake excursion was very good and very interesting. 3 different activities in one (1) day. Pink Lake was interesting with speciality guides for the lakes and provided great information. 2nd activity as the boat ride, which was best part of the trip. Boat captains very informative. Able to see crocodiles in their natural habitat and watch them feed them. Then went and able to see beautiful flamingos in their natural habitat. Amazing. Then went and participated in a Mayan experience by covering ourselves with the natural sun block of mud. Boat captains drove to the coast where we were able to wash off the mud before going to lunch. Note - mud takes a while to get off, so you really need to shower. Last activity a visit to a Crocodile Farm. Great experience. It should be noted that if you get picked up from the Hotel Zone in Cancun, you can expect a 15 hour day. Very long. From Playa del Carmen approx. 12 hour day. Lunch was at a traditional Mexican. Recommend if you want to see the Yachatan area of Mexico.
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Posted On : 2022-08-25 21:17:35

Posted By : melimel1514
The bus driver to the big bus in the morning was very all over the place. The bus ride to the excusion is long. The bus driver back to the hotel was reckless. Not stopping at stop signs, driving fast. Horrible ride back. Then didn't even drop off off to the lobby. Left us as the gate.
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Posted On : 2022-07-13 23:49:27

Posted By : Marek_S
I do not recommend - offer not as described: no snacks box, hidden costs (11 USD / person for entry to Las Coloradas). The guide rarely spoke English and it was very difficult to understand (he mumbled).
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Posted On : 2021-11-14 05:46:50

Posted By : Akesha_S
Great customer service! Pablo and Fred did a great job explaining, translating and making us as comfortable as possible. Despite the rain I had a great time. The restaurant had excellent food and facilities.

I'm giving it 4 stars because there's lots of room for improvement. The van was not clean enough. The box lunch was a bologna and cheese sandwich on white bread. The air on the van was subpar. And we needed to fill up before we hit the road, that should've been done b4 picking us up.

All in all I still enjoyed myself because the staff is A1 and it's all about the people!
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Posted On : 2021-09-12 01:38:32

Posted By : Jason_S
Fun day Frank was informative and a nice guy. Enjoyed the Pink lakes and the boat ride. Everything was easy pick up drop off safe and reliable
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Posted On : 2021-05-17 11:13:46