Thanks for the great detail! The only free date in our agenda is 1st of January to do this trip. Since its high season we were nervous about getting a boat without a reservation and I guess we got lucky. These ruins are unbelievable. I felt they were very honest people. Btw do you happen to know if snorkeling can somehow be included in your DIY visit to Sian Kaan? This convenience and knowledge does come at a higher cost, so simply weigh out what is more important to you personally. Read More, Copyright 2022 Roaming Around the World, How To Visit Sian Ka'an: Table of Contents, The Ultimate Travel Packing Checklist and Packing Tips. Great trip! Use tab to navigate through the menu items. Will be in Akumal/Tulum area in Feb. someone told us to check out this huge park area, south of Tulum. We did it at our return so that we were sure to have a boat. August will be very hot so Id recommend trying to go as early in the morning as possible. We managed a small discount por los Ninos but not much Hey! You just put a smile on our face. These Sian Kaan tours to the ocean side of Sian Kaan can be worth the splurge, but travelers on a budget may find them to be a bit pricey. Hope you have/had a great trip to visit Muyil and Sian Kaan! Im determined to visit the Punta Allen side during our next trip to the Yucatan and your account is very encouraging to pursue. Thanks for the feedback Lauren! Wish us luck! Thanks again for the guide! We never liked tours however are older and have been unsure lately wether to venture as we did when younger. Thank you for your help. Good luck! Gracias for informing us on this new development which really helps us to keep this post up-to-date for future travelers to the area. I guess it just seems at the boat dock comparatively to parking at the Muyil ruin site. Thanks for commenting! Don't subscribe
In town we saw many vendors selling all of these items for cheap. The boat guy told us it was 600 pesos/person. It was beautiful. The name of the place is el corazon del paraiso (the heart of paradise) a well earned name: its beautifully shaped like a heart, water are crystal clear and very cool, alot of little fish swimming around.. Its a beautiful spot!! For perspective, Sian Kaan is even larger than the nearby island of Cozumel! Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and comment to confirm prices and share your experience! So what we encountered with entrance fees was the following: And yes, the cost of t he boat tour is 700 pesos. From the thick Yucatan jungle, freshwater marshes extend out through lagoons and even Mayan-built canals, all the way to a thriving barrier reef in the Carribean Sea. Awesome! To get from Cancun airport to Sian Kaan, youll first need to travel towards Tulum. Simply head to the main ADO bus station in Tulum (on Avenida Tulum between Alfa and Jupiter). Im going in August; I plan on doing the Muyil route and packing lunch and spending a goo chunk of time at Sian Kaan. We cancelled the Cozumel leg and extended our stay at PA, with the help of our gracious host Nikki at Serenidad Shardon, which was a beautiful property right on the beach. Its interesting to hear that they charged $700 pesos per person. If you forget bug spray, the price at the gift shop across the Muyil entrance is 120 pesos, which was way too much IMHO, so I just went without. They know they are monitored for the UNESCO rules and follow that, and sunscreen and life jackets etc. I skipped (I know, terrible mistake) the swimming part but thats me. They shared about their native Maya language and culture, and knew so much about that ecology of the place. This option is best for anyone who may already have a car that can handle off-road conditions. We just came back from the DIY Trip to Sian Kaan. It really helped guide us on our trip to Sian Kaan this week. I know you might not be able to say for sure, but it would be helpful to know if there were several boats waiting to take people, or if there were just 2 (in which case lowers our chances of having 2 boats ready to take us). Q:What is the policy on face masks and attendee health during Sian Ka'an Adventure ? If youve ventured out to Sian Kaan on your own, please let us know in the comments. +$20USD per person extra for pick-ups between Puerto Aventuras and Playa del Carmen Colosio Street. Your email address will not be published. [2022], 16 Fun Things To Do in Playa del Carmen in 2022 - Every Steph, [] LOOKING FOR MORE OPTIONS? Another thanks from our little group for this nice description! We stopped off at the visitor centre perhaps 20 mins in to walk down the lagoon-side pier and then drove down to the Boca Paila bridge which was spectacular. The 205 km marker is missing but the Oxxo is a great landmark and the entrance is just a few meters north of there, We opted to walk the ruins and the boardwalk, making our way to the boats. Also present in the biosphere, are jaguars, manatees, panthers, hammerhead sharks, and stingrays. Hi, all this sounds absolutely wonderful and we will do this DIY trip tomorrow for a romantic Christmas Day to remember. Thats a helpful point about the lack of Internet and Ill add that to this post when I come back into here to update it again. He was very friendly and the initial wait for us was 50 minutes. The Muyil bus stop is actually afew hundredmeterspast the Muyil ruins entrance. It was so exciting. We knew that there must be some way to easily get to Sian Kaan on your own. Its very relaxing and serene. Its also nice to just float, so if you dont have the mask, youll still have fun. Thank you very much again, and I will sure update after completing the trip. Hope you have a great experience! A guided tour would certainly offer a much more information about the wildlife and history of the area. Thanks a lot Tanja for going on the Sian Kaan Adventure tour with us. Hi Kimy, thanks so much for the comment and sharing that your DIY experience went smoothly! In retrospect I think perhaps we should have chosen the earlier or later tour, because there was not much wildlife about in the heat of midday. Buy a ticket from the ticket counter (not on the bus) and ask for a ticket to Muyil. Mayan is their first language, but most speak Spanish. Its disappointing to hear they raised the prices again. Check current pricing, latest reviews, and availability for this tour on our GetYourGuide affiliate. All our tours include pick up in the area of Tulum and there is an extra fee in case clients are staying north of Tulum. Prices are still as above. Thanks again for this excellent guide to one of the areas hidden gems. We just came across your blogpost as we are heading to Mexico in a couple of days! Awesome write up you guys, thank you both for taking all the time and effort to chronicle such a detailed guide! For future visitors, the boat trip is still 600 pesos per person, the bus trip there & back was 56 pesos per person (return). Pickups are from 6:30am to 8:30am. So we did not pay the 45 pesos and since there was nobody at the other shed also not the 50 pesos. I loved the detail really helpful! Covid has reduced boat capacity to 50% so 3 people. Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your detailed account of your trip to the Muyil ruins. Just did the Muyil tour today GREAT! I will tell you there arent many lodgings in Punta Allen so with a little research you can figure out who may be able to connect you with an operator. jungle entrance: 50 M$ Sounds like an interesting pursuit! Kids loved it. Charter your private vessel (2 hours) to cruise the lagoon of one of the largest eco-reserves in the world at the Biosphere Reserve of Sian Ka'an. I see that from Muyil theres only a 2-hour walk and were looking for longer ones. Also, there is now a boatman hanging out at the entrance to muyil and he organizes the trips for everyone. Have a great trip to Mexico! We went to an island and saw frigate birds nesting and newly hatched chicks, we followed a family of 5 dolphins who were only too happy to perform tricks for us in the water. He then escorted us back along the boardwalks to the boat , imparting gems of knowledge about the surrounding flora en route. But just in the past few weeks, people have been commenting about higher prices and a cap regulating the number of boats going out for the lagoon tour each day. Was a great way to spend the morning! Cheers! There are a few fishing lodges in Punta Allen and prices vary. Thanks for the validation that the guide still remains to be helpful and accurate. I plan to try this in 2+ weeks. The lunch was actually delicious and the entire day felt efficient and timed well. We traveled with a 15 y.o., 13 y.o. Expected more of that. Anyway, Im not sure if its because its a Saturday, or if the place is more known now, or we just happened to arrive when there was a crowd, but we arrived at about 1220 to be told that the next available boat was at 1340. I was referring to the boat ride around the Sian Kaan biosphere reserve. All of the prices are still accurate. I asked him about crocodiles, he told me they dont appear in the floating area much more on the ocean shore. Thanks a lot for your advice! If you take the route through the ruins, make sure to be back from your boat tour before 4:30pm or so. Thanks to Pablo for making it an unforgettable day! We are doing this trip tomorrow, looking forward to it! Thank you for this update of information and were really glad to hear this info was helpful! This price has already been negotiated. But it does not reach the barrier reef for snorkeling. Thanks for much for sharing the details of your experience at Sian Kaan! And thank you for confirming the prices! Woke up early enough to get to Muyil by 9:30. Great information, thanks very much , we had a great exploring and saved lots of money ! Price was still 600 pesos pp. I will update this post again soon to reflect this change. You can take a bus (via Playa del Carmen), a taxi, or organize private transport. Thanks so much for your detailed description of how to go here. We wanted to do the boat trip first, in the morning, in order to keep the no sunscreen part out of the midday heat. Thanks so much for stopping back by our site and for confirming the prices you paid. To go back same way the lancha leaves at 7 20am from punta allen deck. But I think the boat ride would be fine. My husband and I were in Playa in December of 2016 but didnt have time to explore Sian Kaan. Boat tour of Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Reef snorkel (Subject to weather conditions ! Yes, the boat guys seem very honest and thanks for sharing your story that very much illustrates that. Very easy to do, not a long walk at all, this was with a 7 and 11 year old. That can be done in either a full day tour or spend a few days there. How did you meet captain Carlos? A small size tour keeps things intimate and boats help to avoid that slowgoing rough road. As mentioned here, the price is $1000 MXN. This Sian Kaan tour departs from Tulum. I think I will print some info out about the wildlife and ecology. A guided tour would provide much more info on everything and would be an easier option, but it would come at almost double the cost of this DIY itinerary. I think we paid 38 pesos each to enter the park and 50 pesos each to walk on the boardwalk. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. If the conditions allow us, we will encounter local marine life, we can observe manatees, crocodiles, observe from the surface the remains of a mysterious Mayan ruin. Its about a 5-minute walk until you reach a boardwalk with a formal entrance to the Sian Kaan Biosphere Reserve. I and a friend prefer not to walk to the lagoon and will have a rental car. Drinks included with your meal are water, soft drinks, and a typical Mexican drink called Agua de Jamaica. The boat trip is really overpriced (compared to other trips we did in Mexiko: flamingo tour in Celestun 2000 M$ / 8 persons on the boat or Canon de Sumidero 200 M$ per person), but thanks to your blog post, we were ready to pay such price and we have to admit that we really enjoyed the trip and especially the long floating part! We were able to see all the animals and babies. Tulum is an unmissable place in Mexico. There are small shops on the road at the entrance to the ruins, but nothing beyond there. I think a tour with a guide might include a more knowledgeable guide who might tell more about the biosphere, animals or show you a bit more of the animal life? Ah, next time. Its so nice when you can get a boat all to yourself. Given the logistics of attempting a Punta Allen trip on your own and the added costs associated with taking an excursion to this coastal side of Sian Kaan, exploring the inland portion of Sian Kaan be the easiest, quickest, and most feasible. We are long term travellers on a low budget and thought that 600pesos for this boat ride was a little pricey for what it is and the work and gasoline they put into it. We stopped off the side of the road a few minutes from Myuil to ask for directions, and it just happened to be from a laguna boat operator. Mangrove boat ride was fantastic saw manatees, close up ospreys and other colourful birds. Its always interesting to hear the pricing for the children, since we have no experience there. It couldnt have been easier and is a highlight of our trip. I thought it looked completely safe but there is always some level of risk leaving valuables in your vehicle. I saw perhaps 20 different bird species, and even a Coatin (an arboreal mammal that looks a bit like a cross between a dog and a racoon). The road to Punta Allen is not just potholes, but more like massive craters in places. But part of the appeal of the Muyil ruins is that youll likely have this archeological site entirely to yourself since it is seldom visited. Youll clearly see the entrance to Muyil from the parking lot. Question for anyone. Boat captain was late and there wasn't enough snorkling equipment, also needed to better quality. I am interested in doing the Punta Allen tour as well and would love any additional information you have on setting up a similar deal to what you acquired. Thanks so much for sharing your experience, added info, and tips! Enjoy it! Well be back in Mexico ourselves soon and were looking forward to checking this out ourselves. Youll simply need to be comfortable with buying the bus ticket (if traveling by bus) and then speaking with the boat men at Sian Kaan. Ive talked to people who have done just that. Take care. Q:What measures are being taken to ensure staff health & safety during Sian Ka'an Adventure ? This info is so useful! Boat tour around Sian Kaan lagoons price: Return bus Muyil to Tulum bus price: ~$40 pesos. Thank you so~~ much!! Im looking for some information about Sian Kaan Biosphere Reserve because I dont want to join group tours like you. We use and recommend: Mask & snorkel: While you can still enjoy the canal float without a mask and snorkel, we strongly recommend to bring a mask. Ah, its disappointing to hear they raised the price yet again. Hi Marie, Hi Jacky! How awesome to share this experience with your teens! Not a person, taxi,local,or hotel knew a thing!! We have 2 children 7 and 11. I will be attempting the same DIY adventure and will keep you posted! Two things to add: 1) Be ready to wait for the boats, especially if organized tours are arrivingthey will take precedence. Can I join an other group on the boat? As a result we, regretfully, could not take the boats. My friend and I had the same experience in that our hotel wanted to sell us expensive day-long trips that included swimming with dolphins (no thanks!) I highly recommend! I think we were the only tourists there at our time of visit. I would imagine that theyll be there on New Years Day. Also read the latest reader comments at the end of this post for most recent on-the-ground conditions. Hotels in Punta Allen start at about $70 USD, such as at the Hotel Cielo y Selva, which receives good reviews. Honestly have no idea. Charlotte. Sure, its a bit pricier than the collectivo but the time it saves and the hours seem well worth the extra few pesos! Everything was exactly how you described and so much easier to know what to expect with our 6 year old. Youll cruise around the lagoon and into narrow canals that are just barely wider than the boat itself. We have a rented car so we didnt use the bus. We paid $160 USD per person (plus tips), which is on the high side, but worth it for the convenience and privacy. Seeing a manatee in the wild for the first time. The ruins are small, but it is a lovely and quite walk in the forest. Hi Lynne, I personally use and trust Viator to book tours all over the world. If you happen to have six people, the price per person for this lengthier 4-hour boat tour would be $750-pesos, which is around the same per-person price thats charged for the 2-hour boat tour. Im a solo traveler woman traveling to Riviera Maya next month. Great article, thanks for writing all this up! If you want to see the inland jungle, Mayan ruins, wetlands, freshwater lagoon, mangrove forests, Mayan-carved canals, and float downsaid canals, youll find this all from the Muyil access point to Sian Kaan. Going back to town it was very easy to hail a colectivo and this one just charged us 30 pesos luckily. Make sure you cover up well, though. Cant wait to explore it on my own in Feb.- thanks for putting in the work!!! Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews. We will drive on our own, and have our own snorkeling gear. Youll get to snorkel on the Mesoamerican reef, spot the manatees at Boca Paila Lagoon and come across the wildlife that lives there. Would you guys recommend we spend 2-3 days at Sian Kaan? Sian Kaan is a National Park covering 5280 km/1304714 acres, making it the third largest protected area in Mexico. This tour also includes: Lunch and transportation from Chunyaxch. They charge accordingly, 150 pesos per person. We were running low on pesos, and he said he could take dollars instead. bus Mayab (Tulum-Muyil): 28 M$ To update a few things. The food was really tasty and we had a nice table in the shade while waiting for the bus. We went a few days ago. Glad to hear you were able to work it out with some limited Spanish, despite arriving at the same time as a tour group, to ultimately have a fantastic float down the canal! Did get a sunburn though, from the float and the walk back to the boat, be careful everyone! just a comment about the savings you mention. Also agree with you about the prices. They had declined. The best place to see dolphins in the Riviera Maya is not in a dolphinarium but in Sian Kaan Biosphere Reserve. Unfortunately it was too windy to go for the boat ride but the board-walk and ruins were nice. I look forward to this trip and will follow your tips. You will be more likely to see manatees in the bays around the ocean side rather than inland around Muyil. Your guide points out the protected areas immense biodiversity, including coastal and mangrove habitat teeming with marine life. Punta Allen sounds amazing though that road is intimidating. Great experience. Im not aware of any major safety concerns in taking the day trip to Sian Kaan. per person Thank you so much for this, I really enjoyed it! The canal float is the highlight of the experience, and they quoted us 600 pesos without asking. Someone on Facebook had recently messaged us about this too. Some people may go faster or slower. After that, we will cool off and jump into crystal clear water with our snorkeling gear on. The boardwalk through Sian Kaan was great, saw some interesting fauna ( flora was also exciting for Europeans, but since it wasnt our first selva experience, were not impressed). Thank you Steven for sharing your experience and providing an updated pricing on what you paid. Ah, you gotta love this Internet age with info at your fingertips. Surprised to hear of yet another price increase so quickly. Dont get dehydrated. All of these species are living in their natural habitat and appear much to the delight of our visitors. Can you explain how to make sure that there will be guys for the boat trip at the dock in Muyil. Do you by any chance know if it is possible to do the boat trip on sundays? Now, lets check out the very best Sian Kaan Biosphere tours! First, it should be understood that Sian Kaan Biosphere Reserve is a massive area, sprawling across 5,280 km2 (2,039 sq mi). Youll encounter them in this order: Once you reach the third main structure, Temple 8, do NOT follow the signs towards the exit. The Tour over the lagoon and through the canal is very Nice. Your post is definitely helpful especially who loves to travel and maybe one day want to take an adventure in Sian Kaan. But if you ask the bus driver nicely to get off at the Muyil ruins, hell likely oblige which will save you a two-minute walk. Thanks for dropping back by with the comment and feedback! The guides appreciate tips for great service, and you are sure to leave with many great memories! Thank you! Im actually just searching around the internet after visiting Sian Kaan through Muyil. We followed your instructions today and all went perfect! We can only hope that it due to an effort that ultimate helps to protect this special place. We try to avoid group tours at all costs and decided to go the DIY route to Punta Allen for the boat tour. It costs 135 pesos. Its also been reported that infants and toddlers are permitted to go on the boat tour for free. . It's great that you felt that you had the nature reserve just for you ! We hope to see you again soon for more adventures. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experiences start time will not be accepted. Today, April 19, we went out to see Muyil and do the 2 hr boat ride. Yet with recent (August 2019) reader comments indicating getting turned away at the boat docks, it may now be more worthwhile to consider a Sian Kaan tour from Tulum to ensure you experience the boat trip and canal float. ), Boat with snorkel equipment(mask, snorkel and fins), The Snorkel activity is not included and is a bonus if the weather is good to do it. Afterwards we walked back to the road and had a lovely lunch at Coco Nita. Thanks a bunch! Santos and Felipe were two guys that helped us out there and their english was ok. Since we were not able to find any detailed info on how to get to Sian Kaan on your own, we decided to put together this travel guide on our blog, in an effort to give back to the travel community. This expanded tour will continue further towards the ocean, so you may see some marine life. I was really excited about this tour from past reviews of the wonderful guide they had, apparently her is Karen. Thank you for dropping by to let us know. We were the first ones there at 8:00am. The drive out was about 1.45 hours from the entrance to the biosphere, as the tropical storm from the week before has done a number on the road with lots of potholes but was quite doable. And we will take some information from your article, that we will mention in our. Hi everyone, many thanks for the detailed informations. But it may not quite satisfy your urge for trekking. Its always nice to hear when prices are adjusted downward rather than up! We tipped the tour guides. Theres always been plenty of people ready to take visitors out for a ride through the lagoons and the canal float. We hope to make it there with our kids and am glad to have detailed information to prepare for this part of our visit should we have time. This is such generous and useful information, and 100% accurate at the time of writing this. Thanks for the time and effort. The price of the boat ride into the Sian Kaan lagoon is firmly afixed price of$700 pesos now $1,000 pesos per person. And does the reserve have specific opening and closing hours? A boat captain was at the entrance to Muyil and I tried to negotiate the boat tour rate for the 2 of us but was unsuccessful, 600P pp ($36.50 pp). Oh thats great! Glad you found the chill to be worth it, and that will likely be helpful to others (like the previous commenter). Were delighted to hear you had an enjoyable trip with ease . We checked and the message was sent. It made everything really easy. Happy travels! Thanks so much for sharing your lovely experience. Tours are soo expensive do it in your own and you will safe almost twice the Money. Theres nothing to call them out so it felt cool to have spotted them. Keep up the good work! You are the second person to report that this week, so it seems a new rate is indeed in effect. 600 pesos is still what they charge, and all the compliments are for free. Welcome! He is very passionate. It tends to be a highlight of many travelers visit to this area of Mexico. It was really helpful. Avoiding the rough road. So glad it proved helpful and you have a great trip! 28 for adults for the one-way ADO bus trip.
itza chichen While trying to figure out how to get to Sian Kaan Biosphere Reserve from Tulum, we researched on the web and asked around in Tulum, but no one seemed to have a clue. Thank you so much for this blog. Thanks for the comment and sharing your experience and opinion with our readers. We choose to leave the lookout tower for our trip back so we didnt need to rush. After the tower, the Canan-Ha trail soon opens up to a dirt road, where youll clearly see the lagoon and boat docks. Took the boat trip 700 each really nice to see no other tourists. We are glad you had an amazing day, and that you would recommend our tour. The answers provided below are based on answers previously given by the tour provider to customers questions. So if there are two people, expect to pay a total of $2,000 pesos and three people will pay $3,000 pesos, etc. This information was invaluable for my husband and I who wanted to visit Sian Kaan without a tour group and werent sure where to start. Our guide was very informative, the lagoons are gorgeous, and the float down the canal was incredible. Theyve always seemed to have held VERY firm on the price of 600 pesos per person. Just beyond that informational plaque, youll then see the actual Sacbe itself.

BOOK IT HERE, 14 Best Things to do in Pismo Beach, California, Go City Dubai Pass Review: Is it Worth it? When we were last there, about eight months ago, didnt even notice any construction of Oxxo going on. Fantastic advice, thanks a million. From our hotel on the beach in Tulum, travel time was 2 hours. Isnt the canal float great! Not an organized tour person at all. Thanks a lot! It turns out, despite a lack of info, Sian Kaan is, in fact, easily reachable from Tulum, Akumal, and Playa del Carmen, among other nearby Riviera Maya locations. Were hoping to see plenty of animals, if so, Im sure it will end up being the highlight of my sons trip! We hope to see you back in Tulum somedays. Encounter wild animalson our Sian Kaan tour. Its also nice to see that the trip is even slightly more economical now given the further devaluation of the peso. The man became quite aggressive. If that weren't enough, a beautiful sandbank the locals call "nature's swimming pool" is where we take time to relax & swim in the clearest of water before we end the boat tour. The highway in Costa Rica was by far worse! Thanks for the update about the Oxxo. This option is best for independent travelers who have at least 2 nights / 3 days to spend traveling to & from Punta Allen. Sun protection: The Yucatan sun is strong.
Truly an incredible experience, made better by our tour guides Felipe and Nico. Hey Moving my comment to the correct article Are these conversions correct? Walkend down the Road an der paid 1000 pesos for the boat Trip 2000 for 2 People. We really like avoiding the big tours so your info was very valuable! How annoying about the 90-minute wait. It is indeed a bumpy ride into the biosphere but we are glad that overall it was a great trip for you and that you saw all the animals you expected. We obviously took their advice. It seems quite odd that they have seemed to suddenly greatly restrict the boat trips, and in the low season nonetheless. If taking this colectivo, also plan to spend at least two nights at Punta Allen, because the return colectivo back to Tulum only departs from Punta Allen at the early hour of 5:00 am daily. I was in Mexico with my 65 year old mother who loved to do a boat trip.