Kayak Travel Guides: CARM Tours, Activities & Attractions

November 19, 2024 by

We are happy to announce that our tours are now featured on Kayak.com !

Discover more things to do in Cancun at KAYAK!

We are celebrating our 25th year in business this year! Since 1999, we have been your on-site specialist for all of your excursions whether you are staying in Cancun, Isla Mujeres, or anywhere in the Riviera Maya!

Have you ever wanted to see Mayan ruins, fly above the jungle on zip lines, explore underground cenotes, swim with sea turtles, or visit Pueblo Magicos (magical cities in Mexico)?…. Check out our private tours to Chichen Itza, Ek Balam, Coba, Tulum, cenotes and more….:

Private Tour to Chichen Itza Ruins with Cenote & Lunch: https://www.cancunandrivieramaya.com/tours/chichenitza-ikkil-private.asp

Private Tour to Tulum Ruins & Swim with Sea Turtles in Akumal: https://www.cancunandrivieramaya.com/tours/tulum-akumal.asp

Private Tour to Ek Balam ruins & Xcanche Cenote with Zipline: https://www.cancunandrivieramaya.com/Tours/ekbalam-private.asp

Private Tour to Coba Ruins:                        https://www.cancunandrivieramaya.com/tours/coba.asp

Private Tour to Chichen Itza & Ek Balam Ruins with Cenote & Lunch: https://www.cancunandrivieramaya.com/tours/chichenitza-ikkil-ekbalam.asp

Private Tour to Chichen Itza & Coba Ruins with Cenote & Lunch: https://www.cancunandrivieramaya.com/tours/chichenitza-ikkil-coba.asp

Private Tour to Tulum & Coba Ruins:          https://www.cancunandrivieramaya.com/Tours/tulum-coba.asp

Private Cenote Snorkel & Canopy Zipline Tour: https://www.cancunandrivieramaya.com/Tours/aktun-chen.asp

And you can see more options for exploring the Mayan ruins & cenotes here: https://www.cancunandrivieramaya.com/tours/clasification.asp?code=RUINS

Or maybe you prefer activities on the water such as snorkeling, catamaran tours or swimming with whale sharks!…:

Best Reef Snorkel Tour:                       https://www.cancunandrivieramaya.com/tours/snorkel.asp

Isla Mujeres Catamaran Day Trip (Public): https://www.cancunandrivieramaya.com/tours/Catamaran.asp

Isla Mujeres Catamaran Day Trip (Private): https://www.cancunandrivieramaya.com/tours/Catamaran-Private.asp

Swim with the Whale Sharks on Isla Mujeres: https://www.cancunandrivieramaya.com/Tours/whalesharkisla.asp

 

What are you waiting for? Start planning your vacation now! We love living in Cancun and Isla Mujeres, and helping visitors make the most of their vacation. Let CARM help you too!

Filed Under: About Cancun, Isla Mujeres, Stuff for Locals, Things to do in Cancun, Travel Info, Trip Reports Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Isla Mujeres day trip on the Lupita Catamaran

May 16, 2013 by

One of our goals is to actually GO on all of the tours we sell at CARM Tours & Transfers. This week we joined the catamaran “La Lupita” on their day trip from Cancun to Isla Mujeres. We had a wonderful time. You can book the catamaran Lupita for only $53 USD here.

Turquoise waters between Cancun and Isla Mujeres We checked in at Cancun Bay Resort & Marina, located at KM 3.5 in the Cancun Hotel Zone. Check in was fast so we had about 30 minutes at the palapa before the start of the tour. This worked out well since we had skipped breakfast and the palapa sold croissants and bottled water. We split one of each which cost us $36 pesos (~about $3 USD).Lupita Catamaran

At 10:00 AM we boarded the Lupita catamaran and headed to Isla Mujeres. With the sail raised it took us about an hour to get to the island. We were all given snorkel gear and jumped in the ocean at “El Farito” reef, which means “little lighthouse”. We saw tons of fish including the biggest barracuda I have EVER seen. Amazing. The snorkel guide had a sandwich baggie filled with something the fish really liked so we were surrounded by a school of brightly colored fishes. Large parrot fish, small trigger fish and lots that I could not identify.

snorkeling Isla Mujeres CatamaranBy 11:00 AM we were back on the boat, heading over to the island. Our first stop was at Isla Contoy dock. We had 1 hour free time on the island to shop, rent a golf cart, or hang out at the bars/restaurants. We skipped the golf carts and just walked around a bit, then ended up at the Isla Contoy dock bar where we watched an English fellow eat a scorpion pickled in Tequila. Good times!

Back on the boat for the trip to the beach club for lunch at 1:00 PM. The buffet was good food, as good as most all-inclusive resorts. Drinks here are not included, so be sure to bring some cash. We went back for seconds, then hit the lounge chairs. I loved this part of the day, so relaxing. There were hammocks in the shade and lounge chairs. We cooled off in the ocean, then just relaxed some more.

Isla Mujeres CatamaranWe boarded the boat about 3:00 PM to head back to Cancun. Just before we got there the captain set anchor and put up the spinnaker. The spinnaker is like para sailing, except you are anchored. The video shows it better than I can describe it. It is not very easy, however it looked well worth the effort.

The Lupita catamaran docked back in Cancun at 4:45 PM. I have to say that for only $53 per person, this was a fabulous day on the water, on the island, and it is a great value. This tour is not for the party crowd. The music was current, yet not so loud as to blast your eardrums. The crew was accommodating, yet no one was telling me to put my hands in the air and scream. For us (upper-30-something-couple) it was the perfect day getaway without some 19-year-old throwing up on my shoes.

For more information and to book your day trip to Isla Mujeres on the catamaran Lupita for only $53 USD, CLICK HERE TO BOOK THE TOUR.

Filed Under: Things to do in Cancun, Travel Info, Trip Reports Tagged With: , ,

Day Trip to Playa del Carmen

December 14, 2012 by

We’ve seen the beaches in Cancun, ate at the popular restaurants, and we’ve been to the shopping centers here, so we decided to spend our day off this week in Playa del Carmen. Playa del Carmen is located 1 hour south of Cancun. It is referred to as simply “Playa”. Since a few margaritas were in our future we opted to take the ADO Bus instead of driving ourselves.

ADO bus depot in Cancun

ADO bus depot in Cancun

The bus costs $48 pesos ($3.70 USD) per person each way. From the hotel zone you can take the R-1 Bus to the ADO bus depot. At the depot you can buy a ticket to almost anywhere. We only had to wait about 2 minutes for the next bus to depart Cancun. The bus was comfortable and quite. In 1 hour we were arriving to Playa del Carmen. The bus depot in Playa is right on the famous 5th Ave, very close to the ferry dock that goes to Cozumel. We did not need any other transportation while in Playa.
If you hover over the little blue square on the map you can see the ADO Bus Depot. From there we walked northeast on 5th Ave. Our first stop was 3 blocks away from the beach to this cool little area with a handful of food carts in a small park. For only 20 pesos we got lechon tortas (pulled pork & onion sandwiches) that were really tasty.

The shops on Playa’s 5th Ave. are super chic and you can buy almost anything you need. Silver, swimsuits,  cigars, clothes, hammocks, jewelry, in addition to souvenirs of all kinds. While we do get some of the aggressive sales tactics of the vendors on the street yelling “Come into my shop, I have what you need!” it is less aggressive than the markets in Cancun.

After we walked the entire length of 5th Ave and we were done shopping, we cut back to the beach. The beach is Playa is wide and perfect white powdery sand. The waves roll in with less force than in Cancun’s ocean side hotel zone. Playa’s beaches are full of beach bars  and restaurants with lounge chairs and umbrellas. There are relaxing cabanas where you can get a massage for about $18 USD for 30 minutes. By this time is was afternoon and we were ready for a cold beer on the beach. Beers are about 30 pesos each and that was just what we needed.

Beach at Playa del Carmen

Beach at Playa del Carmen

Females have the freedom to go topless on the beaches of Playa del Carmen. This is not the case in Cancun. Playa has many European vacationers [Read more…]

Filed Under: Food & Drink, Travel Info, Trip Reports Tagged With: , , ,