CELESTUN BACKROAD TOUR – Approximately 12 hours.
This delightful tour picks up our guests at their hotel and travels the backroads through Uman and Maxcanu to Celestun. We will stop tol shop the colorful markets and stroll the main squares. This is a unique opportunity to observe the daily lives of the wonderful people living here. The mixture of colonial and local architecture is impressive. After the towns, we travel through farms, fields and haciendas. Birdwatching is an option during this part of the trip. The tour includes Celestun where flamingo and sea bird-watching boat tours are available. The boats have roofs to shade you from the sun and comfortable seats and the trip lasts approximately two and one half hours and costs about $55.00 per person. For those not wishing to take a boat tour, free time can be spent relaxing on the beach or in the many local shops and restaurants. We return to Merida on the main road, from which we might visit a cenote, watch the sunset at the beach, or stop in a small town to watch social activities before heading home.

CENOTES AND IZAMAL – Approximately 12 hours.
Leaving Merida on Calle 50, one can see the gradual change from city to country. Small farms, haciendas and Mayan villages are part of this visual treat. The highlight is a stop in Eknakan, an old colonial hacienda occupied by Mayan families, where we see a mixture of architecture: gothic, New England, and Spanish colonial. Cool off in the magical waters of three cenotes. A horse-drawn cart on this old henequen plantation railroad takes people to the first cenote. Following the swimming in fresh water cenotes, we enjoy a picnic in the woods or in the guide´s home. Alternatively, we can have lunch in Izamal. The drive to Izamal through the countryside is approximately one and one half hours. We arrive around 3:00 PM, which is a great time for drinks and botanas and shopping – the market remains open - or taking a horse-drawn carriage ride around town. We leave Izamal and return to Merida around 8:30 PM.

INSIDER TOUR – This tour is in two parts over a 12 hour period.
This tour gives unique insight to Yucatan culture, living history, and geography. Leaving the City at 8:30am, the tour begins with a visit to Dzibilchaltun where a guided tour of the ruins or a swim in the cenote is optional. From here we drive on to Dzitya, an old town dedicated to working with stone and wood where we visit outdoor workshops. After leaving Dzitya, we travel backroads through the countryside, stopping periodically for an intimate look at nature and wildlife. Traveling through small pueblos, we visit one of the very few working haciendas. We visit Noc-Ac, another pueblo and hacienda where we can swim in a cenote which has remained unchanged for centuries. We continue traveling, watching the environment change from jungle to marsh to beach. At the beach, we visit the remains of Xtul, an old fishing hacienda on the beach where lunch and/or drinks or a long walk can be enjoyed. At 1:00 PM, we return to Merida via an alternative route through Mayan towns and old haciendas. Travelers are returned to their pickup point. After an afternoon siesta we leave Merida again at 5:30 pm, on our second half of the tour. We travel to the pueblos of Oncan, Chochom, Kilinche and Nolo – all with a hacienda legacy from the Spanish-colonial period of the late 1800´s. The most important town on our tour is Tixkokob where the main square is charming and unlike other towns, the market is open in the evening for dinner. People can stroll the plaza, shop, relax buy a pastry and enjoy watching families and friends socialize. At 8:30 PM, we return to Merida where everyone is dropped off at their hotels.