Desire Resort Forums

Hi all,

Does anyone know if any the tour companies that have bus trips to Tulum will pick us up at Pearl? We were specifically interested in the half day early tour booked through Viator. Has anyone done this? We have heard that some on the forums did a private tour. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

We are arriving at Pearl for our first visit the last week of October.

sanddbeach wrote:Hi all,

Does anyone know if any the tour companies that have bus trips to Tulum will pick us up at Pearl? We were specifically interested in the half day early tour booked through Viator. Has anyone done this? We have heard that some on the forums did a private tour. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

We are arriving at Pearl for our first visit the last week of October.

I'll throw in my $0.02 worth - lol

We have been to the archeological site at Tulum several times.

Never via an organized Bus tour.(here are some of the reasons why)
- the bus tours stop at multiple resorts picking up on the way to and then dropping off on the way home so you have all that extra time to contend with as well as just the drive time (the direct drive time from Pearl to the Tulum archeological site is 50min to 1 hr).
- the bus tours move everyone around the archeological site as a group ( herding cats - lol)
- most bus tours don't actually start arriving at the archeological site until about 11am just as it's getting into the hotter part of the day(FYI- there is no shade anywhere inside the archeological site - take several bottles of water with you from the resort !!)

So think about these as options: (also take several bottles of water with you from the resort !!)

1. Do a private tour, leave early 8/9am - get there before the heat of the day and well before all the bus tours start arriving and enjoy the place !!
2. Rent a driver for the day, leave early 8/9am - get there before the heat of the day and well before all the bus tours and then hire a local guide at the site if you wish(lots there) or just wander around yourself and leave when you want, your driver will be waiting there for you

IMHO, either of the above options will provide you a superior experience compared to any of public bus tours - yes a bit more expensive but worth it.

I have to agree with Wayne. Get a private tour, as sitting on a bus, going from resort to resort, then walking through the heat of the day sucks!

Get there as early as possible, and then still bring plenty of water...

Yes, I absolutely agree. We were in Cancun in February (not at Desire, will be there in August. CAN’T WAIT) and did the tour. We left at 7am and did not get back until after 9:30pm. The tour was great, but we could of went on our own, did the exact same thing, and been back to the resort to enjoy the rest of the day.

sanddbeach wrote:Hi all,

Does anyone know if any the tour companies that have bus trips to Tulum will pick us up at Pearl? We were specifically interested in the half day early tour booked through Viator. Has anyone done this? We have heard that some on the forums did a private tour. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

We are arriving at Pearl for our first visit the last week of October.

Over the years we did several private tours (or with one or two more couples from Pearl) to Tulum, Coba, Chichen Itza, and some other places, which were arranged by Adolfo. He can be found most of the time at the diving centre at Pearl, when not walking around. He is also the guy arranging the catamaran trips. You can arrange your trip as you want to. Just tell him what you want to see, and he will arrange.
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Hans & Ellis

I absolutely agree with CokeMan. Private tour is the best option.
Second thing: you can't visit Tulum without going to Cobá. Tulum is spectacular because they are the only prehispanic ruins right by the ocean --and what kind of ocean!-- but the monuments aren't relavant. In contrast, Cobá has the highest pyramid in all the Mayapan, and its location right in the middle of the tropical forest is amazing. Besides, there are 10% of tourists at Cobá than at Tulum. The best archeological combination near Desire.

Just for reference to the OP or anyone else that is interested, below are some links as options for private tours provided by USA Transfers/Entertainment Plus

Private Tour Tulum Express

Private Tour Tulum & Coba

Private Tour Tulum & Xel-ha

Thanks so much for the information. It is all helpful and we appreciate it greatly.

It seems that you can no longer climb the pyramid at Coba, but still worth the visit.

We agree, if you figure the opportunity cost of sitting on a bus, a private tour is actually "cheaper". We really don't want to be trekking all over the ruins all day long in the heat and like the idea of doing things on our schedule.

Plus it gives us more time to relax nude at Pearl.

We just spent 2 days in Tulum before coming to DP. We took a tour with Mexico Kan Tours but we were picked up at our hotel in Tulum. It was a small group tour, 7 people total. The next day we rented bikes and explored ourselves. Tulum is a very bike friendly area. We definitely climbed one of the pyramid ruins in Coba another one was off limits.

Our first trip to Cancun/Tulum in 2007, we rented a car and went around the peninsula sightseeing. It was fun and nice being able to come and go as we pleased.

If you want to sightsee I would maybe recommend booking at a cheaper hotel for that time and then go to Desire. Given how pricey the Desire resorts are, it seems like a waste to leave for any extended period of time.

We actually went nude at the beach in tulum

Tulum Is great but I wouldn't waste a day at Desire. I would get an extra night at the airport Marriott or somewhere and leave from there. I've done the bus and private tour. Not a fan of the bus. Stop at a cent on the way back.

Kevin

Following, thanks for the info!

Thanks for the info, we've been talking about taking a couple of day trips in the morning, when it seems like its a down time around the resort.

We used USA Transfers and booked an early (short) trip to Tulum - left at 7am and returned to DP by 12:15pm that day. The day just gets going at Pearl after lunch, so we didn't feel like we missed out on the day at Pearl.