While in Calica you MUST look up Edventures Tours! You can find them @ edventuretours.com.mx  or by emailing them @ edventure68@hotmail.com.

Let me start off by saying that we are a little bit discouraged when we first got to Calica because Calica is just a big dust bowl. There is absolutly NOTHING to do at the port. You must either book an excursion or take a taxi to somewhere, and the taxi is not cheap! It cost us $20 for the taxi. We had to take the taxi because we had some problems getting off our boat which caused us to be 30 minutes late. The bus with the tour group had already left. But luckily Eddie was still waiting for us. He was standing there with our name on a sign. It is the port policy that he cannot leave with us, so he arranged for a taxi to take us to a local gas station where he picked us up. We then went to the Tulum Ruins. Eddie handled everything and got us into the ruins before the big crowds hit. We were able to run through the ruins quickly. We saw everything but we weren't able to stop and look because we were running so late. (Which was our fault, not Edventure Tours.) The ruins were amazing! I have plenty of beautiful pictures from it. I even have one that looks like a postcard picture. There was even an Iguana that was hanging out and letting people take his picture. (My Husband wouldn't go pet him even though I begged!) The ruins are easy to get lost in though, and it is REALLY hot!! Wear a hat and good walking shoes. When we found our way out of the ruins we met back at Edventure Tours shop at the Ruins. This is where we met Bonnie. May I say that she is super nice. She introduced us to our tour guide Ricardo. What a character he is! He had us laughing the entire trip. Ricardo got us fitted for our snorkeling gear and offered us some drinks before we left. (We turned down a swimming vest because we consider ourselves to be good swimmers, but I would highly recommend getting one if you are going to Akumal Bay (Turtle Bay), this is in the ocean and it does make you tired at times.) We then got into the car with Ricardo and another nice couple from Florida. It was so good to be in this small group. That is one thing you can't do on a Cruiseline excursion. Ricardo took us to the Dos Ojos Cenotes. On the way he talked to us about the caverns explaining how they were formed and all of the history behind them. He has a strong French accent but I had no problem understanding him. The cenotes were amazing! It was the best part of the trip! I was SO afraid that I would be scared the whole time because you are swimming in caves. But once I got in there I didn't think of anything like that. I just kept up with Ricardo and watched my head. He did a good job at making sure that we were all okay the whole time. He took a lot of pictures of the caverns and of us the whole time. (If you request before hand, (when you make your reservation), they will have an underwater digital camera that your guide will use to take pictures of you snorkeling and of all the things you see. It costs $30 and they put it on a CD for you to take home with you. It had over 100 pictures on it. Absolutly priceless!) The cenotes are something that everyone needs to do at least once in their lifetime! After the cenotes, Ricardo walked us over to see a local girl named Jackie who has a spider monkey. We were able to hold him and feed him. He was really funny and so sweet. He kept laying his head on my Husband's shoulder. After that we left to go to Akumal Bay. We got on a small boat and went out to the bay. While snorkeling we saw stingrays, barracudas, all kinds of fish, coral reefs, and of course the Sea Turtles. It was SO amazing to be swimming beside a turtle. I'll never forget that feeling! We then got back into the boat and went to one of the local beachside restraunts. The food was awesome! I had the Chicken Maya with the fried plantains, and of course some Margaritas! This restraunt had tables built into the palm trees where you could climb up and eat. It was so neat! But make sure that you have plenty of small bills on hand, b/c we made that mistake and ended up with $50 worth of pesos! After we ate, we left to go to Yal-Ku Lagoon. There are beautiful gardens and statues as you walk to the lagoon. We did some more snorkeling and saw some of the most amazing fish you'll ever see, including the huge parrot fish. The lagoon is a really safe place to snorkel. It was like swimming in a huge fish bowl. Ricardo then had us back to our ship in time for a little bit of shopping. When we left him, it felt like we were leaving one of our friends behind. We wanted to take him with us! He was really dedicated to making our trip the best it could be. He would do anything we wanted, and would go out of his way to make sure we were happy the entire time. I highly recommend them to everyone! I know that when we go back there is no question about what we'll be doing! Have fun and wear plenty of sunblock!