Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Private Tour from Mexico City
4
Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Private Tour from Mexico City
By Trip To Mexico
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About
Lowest price guarantee
Ages 5-95
Duration: 8h
Start time: Check availability
Mobile ticket
Live guide: English, Spanish
More
- Hotel pickup and drop-offfrom hotels located in Mexico city central area.
- Private transportation
- Private guide
- Public Entrance
- Entry/Admission - Piedra Herrada Sanctuary
What's not included- Food and drinks
- Gratuities
- Horse ride
- Hotel pickup and drop-off from hotels located outside Mexico city central area.
- Start:Traveller pickup offered.Pickup details
- WE PICK UP ALL CUSTOMERS FROM HOTELS LOCATED IN THE MEXICO CITY CENTRAL AREA. OUT OF THIS AREA, PICK UP WILL HAVE AN EXTRA CHARGE (200 PESOS WHICH WILL BE PAID DIRECTLY TO OUR GUIDE) OR WE CAN MET CLIENTS IN A MEETING POINT
Hotel pickup offeredDuring checkout you will be able to select from the list of included hotels.End:This activity ends back at the meeting point. - Not wheelchair accessible
If you have questions about accessibility, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 9483P81- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- Pick up at hotels outside the downtown area will have an extra charge of 200 pesos which must be paid directly to our guide
- Not recommended for travellers with back problems
- Not recommended for pregnant travellers
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Travellers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- The Private service inlcude private transportation and private guide to the Butterfly Sanctuary. The entrance to the Sanctuary is public and management decide how they settle the entrance. Usually tourists are joined in small groups with local guide that know safe paths.
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
- All sales are final and incur 100% cancellation penalties.
- If you have questions about this tour or need help making your booking, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 9483P81
From
£239.32
per adult (price varies by group size)
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Similar experiences
Itinerary
- 1Every year Monarch butterfly travel around 3200 miles to spend the winter in the forests of Mexico. On this period, when we have these amazing guests, forests turn into orange color.
About the operator
Don’t take it from us – here’s what people have to say about this operator:
- 60anibaln0 contributionsDay at CobaWe really had a great time, I suggest paying extra for a licensed tour guide about 1600 pesos for the entire tour per group. It was well worth it. There is so much more history and culture that a guide can share. You will enjoy and appreciate everything much more. Amairany Hua was our guide, and she was amazing.Written 11 April 2024
- C8009LYmiguelm0 contributionsThe Best Cafe in Town!Coffee de Los Mayas is a great location to spend your evening at. The drinks are on top and the costumer service is excellent!Written 7 April 2024
- Safari566041024770 contributionsBacalar excursionWe did the excursion today from riviera maya to the Bacalar , what an amazing experience we had from the driver to the our super guide Anthony, thanks for the great and wonderful dayWritten 26 December 2023
- 428mathildef0 contributionsDisappointingI was so excited about this experience but I feel like I've been sold something totally unauthentic. First, the pick-up was at a 30-min walk from my hotel and not in front of it and the driver was +30min late. So I started it waiting alone in the dark on a parking lot. No apologies from the guide when he finally arrived. Then we got lost on our way to picking up 2 other people. We arrived at the ceremony with more than 1,5 hour late. Everybody was waiting for us and was very tense which is not the best way to start this king of ceremony. We were more than 40 personas which is absolutely too many. Nothing felt authentic. Because of such a big group, there were no cohesion, no good vibes nor energy. My guide was absolutely useless, i didn't see nor hear from here. The other guide were just here to translate but seemed to discover this ceremony for the first time. Only one woman, the "main" guide knew about the Temazcal because she had done +300 already and was angry and yelling at us the whole way. To put it in a nutshell, I have just lost 120 pounds for which I demand a Payback.Written 19 November 2023
- mia1550320 contributionsExcellent , will return ,beautiful ,clean , good service ,the best I have seenBeaches and del mer . Well maintained gardens with flamingos and peacocks .beautiful Spanish style . Well designed not to feel crowded any where . Loved smaller yet numerous restaurants Vast but shuttle very efficient , beautiful if you like to walk . `excellent service all the staff Good happy atmosphere by all the staff Food not extravagant but , very well balanced and acceptable .not the specialized appointment ones . Buffet arrbbest Beach beautiful , but the waves were high at that time . Specially impressed by the waiter specialized in allergies or gluten etc guests Christian such an excellent service and care.. only water pressure was low in my room , complained few times but did not correct .. but was not a major thing . Will return , I recommend !Written 30 January 2023
- Voyager6382240 contributionsIntoxicated Shaman; 1..2…3100 words is not enough to relay our experience. Shaman was high on SOMETHING, Shaman’s helper vomiting in the temezcal….NO English spoken other than Shaman: “You okay? Close your eyes….1,2,3” At one point we asked the Shaman, “Are YOU okay?” He opened the sweat lodge 4-5 times during the ceremony, almost had hot rocks flung on us, wanted us to stand by the pit and almost received steam burns. Our driver was great but when we got to the destination NO ONE spoke to us. Sat around a table for 30-45 minutes and then a hurried “Go! The Shaman is ready!” No further explanation. The “Shaman” had 2 helpers with him that appeared to be his teenage children. The older of the 2 helpers had to leave the sweat repeatedly, finally beginning to wretch and vomit. I have done sweats and this was NOT a sweat. My poor husband had never done a sweat, and I begged him to go with me, promising an AMAZING experience. I have sealed my fate that he will never go again! The San Carlos Ecolodge was a BEAUTIFUL place. Perfect surroundings. We paid a TON for a private sweat with a true Shaman. Could have been so amazing, but an out of his tits “Shaman” who could barely stand up and could barely speak other than slurred words while swaying and practically unable to stand at one point, turned the experience into quite the debacle. I’m a nurse, my husband a retired firefighter; we thought we would be providing medical care at several points in the 90 minute “experience” The San Carlos Ecolodge owner was mortified and very apologetic. He said he had never dealt with this “Shaman” before.Written 22 November 2022
- Inspire477293891150 contributionsInexpressibleI have participated in Native American sweat lodges and was very curious about this. It DID NOT disappoint. Gustavo was a wonderful guide. It filled my heart, and the Mayans who did the ceremony, provided the feast - I feel part of them now. Yu’um bootik ❤️Written 17 February 2022
- joymm23120 contributionsWonderful and amazingGeorge was one of the most amazing tour guides. We all have an absolutely fantastic time and learned. Our day went smoothly and fun. The Frida museum was sold out and Trotsky was closed due to covid. However, George found many more things such as wonderful coffee y charos. I highly recommend this tour. 💖Written 17 October 2021
- johndZ7368BO0 contributionsThe definition of BAIT AND SWITCHWhat a disappointment. This tour started off bad and only because worse. Our guide informed us upon leaving the hotel that the van had been sterilizd and there was no reason to wear a mask. I asked if he has been vaccinated against covid-19. He laughed, "No". I informed him that he was to wear the mask as my wife had not been vaccinated as yet. Ek Balan was ok. It does not compare to the less expensive tour of Chicken it's, however. As a photographer, I was most excited to visit the bird sanctuary billed as a Pink Flamingo Bird Sanctuary. Well, zero birds. The bird sanctuary is at a commercial salt mine. The only thing that was pink was water. We abandoned the tour at this point. My wife and I opted to have drinks at the hotel in Cancun rather than have anymore disappointment.Written 19 May 2021
- monav9550 contributionsThe cenotes are nice if you never been there before, but nothing impressive. Valladolid has a historical parroquia.Do not pay for a tour their ripping you off and they only charge 120 pesos to get in at each cenote. The city is not that big you can rent a car for 300 pesos a day.Written 17 September 2020
- mcochran20200 contributionsBest Experience Ever! Staff is Amazing!This was the most amazing and thrilling thing I have ever done. Well worth the money. I have to give a shout out to Julian (sp?) our guide. He was so full of excitement and friendly. He made us feel at ease when we were really nervous. I don't remember the name of the crew guy that swam with us but he was so great. He would take my hand and help me swim faster when I needed to keep up with the shark. The time on the island was very short but a nice little stop for lunch. It was too bad the beaches were closed due to Covid. I would have liked a little more time to shop on the island but only had enough time for lunch. Overall...this excursion was top notch and highly recommend it!Written 2 September 2020
- 756bernardc0 contributionsVisit poorly organised by the travel agency - overpriced with no serviceThe agency did not anticipate the crowd visiting the sanctuary. We waited more that 2 hours in the woods in a crowd of about 5000 visitors and after having heard that we had to wait at least another hour, we decided to leave the site without having seen the butterflies. This visit is overpriced and the value for money is close to zero. I could have done the trip by myself for 10% of the price as the added value from the agency is inexistantWritten 16 February 2020
- ifras20200 contributionsAmazing experienceI would highly recommend this excursion. It was our favourite trip whilst in Cancun. Juan and Danny made the experience unmissable; they made us feel very comfortable and explained the meaning of the culture. We could of listened to Juan for hours. Will definitely be back!Written 14 February 2020
- judyp19620 contributionsGood timesMoMos restaurant this restaurant was by far the best we’ve experienced, and the servers are wonderful, the waiters are miquel angelcnz , Grick Bailey rgxnal,Belem hamas Barron,(the picture is of the names of all the staff that took very good care of us ! 😁👍we’ll be back .Written 28 October 2019
- Keith A0 contributionsSeven colors lagoon and fort tour is worth the $I purchased the Bacalar Fort & Seven Colors Lagoon with Lunch excursion directly thru Carnival and was very happy. They make sure that you get back on time an no issue with missing the time to get back on the cruise ship. It is also helpful if there are any problems with the cruise day and time changing to book directly. There is a bit of a walk on the long pier, about 10-15 minutes from the cruise ship, but you eventually get to the covered area where all the excursions are gathering. Make sure to get to the gathering spot at least 15 minutes early as our tour started to leave about 20 minutes early before the time on the ticket. It was warm in June but the bus driver will give you a bottle of water when you get on the bus and the air conditioning on the bus is nice after a few minutes with the bus on it eventually cooled off. The bus driver was very nice, friendly, professional, and it was a pleasant 90 minute ride to the boat and fort. There is some room for bags, supplies, etc. but if you have a large camera case, like carry on size, it will not fit in the overhead section so you will have to hold on to it. Carlos was our guide and was extremely friendly and professional. He told us all about the history of the area, the main road we would be traveling, the large fruit stand that sells sweet pineapples, the Mayan culture, and what we would be doing in the water spots traveling by boat, the lunch at the restaurant, the Fort Bacalar, and our trip back to the cruise ship. I appreciated his humor, story telling, and then letting us get some rest on the 90 minute ride to the boat. We get to the restaurant, I think it was Kai Pez, after about 90 minutes, there are some bathrooms to change into swimming attire, then get on the boat and head to the beautiful crystal blue water. There is a nice size boat to take about 40 people and you get a life-jacket. There was plenty of room for my large camera bag. You take a nice, easy, calm ride from the dock in front of the restaurant to some crystal blue waters, then to a 500 foot deep black cenote that you can't see the bottom of, pretty cool. Then you get to go to a spot where you can jump in and it is about up to your elbows. We spent about 30-40 minutes there, a little too long for me because I would have liked more time at the second water spot or at the fort. The first spot is very popular with many people and tours pulling up in their boats. Our boat had a large speaker and played some fun music to pass the time. We got to go to the second water spot, on the way you pass bird island which had some migrating birds, but not as much as other times. You also get to hear about the pirates and the fort and the stories of what happened to the pirates. The second water spot was fun, the water was only about belly button high, but there is a spot where people were putting mud on and some were jumping off a concrete structure into the water. Again the water was crystal blue. We only spent about 15-20 minutes and then we headed back to the restaurant for a nice lunch. The lunch at Kai Pez had chicken, rice, beans, fried fish, guacamole, and salad. It was very tasty. They gave you as much as you wanted and they piled giant ladles full of guacamole on the dish. In CA it would have been about $20 for all the guac. The meal was very filling and a nice change of pace from the food on the cruise ship. I think we spent about 25 minutes and were able to change out of swimming attire. The restaurant is right on the water and has some amazing views. We then got back into the bus for the less than 5 minute ride to the fort. We did not get to go in the fort but we got about 10 minutes to walk around the outside, take pics of the fort and the iguanas, the water, etc. The fort looked pretty neat but it was closed and there was an extra fee, and we did not have time to get inside. Oh well some other time. On the 90 minute bus ride back to the pier, Carlos had the bus stop at the large fruit stand and he got us some of that sweet pineapple. It was delicious and not acidic like the pineapples in the USA. I wish we had that here in California. The excursion was worth the price, it was great to get off the ship, explore, see some things I have never seen before, meet some people, try some things, and enjoy some time in the beautiful water.Written 3 July 2019
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4.0
4 reviews
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Gillian G
1 contribution
Jan 2019 • Friends
We were incredibly disappointed we were with this tour operator. There is currently a gasoline crisis in Mexico and it would have been dangerous for us to travel, a two women, to the Monarch sanctuary as there is no gasoline available in many provinces and in Mexico City itself the wait can be hours. The sanctuary is hours outside of the city and there was no guarantee we could make it back without needing gas.
Both our driver and us tried to cancel with the company but they would not give any refunds. We agreed with the driver for him to take us on a much shorter trip to Teotihuacan (normally priced hundreds of dollars less than this trip) because we didn’t want to put him and us in a dangerous situation hours outside of Mexico City.
This was a very expensive trip and was to be the highlight of our trip to Mexico City. It makes me incredibly angry that the tour company would put it’s clients (us) and it’s drivers in a precarious position. I would not recommend booking ANY tours with this company and hope that they are removed from the trusted tour operator list.
Both our driver and us tried to cancel with the company but they would not give any refunds. We agreed with the driver for him to take us on a much shorter trip to Teotihuacan (normally priced hundreds of dollars less than this trip) because we didn’t want to put him and us in a dangerous situation hours outside of Mexico City.
This was a very expensive trip and was to be the highlight of our trip to Mexico City. It makes me incredibly angry that the tour company would put it’s clients (us) and it’s drivers in a precarious position. I would not recommend booking ANY tours with this company and hope that they are removed from the trusted tour operator list.
Written 11 January 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Todavía se alcanza a ver las mariposas?
Written 21 March 2022
which monarch reserves in mexico are still touring and going to the reserves this first week in March?
Written 1 March 2019
I am one person, female, traveling alone, no spanish. what are some hotels to stay in to then be picked up by a tour to a monarch reserve? I would like to go to 2 different reserves over a 2 day period, taken from mexico city hotel on both days unless there is a better way to do that, not having a vehicle or speaking spanish. how much to hire the tour. can you give suggestion for hotel? thanks. grace
Written 1 March 2019
I would try and find a tour that works for u and then figure out the hotel. The tour will give u guidelines for which hotel in Mexico city they will pick up from (generally which areas). It might be hard to visit two reserves on one day from Mexico City because the reserves are around 3 hours away and it takes awhile to climb up high enough to see the butterflies. But if it is a warm day, they will come down to u so u can literally be on the road and surrounded by then. Another option is to go to a town near a butterfly reserve and spend a couple days there. Then get the hotel to arrange a car or taxi from there.
Written 2 March 2019
I would like to do this over two days. I'd like our family of 5 to be picked up from Mexico City airport, then driven to hotel near Butterfly Sanctuary, we spend the night, then the next day we spend time with butterflies and then be driven back to Mexico City. Can you help?
Written 22 September 2018
Yes, we found a guide called Jesus Duran in Mexico City on the site Tours by Locals. It costs $890 USD for the two days and there will be 5 of us. He offers a large vehicle. We are paying separately for a hotel stay in Valle De Bravo. You might be able to find another guide for less money (with a smaller vehicle) on this site.
Written 29 November 2018
Is the 20-minute hike up the hill mandatory? If so are there other day tours from Mexico City that don't require the hike. My wife has early onset Parkinson's and can walk but a 20-minute steep hike up a mountain is out. thanks
Written 4 June 2018
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