Yaxha Archaeological Focus Afternoon and Sunset Tour with Monkeys Spotting

We loved Yaxha. It is a magical place to know and enjoy. There were few people and our guide Fernando, it was amazing because he has a lot of knowledge and took care to share all the information of the place. I definitely recommend the tour.

Visite très bien organisé et intéressante du site de Yaxha. On commence par un lunch dans un restaurant très bon et ensuite on a passé l’après midi sur le site à apprendre plein de choses de la part de notre guide José (architecture, faune et flore). On a fini cette belle journée par le coucher du soleil dans un très beau cadre. On ne peut que recommander ce prestataire pour la visite.

Marlon's Yaxha tour was the highlight of our time in Guatemala, and I couldn't recommend Gem Trips any more emphatically. Our entire family enjoyed it immensely. Marlon is exceptionally knowledgeable on Maya culture and history, and his presentation style is fun and engaging. He was also adept at spotting birds amongst the dense foliage, something as a bird-watcher I appreciated. Marlon took his time, answered our questions thoroughly with enthusiasm, and gave us many insights we would not have discovered on our own - he was a consummate professional. The lunch we had before the tour, a traditional soup, was outstanding - some of the best food we had in Guatemala. I must also mention that Moises, our driver, did an excellent job of navigating the bumpy roads and making our ride as comfortable as possible. If you're going to visit Yaxha or Tikal, I highly recommend Gem Trips to be your guide. If and when we visit Guatemala again Gem Trips will be given for us.

My family had a wonderful experience with Marlon on the Yaxha afternoon and sunset trip. It all went so smoothly: the driver met us at the Guatemala/Belize border we had a small group (6 people) and when the tour was over we were dropped at our next destination of Tikal. Marlon shared great information with us about the history, culture, plants, animals. It was awesome! We appreciated his ethics (picking up trash as we walked through the park) and respect for the park and animals. Lunch was great too! We highly recommend this tour company.

I did two tours with Gem Trip and Marlon, Yaxha and Tikal and I couldn't have chosen better! Support from start to finish, responsiveness, Marlon is adorable and very professional. He is a passionate person who will be able to pass on his knowledge and his love for nature to you. Knowing all the best routes, we were able to see many points of interest and even more than I expected. Book with your eyes closed they are the best!

The perfect day stems from the perfect guider! He knows where to climb to get the winningest views, some temples to climb, some temples almost covered in jungle "because it's the best way to protect them" -- great! Our guider, with his shotgun-like eyes, listened to the birds around him and followed him. Never missed a bird of any kind. Saw eight or nine species with a telescope. hhhh, how many Toucans! It's amazing.

Two parents and an 11 and a 13 year-old took a GEM Tours Tikal Sunset Tour from El Remate in late December 2021. I’ve taken a number of tours of historical ruins around the world, but I don’t remember one as well-organized as this one. The emailed PDF of the tour was quite detailed, complete and accurate, almost to the minute. GEM sets up WhatsApp channels for each tour group, so your last-minute questions are responded to very quickly. Roel, our guide, proved to be a fountain of information on the history of Tikal and the Mayan civilization. Also impressive was the tour’s efficiency: instead of us having to wait behind a long line of cars to buy admission tickets, we just drove to the front of the line and gained admission - GEM Tours had purchased our tickets the day before. The included-in-the-price lunch at one of Tikal’s restaurants was tasty and filling. We noticed that Roel knew the best walking routes (to avoid crowds) among the ruins, which was unsurprising since he grew up in and around Tikal with his father, a park ranger. While crowds weren't a big issue during our Pandemic-era tour, it was easy to see why crowd-avoidance skills will be (hopefully!) critical. Roel was professional, knowlegable, and kept us entertained with his great sense of humor. He paid particular attention to the questions of our kids. Roel kept his COVID-19 mask on throughout the tour. It was truly a wonderful afternoon. We highly recommend Roel Contreras and GEM Tours.

I am absolutely convinced that it is the best tours I have ever taken. The attention from when I contacted them, the tour provided by Marlon, and the follow-up was extraordinary. I had the opportunity to learn things that I surely would not have learned otherwise, and that I still share today. Iris, from customer service was wonderful, and Marlón, with his knowledge, being a person who shows a genuine interest in what he explains and for continuing with his learning (he is one of the few who has permission to be a tour guide in all Guatemala) made my day in Tikal a wonderful experience. I had the opportunity to have this experience just for myself and I was able to solve all my doubts. Also take advantage of Marlon’s photographic gifts, nowadays the photos he took in the park are part of my social networks. Thank you very much to Marlon and Iris, and forgive the delay in making this post!