How we choose the tours on this site

Every tour on Cancun Bucket List is a specific listing you can book on GetYourGuide or Viator. Before we publish it, we check its US-dollar price, what is and isn't included, extra fees, the cancellation terms and who provides it. If we can't verify a listing, we leave it out, and we don't list dolphin swims at all. Commissions never affect which tours we pick or their order.

Updated 16 Oct 2026 · By the Cancun Bucket List team

What a tour needs before we list it

• A real listing you can book. It has to be one specific product page on a major booking site: GetYourGuide or Viator today, Civitatis planned. Category pages, search results and dead links don't count. If a link starts redirecting somewhere else, we replace it or take the page down.
• The listing matches our page. It has to be the same places and the same kind of trip. If a booking site swaps the product behind a link (for example, a group day trip becomes a private tour), we treat it as a new listing and check it again from scratch.
• Clear inclusions and exclusions. We read the "included" and "not included" sections separately, so drinks, lockers, gear rental or entry fees don't end up on the wrong list. If the two contradict each other, we report what the "not included" list says and tell you to check your option before paying.
• Extra costs out in the open. Entry fees, dock or reef fees, pickup surcharges and deposits are all listed. When an operator charges a fee, we label it as the operator's figure. When there is an official fee, we give the amount and link the government source.
• A named activity provider. We show the company the booking site lists as the provider. Sometimes that's a reseller rather than the company that runs the park or boat, and when it is, we say so.
• A cancellation policy we can quote. In October 2026, every tour we list showed free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start. Policies can change, so check the booking page before you pay.
• Wildlife tours that follow the official season. We only list whale-shark trips that run within the officially authorized period: 15 May to 17 September for the 2025–2027 seasons (SEMARNAT management plan, PDF). We never promise a sighting.

What we leave out, and why

• Dolphin swims and other captive-dolphin programs. We've decided not to feature them because of animal-welfare concerns about keeping dolphins in captivity for swim programs. This is an editorial choice. We don't link to these programs, and we don't earn from them.
• Listings we couldn't verify. If a booking site blocks our check or a page won't load properly, the tour waits until someone has opened it in a normal browser and confirmed the facts.
• Tours that stop being bookable. When a listing says it can't be booked, we remove our page rather than send you to a dead end.
• Short-lived promo prices. If a listing shows a temporary discount with an end date, we show the regular "from" price so the number on our page doesn't go stale within days.
• Fees and claims we can't trace. If an amount isn't in the listing or on an official page, we don't publish it.
• Ratings and review counts. We don't show star ratings or review numbers, because we haven't collected any reviews ourselves. Read the reviews on the booking site, where you can see their dates and context.

How affiliate links work

• The "Check availability" buttons take you to the booking site. If you book there, the site may pay us a commission once our partner accounts are active. You pay the same price you'd pay going to the site directly.
• You book, pay and manage your booking with the booking site and the operator. We never take payments, and we can't change or cancel a reservation for you.
• Booking links are marked rel="sponsored" in the page code. A short disclosure line sits next to every set of booking buttons.
• Commission never affects our picks or their order. Whether a tour is listed, and where it appears on a page, doesn't depend on the commission or which platform pays more. We order tours by traveler fit only: our own judgement of which tour suits most visitors. We don't use ratings, because we haven't collected any. If that ever changes, we'll say so on this page first.
• Partners: GetYourGuide and Viator, with Civitatis planned, mainly for our Spanish pages. See the Affiliate disclosure for the full wording.

How we check and date prices

• We open each listing, read the lowest "from" price it shows in US dollars and note the date. On our pages that looks like "from US$50, checked Oct 2026". The exact check date (for example, 16 Oct 2026) appears in the price-source note and the "Last checked" line on each tour page.
• We don't convert currencies. If a listing shows euros or another currency, we check it again in US dollars before publishing.
• "From" means the cheapest option on the day we checked. Your price can be higher depending on the date, the option you pick (for example, with or without transport), group size, and sometimes the country you're browsing from. The booking site always shows the final price before you pay.
• Official fees come only from the government body that sets them: INAH for archaeological sites, CONANP for national parks and marine parks, SEMARNAT for the whale-shark season, and the Yucatán state ticket office (CULTUR) for Chichén Itzá. We show them in Mexican pesos, as published, with a link and the date we checked.
• Prices re-checked at least every three months, and again whenever we edit a page. Every tour page shows its last-checked date.
• Prices appear in our structured data (the code search engines read) only after they've been verified, along with the check date.

Spotted something wrong?

If a price, fee, inclusion or link on our site doesn't match what you see, email hello@cancunbucketlist.com with:

1. the page link,
2. what looks wrong,
3. where you saw the correct information (a screenshot of the listing or the official page helps a lot).

We check it against the listing or the official source. If you're right, we fix the page and update its date.

For anything about an existing booking, such as pickup times, changes or refunds, contact the booking site or operator shown on your confirmation. They can act on your reservation; we can't. See Contact.

Who we are

Cancun Bucket List is written by the Cancun Bucket List team and operated by Rio Paru S.A. de C.V. We don't run tours. More on the About page.

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