My husband and I also found this resort through LivingSocial. The drive is pretty far from the Cancun airport (where we flew in), especially when you take the ADO bus if you can't afford a $3,000USD hold on your credit card that's required by the car rental companies. Still, took about 7 hours on the bus and only cost us $50USD to get there that way.

We got in late but had called letting them know we would be in at night, they had set up our room with a dinner order even though the kitchen had closed by the point we got in. The room was AMAZING. The bed was incredibly comfortable and the bathroom was wonderful. The shower was strong and hot! It takes a little getting used to the large glass door in the bathroom to the outside but there is a tall privacy wall. We stayed in the bungalow and that was plenty of space with a large private patio with a hammock and very comfortable furniture.

Each morning we would walk up to the restaurant for coffee, Naranchaya juice (highly recommend), pastries, eggs, just about anything you could ask for. The breakfast menu doesn't change although the lunch and dinner menus do. Both the other meals are wonderful and I hope you get the chance to try the ceviche!

The trips start out around 9am, we did the kayaking trip and the trip to the farther away ruins. We took two days off excursions and used one of those to walk down to the Kohunlich ruins which are only 2.5Km from the resort and had the whole place to ourselves! I would say that they are definitley "soft" adventure, but we weren't there for an intense workout. We still ended up losing a couple of pounds between the pool, hot tub, walking, and lack of tv/internet.


We also had a massage while we were there but none of the other spa offerings. The massage was included in our LivingSocial deal, I probably would not have independently gotten it if I'd had to pay for it. But everyone is very nice!

Open bar means open bar, even though you think that 10pm is an early time to close down, we were asleep most nights by then because of the long days and comfy beds. The bar has a huge selection and it's pour your own.

Learn some spanish! Some members of the resort speak English but there's a long of Spanglish that comes out when you're trying to ask something :)

Hint - if you like a hot hot tub then you'll need to ask the front desk to crank it up for you (totally worth it!)

I traveled to the Explorean for Thanksgiving week with a friend, using our Living Social deal. I had requested two beds but when we arrived we had a king. The only difficult part of the week was getting a new room the following day. Everything else was great. I will say that a lot hinges on the other guests staying at this remote resort and we happened to meet some really fun people. The food is at times great and other times mediocre but the service is always top notch. We had a great time biking to the monastery in the mud and pouring rain - and trekking thru the jungle on a search for howler monkeys. One day we skipped the activity and drove with two other guests to Mahahual for a spectacular beach day. Getting there: We rented a car in Cancuun and stopped in Tuluum on the way down. Eat a meal at Charlie's if you are driving to the Explorean. Oh, and watch out for the topes (speed bumps)!

I really liked the Explorean. The excursions were fun, challenging and interesting...especially the night kayacking with the crocodiles. I do not agree with the posts that compare the food and accommodations to the "Four Seasons", although they were good. The Explorean does a poor job communicating pre-trip logistics via email and trying to coordinate on the phone was very difficult. On the positive side, you got to meet several of the other guests given the excursions and the more intimate setting. All in all, I'd recommend the Explorean to anyone interested in a unique and fun adventure vacation.

The Explorean is a place to get away from it all. We bought the Living Social deal and had a wonderful experience. The people who work at the resort are very kind and helpful. For our activities we spent two days kayaking, a day biking and a day touring the Mayan ruins. Everyone that went on our trips felt like it was a great adventure and we had several in the group who had run marathons and were experienced bikers/swimmers. It is the perfect balance of adventure and fun! Not only are the guides very knowledge and eager to answer questions but the other guests are quick to help each other out. We have never been on a trip where we really got to know other people, but this was a trip where we felt like we met wonderful people and were able to really share the trip in a way that made it better than it would have been with just the two of us alone. There were other guests from the U.S. and Mexico, there were singles and couples, and people who were younger and older. The adventures don't necessarily line up with what is posted on the Explorean website so don't be surprised if the schedule you have differs slightly from what is posted. Based on what we heard there is no rappeling for the Living Social deal. Bring bug spray and sunscreen - you will need both. You do not necessarily need sports sandals which are recommended on the Explorean website. You can use flip flops for kayaking and tennis shoes for biking/hiking.

Every day started with breakfast, an adventure from 9am-2:30pm and then time to just relax. With no phone, internet or tv relaxing was easy to do. The pool and area by the bar are a great place to hang out or you can rest in your room or the hammock and sitting area of your cabana. Lunch is usually late due to the adventure and dinner is later as well. The food was really good and there are always several options to choose from. Dinner has a few choices that cost extra - we always ordered from the regular menu (left side) and had a great experience. The coconut ice cream and cesar salad are both worth checking out. There is no tipping until you leave and the resort recommends tipping $25-30 USD per day and $15 per spa treatment. We left more because the service was really excellent.

We drove from Cancun and found that most others arriving from the U.S. did the same - the cost of the flight is much cheaper than flying into Mexico City and then to Chetumal or flying into Belize. We were a little concerned driving but there was really nothing to be concerned about. We cleared about three police checkpoints in the Cancun/Playa del Carmen/Riviera Maya area - we were just waved through. On the way back it was the same. We did not exchange dollars for pesos and everywhere we went had a posted exchange rate that was reasonable. I would recommend bringing some cds for the car ride. It is at least five hours. The road is very straight and easy to follow. You will have to slow down a lot for major speed humps as you go through cities, towns and small villages. We printed a Google map and then set our odometer so we could track where we were on the road. It is much easier to arrive before sunset since the roads are not well lit.