First of all, the tour operator mentioned in Valladolid is no longer operating there (he’s now working Valladolid, I hear), but MexiGO Tours is a good alternative–they’re offering what look like some very well-planned day trips. Check out all their tours at www.mexigotours.com.
The people who run MexiGO were also kind enough to alert me to changes in the admission fees at archeological sites, cenotes, caves, etc. in Yucatan. Many of these sites charge an admission fee that’s set in part by INAH, the federal archeology commission, and in part by Cultur, a Yucatan state organization. In many cases, the Cultur fee has gone up.
So, Uxmal is up to M$116 ($65 of that is for Cultur), as is Chichen Itza. Grutas de Balankanche is M$70 total. And government fees for Celestun are M$54, which will likely boost the total price of boat tours. (If you missed the earlier update: the complicated pricing system for Celestun boat tours is gone, and it’s now a flat fee per boat.) For a full list of site admission, see this PDF.
MexiGO also let me know there’s an entrance fee for the Ria Lagartos Biosphere Reserve now, of M$23.35. I haven’t heard yet whether this is charged with your boat ticket, or collected along the road. It’s collected by an office near the lighthouse, which is sometimes not open in the early morning, but will be by the time you return from your trip. You should get a wristband as a receipt; boat tour operators may or may not include the fee in their total trip price, but you should pay it. (It would indicate a dodgy operator if this fee and the wristband are never addressed.)
And finally, one correction on Puerto Morelos, as mentioned in comments below: Dona Triny’s is not shut–it has just moved around the plaza, on the same side as Alma Libre Books (who alerted me to this). I guess I cruised through town just when the place was in the process of moving.
