In Maya, chi'ik means coatí. But for those who lived in this jungle, it was much more than an animal.
As it roamed the forest searching for fruit, it scattered seeds along the way, helping the jungle grow back. A quiet, constant and essential cycle.
We fell in love with that idea.
Because we believe travel can also leave something good behind. Not just memories. But also respect for nature, for culture and for the people who call this place home.
Before maps existed, there was curiosity.
We believe every trail, every cenote and every ruin holds a story that deserves to be discovered.
That travelling isn't about marking places on a map, but about understanding them.
That nature isn't a backdrop. It's home.
That's why we don't just show you the Riviera Maya.
We invite you to discover it with new eyes.
EXPLORE. LEARN. RESPECT.
Exploring awakens curiosity.
Learning transforms the way we see a place.
And when we understand it, we learn to respect it.
Because we only protect what we learn to know.
Who's behind this
Before founding Chi'ik Adventures, Sandro Zepeda spent almost four years selling tours for a travel agency in the Riviera Maya. He got to know the operators, checked the services one by one, and rode along on most of the experiences that appear on this site today. What he noticed along the way: almost no agency ever stopped to explain why those places actually mattered, everything felt generic.
That's why Chi'ik exists. The name comes from the coatí, a small animal well known across this region, curious by nature, that explores the jungle without anyone asking it to. Sandro sees himself in that: he says that when you explore out of real curiosity, you end up getting to know places and learning from them, and that respect doesn't need to be forced, it shows up on its own, something you carry with you once an experience was genuinely good.
That's why every tour, every operator and every article on this site passes through him before it's published. Not because it needs a stamp of approval, but because he's already lived the difference between a generic tour and one that actually leaves you with something, and now he decides which of the two makes it onto Chi'ik Adventures.