Rancho Loma Bonita, CANCúN

I hate to leave a bad review of this place, but... Pros: The staff is fun and entertaining. The reason I put "dont waste your time" is this: what the half day you spend consists of is either walking on narrow trails with a view of a horses ass in front of you to the beach. When you get to the beach, its just the beach. You drink a beer, eat a snack and you go back. Now if you have experience riding horses, you will hate this! You are riding the horses stringed together and you walk for about 2 miles! (no fun and hot) . The ATV's looked a little better but they are still governed and you have no freedom to ride where you want to. Trust me.. Spend those 3 hours laying on the beach and relaxing! Or just go to the Xcaret park, its cool!

we went to the ranch on 2/17/09. we loved it the horses seemed to be well cared for and our guide Ray tried to match everybody to their horse. We are not at all experienced riders, but we had no problems. If you stay calm and don't get the horses all excited you will do fine. We will definatly be returning to the ranch the next time we go to Cancun

My boyfriend and I went on the ATVs yesterday, after booking the activity ahead of time. The ATV rides were NOT what I expected. We had to go through PONDS of water and over massive rocks; it was terrible and I could hardly get any speed or really ride. One of our ATVs broke down and there was no staff around to help us.

I booked this place to go riding on my honeymoon. It started pouring rain when we arrived. I told the guide I didnt want to ride in a storm and he siad, sorry, no refunds. You will be fine. Against my better judgement, I went. The rain had lightened up a little. I made it to the beach, but when we got back on the horses, it started to rain again. My horse got spooked, bucked me off and my foot was caught in jthe stirrup. I was dragged 45 feet being kicked the whole way. There was no ambulance or emergency plan. I had 4 broken ribs, punctured and collapsed lung, concussion, stitched, nerve damage, plus so many bruises my leg turned black. They first tried to put me on an ATV to take me back to the ranch. Seriously, a 20 minute trail on the back of an ATV. I could have had a broken back or neck. It took them over 2 hours to get me to a hospital. I missed my cruise ship back and had to stay in the hospital for 5 days. I had to stay an extra week before I could fly back to the US. There is no emergency plan at all there. I DO NOT recommend anyone ever going here. No one should be allowed to ride these horses that were constantly trying to lay down and obviously didnt want to be ridden.

I own two horses of my own, but I wanted to take a leisure ride where I didn't have to focus on the training aspect. I figured I'd be on a typical, "programmed" trail horse who knows its job. Yeah, right. Our guide, Fernando, blasted past us on a very narrow part of the trail at a full gallop. This was about ten minutes into the ride. This spooked the horse behind mine, who smashed into the back of my horse (the group of 21 were walking, face to butt, when the guide did this). My horse crow-hopped because he had nowhere to go. When the guide came by asking how things were going, I told him it was inappropriate to gallop past in such a tight area, and that it made the horses uncomfortable. He smiled, laughed, and said "ohhh, sorry," but clearly didn't care. When we got the beach, he conveniently forgot the gallop--the ONLY reason I wanted to go on this trip, as I can ride my own horses at home, thank you very much, but there's no beaches near me--so for 80 bucks, I got to--gasp!--trot. My husband's horse went down with him--he does NOT ride, but thankfully he's seen what my horses do in the paddock before they roll. When his horse started pawing, he tried to get its head up; when he felt the knees buckle, he baled. Thank God he's observant! What really disgusted me is that they allowed their horses to roll on the beach--his horse was just doing what it was used to. These horses were rolling with WESTERN SADDLES on their backs, even after the guides had them tied so people could go in the water. That's not good for the saddle, but it's even worse on the horse's back. I was shocked and disgusted. On the way back, I finally got my money's worth when Fernando decided to blast past my horse again on a tight part of the trail. I felt my horse's haunches swaying toward him, and I knew what was coming, but I let it happen. My horse kicked the guide in the leg, HARD. Maybe now he'll have some horse sense of his own. Never again.

Where do I start? First, the stable never arranged to pick us up from our hotel, just 10 minutes away, although they insist on it. We could have booked a cab for $40 for 4 of us roundtrip, but went along with their $60 charge anyway. When we got there 20 minutes late, they also then tried to charge us $68 for the cab. Good thing we had a written quote from the tour service from the hotel. Next, the group was around 30 riders, way too many for a ride in my opinion. Since there were so many of us, it appears they had to use many horses that were ready for the glue factory. Their ads claim their horses are docile. I think they have a different definition of this word in spanish, since the horse were anything but. One rider was thrown in the corral, and refused to get back on. Many fights ensued between these horses with small children aboard in the corral before we could even start. No helmets were offered. Little instruction. Although RAY gave a half hearted warning that sometimes these special mexican horses liked to throw a rider off if they pulled on the rain too hard, and sometimes they like to just fall over in the sand, but you should be able to get your foot out of the sturrip and avoid being crushed if you jump off fast enough. The trail to the beach was through a dense area, loaded with mosquitos. Quite the experience looking at the back of your legs covered in mosquitos feating on you, and you can't do a thing about it. ( Wear long pants if you go, even if it is 120 degrees out). While riding through what should be a calm , serene experience with nature, they also have a stream of crazy 4 wheeling riders criss crossing the horses at several areas, not good. NOt to mention the jetskis on the beach, distracting from the " horseback riding on the beach" mystique. When you get to the beach, several horses could'nt wait to drop on theis sides for their siesta. One rider got kicked while on his horse by the one in front of him, causing a nasty gash on his shin. No first aid help from the operators of this attraction though. The bareback ride through the water is a joke as well. They stop for a break at the water, where RAY jokes you can use the bathroom in the bushes or the sea, nice choices. They do have beer there - $4 for a can of mexican beer? We couldn't even force ourselves to partake of the cheezy food buffet they offered, and the best part was at least being able to get the heck out of there in a timely manner. Do not go here!

I highly recommend any/all of the activities at Rancho Loma Bonita, you will be guided on horse back, Segway, wave runners or ATV`S by thoughtful, competent staff and be outfitted with quality, up-to-date safety equipment. Prices are quite reasonable and the operation, in my opinion, is the best ot its kind in the all of the Caribbean or Mexico

I booked this tour through the reservation desk at the Hilton - and had an amazing experience. I haven't ridden horseback in 8 years, so I was more than a little intimidated - but it was well worth it. Our guides were quite good with matching us up with suitable horses. They also displayed a genuine interest in ensuring that each of us had a good time. Actually going into the water with my horse was both amazing and terrifying. It's hard to describe this experience in words, so I recommend that you try it for yourself.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for the wonderful care i receive on wednesday June 4th at your ranch. my son Tanner and i went horseback riding that day and when we got to the ocean swim i had problems. when i got on the horse my knee popped out and i got really dizzi. ray helped me down and him and another man helped me into a chair. i ended up passing out for a few seconds. the paramedic, i think his name is pedro, came and talked to me. juan took me back to the ranch and Tanner was able to finish his ride. pedro thought i needed to go the hospital, so me, Tanner and Ray left. what i am trying to says is that Pedro, juan and Ray were great!!! especially Ray!! He stayed with me and Tanner though the whole time. he is really a nice man. thank you Ray!! i was wondering if you still had the pictures that were taken of me and Tanner that day? i was on Chester the you know what and Tanner was on Treva. if not, do you have any pictures of Ray on either of these two horses?? i would really like to buy them. i will pay for any fees needed. thanks again for everything! Tanner had a great time and so did!!!! i will be writing a wonderful review on the internet...

BEST HORSE BACK RIDING IN THE WORLD I WENT ON HORSE BACK RIDING IN MAY AND I HAD A GREAT TIME WITH MY SON, THE EXPERIENCED SWIMMING WITH THE HORSE IN THE WATTER WAS AWESOME WE LOVE IT MY SON WAS SMILING THE WHOLE TIME. THE GUYS WERE GREAT THEY DIVIDED THE RIDERS INTO GROUPS BASED ON OUR ABILITY. I GALLOP WITH MY HORSE ALONG THE SIDE OF THE WATER. THEN WALK THE HORSES ALONG THE EDGE OF THE WATER. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL BLUE SKY TURQUOISE OCEAN,BALMY BREEZE, THE SUN. WHEN THE RIDE WAS DONE WE WERE SERVED QUESADILLAS, RICE AND BEANS AND SODAS,MY SON THOUGHT IT WAS THE BEST FOOD WE HAD IN CANCUN, AND THE BEST TIME TOO.