Authentic Spanish or Maya Immersion with Na'atik in Mexico!

I visited the Na’atik school in Felipe Carillo Puerto for ten days. As a young, solo traveller who has grown up in a large city, it was a whirlwind of new experiences, and it has absolutely shown me a different perspective. I was able to try many things during my short trip and I believe that there is something for every sort of traveler: the gorgeous cenotes, authentic cooking classes, Mayan ruin expeditions and cool T-Shirt making. I highly recommend this program to anyone looking to improve their Spanish fluency or be adventurous by immersing themselves in the Mexican-Mayan culture. I would urge any prospective traveler to stay and spend time with a local homestay family as it was, with no doubt, the most enjoyable, educational and enlightening component of my stay. The homemade food is unmatched as well!

We very much enjoyed our time with Naatik in Carillo. The immersion experience was everything we expected it to be, and more. Very friendly and supportive staff. The teacher was excellent. He understood our goals and targeted the learning accordingly. Being a native Spanish speaker he had an in-depth knowledge of the language and was able to provide clear and concise explanations. On top of that, he was approachable and friendly with a good sense of humour. Lots of laughs! He also shared a lot about Maya culture and history which added a lot to the experience.
Carillo is very safe and we were easily able to explore the town and surroundings. People in general were friendly and it was refreshing to be off the beaten tourist track, in a "real" Mexican town.
Our host family was welcoming and friendly and provided a comfortable and clean room and we enjoyed the discussions at mealtime.
We highly recommend this organization.
Linda and Karin

I entered into this program because I've been trying to learn Spanish for work, as well take a well-needed vacation in another locale. I'd say I'm very much satisfied on both fronts.
The spanish was probably the most important part for me. I received about 4 hours of instruction a day from a bilingual teacher, Maestro Cesar. He spoke really well in both languages, helped me to identify personal objectives and create a personalized lesson plan, and covered topics in class that were both educational and fascinating on a personal level. I know just enough about teaching to know that he's clearly had some amount of professional training on how to do it.
Something that I found with personal classes/immersion that was missing from other types of Spanish learning is this capacity/path that leads to fluency. I think a lot of resources I'd used in the past (language apps, some online classes, videos, etc.) gave a good grounding, but there wasn't anything to get you to the level where you were having actual productive conversations with native speakers. Like Ronnie Coleman (famous bodybuilder) says, "There ain't nothing to it, but to do it."
Felipe Carrillo Puerto is this quiet, smaller town between cities on the Yucatan Peninsula, it's very tranquil, giving you a lot of opportunities to relax, try immersion, and do local stuff in a calm environment. The weekends, or well-planned afternoons, give you opportunities to head to Chetumal, Bacalar, Talum, or a handful of other places to take in local sights/attractions that aren't available in Carrillo, go to fancy restaurants, or in general do touristy stuff without the pain of having to live among tourists for a week or more (I actually really liked going to El Parque and randomly seeing a new vendor sell something I haven't seen before, but they just don't see keychains). I did a lot of my street-food testing and general relaxation in Carillo, and headed to Bacalar for kayaking around La Laguna de Siete Colores, buying souvenirs, and fine dining.
I think what was most interesting to me was the way that my rapidly developing Spanish changed the trip over the course of 2 weeks and about 40 hours of personal instruction. I learned how to better communicate to store owners to find some of the specialty items I was looking for over the course of the week. I went from barely hanging on to my homestay family to being able to have decent conversations and joke around from them, I was upset at the local attractions' insistence on responding in English when I had decent Spanish coming to Bacalar, and I'd like to think I was pretty helpful as a volunteer for some of the English immersion classes.
The homestay family was very kind to me. They fed me pretty well, went out of their way to make me feel included in their day-to-day life, and were available whenever I needed help. I remembered taking a trip to an abuela's house to do some Dia de Los Muertos celebrations and eat a bunch of tamales with the family-there's some sort of unspoken closeness to helping unwrap tamales with someone that I can't really explain. I leave with some sense of familiarity, but also this sense that there's something much deeper and richer here than I could have possibly found out on my own, like a lil fishie growing up and realizing they've been swimming over a cenote (find out what that is! by traveling to another country and swimming over it!)
Anyways, the irony of being in an excellent language program is that I now feel empowered to do trips in other parts of Latin-America/parts of the world that have many Spanish speakers, and don't feel a strong need to come back (I'm still planning to do the online courses). I definitely recommend this program for anyone who wants to travel, but doesn't have an idea of where they want to go, or anyone who has a desire to be in Mexico or learn Spanish.

An amazing, authentic immersion program! Would highly recommend for anyone who wants an off-the-beaten path experience. My Spanish level is basic, but my teacher Cesar tailored my lessons to my ability and interests. The attention you receive at this program is incomparable -- from the incredible excursions offered to the classes and homestay family. The trip to Bacalar and bike tour were amazing! My homestay family was incredible as well -- very patient, and kind. Immediately felt like a part of the family. As a solo female traveler, I felt very safe as well. Cannot recommend this program more!

I was blessed to stay with a great family, that was composed of three generations which let me experience the culture from various vantage points. They introduced me to foods that i would never order in a restaurant. It was great not having to find good restaurants to eat. Oh, and the restaurant where the welcome dinner took place was really good as well. The teachers and staff were welcoming, knowledgeable and i learned a lot. They also helped to set up a few activities for us that were equally as fun and educational.

I traveled alone at the start of 2018 as a 15 year old male. I had gone to Na'atik once when I was 12 with my family, but I did not remember that much and I had never traveled alone to a foreign country. I was nervous at first but as soon as I met my guide at the bus terminal my fears dissipated. Ananias, my guide, took me to Catherine and Simon, who were in charge of my activities, and they took me to my home stay family. My family was very kind to me and they food they cooked was delicious. Once I was there, I never felt nervous and Catherine and Simon did a wonderful job taking care of me. Pedro, my Spanish teacher helped me improve my Spanish grammar and vocabulary and my family really helped me improve my overall fluency. I take Spanish in school but I can't practice like this. I also became more confident when I talked. Despite the fact that it rained for the first week, I loved the trip. This program was wonderful and I would recommend it to any looking for a way to immerse themselves in the Spanish language and improve their fluency.

This was one of the best experiences I have ever had. I stayed for 5 weeks and loved every part of it - I wish I never had to leave! I already had a decent Spanish base before going, so the classroom portion for me was mostly practicing conversation and comprehension. Staying with a host family was my favorite part of the trip. I feel like I got to know them very well and loved how they involved me in all of their normal daily and weekend activities. My Spanish definitely improved throughout this time, although I don't think I realized it until I came back home. I cannot recommend Na'atik and their study abroad program highly enough. Do it! You won't regret it.

My week of study at Na’atik and living with a host family was amazing, actually transformational. The small (3) class size, the experience of the teacher (Pedro) and the overall Na’atik experience exceeded my expectations in every regard. Our host family, Doña Fernanda and Don Modesto May, were lovely people, who were eager to know me and the friend who also stayed in their home. The simplicity of our housing surprised me initially, but it came to feel like “home” by the end of the week. The people of Carrillo Puerto are humble, hard-working people who were friendly and helpful. As far as I know, the 9 of us at the school this particular were the only Americans in the entire town- which meant that we stood out. It also gave us a great opportunity to speak to many different people, in stores, restaurants, and in the street. Carrillo is a quiet place, with not a lot going on socially, yet I had the feeling that if I had had more energy in the evenings, I could have found more of a social life. Overall, it was a wonderful experience!