Na'atik Language and Culture Institute

I loved my experience at Na'atik so much that I wished I could stay longer. The language class sizes were perfect (no bigger than 3 students per class), and there was a lot of conversation built in - which is most practical and engaging for language learning. Staying in Felipe Carrillo Puerto made this experience even better - it's a small town with very little tourism so you really feel like you're a local. Even still, there wasn't a shortage of activities and things to see. Na'atik provided great field trip options, and these were a great opportunity to practice Spanish and learn more about the surrounding natural reserve.

My homestay experience made this trip even better - my host family was so hospitable and I loved spending time with them. Not only was I able to improve my Spanish during my week long stay but I actually felt relaxed and centered by adopting a Felipe Carrillo Puerto lifestyle. By the end of my trip I felt super grateful and my heart was full.

I was in Na'atik for a month, and it was definitely one of the best months for improving my Spanish. I met four hours daily with a teacher, either in private classes or extremely small group classes, and we focused a lot on just conversation. It helped me improve quite a lot in confidence of my Spanish. My teacher was great, and was a trained educator who is going to get his masters in education this coming year; his activities were perfect for helping me use Spanish, and we also did a lot of trips around the town to utilize it with the local population as well as outside the classroom.

The town itself was great, and I never once felt unsafe while I was there. Many nights, I even slept with my door unlocked, as it just felt like there was no need to lock it. The school was top-class, and had great facilities and a nice library where you could study quietly. There was WiFI there (my homestay also had WiFi), so I never felt disconnected from anything I needed, and had ample of opportunity to study. We went on several excursions with bilingual teachers to visit the ruins. It was great to get to hear explanations in both Spanish and English by teachers who were themselves raised in the area, and knew a lot of the less-touristy activities to do. Overall, it was a great experience. I even got chased by a monkey at one of the ruins (terrifying, but quite funny looking back at it)!

Overall, I can't recommend going to Na'atik enough, especially if you know some Spanish and just need to get more comfortable at using it. But, go for at least two or more weeks; that's when it really starts to kick in and help, once you've worn off the exhaustion of the first few weeks!

Our family of four (kids 8, 10) enjoyed a two week program. Our lovely home stay program set the tone and was a fully immersive experience with a caring family and 3 delicious meals a day. We were all at different language levels: I am a beginner with a semester of college Spanish, my husband lived and abroad and took classes at the university of Granada,
Our kids attend a bilingual school with 50 percent of the classes in Spanish.

The children’s teacher, jimmy, was excellent- he taught Spanish through games and encouraged conversation. My kids adored him. The only thing I would change would be to build in some excursions on the town with the kids and to consider some formal daycare time as the children’s program is 3 hours and is an hour shorter than the adults.

My class was also fun. I had two other students in it at an intermediate level. although challenging I learned a lot and advanced my skills. there was definitely structure and grammar and a lot of great conversations each day and even more fun were the 2 to 3 excursions we did during class time.

My husband got a lot out of his class but said it was a bit intense as he was the only student. He brushed off his rusty Spanish. The teacher was great, but the class would have benefited by exploring the town a bit.

The available bikes were a great bonus. Jasón the coordinator was excellent and helped everything go smoothly. My kids and I would definitely return. My husband also likely would if he were able to tailor the class a bit more to his more advanced skills and specific interests.

The town was quiet, safe and authentic and not a tourist zone. We found it helpful to rent a car to make it easier to do afternoon and weekend trips as there is not a lot going on between 2-6 in the afternoon


There are fun excursions planned by the school they were all very well done and we would recommend them

The people of Carrillo Puerto are so amazingly warm . They are proud of their heritage and culture, and eager to share. I was welcomed with open arms by my host family, and I consider them to be a part of my family. The classes were challenging and interesting, with a good mix of conversation, reading , writing and instruction.

The school is a beautiful building, and the staff are all very responsive and helpful.

I slept in a hammock, swam in a cenote, visited museums and churches and ate amazing food!!

I am already looking forward to returning next year with my husband, and visiting Tulum and Balacar as well as visiting my family and learning lots more Spanish!!!!

One-on-one for one week with one heck of a teacher. Tough to beat. Na’atik is the third immersion program I have attended over the past ten years and like the others it was a wonderful learning experience. (I am fortunate to have three home runs with three at-bats.) In addition to having an excellent teacher at the school during the week, I enjoyed a wonderful home-stay with an experienced, welcoming couple that provided a private, air-conditioned room with a comfortable bed and shower and delicious home-cooked meals with plenty of interesting meal-time conversation in Spanish (since they don’t speak English). I should also add that Felipe Carrillo Puerto is a very friendly and safe city that is easy to get around on a bike. I enjoyed my daily bike ride to and from school. The entire package offers a great learning experience at a very reasonable price. Would I return? Absolutely yes.

I studied at Na'atik for one week, and was joined by my boyfriend. We stayed in an air-conditioned home stay and were in a group class, which consisted of just the two of us. Our teacher was incredible - a former history professor who conscientiously taught to the exact areas we had asked to study, while weaving in his extensive historical knowledge into the classes. The instruction was our favorite part of the program. We enjoyed our homestay, where we had the privacy of a stand alone casita, the comfort of air conditioning, and plenty of time at meals and throughout the day to spend time with the host family. The school is in an off-the-beaten path city in the region, and there was plenty of opportunity to practice Spanish. We felt very comfortable there, especially with the constant support and communication from the Na'atik staff and extra touches like organizing a welcome dinner, a trip to a local lagoon and lending us bikes and locks at no extra cost.