Costs Through the Years

¡El Tour's price was always a Guides' Fee — it paid for organising the tour, the Info-Pack, guiding, help with repairs, and arranging accommodation and food along the way. Riders brought their own bikes and paid their own food, lodging and entrance fees on the road (that's what kept the tours budget). This page tracks how that fee changed for every tour, from the very first CA$400 fortnight in 2001 to the US$1,000 tours of 2020.

The shape of eighteen years

A benchmark two-week tour cost roughly:

Year	Two-week Guides' Fee	Per day
2002	US$400	$29/day
2004	US$500	$36/day
2006	US$600	$43/day
2008	US$700	$50/day
2011	US$800	$57/day
2013	US$864	$62/day
2015	US$877	$63/day
2017	US$950	$68/day
2020	US$1,000	$71/day

The first season was priced in Canadian dollars; from October 2002 every price was in US dollars. The registration deposit rose once, from US$100 to US$200, in late 2009. Early birds always got 10% off for registering four months ahead, and referring a friend earned another 10%.

Price history, tour by tour

One table per tour. Fee is the Guides' Fee for that season; per day divides it by the tour's length that year (routes grew and shrank over time).

Views of the Pacific

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2001	CA$400	14 days	$29
2002	US$400	14 days	$29
2003	US$400	14 days	$29
2004	US$500	14 days	$36
2005	US$550	14 days	$39
2006	US$600	14 days	$43
2008	US$660	14 days	$47
2008	US$700	14 days	$50
2009	US$700	14 days	$50
2010	US$700	14 days	$50
2011	US$800	14 days	$57

Mexico's South Coast

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2001	CA$400	14 days	$29
2003	US$400	14 days	$29
2004	US$500	14 days	$36

Yucatan's Beaches & Ruins

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2001	CA$400	14 days	$29
2002	US$400	14 days	$29
2003	US$400	14 days	$29
2006	US$500	14 days	$36

The Other Yucatan

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2001	CA$200	14 days	$14
2002	US$400	14 days	$29
2003	US$400	14 days	$29

Yucatan to the Clouds

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2001	CA$500	24 days	$21
2002	US$500	24 days	$21
2003	US$500	24 days	$21
2004	US$700	24 days	$29
2005	US$700	24 days	$29
2006	US$750	24 days	$31

Mountains & Natural Wonders

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2002	US$500	21 days	$24
2003	US$500	21 days	$24
2005	US$700	21 days	$33

Haciendas Cenotes & Ruins

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2003	US$300	7 days	$43
2004	US$350	7 days	$50
2005	US$350	7 days	$50
2006	US$350	7 days	$50
2007	US$380	7 days	$54
2012	US$540	7 days	$77
2014	US$583	7 days	$83
2015	US$592	7 days	$85

Roaming Backroads Yucatan

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2003	US$400	14 days	$29
2004	US$500	14 days	$36
2005	US$500	14 days	$36
2006	US$500	14 days	$36
2007	US$550	14 days	$39

Sea to the Clouds

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2005	US$500	14 days	$36

Eternal Spring in Mexico

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2005	US$500	14 days	$36
2006	US$500	14 days	$36

Pilgrimage in Oaxaca

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2005	US$500	14 days	$36
2006	US$550	14 days	$39
2007	US$600	14 days	$43
2008	US$660	14 days	$47
2008	US$700	14 days	$50
2011	US$800	14 days	$57
2015	US$877	14 days	$63

Central Colonial Mexico

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2006	US$500	14 days	$36

Beyond the Mayan Riviera

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2006	US$500	14 days	$36

Flamingos & Gulf Coast

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2006	US$350	7 days	$50
2008	US$400	7 days	$57
2010	US$470	7 days	$67
2012	US$540	7 days	$77
2013	US$540	7 days	$77
2014	US$583	7 days	$83

High Deserts & Pine Forests

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2006	US$380	7 days	$54

Day of the Dead Tour

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2006	US$550	14 days	$39
2008	US$660	14 days	$47
2008	US$700	14 days	$50
2009	US$700	14 days	$50
2010	US$700	14 days	$50
2011	US$800	14 days	$57
2012	US$800	14 days	$57
2013	US$864	14 days	$62

Complete Yucatan Adventure

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2007	US$730	21 days	$35

More Yucatan Backroads

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2008	US$600	14 days	$43
2009	US$700	14 days	$50
2011	US$700	14 days	$50
2013	US$800	14 days	$57
2017	US$900	14 days	$64
2020	US$1,000	14 days	$71

Mexican Three Week Odyssey

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2008	US$800	21 days	$38
2009	US$940	21 days	$45
2012	US$1,000	21 days	$48
2013	US$1,000	21 days	$48

Yucatan One Week Tour

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2009	US$470	7 days	$67
2010	US$470	7 days	$67
2011	US$470	7 days	$67

Journey to Ixtlan

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2010	US$700	14 days	$50
2011	US$700	14 days	$50
2012	US$800	14 days	$57
2012	US$864	14 days	$62
2013	US$864	14 days	$62

Backroads to the Beach

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2010	US$700	14 days	$50
2011	US$700	14 days	$50
2012	US$800	14 days	$57
2014	US$864	14 days	$62
2015	US$877	14 days	$63
2018	US$950	14 days	$68

Cycling the Valleys of Oaxaca

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2013	US$800	11 days	$73
2014	US$800	11 days	$73
2017	US$830	11 days	$76

Under the Volcano

Year	Guides' Fee	Length	Per day
2014	US$864	14 days	$62
2014	US$877	14 days	$63
2016	US$900	14 days	$64
2017	US$950	14 days	$68

What was never charged

There was never a single supplement, never a support-wagon surcharge, and no mark-up on rooms or food — riders paid locals directly, which kept money in the villages the tours rode through. Discounts stacked for returning riders in many seasons; by the final years the consecutive-tour discount was retired but early-bird and referral discounts survived to the end.