Chichen Itza Tour: History, Culture and Swimming in a Cenote from Playa del Carmen

Immerse yourself in the history, culture, and natural beauty of Chichen Itza on this exciting tour from Playa del Carmen. Swim in a cenote, enjoy a regional buffet lunch, and explore the charming town of Valladolid. Book now!

Duration: 12 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Chichen Itza - A VIP guided tour of Chichen Itza is an unforgettable journey to one of the world’s most famous ancient civilizations. Explore the ruins of Chichen Itza and discover the pyramid of Kukulkan, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Your expert local guide will share the fascinating facts…
What's Included
  • Cenote Admission
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Box Lunch with sandwich, fruit, juice, and sweet (Plus or Premier Option rate)
  • Lunch
  • Bottled water
  • Spirit drinks (with Premier option rate)
What's Not Included
  • Mandatory life jacket rental in the cenote 4 USD per person must be paid in cash at the check in
  • Chihen Itza Admission: $7 USD must be paid at Check-In in cash or by credit card.
  • Chichen Itza CULTUR $33 USD must be paid at Check-In in cash or by credit card.
Additional Information

A Chichen Itza tour includes everything you need for a nice experience in history, culture and natural beauty. An exciting tour with a bilingual local expert, round-trip transportation, premium beverages and snacks on board, exquisite regional buffet lunch with drinks, a swim in a cenote and a visit to Valladolid make this a complete day of Yucatan…

Location
Naala Tulum
Avenida Coba
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.4
(801 Ratings)
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344gonzaloz
Nov 18, 2024
recommend it - the service was very good, they fulfilled everything they said. besides, the good humor is always appreciated, 100% recommended
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Marcu
Nov 18, 2024
Best Day Trip Ever - Roberto was an amazing tour guide. Friendly, generous and kind. He was thoughtful and presented informative and humorous commentary throughout. Mario the driver was efficient and a calculated risk taking professional. We felt very safe. Gonzalo was such a joy. He kept us in stitches. We had a wonderful and very full day. Would highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
786anabelb
Nov 18, 2024
Excellent - Excellent attention, guides Roberto and Gonzalo very attentive, driver Mario very helpful, the tour completely met my expectations. Delicious food, depends on the tour you choose you have unlimited drinks along the way, the places we met were always guided and we were never alone
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Carlos
Nov 17, 2024
Great visit with the best guides! - It was a great visit with the best guides ever: Roberto and Gonzalo! They were amazing! Extremly knowlegeble, professional, funny and with a lot of experience. We learnd so much and had so much fun with them! They are the best guides! Also Henrique (the driver) was great!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Janab473
Nov 13, 2024
A great day trip - It was a great day trip with great guides. Everything was great organized and prepared. We were consecrated / cleaned and then there was a delicious lunch. Chichen Itza herself was very impressive and imposing. It is definitely worth a visit. The guide informed us very well and also answered questions. The subsequent bath in the Kenote was very refreshing. The kenote was beautiful...with lianas and waterfall...as you imagine. Very nice indeed. The stopover on the way back to Valladolid was short but interesting. If you like chocolate, you should definitely go to the "Chocolate Museum". The church and the park in front are also very worth seeing. All in all a very nice day!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Natalia
Nov 13, 2024
Full tour - It was really impeccable. From booking the package with Arturo to searching the hotel and returning. The organization of the activities was correct and allowed us to know several points that we wanted to visit. Super friendly the team of guides.
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J599jcjamesr
Nov 12, 2024
Amazing and worthwhile excursion! - The trip was amazing and the guides, Roberto and Mario, were very knowledgeable, professional, and humorous! The bus was comfortable. Each stop and activity was fun and engaging!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Totalvaca
Dec 1, 2024
I would not recommend this tour - We arranged this trip through Vidanta Resort. Veronica, at the Vida booking counter, provided detailed information about the package. The itinerary included breakfast, a visit to Chichén Itzá, a swim in a Cenote, lunch, a tour of the city of Valladolid, and beverages (water, soda, and beer) on the bus. She also explained the pricing and schedule differences: booking on Tuesday or Wednesday would cost more, with a return time of 7:00 PM, while booking on Thursday or Friday would cost less but involve a later return at 10:00 PM. Additionally, there was a $40 cash fee for transportation. I clarified the specifics of the breakfast and lunch offerings. We paid nearly $300 for a couple. Ultimately, we opted for the Wednesday trip, paying the higher rate to ensure a 7:00 PM return. Our bus driver was Enrique, and our tour guides were Roberto and Gonzalo. Upon boarding, we were given a sack containing a ham sandwich with lettuce and a juice box. Unfortunately, I was unable to consume the provided items. When I inquired with Roberto about breakfast, he assured me that the sack was merely a snack, and that breakfast would be served later. However, no breakfast was ever provided. During the ride to Chichén Itzá, Roberto delivered a sales presentation encouraging us to purchase Mayan community birth certificates. He also strongly advised against using credit cards at any point during the trip. This was problematic as I had brought minimal cash, expecting to rely on my card for purchases. At Chichén Itzá, Gonzalo provided an outstanding educational tour lasting approximately one hour. His insights were captivating, and we would have gladly listened to him for longer. Following the guided tour, we had an additional hour to explore independently. Visitors should exercise caution with the vendors around the site, as they can be aggressive. Simply touching an item often leads to persistent pressure to make a purchase. We did not arrive for lunch until 2:00 PM. Unfortunately, I became ill due to having no food to eat and no funds to purchase anything (as I had planned to rely on my credit card). Upon arrival, we were welcomed with a blessing from a Mayan Shaman. Immediately after, we were led into a room for another sales presentation, this time to purchase additional Mayan items. Before being allowed to eat, a photographer took our pictures without explanation. The buffet provided for lunch was of poor quality, and the waitstaff were overly insistent about receiving tips. Following lunch, we proceeded to the Cenote. During the drive, the photographer reappeared with printed photos of us taped onto liquor bottles, which he attempted to sell. The Cenote itself was beautiful and offered the opportunity to swim with provided life jackets. The buffet at this location appeared and smelled far better than the one we had earlier. I wished we could have dined there, but once again, the no-credit-card restriction prevented us from making any purchases. When it was time to leave, we discovered that our bus was not ready. Roberto informed us that there was an issue with the tire and assured us it would be resolved within 10 minutes. However, we ended up waiting for over an hour. By then, the Cenote had closed, and we were left alone with only our tour group. As evening fell, mosquitoes became a significant issue, and I was severely bitten. The drinks provided during the trip were served in small glasses rather than bottles or cans, with the exception of water, which was offered in a bottle. Our next stop was Valladolid, which we reached after nightfall. The stop lasted only 20 minutes—insufficient time to explore or do much of anything. Most participants chose to remain on the bus, with a few parents taking their children to use the restroom. No arrangements were made for dinner, and we ultimately returned to Vidanta at 10:00 PM, despite being told 7:00 PM arrival. Upon our return, Roberto spent approximately 10 minutes soliciting tips for himself, Gonzalo and Enrique, citing the long hours spent away from their families. While I sympathize, this is a standard aspect of any job, and his appeal felt excessive. Also, the bug push to write a wonderful review to which Roberto gave everyone a QR code. The following day, I went to the Vida counter at Vidanta to lodge a formal complaint about the experience. I spoke with Juan Carlos Tello, who claimed that I had misunderstood the details of the trip. I was required to write out my complaint, but no resolution was offered. I did receive an email from Juan who stated that he reached out to the tour company. This was their response. “This day we served 36 people from our The arrival time at the Hotel was 9:19 due to heavy traffic during this day.” Which was a complete lie. There was no traffic at all, we came back at 10pm and no mention of the issues with the bus. If I were to do this trip again, I would rent a car to drive to Chichén Itzá independently, purchase a guided tour on-site, and bring food and carry sufficient cash to buy food and souvenirs.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
951josua
Nov 17, 2024
Planning helps not to screw up - Unfortunately I must assess as bad. The organizers of the trip did not know how to value in terms of "time" the stop to eat that lasted 1.5 hours longer than necessary for the visit to a souvenir shop and some time with a shaman that had the consequence that the visit to the cenote was already done after dark and ended at night. No sun for the hour it was. Not to mention the visit to the city of Valladolid, completely at night. Honestly, it is very laudable that in their objectives they include help to the Mayan people but that should not be excused so that a long-awaited day becomes terrible for not foreseeing that going swimming almost at night in a cenote is not what the tourist seeks, and of course the terrible photos and videos of low light.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Faith-in-rocknroll
Nov 21, 2024
Bad experience - My friends booked the full day trip in Chichen Itza with this company. The meeting point was at 7:00 am at the hotel in Playacar and for 3 HOURS AND AN HALF we stayed on the bus only to pick up the other partecipants between Playacar and Tulum. Not even to say that anyone didn't have breakfast because all the hotels didn't provide it before the pick up hour. At 10:45 (!!!) we finally left Tulum. The first stop was a cenote (just half an hour stop) and then a little market area selling always the same turistic stuff. We had a (bad) lunch at this very touristic place and then we finally headed to Chichen Itza (one hour of air total). At that point we were drained, in horrible shape and exhausted. I felt sick because all those pullman hours (I didn't expect to spend almost 8 hours in a bus since the distance from Tulum it would be 2.5 hours). All the other passangers we talked to were really mad. Considering the situation, we were so exhausted we couldn't properly enjoy the only place we actually wanted to see, which was by the way the main attraction. We had a couple of hours there and then we came back apart a little stop at Valladolid (20 minutes) and be dropped off at 9:00pm. At the end, of the 15 hours trip, we stayed in the bus for 11 hours (!!!). The giudes (roberto, nisan and adrian) were nice guys but the organization was a real nightmare and I’m sure it didn’t depend on them.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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December 2024
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