Chichen Itza Tour: Explore Mayan Heritage with Cenote Swim and Valladolid Visit
4.6
62 Ratings
Cancún
Immerse yourself in the wonders of Chichen Itza and the rich Mayan heritage on this day trip. Swim in a sacred cenote, explore Chichen Itza with a guide, visit Valladolid, and enjoy a regional lunch. Round-trip transfer included.
Duration:
12 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
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Highlights
- Cenote Saamal - You can swim, if you wish, in this beautiful sacred cenote of the Mayan Culture and immerse yourself in its crystal clear and refreshing waters. The cenotes, also known as “ojos de agua” were very important to the Mayans, from a ceremonial point of view to survival.
- Chichen Itza - Here you will have a guided tour of the Mayan Chichén Itzá ceremonial center accompanied by one of our certified guides, later you will have free time to explore the Mayan city on your own.
- Temple of the Warriors - The Temple of the Warriors is one of the most impressive and important structures at Chichén Itzá. It may be the only known Late Classic Maya building large enough to accommodate truly large gatherings.
- El Caracol - The so-called Caracol or Observatory is a structure built in the form of a larger circular tower set on a platform with a central staircase. The base sits on another rectangular platform, decorated with a cornice with rounded corners at the top. El Caracol is actually built with three superimposed buildings.
- Gran Juego de Pelota - The Ball Game was more of a ceremonial ritual than a sport and probably represented the symbolic recreation of the mythical combat between night and day. There is a unique acoustic phenomenon in the ballcourt: if one speaks in the temple at the south end, the voice can be heard at the opposite end, as the sound reverberates along the walls of the north temple.
- Templo de Kukulkan - The Castillo or Pyramid of Kukulcan is a four-sided pyramid, with a rectangular temple on top. The phenomenon of light and shadow, worthy testimony of the amazing progress of the Maya in architecture and astronomy is the phenomenon of “light and shadow” that takes place on the north staircase of the Castle during the Spring Equinox where you can see descending a snake down the stairs The sun casts seven triangles of light on the balustrade on the northeast side of the Castle. These begin to move up and down along the balustrade to form the silhouette of a descending serpent.
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Valladolid - We will make a brief visit to the main square of the beautiful picturesque town of Valladolid named as Pueblo Mágico for preserving the architecture and traditions of the locals.
*If the local health authorities do not allow the descent, a brief stop will be made only on top of the transport.
What's Included
- Pick up at your hotel from Cancun and Riviera Maya or meeting point near your location
- Certified bilingual guide
- Free time in Chichen Itza
- Swim in the incredible sacred Maya Saamal cenote
- Typical regional buffet lunch
- Brief visit to the main square of Valladolid
What's Not Included
- Drinks
- Access fee to Chichen Itza (30 usd x adult / 5 usd x child) to be paid in cash on the tour day
- Lockers and life jackets
Additional Information
Dive into a world wonder and Yucatan’s rich cultural heritage on a full-day outing, with stress-free return transportation available from your accommodations in Cancun, Costa Mujeres, Playa del Carmen, and Riviera Maya up to Tulum. The day features a swim in the stunningly sacred Maya Saamal cenote, a guided tour of Chichén Itzá (entry not included), and leisure time to explore the Mayan city at your own pace. There’s also a brief stop in the charming town of Valladolid and a local lunch buffet.
• Bathe in the alluring sacred Saamal cenote
• Explore Chichén Itza with a fully accredited guide and enjoy personal time
• Savor a local buffet lunch
• Hassle-free round trip transfers from your lodging
- The time shown on your ticket is NOT your pick up time
- You will receive the pick-up time 1 day before the tour, please check your email include the spam folder, if you do not receive the pick-up time before 3 pm you can contact us at our Whatsapp
- It is suggested to wear comfortable clothes for walking
- If you will swim in the cenote you must wear a bathing suit
- It is suggested to bring an extra change of clothes
- We recommend bringing an umbrella, hat and sunscreen as it is a completely open area
- Reservations with less than 14 hours in advance will be subject to availability
- The pick-up times at the hotels, itinerary and return time may be affected by issues beyond our control, such as weather or traffic.
- The times and places mentioned in the itinerary are suggested visits and the times are estimates.
- If you are late or don’t show up, no refund is offered.
- Subject to availability, changes or rescheduling made less than 24 hours in advance will have an extra charge of USD 15 per person
- We are not responsible for forgotten or lost objects
- We do not offer pick up service at any airbnb or private addresses
- The free souvenir is subject to availability, it is delivered 1 day after the tour at the door of your hotel (Cancun only), 1 souvenir per reservation
- Extra charges for the purchase of souvenirs, photos, or any extra purchase could have an additional amount of 16% VAT. Any extra charge during the experience is completely unrelated to our company
- Our company is not responsible for guarantees or charges for inclusions not mentioned in the contracted package, such as souvenirs, photos and any extra purchases during the tour inside and outside our facilities.
Location
Smart Cancun by Oasis
Avenida Tulum
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.6
(62 Ratings)
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Socrate141
Jan 22, 2024
Recommended, we hope to return soon - It was an incredible experience to be in one of the 7 wonders of the world with the warmth and friendliness of the guides Lalo and Tony who made our trip fun all the time. We recommend this excursion to anyone who wants to have a memorable time.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Isabell
Oct 14, 2023
Awesome trip! - Bus was comfy and air conditioned, Rey was our guide and he was awesome! Very beautiful locations and a very fun trip, highly recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Viccz9427pi
Sep 7, 2023
Fantastic attention and kindness - The attention received by the staff has been fantastic, our guide Rudy really has knowledge of the place and the Mayan culture and kindly answers any questions you may have. We received everything that was advertised and were happy, we will definitely do it again.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Funtravelingbears
Jul 2, 2023
Amazing experience worth taking - From our hotel pick up at 6:30 am to our return 9:35 pm, this is one of the best tours my husband and I have taken. Our tour guide Lalo
was very knowledable of the Mexican and mayan history. He kept us entertained throughout thw whole day with valuable and interesting information about everywhere we went. The tour had several stops: magic mayan town of Yaax Kin where we were greeted by a mayan shaman and had an energy cleanse, we had time to shop for souvenirs, learn about the importance of cacao for the mayans and then enjoyed a delicious lunch buffet prepared by the mayan villagers. Next stop was Chichen Itza (AMAZING!) where we toured 1 hour with a guide and had 1 hour to tour on our own. Then we continued on to the Cenote Saamal, which after the heat we endured at Chichen Itza was great to cool off. Finally, we visited the colonial town of Valladolid where we had 30 min to buy souvenirs, snacks or ice cream.
From what we could see, it seems that all tours gather at a central meeting point in the hotel zone where you sign in and pay the Chichen Itza tax mentioned in the description. Then you are assigned your tour bus.. The only other thing you need to pay is the lifevest and locker at the Cenote, if you are going to go into it. Some tours include beverages, ours didn’t. But it was no big deal because we brought some and purchased at the different places. At all stops you can buy water, soda or gatorade and you can pay with mexican pesos or credit card with no problem.
Overall, we loved the tour and will recommend to all our family and friends who come to Cancun. We will return as well!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sarah
May 26, 2023
Time Break Up - It was a good trip but it only got 4/5 stars because of the time break up. We spent 2 hours and 20 minutes at Chichen Itza and only 1 hour at the cenote which is 30 minutes of swimming. Everyone on the tour wished the cenote was longer rather than Chichen Itza. The tour guide was super nice we got picked up at the hotel which was also nice. It was a 14 hour trip not 12.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jonathannc257jh
Sep 7, 2023
Beware of extra fees. - The tour was fine albeit a bit long and unnecessarily drug out. My big issue is that there are hidden fees that are not advertised on this booking, 148$? Sure seems great! Wait til you get to the part where they split you up on bus tours and charge you another 200$ when I asked why I was being charged this they said “sorry it changed from the website” what are they talking about?? No clue! This was never even mentioned in the advertisement, and also beware there is another 60$ fee for the entrance, so in reality we spent 400$ USD for this entire trip. The problem isn’t the amount we spent, it’s the fact we felt very misled and scammed due to us being Americans and not speaking the language. Customer service was also zero help so if you’re booking this trip just beware of hundreds of extra fees. Also not to mention the shopping traps they take you to to try and empty your wallet. Overall was a bad experience, we saw chichen itza and the cenote and they were great, but you can find much cheaper and better options than this scam of a tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
667trinityg
Aug 19, 2023
High pressure sales!!! - Chichen Itza was amazing to experience! I would definitely recommend visiting this wonder of the world! I was very disappointed with the tour itself. The majority of the bus ride was setting the stage to get you to buy Mayan birth certificates and healing stones. We were also told we needed bug spray to prevent mosquitoes who carry nasty diseases, from biting us. Bus tour sold us a tiny bottle for $12, We looked back on things to bring on the tour once we were in an area with service and no where did it say we needed bug spray! There were no bugs, we didn’t need it! We were then brought to a location where the waiting area to get into lunch was a store in the middle of no where, where there were several people pushing items on us, high pressure, for about 30 minutes! We bought water bottles then proceeded to the lunch line where they made us leave our water at the door because we had to buy our drinks from them only. This is after being filtered through 2 more high pressure buying opportunities. At our Chichen Itza stop, we were told to meet at a specific spot at 3:40, or they would leave without us, so we made sure to be prompt! Our guide never came to the meeting spot, we found him asleep on the bus. This tour says 12 hrs but it was more like 15. We made the most of the tour overall, but I would have chosen a different tour had I known what to expect!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Areviewforyouuu
Jun 28, 2023
Read this before you buy - This is just a huge cash grab tbh. The "drinks not included" is LITERAL. it isn't no alcoholic drinks included it's no drinks at all. No water, no beverage, none and you have to pay for them. So bring lots of water or drinks if you decide to book w them. The tour operator doesn't communicate efficiently. They take a while to respond its a bother. BRING BUG REPELLENT they will sell you a small bottle and it won't be worth it. BRING SUNSCREEN they won't even sell that. The buffet people are stingy w their food. Every place you stop they try to sell you anything w ridiculous prices. The tour guide really pushed the shaman beliefs onto you which was unnecessary. The only good thing was that they picked us up from the hotel, since our hotel is far away not many agencies offered to pick us up and drop us off.
Find something else or etc idk
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Andrew_t
May 15, 2023
Just don't bother with this tour - What can I say the pickup was supose to be a 9am ended up 50 minutes late & did not even pick us up from hotel lobby we had to meet them at the main road entrance of hotel,then cross two busy roads to get onto the coach.
Soon as we got on the coach our guide none stopped talked for 2 hours , most of it was about healing remedies and stuff you could buy off them on the coach, just felt was there just to try be relieved of money.
Arrived at the resteraunt, was told we could not go into it just at the moment so he had us stand in the sun in 37° to waffle on about self healing & remedies, then to top it off into the gift shop before then have our photos taken then hurded up threw a chocolate shop then dancers trying to get payment for pics with them.
Finally sat down for the meal,nothing special.
Finally get on the road for chichen-itza arrive there about 2.30pm broke us up into English & spanish tour, our English speaking guide was one from the site & very good, we had some free time after the guided tour which was nice.
The cenote was nothing special & we didn't bother swimming in this one.
On the journey back we had a 30 minute stop in a town which thought was pointless. then the hard sell again & then the talk for 30 minutes about tipping the driver, guide & assistant and that it wasn't compulsory and wouldn't take offence if no tip given, he then started walking up the Isle with a basket asking for tips.
I did not warrant giving a tip due to the hard sell & clearly he was not happy as he dropped us off on the main road of our hotel & when I said thank you there was a deadly silence off him, so we had to walk up the drive to our hotel in the dark.
Just to much waiting around at resteraunt area & the hard sell with bug spray, drinking water, mayan birth certificates etc, just felt like we where just cash cows for them.
Oh and the free souvenir,gift was a pastry on the way back ha.
I would not recommend this trip pay the bit extra & go for a small group tour.
I paid extra for hotel pickup to find you have to meet them on the main road in 31° with no shade, which is only 500 metres but all the other tours
we have done come to the hotel to collect from lobby.
Review provided by Viator
Peter_k
Apr 25, 2023
Turist trap - Below you can find short brief info about this trip:
7:00 We,be been picked up from our hotel in playacar right in time at 7am by bus
Till 9:10 we were picking up another guests over
Whole south part of town.
At 9:30 we have been transferred to tourist dispatch center. Is was more shopping center than dispatch.
In this space we received stickers with bus numbers that we have to put on our shirts and been dispatched over another buses.
Whole procedure took about a hour
10:15 finally buses takes off from dispatch center
10:45 we’ve been informed that we are going via Tulim but not directly to chictza itza, because we need to pick up another tourists
12:30 we were in tulim and going back to road to chiccha itza.
During drive, guids tried to sell us “authentic certificate of beeing in chitcha” for 25$ usd.
At 14:30 we have reached local “restaurant” that was another tourist trap.
It was another shopping center with live presentation of magical things for possible purchasement.
After all they serve us lunch - or something that should be lunch - few fajitas and rice with some verges. Any type of drink is not included even cup of water
16:30 we leave shopping center during this trip some guy tried to sell us special liquor based on menthol with our faces on front of bottle that must been prepared when we eaten lunch.
Finally at 16:45 reached chichan itza
We had only 3h for short hike - it’s much to small amount of time if you spend another hour waiting in queue.
After that we’ve been transferred to cenotes near to valadolid - it was fine but we had only hour to spend over there. After change of clothes we have 20 minutes to spend in water only.
Then transfer to valadolid - it was also nice but after that we had 30 minutes for short hike
Strongly suggest to not use this trip with this tour operator
Review provided by Viator
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