Chichen Itza Mayan Ruin & Chichikan Cenote only from Tulum

Great excursion!

Great excursion! Top tour guide!!

via Tripadvisor (translated)

Incessant high-pressure sales but magnificent

The cenote and Chichén Itzá are simply breathtaking. The underground lagoon is magnificent, and the pyramid… what can I say, other than wow! It’s one of the most beautiful archaeological sites I have had the luck to visit. Our guide also deserves a special mention. His explanations about the history of the Mayans, the Yucatán region, and the different places visited were captivating, relevant, and enriching. Valladolid, nicknamed the honey capital of the world, was also a very pleasant stop, even if we were starting to get quite tired at that point in the day. Unfortunately, the experience was constantly interrupted by a succession of high-pressure sales. As soon as we were on the bus, they tried to sell us our Mayan horoscope and a personalized bottle of alcohol, even going so far as to print a photo of our family on the label to increase the pressure to buy. The "Mayan purification ceremony," which only lasted a few minutes, quickly turned into a long presentation on the supposed powers of polished stones, before directing us toward a souvenir market of polished stones… Once at Chichén Itzá, we had to cross a long corridor of vendors to access the site. Inside the site itself, merchants lined almost all the paths. It was impossible to take a few steps without hearing "Only one dollar today!". In the long run, this incessant solicitation takes a lot away from the magic of the place. I felt more like prey in the middle of vendors than a visitor who came to discover one of the wonders of the world. In summary, the places visited are exceptional and are absolutely worth the detour. I would have appreciated, however, if the excursion had placed more emphasis on cultural discovery than on the numerous sales attempts.

via Tripadvisor (translated)

Tried to do too much

Basically a quite nice tour, unfortunately completely overloaded. We were traveling on a fully occupied bus, and the guide kept chattering on and on, which was barely understandable due to the poor microphone. The visit to the cenote came first on our tour, but it was nothing more than "nice." After that, we went to the "Maya village" – which was complete nonsense, however; it was just a visit to the park at the Chichikan cenote. About as authentic as Disneyland. The visit also included 20 minutes at the sales stand there. The buffet was okay. On the bus toward Chichen Itza, there was then another commercial break for liqueur. Chichen Itza itself was of course great to see, but at that point (four-thirty in the afternoon) we were already pretty "wiped out." After that, there was a photo stop in Valladolid, which was also nice. Overall, "one of many" tours, which unfortunately all offer the same jam-packed program.

Response from the operator: Sehr geehrter Gast, vielen Dank, dass Sie sich die Zeit genommen haben, uns Ihr ausführliches Feedback mitzuteilen. Wir freuen uns, dass Ihnen der Besuch von Chichén Itzá und Valladolid gefallen hat, bedauern aber, dass einige Aspekte der Tour nicht Ihren Erwartungen entsprochen haben. Dieser Ausflug ist als Ganztagestour konzipiert und kombiniert verschiedene Sehenswürdigkeiten, um unseren Gästen die Möglichkeit zu geben, die archäologischen, kulturellen und natürlichen Höhepunkte der Region an einem einzigen Tag zu entdecken. Wir verstehen, dass ein solches Programm für manche Reisende etwas umfangreich sein kann. Bezüglich der Einkaufsstopps möchten wir darauf hinweisen, dass diese im Tourprogramm enthalten und in den Tourinformationen vor der Buchung beschrieben sind. Jegliche Einkäufe während dieser Stopps sind selbstverständlich optional, und Sie sind nicht verpflichtet, etwas zu kaufen, wenn Sie dies nicht möchten. Wir danken Ihnen auch für Ihre Anmerkungen zum Mikrofon des Reiseleiters und zum allgemeinen Tempo. Wir werden Ihr Feedback an unser Organisationsteam weiterleiten, da wir stets bestrebt sind, unser Angebot zu verbessern. Vielen Dank nochmals für Ihr wertvolles Feedback. Wir hoffen, Sie bald wieder auf einer Reise begrüßen zu dürfen, die Ihren Wünschen besser entspricht. Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Ihr Kundenservice-Team

via Tripadvisor (translated)

Excellent tour!

Eric and Jesus were excellent. Very informative with lots of humour. The only reason I gave 4 out of 5 stars and not 5, was that we were picked up in a smaller bus than advised and I sat at the back seat with practically no view of the outdoors while driving.

via Tripadvisor

Good value, well organised tour.

We booked this through TripAdvisor after looking at a load of different websites - this one was the best priced and they all are the same tour (others paid much more through different websites). Our guide was Jesus and he was fantastic, funny and knowledgable. He shared a lot of history and information on the sites and general Mayan culture. Charlie the driver was fab too. He spoke in both Spanish and English (so it’s not exclusively an English speaking tour). Everything was included apart from an additional 40USD per person and then drinks at lunch and the cost of lockers at the Cenote. It was a shame they didn’t do Chichén Itzá first and the cenote after as that would have been more refreshing and could have avoided the afternoon heat while at Chichen Itza with no shade.

via Tripadvisor