Chichen Itzá Ik Kil Cenote Valladolid Small Group

My husband and I traveled from Orlando, FL to Tulum and wanted to find an “all inclusive” type of excursion including Chichen Itza and a cenote (water cave/sinkhole). I feel we found the right experience by booking this one. Our fantastic driver, Alberto, and fabulous tour guide, Antonio, picked us up from our hotel and dropped us off at the hotel at the end of the day, as promised. That service in itself made it so convenient for us. Take note, the breakfast is not included. We get a chance to pick up a quick breakfast at a convenience store. Also, prepare to pay about 5 pesos for the bathrooms. The drive to Chichen Itza is about 2 1/2 to 3 hrs from Playa del Carmen/Cancun/Tulum tourist area. We were a small group of 4 guests, so it felt like a private trip for us, which was great! The long drive didn’t feel so long since Antonio spoke about lots of interesting facts regarding their Mexican culture and shared great photos from his tablet. We were provided bottled water and snacks. As we left the tourist area, you get to see the “real Mexico” where the locals live. We made a stop to one of the colorful cemeteries on the way to Chichen Itza, really showing how important the “Day of the Dead” holiday is to Mexicans. When we arrived to see the castle in Chichen Itza, it was impressive. Learned lots of history and scientific archeological discoveries. Antonio was very engaging and helped us take some great photos. We then had some free time to walk around before going to lunch and prep to swim in the Ik Kil cenote. Be aware that there is some heavy soliciting in the archaeological site during your free time. One of the reasons we chose this tour was because the cenote is one of the more popular ones near Chichen Itza. The lunch buffet was decent enough for me, my husband thought it was a bit bland. You do get a locker and life jacket and have to rinse off before going to the cenote. Water shoes are super helpful. Otherwise, leave your shoes in the locker or they will make you climb all the way back up the stairs to put your shoes away before you get in the water. The water was very cold, it was March 1st, but I managed to get in. My husband couldn’t handle how cold it was and gave up on trying to get in. LOL. Changing clothes is challenging as there is only 1 hook in the bathroom stalls. I recommend you arrive wearing your bathing suit under your clothes, though changing after may be still be a challenge with no bench or chair to use. My husband threw his clothes over the door of the bathroom stall. Valledolid was an interesting stop afterward, this is a historical and popular city center where there are many shops, restaurants, and street vendors. Go to the park in the center square and take some fun photos, but don’t go too far as everything is pretty much in that square. We were picked up at 6:30am and were dropped off around 4:30pm. Take note this trip could take longer when there are more people involved. We were told this trip is plus or minus 12 hours long, so be ready for a long day. Overall, this trip included so much value and was well worth it. We felt so well taken care of and enjoyed the experience. I highly recommend it! Just do it!

Text: Excellent guide who looked after us every step of the way, and was full of information. Make sure you have tropical strength anti mosquito spray, sunhats, and if you're going to Ik Kil cenote, take swimming shoes / wet suit boots, because without them the stairs down to the bottom of the cenote are very hard on bare feet (no street shoes allowed).

Great guide who was full of information and jokes, and looked after us every step of the way. Early start enabled us to arrive at the attractions before the coaches, a real bonus.