Chichen itza early access trip, Valladolid & Cenote pickup hotel

I give this tour 2 stars because of the misleading description on Viator, which might not be the fault of the operator, Blue Caribe. I chose this tour for my family because of the early arrival and for the promised time at the stops. Many tours promise 1.5 hours at Chichen Itza whereas this one says it provides 3 hours (spoiler: it does not). We got picked up at our hotel in Playacar at 5:45am. We made a stop nearby to transfer passengers between buses and were on the road around 7am. Our bus guides were very friendly and gave a lot of information along the driveWe arrived at Chichen Itza around 8:45 am Yucatan time (9:45am Quintanaroo time). This was just after opening, and we did arrive before most of the crowds. However, we had only 1 hour and 45 minutes at the site. My family of four happened to be the only english speakers on our bus so we got a tour guide to ourselves at the site, and this was still just enough time to get the basic tour tour highlightd the site. It left NO free time to look around the site on our own or to shop the local vendors, which does require time to try to distinguish the fake products from the locally made ones and you do need to negotiate. While we did not arrive with intent to buy anything, upon seeing the many, many vendors we had hoped to have a few minutes to do so. (Given the misleading time description, and resulting disappointment, this portion of the tour gets 2 stars. I can only imagine what the group of 20-30 Italians on our bus experienced on their tour of the site, which must have felt more rushed as their tour guide tried to manage the large group and allow time for photos). We then drove 45-60 minutes to Cenote Agua Dulce. The drive passes by an impoverished area which I appreciated as a view of the real Yucatec... you can catch glimpses of people cooking or working in their yard, and children playing. We spent 1.5 hours for lunch and a swim, which was plenty of time. You can find photos on Google... it's a large cavern with stellactites and several small openings in the roof; it is not the large open-hole type. The meal seemed to be hosted by a local family, which I assume/hope owned the property and has found a way to make a profit from it. It felt like a cook-out under a wood veranda with a palm-leaf roof. There was rice, black beans, a pork dish, a chicken dish, salad, bread, sweet bread, salsa, watermelon, and iced hibiscus tea (other beverages can be purchased). It is supposedly traditional "Yucatec" recipes, but was essentially indistinguishable from other "Mexican" food. That is just an observation, not a criticism... my family liked the food. (I give this portion of the tour 4 stars). (I note that we passed several cenotes along the way to Agua Dulce. While I like believing that the tour helps support a local family, I do wonder if we could have stopped at a closer cenote and spent more time at Chichen Itza). The next stop was Valladolid. We had only 30 minutes, which was barely enough time to rush to buy an ice cream and taste some tequilas at one of the shops along the plaza. Given the fragment of time we had there, I would just as well have cut it out of the tour and spent more time at Chichen Itza. (1.5 stars for this stop, given the scant time). Overall, this was a good tour, but disappointing given the variance between the description and the actual times spent. My family also got lucky because we were the only English speakers on the bus and got our own site guide. If I had to do it again I would book a "small group tour" and avoid the risk of not having the same good luck. There are many small group tours that cost less and (purport) to provide the same amount of time at the site. While the "early arrival" did beat the most of the large crowds, I do not know if that would make a big difference if you get stuck in a group of 20 people with a single guide.

Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. The pick up and drop off was right at our door, so it was also very convenient. It is a long day, but definitely worth it!

Great experience with BlueCaraibe which was the company for our 4 excursions, despite a very mixed first excursion, the other 3 were incredible a big thank you to Steffi and Maia for Cobà and the whale sharks, and a huge thank you to Luca for all this information and these details the best guide possible for Chichen. I really recommend this experience!!!

Wonderful excursion. Thank you to the entire team for their kindness, helpfulness, and highly professional guidance. We first visited Chichén Itzá, with its rich history and unique charm, followed by lunch and a relaxing swim in the Agua Dulce cenote, before finishing the day in the colonial town of Valladolid. Special thanks to Erika, who shared with us a wealth of information and fascinating stories about the ancient Maya culture and traditions. I highly recommend this tour. Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who selflessly helped me when I collapsed due to the high temperatures at Chichén Itzá: first, to the local guide who called the paramedics; to the paramedics who examined me and escorted me back to the bus; to the bus driver; and to Lorenzo and Erica, who looked after me with great care throughout the rest of the excursion. Last but not least, my sincere thanks also go to Egon and the lovely couple from Slovenia, who provided me with first aid and support when I needed it most. ❤️

This is a great tour for the price: We were picked up at 5:45am from PDC, then went to Tulum to pickup more guests. The drive was a little long on the way (4 hours). Expect to arrive at Chichen Itza at 8:45am, and stay until 11am. Then head to the city for about 50 minutes, and lunch at the cenote after. The tour guide Marie and our driver Nestor were phenomenal and very kind. I appreciate that they don’t attempt to sell you on anything and take you to your activities efficiently and on schedule. The food was authentic and very delicious. The cenote was beautiful and not crowded at all. Overall a wonderful experience.

Thanks to Erica, our super guide, for her VIP tour of Chichen Itzá and her kindness! We recommend it 🤗😍

A big thank you to our guide Erica who gave us a VIP tour of Chichen Itzá Great knowledge and great kindness, we were lucky to meet her 😍

Informative, pleasant, and our guide took care of everything. Gave us history and even took our family photos! This is our second time visiting Chichen Itza, and this tour was far superior to our first. Highly recommend.

This was a wonderful trip! All of the workers, from the driver to the bus hosts to the guides, were incredibly friendly and helpful. Our guide at Chichen Itza was extremely knowledgable about not only the attraction, but also the culture, beliefs, and traditions of the Mayan people. He shared a lot of interesting stories and information with our group. The cenote was also very cool and refreshing after the warm weather at Chichen Itza.

The tour was amazing, big thank to our tour guide Nadia, recommending her as tour guide