Chichen Regular from Cancun to Playa del Carmen

Chichen Itza is a day trip from Cancun. Our tour guides Eduardo 1 and 2, Josel and the bus driver Jose did an amazing job and we had an fantastic time. During the trip we got very detailed background information about the area from Eduardo 1, we visited quality shopping places supporting local Mayan communities. In the heat Eduardo 1 spent over an hour giving us very interesting facts about the Chichen Itza site. Josel helped us keeping schedule and providing us with practical information about the other places we visited during the trip like Selva Maya cenote. We had a smooth ride thanks to Jose and Eduardo 2 made sure everybody was comfortable. It was an amazing day trip, strongly recommend it if you're in Cancun!

Booked through Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya Vacation planner and cost $179, so obviously there's a mark-up in there for them! Pickup was at the Red Lobby which was a bit of a zoo that time of the morning. Nominally 8:20am, bus arrived 8:40am. I was one of maybe 10 from that hotel, but the bus was then full (43 people total). Route was back down through Tulum and then a secondary road inland. The only problem here was that I was trying to call my son who was at Xplor, and got cut off because there is ZERO cell coverage once you're five minutes out of Tulum until you get to the major roads near Valladolid. So that didn't go well, but not a fault of this tour! Bus was comfortable, but most of the other passengers had apparently gotten the Deluxe package, so they got a brown-bag breakfast and extra drinks and the option to borrow a parasol for the time at Chichen Itza, and I didn't, which was lame considering the cost, but oh well. Some excitement en-route as an outer rear tire on the bus blew at full speed on the freeway, but they declared it safe to drive slowly on the inner one the rest of the way. Josue, the main guide, was awesome and funny, and the "young boss" Luis was helpful once I got over how I wasn't getting the drinks others were getting. First stop after ~2 hours was a restaurant and souvenir store in the outskirts of Chichen Itza town, where we were, of course, directed through the entire store in order to get to the restrooms, although there was a more direct outdoor route only obvious later. However, the store was fascinating and there was no hard sell of anything. Restrooms were clean and tidy and it was a worthwhile stop. Oh, I forgot the only other bit of integrated hard-sell was the option to order some custom-made Mayan silver jewelry, filling in a form on the bus and they'd make it to order for pickup later. I did not partake in this. Then, with blown tire replaced, we were off to CI itself, ten minutes away, and since the traffic was bad, we were told we were going to abandon the bus and walk, which was fine physically (the whole day involved a lot of walking) but did involve the first (but only) gamut of independent vendors, selling souvenirs and hats. I can't help but imagine that the traffic is "bad" EVERY day and they always do this. But again, oh well, and the vendors were easy to ignore if you didn't want them. Entry to the park itself was surprisingly easy, with provided pre-paid tickets and we went in a different entrance from the main public and down a back path with no vendors, apparently unlike the main one. Josue handled the tour for the 75% English-speaking contingent of our group, and a third-party guide William did the Spanish version. The tour itself was only about 45 minutes, but very informative, talking about the ball-game courts, decapitation, human sacrifice, and all that cool stuff. As an engineer, I was also fascinated by the acoustic effect heard when clapping in front of the staircase of the main pyramid, as the diffraction effect of the multiple echos from each stair riser causes the overall echo to sound like a bird, apparently the sacred Quetzal. You can find many YouTube videos about it yourself. Were the Mayans smart enough to build it deliberately so it did this. Probably! Then another 45 minutes to wander by ourselves, then back to the parking lot to meet the bus (no stragglers) and then back to the same restaurant/store place for an included buffet lunch (a good selection for all tastes, including some lovely pork tacos). Drinks were NOT included. 80 MXN for a Corona and 55 MXN for a 500ml bottle Coke. Some interesting live entertainment by Mayan dancers and drummers too. Fourth stop was Selva Maya, a private small entertainment location including Cenote Saamal, in which we had an hour to swim if we wanted. I chose not to, but it sure looked fun. What I DID have was some lovely coconut milk direct from a freshly-machete'd coconut. Yum. There were options to spike, but I did not. Then final stop was the town of Valledolid, which was a lovely but quick break, wandering the town square and the beautiful adjacent church. The only unpleasant part was that the town square is the only part of the town big enough for the buses to stop, so they basically circle the square while their passengers wander, thus causing traffic jams and hardly good for the environment either. Then back to the coast by the same route. By this time it was dark. And by dark, I really mean DARK! Just a couple of small towns and gas stations, otherwise NOTHING (apart from the one obligatory Policia checkpoint). Probably the least illuminated place I've ever been. Once back at the coast, hotel drop-offs took a while, some we went into directly, others by transferring people to smaller vans for distribution. HRHRM was basically the last one, so I didn't get back until ~9pm, and of course was unable to warn my family of such due to the aforementioned lack of cell service until we got to Tulum, so they'd already given up and had dinner without me, but we knew up front that would likely be. Overall, a long but fascinating day. Josue is an EXCELLENT guide, with all sorts of visual aids and photos. Luis did a great job in the background, and driver Alejandro was smooth and cool even in the face of mechanical failure! They even played Pixar's "Coco" on the bus video system on the way home, which was lovely, and there wasn't even a hard sell for a tip, although I was happy to give generously (the tip is split equally among all three apparently). There was no mention of the additional tax payment that other reviews have described, so not sure what happened there. Overall 8/10 Deductions only for well-disguised but still obvious vendor exposure and me not getting the Deluxe Tour features the hotel never offered me.

It was an amazing tour with very friendly guides. They accompanied the whole tour, taught historical contexts, took us to Chichen Itza, Cenote Selva Maya and Vaiadolid

We went from Cancun to Chichen Itza and a cenote. All the staff were really nice. Beto was amazing!! The ride was comfortable.

We had an excellent experience! Good transportation, the guide Vitor was very responsible, fun and didactic. The places visited are beautiful. The restaurant where we fed was very good! The local handicraft very colorful, very beautiful!

The guider was a very funny guy and the data that he shared with us was interensting and new for us. Victor, Enrique, Cime.

Your guide was funny, and very well knowledgeable about all the historical sites. He even translated multiple languages. Also was very patient when people took there time getting to the bus. Would recommend 10/10

Our tour guides were very personable and were very good at switching between languages so that everyone understood what was happening. For the price, there is a lot of exploration included!

We went on the “Chichén Itzá + cenote” tour with Cancun Passion (booked with another affiliate agency). We mostly had a good time. However, this is a warning to anyone booking this tour with Cancun Passion: most of the tour is designed around scamming tourists out of as much of their money as possible, and the tour guides are complicit in the scams. First, the good parts. The guides we had, “Mike” and Eduardo (I think), were very punctual, energetic, and appeared knowledgeable (more on the “appeared” part later). The tour is filled with information on the Mayan culture and beautiful sites. The guide mentions extraterrestrial influence and Jesus visiting the ancient Mayans a bit too often for my taste, though (believe whatever you want, but I think a tour guide should stick with verifiable facts or otherwise consensus theory). The bad part starts on the first “bathroom break” before getting to the Mayan ruins. The guides tell you that you will have the opportunity to buy beautiful art from local artisans. To get to the bathroom, you need to walk through a maze of shops with very aggressive vendors who try to pressure you into buying. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING! You will find most of the same stuff in profusion at the Chichén Itzá site at 1/5th to 1/10th the price later. The guides don’t tell you that. Another scam occurs after the visit to the ruins, when the tour brings you to a nice but over-touristy cenote. Upon arrival, the tour guides spend a fair amount of time exalting a "local craft tequila" being sold there. DO NOT BUY THE TEQUILA! Upon returning home, we learned it was not authentic; the QR code on the bottle is fake, and the tequila is not listed as ever being distilled at the provided distillery (from the “NOM” number on the bottle). Research on the internet (search "Agavos" or "El Jefe" tequila) shows it is a scam, selling subpar tequila (if it is even tequila) full of additives and sugar at inflated prices to tourists. So, you end up paying 100$ or more for a bottle worth at most 20$. At the beginning, I said the guides “appeared” knowledgeable. Maybe. They say they are Mayan descendants. Maybe. They say the stuff they sell on the bus is to help schools that teach the Mayan language to kids. Maybe. But all the scams and tourist traps along the way made me lose most of the confidence I had in them.

I greatly enjoyed my trip. I am a 40 year-old woman who left my group to go to the cenote and ruins solo. I felt safe traveling with the friendly, helpful and informative staff. They took care to make sure everyone was on time while not feeling rushed. The staff we’re really knowledgeable about modern and ancient Mayan culture, history and archaeology and took the time to answer our questions and to understand the information we were given. I would highly recommend their tour and I hope you enjoy your tour as much as I did.