Tikal SUNRISE, Archeological focus and Wildlife Spotting Tour (North and West)
Description
Premium tour visiting the best spots to photograph the monuments. Guaranteed departure, we operate only with 1 guest with no extre charge. Extensive tour, Sunrise and Archaeological (two in one) with enough time and flexibility, excellent for photographers. Hassle free entry fees, those are not included because price varies according to nationality and age, but available in advance, we pay those for you, then you reimburse our guide during the service. Excellent English-Spanish bilingual guide with deep knowledge of local history, flora and fauna and with service attitude to give a meaning to each monument visited. We will walk approximately 6 to 8 kilometers during this tour, but not consecutively. The longest walk between two stops is approximately 20 minutes. Bring your camera! We love taking photos, we will show you the best spots.
Tour Options
Itinerary
The activity begins when we pick you up at your hotel, when booking, please choose the time according to the location of your hotel. In case you don't know the location of your hotel yet, just book the cheapest tour option, later you let us know your hotel location and if there is a price difference, you can pay it to our guide. The walking tour begins at Gate 2 of Tikal National Park at: From March 22 to September 21: at 4:00 am From September 22 to March 21: at 4:30 am DURATION OF EACH WAY OF TRANSFER BY LOCATION WHERE WE PICK YOU UP a. Tikal: 00h: 05m b. El Remate: 01h: 00m c. San Jose, Peten: 01h:20m d. San Benito, Santa Elena Flores or Flores Island: 01h: 30m e. San Andres: 02h: 00m Tikal has two titles of UNESCO, it's cultural and natural heritage of humanity, that's why we'll spend more than six hours exploring different archeological monuments and to go from monument to monument, we'll use nature trails with a high chance of spotting some species of wildlife.
First thing, we will climb this temple with you to wait for sunrise from the top, enjoying the most wonderful view and the sounds of the waking up wildlife, then we will have breakfast up there. We developed the sunrise tour because our guests deserve to see Tikal first thing in the morning to appreciate wildlife when it is more active as well as at the end of the day. The main attraction of this tour is the awakening of the jungle with the noise of birds and howler monkeys, the sunrise is seen only 20% of the time, as it is usually cloudy or foggy. The official name of this temple is Temple of the Double Headed Serpent, as when the temple was discovered, it had a wooden carved lintel with the sacred double headed serpent carved on it, now this wooden carving is in a famous museum. The nickname of this temple is Temple of Star Wars as back in 1977 the movie director George Lucas came to Tikal to film part of the original Star Wars Movie, Episode IV "A New Hope"
This complex was used as a Royal Cemetery for the kings and queens of Tikal, it's compared with an onion, because of the multiple layers of interesting architecture it revealed, in some of these layers we can see the masks of the rain god and the sun god. The guide communicates efficiently with all guests. During the tour, the guide accompanies you to climb the monuments to explain the most important details while you are above the monuments. We take you to the best spots to take pictures at the right times, this is ideal for photographers and we'll see many Mayan structures.
The Great Plaza is the place in Tikal with the largest amount of energy, it's also the most restaured complex of this mayan site, it has multiple stelae, some of them with carving showing the portrait of some kings of the city. This complex was excavated back in 1960's by the Museum of University of Pensinvania.
We'll explore this complex with you, it was built as the residential area of the royal family of Tikal, it has 6 courtyards, 3 of them have been restored, this complex was also probably the place to host to all the royal visitors that came to Tikal from other mesoamerican cities for diplomatic reasons. It has a palace with 5 floors and some of the lintels on the doors of this palace are still the original wooden lintels placed by the people who built it about 14 centuries ago and the wood is still in good shape.
We'll climb this temple with you and enjoy the best view of the Great Plaza, looking at the masks carved on top of this temple. The view from this temple is a great chance to take a picture of Temple I, North Acropolis and the Great Plaza.
We will walk around the most iconic monument of Tikal taking pictures of it from different angles. The official name of this temple is Temple of the Great Jaguar because when the temple was discovered, it's original wooden lintel has a Great Jaguar carved on it, now, that beautiful carving in wood is in a famous museum. Back in 1960's when archeologist excavated this temple, they found underneath this temple, the greatest treasure ever found in Tikal, it was the burial of Hasaw Chaan K'awil, the most famous king of the dynasty of Tikal, the jewelry over the skeleton of the king included 16.5 pounds of jade jewels.
The walking tour ends at Gate 2 of Tikal National Park at 10:30 am and we offer you a hot meal and a cold drink at the Jaguar Inn Restaurant, after eating you can walk around the visitor center to see more wildlife, visit the scale model or buy souvenirs. The activity ends when we drop you off at the location we picked you up, or it can be to a different location, but for this, you need to let us know in advance. This tour is ideal for passengers flying from Flores Airport (FRS) that afternoon on the flight: TAG 5U131 leaving to Guatemala City at 14:15
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
When booking, please make sure you pick the right price option according to the desired pickup location. We pick up from the door of any hotel or Airbnb in Flores, Tikal, El Remate, Santa Elena, San Benito, San Andres and San Jose Peten. Guests staying in San Miguel must come by boat to Raices Restaurant in Flores Island for pick up.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Seat belts available
- If you are the only adult in your group and you pick a small group option and at least one more adult reserves for that same schedule, we’ll include the cost of the entry fees for you, which reduces the price for USD34.
- Bring the best walking shoes
- Bring a raincoat just in case
- Bring the best clothes for hot weather
- Bring a flashlight (or you can use your phone's flashlight)
- Bring a canteen or bottle to refill water
- If you have a Guatemalan local ID (DPI) send us a picture of it, in this event your entry fees will be only USD7
Reviews(370)
EXCELLENT!!! Sunrise and Sunset Tours. Marlon is amazing, and really a lovely person. His English is excellent. He took us within the sites, where no other tour would be. He knew the animals, insects, history of the different sites, archeology and history. Very informative, Very concerned with all of us having all questions answered, and to have the best experience possible . The food he provided was amazing and delicious. Marlon was absolutely on time and ready to go. Very very organized. Everybody on the tour agreed, it was worth the cost.!!!. I have been all over the world, and Gem Tours is excellent and reliable.
It was magical and beautiful and we’ll never forget it ! Pure adventure with sounds of jaguars and monkeys and toucans !
We loved the walk during the night through the jungle. We were lucky to see some of the sunrise and hearing the jungle awaken. Sadly we did not see the sun as we had invisioned ourselves, but apparently we were lucky to already see the ruins. We also loved the private session. This is a real asset. For us, the lunch was not necessary, the tour could be back in Flores by lunch time, so it felt not necessary to lunch that early in Tikal. The guide was really friendly and guided us through the animals, trees, plants and ruins of the jungle. We maybe missed a bit of the bigger picture of who the Maya's were. The kids did not know any of this history, as they do not learn it in Europe. So overall we loved the tour, so we definetely recommend it.
FOGGY!! It’s quite common not to see the the sunrise. Plus you’re with 200 NOISY TOURISTS!! If you want to experience the magic of Tikal, go later. The fog will have cleared, the crowds dispersed, and you’ll have more time to sit and enjoy the ruins. They are amazing but save your money, get some sleep and go later in the day!
Dear Juliet, Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. We're sorry the fog kept you from seeing the sunrise that morning — this is actually a known possibility with this tour, and it's something we clearly note in our tour description: sunrise visibility only happens about 20% of the time, as Tikal is often cloudy or foggy at that hour. We always want guests to go in with the right expectations. That said, the main draw of the sunrise departure isn't the sunrise itself — it's experiencing the jungle waking up. Wildlife is most active in the early morning, so this time slot gives you the best chance of spotting howler monkeys, coatimundis, and a wide variety of birds as the park comes to life, an experience that's much harder to have later in the day once the crowds pick up. Regarding noise, keeping the group quiet is actually one of our key practices for this specific tour, since silence is what allows everyone to hear the jungle wake up. Our guides work hard every day to keep the group quiet, but we also rely on our guests to help out — a quick "shhh" from a considerate traveler to someone talking often makes all the difference. We'll keep reinforcing this with our guides so every group has the best chance at that experience. If you'd prefer to avoid the early wake-up or the fog risk altogether, we also offer Tikal Full Day Tours and Tikal Sunset Tours, both great alternatives to explore the ruins with fewer time constraints on the weather. We're glad you still enjoyed the ruins, and we'd love the chance to welcome you back for another visit. Best regards, Marlon Diaz
We included the sunrise view from Temple 4. Because the bridge is under construction, we walked at 2am to the mall to be picked up by Abraham. We were at the temple early enough to be one of the first people with a fantastic seat. Unfortunately it was a bit too cloudy to see the actual sunrise, but you could definitely see the distant temples poking through the jungle. And it was incredible so see and hear the jungle wake up and listen to the howler monkeys. We were lucky enough, on July 27, to not encounter any rain or mosquitoes! And I can't say enough about our guide, Jose. He was incredibly knowledgeable and took the right amount of time. Breakfast was nice with coffee, hot chocolate and a large cookie and banana. Lunch was pretty good at Jaguar Inn cafe -try the fish tacos! And Marlon from Viator was a pleasure to correspond with and prepare us. Bring binoculars and sunscreen, 1L each of water was enough for us. Jose bright snacks with him as well. I highly recommend this tour.
Great experience and worth every penny— only if you get Jose Moreno as your guide. He made the tour that much more personal and meaningful. One of the most knowledgeable and kindest Guatemalans you’ll ever meet. 10/10.
Best guide we’ve ever had and in a fascinating place! Jose was knowledgeable, kind., friendly and savvy. He led us throughout the park while trying to avoid crowds. Many times we were alone and there were a lot of people in the park, which was difficult to do. Jose knew the names of every tree, insect and mammal and could even identify each bird by their call. He tailored the tour to our interests. As he got to know us better he would switch things up so that we would get more out of our visit. He also fed us quite well - breakfast complete with hot chocolate and coffee before we set off and he fed us snacks after we watched the sun rise. He checked in with us on practical matters along the way like bathroom breaks, sunscreen, bug spray, water, etc. Our lunch stop was well selected. We’ve never been so well taken care of. If you do only one thing in Guatemala, please do this tour!
José gave us a spectacular tour of Tikal! Highly recommend. Very well organized, great breakfast and lunch in addition. We learned so much and saw amazing wildlife and were so lucky to visit Tikal.
Very clear and concise communication from the company, provided guidance on buying our tickets ahead of time and picked us up at an ideal time to get to the park to beat the lines. We had a private tour with Jose and it was one of the highlights of our whole trip to Guatemala. He was so knowledgeable about both Tikal and the wildlife, and expertly navigated around the crowds for a truly individualized experience. As other reviews mention we didn’t see sunrise but watching the dense fog roll in and listening to the animals wake up was such a unique experience that I highly recommend!
Did the sunrise tour it was amazing seeing the sun come up over the temples. Well worth the early morning wake-up and experience. The tour was informative and interesting and we learned a lot about the Mayan culture and the timeline for how the different structures were built. The breakfast was perfect with hot coffee and a biscuit and banana to start before hiking up to see the sunrise from on the temples. With breakfast of fruit, a tortilla with beans in it and an egg as the sun rose and brought the temples into view. A very magical and surreal experience. We managed to climb the majority of the temples that were available to climb and saw most of the structures that had been uncovered. This is an area that will continue to evolve over time as more and more structures are worked on and restored. It is somewhere worth returning again and again as more is done. I was delighted to get to experience it with my partner and share the experience with them. Thank you for this amazing opportunity to see this magical place.
