Chichen Itza and Cenote Maya Tour Review
Update: This tour is no longer available by allTOURnative tours, but you still can book the same tour below with the link.
Most tourist have Chichen Itza on their list of places to visit when coming to Mexico. If you have not been to Chichen Itza and want to go with a tour, here is another option for you that makes for a full day of fun and sightseeing. This is a tour to Chichen Itza and Cenote Maya by allTOURnative tour company.
This tour will pick you up in a small van and transport you to Chichen Itza. After you have a guided tour of the ruins, you will visit Cenote Maya. This is the largest cenote in the Yucatan. Here you will have an opportunity to rappel, take zip lines in the cenote and other fun things. Below is our full tour review of allTOURnative’s tour to Chichen Itza and Cenote Maya.
What to expect when you go on this tour
After you book and have your confirmation, you will have a scheduled pickup time. This can be around 6:00-7:00am depending on where you are staying. This might sound really early for a tour on your vacation, but everyone on our tour said it was worth it to beat the large groups arriving by the time we were leaving Chichen Itza. This tour allows you more space and less crowds at the ever-popular Mayan ruin site.
After you are picked up you will have a snack bag given to you and you have about a two-hour drive to Chichen Itza. When you arrive at Chichen Itza, your tour guide will give you your tickets and then a full tour of the ruins.
After your time at Chichen Itza it is about an hour drive to Cenote Maya Park.
Cenote Maya Park
When you arrive at Cenote Maya your group will have several options to start with depending on the schedules of other groups. The main activities at Cenote Maya are:
- Eating lunch of Mayan food at the buffet.
- Rappelling into the cenote.
- Swimming and playing in the cenote with zip lines.
- Experiencing a traditional Mayan ceremony with a shaman.
After your group has time to relax or shop in the small store before returning to the Riviera Maya.
Snacks and lunch on this tour by allTOURnative
Since this tour starts so early, allTOURnative has you covered with a morning snack when you are picked up. In the snack bag you will find an apple, juice box, organic grain bar and a piece of Mexican bread called a concha.
Waters are available in the van throughout the day and there is water at the park in Cenote Maya.
For lunch you have a buffet at Cenote Maya. This includes a soup of the day and then a selection of local foods. You can find two chicken dishes (achiote and mole), pasta, handmade tortillas, beans, rice, mashed potatoes, empanadas, salsas and a few drink choices. You can purchase wine or beer for your meal.
Shopping for souvenirs at Chichen Itza and Cenote Maya
In both places you stop, you will have a chance to buy some souvenirs. At Chichen Itza there are many vendors both inside the ruins site and outside with many things to sell. Since this is a fully guided tour with no independent time to walk around, you should be mindful of your group and not take excessive time away from your tour time in Chichen Itza. If you see something you like, you might want to purchase it in Chichen Itza because prices are fairly good due to competition.
At the Cenote Maya Park there is a gift shop. There are similar souvenirs to the ones you will see in Chichen Itza. The quality tends to be a little higher but you also might pay a little more.
Tips for this tour to Chichen Itza and Cenote Maya
- Make sure you are rested and set your alarm. This tour is designed to beat the heat and crowds in Chichen Itza.
- Bring comfortable walking shoes. The site of Chichen Itza is large and you will do a lot of walking.
- The Mayan ruin site of Chichen Itza is mostly in the sun. Even in the winter months the sun is strong. Come prepared with perhaps a sun hat, umbrella and sunscreen (Note: it is best to have biodegradable since you will be getting into a cenote later.)
- Bring money for extra snacks, alcoholic beverages at lunch, photos take by staff at Cenote Maya, tips, and souvenirs.
- Plan on the transportation times and going to the bathrooms. The guides are very good about letting guest know how long it is until the next bathroom and when there is a bathroom available.
- Bring a swimsuit for the cenote. You can walk barefoot around since paths are flat and some have mats. You do not need a towel.
- If you bring a GoPro or high-end photographic equipment, you may need to pay the Chichen Itza fee for these. It is not required for cellphones or average cameras. The fee is just a few dollars. Let your guide know you need a permit.
- In the cenote you are only allowed camera that strap to your body. Don’t worry though, the best photos will be taken by the staff at the cenote and available for purchase afterward.
Why go on this tour to Chichen Itza and not another one?
There are tons of different options to Chichen Itza. The prices also range widely. So why choose this one over another one? Well, it depends if this tour fits your style. What is different about this tour is:
- You are not on a large bus. Only small vans like Sprinters are used. This makes your tour experience more personable, and you feel less like a herd of tourist. It also will allow your group to move faster through the day and not be waiting for lots of people.
- It is less touristy than some tours. Your stop at Cenote Maya is more a cultural immersion into that area and the community that surrounds it.
- Many tours go to Chichen Itza and a cenote. This tour offers rappelling and zip lines in the cenote. So, these are added benefits of this tour.
- This tour leaves early so you can beat some of the crowd.
How to book this tour to Chichen Itza
The first advice we are going to give you is to book in advance this tour. The reason we say this is because this tour does not go every day and there is limited space in each van. So that you can plan out your vacation and what day you want to go to Chichen Itza, it is good to reserve a spot. This will help them plan what group you will be in and get a group for your language. Click the reserve now button to get all the details on booking this tour.
Have you been on this tour to Chichen Itza and Cenote Maya by allTOURnative before? What did you think? Do you have questions about this tour? Let us know in the comments below.
About The Author
HELLO,
I’M A 78 YR OLD CANADIAN SENIOR… I DON’T KNOW IF I SHOULD BE USING THIS WINDOW FOR ASKING QUESTIONS HERE BECAUSE IT SAYS “LEAVE A COMMENT”, BUT… WHAT THE HEY’… I’M INTERESTED ABOUT THE YUCATAN PENINSULA I’VE GLANCED THROUGH QUITE A FEW WEBSITES ABOUT THE PENINSULA AND WHERE THE BEST PLACE WOULD BE FOR A SENIOR? I WAS ON A SITE A WHILE AGO FOR SOMEWHERE OR SOMEPLACE IN THE PENINSULA BUT I LOST IT, IT HAD A VIDEO OF A LADY GIVING QUITE A FEW DETAILS PRICE COMPARISONS ETC I FOUND IT VERY HELPFUL, THEY ALSO HAD VIDEOS OF PEOPLE SINGING KARAOKE (WHICH I LOVE) THEY WERE ALL CANADIANS OR AMERICANS BECAUSE ENGLISH WAS SPOKEN eerrr(SUNG), I WOULD LIKE TO FIND IT AGAIN CAUSE THERE WERE STILL THINGS I WANTED TO KNOW. AGAIN I’M SORRY IF I’M IN THE WRONG PLACE… GUESS I’LL JUST KEEP LOOKING.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME…
BEST REGARDS
GLENN
Hello Glenn
You might like our article about where expats live in the Yucatan Peninsula. Mostly the Yucatan state side with cities like Merida and the more remote beach areas are popular with older expats. There is good medical care in Merida and a slower pace of life there as well as lower cost that many enjoy. https://everythingplayadelcarmen.com/where-the-expats-live-in-mexico/
We did this tour and really enjoyed it. THe guides were very knowledgable and really took care of our group. I like the fact we got to Chichen Itza early and avoided the crowds. Good tour company.
My wife and I went with this tour company last year to Coba and had a very good tour. We will have to go this time to Chichen Itza with them. We have been 5 times and still have that on our list of places to visit.
Not a good experience. The tour guide Pepe had no idea if the Mayan history. He started the tour backwards . Instead of starting with the major structures he left those foe the end and we had no time . I felt like he had a headache and wanted to finish fast. The cenote trip was a joke . Took forever to get there and we stayed fir less the an hour. Everything was oudh push push. Not worth the money. Ext time is never from but from the resort . These tours are way too expensive and they do not deliver .
Hello Angelo
We will pass your comments on to AllTOURnative. Your experience is very different from that of ours. We want all of our readers to enjoy their time and tours.
We went as a group of 18 (some of our destination wedding guests) and it was absolutely amazing. We basically had a private tour since we bought every seat on the excursion. Unfortunately, allTOURnative has gone out of business and I can’t speak to the other company offering this experience. At Cenote Maya, our guide asked the Mayan Priest to give a special blessing to the future bride and groom the day before their wedding. We loved the Cenote and experiencing authentic Mayan food, delicious. Chichen Itza is huge (much bigger than we thought) and there are hundreds of vendors, don’t get too sidetracked, they are everywhere. Overall, this is probably one of the best combinations to experience Mayan Culture and an awesome Cenote.
Thank you so much for your experience and update. We have to go on this tour again to see how it is with the new tour company. We are glad you had a good time.