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Ek Balam, Chichen Itza, Cenote & Buffet Lunch Tour: Explore Wonders of Ancient Mayan Culture
4.3
570 Ratings
Playa del Carmen
Discover the wonders of the ancient Mayan culture on this tour to Ek Balam, Chichen Itza, and a cenote. Immerse yourself in history, climb pyramids, and enjoy a buffet lunch.
Discover the wonders of the ancient Mayan culture on this tour to Ek Balam, Chichen Itza, and a cenote. Immerse yourself in history, climb pyramids, and enjoy a buffet lunch.
Duration:
12 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Ek Balam Village - Have a guided visit to Ek Balam. Then you’ll have free time to explore on your own
- Chichen Itza - With this Viator Exclusive, your visit to Chichen Itza allows you to explore the site early in the day so you can enjoy the rest of your day on the beach.
- Hotel Real del Mayab - Enjoy a delicious Mexican Buffet at a local restaurant
- CENOTE CHICHIKAN - Swim in a sacred Cenote
- Ek Balam Village - Have a guided visit to Ek Balam. Then you’ll have free time to explore on your own
- Chichen Itza - With this Viator Exclusive, your visit to Chichen Itza allows you to explore the site early in the day so you can enjoy the rest of your day on the beach.
- Hotel Real del Mayab - Enjoy a delicious Mexican Buffet at a local restaurant
- CENOTE CHICHIKAN - Swim in a sacred Cenote
What's Included
- Admission to Cenote
- Ticket to Ek Balam
- Bilingual guide
- Round transportation
- Buffet Lunch
- Ticket to Chichen Itza
- Admission to Cenote
- Ticket to Ek Balam
- Bilingual guide
- Round transportation
- Buffet Lunch
- Ticket to Chichen Itza
What's Not Included
- Life vest (mandatory)
- Drinks
- Archeological sites’ taxes (61 USD)
- Life vest (mandatory)
- Drinks
- Archeological sites’ taxes (61 USD)
Additional Information
Experience a day touring Chichén Itzá, one of the globally recognized Seven Wonders of the World, explore Ek Balam, and immerse yourself in the refreshingly cool waters of a cenote!
Being among the initial explorers, you will get the opportunity to delve into the mysteries of Ek Balam, a significant landmark of the Tlalol empire. Ascend the pyramids to…
Experience a day touring Chichén Itzá, one of the globally recognized Seven Wonders of the World, explore Ek Balam, and immerse yourself in the refreshingly cool waters of a cenote!
Being among the initial explorers, you will get the opportunity to delve into the mysteries of Ek Balam, a significant landmark of the Tlalol empire. Ascend the pyramids to indulge in a breathtakingly picturesque view of the dense Mayan forest. After getting acquainted with the secrets within this archeological treasure, leverage some free time to quench your curiosity at your own pace.
Embark on a journey into one of the seven modern world wonders, the Chichen. With the aid of archeological knowledge and insight into Mayan culture, you will find it effortless to visualize the Mayans’ historic lifestyle in this city. As we venture through the remarkably preserved remains, we will enlighten you about Mayan myths, ideological principles, and cosmological beliefs to foster a profound comprehension of the symbolism engraved in the stone sculptures and platforms.
Afterward, be prepared to indulge in a delectable Mexican buffet lunch. Retreat in the serene ambiance of the Cenote Chichi Kan and cool off with revitalizing swim adjacent to its cascading waterfall.
- It is recommended that you wear comfortable walking shoes.
- Archeological sites’ taxes (61 USD) are not included on the price and must be paid on-site.
- Mexicans have a discount on the archeological sites’ tax upon presentation of their ID on the day of the tour. The discount will not be applicable without the official identification.
Location
Plaza las Perlas
Avenida Constituyentes
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.3
(570 Ratings)
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Carlos_a
May 5, 2025
Too much things to see in one day. - It was a very nice experience and our guide Alberto "Beto" did a great job. He was very knowledgeable and explained lots of things with detail, he was also very attentive and funny. The archeological site of Chichén Itzá is a very big place and he told us we would need around three days to complete it so we are definitely going back more days to enjoy every building of this site. The archeological site of Ek' Balam was very exciting because we could climb a few of the structures and we also climbed the acropolis and the view was spectacular. The experience at Chichikan cenote was also a beautiful and refreshing but we were definitely not expecting to listen to reaguetón while walking to the cenote at a traditional Mayan community as Beto told us this place was, that threw us off a little bit and broke the magic and mysticism of the place. Also, at the buffet they had techno music which wasn't expected either; maybe some traditional Mayan sounds or nature music would fit the experience better. The food was good but we found most of it was not Mayan. We highly recommend this whole experience but more time is needed at each site for you to enjoy it more. It was great and we are definitely coming back!
Review provided by Viator
Vicki_d
Apr 23, 2025
Chichenitza, Ek Balam and Cenote - small group, leave early tour - Excellent Trip. I’d highly recommend this small group tour. Leaving early and beating the crowds was well worth it.
All site were excellent. Chichenitza was so good. We did beat the crowds- only 3 buses including the the car park on arrival. The huge car park was packed with buses and cars on departure. Getting around the site and getting good photos was easy with few people scattered around .
Ek Balam was superb. After seeing Tulum and Chichenitza ( both really good), this was our pick of the archelogical sites. It was amazing !! You actually climb the ruins !!
Cenote was great to visit. Food was great and a good variety.
Only downside was the “ local vendors” selling their goods - Mayan products and tequila. We wasted about 1/2 hrs in these spots, feeling a little cornered to buy, when we didn’t want to. But the guide gave us an extra 1/2 hr to enjoy the centre and lunch - so that was good.
Marcela was the best. Translating everything in English and Spanish. Her accent is easily understood and she’s loads of fun.
Driver did a fantastic job.
We’d Highly recommend this tour and loved every minute of it .
Tip - We took 5.5 litres of water ( for 2 people) and drank every drop. Make sure you take LOTS of water.
Review provided by Viator
Oscarsegura59
Apr 15, 2025
Kukulkan, Ek Balam, Cenotes. - The tour was awesome. The driver Salvador, and the tour guide Juam were farther than their duty. It was a 12 hours tour. Very exhausted but quite interested. The only observation was with the fees. We have to pay them in cash and Mexican currency. Just to everybody, you needvto bring cash andvturn it into mexican currency. Everyth8ngbis very far so you need to be aware of any possible inconvenience. The ruins were wonderful. Ek Balam has the highest pyramid in Mexico and you still can climb it. Kukulkan is magic. The cenotes should be an optional activity. A +.
Review provided by Viator
Kasiulakasiula
Mar 20, 2025
Best tour guide ever!! - We have booked Chichen Itza, Ek Balam and cenote tour and it was absolutely amazing!!! Our tour guide - Alberto (Beto) was beyond and above. If we could we would give him 6 stars 😁 His knowledge, professionalism and sense of humor made our trip absolutely fantastic. Only thing we didn't like much was a messy and confusing Amigo Tours customer service. They sent us email with wrong trip and fees were very unclear (trip cost us more than expected). Thankfully Beto made our experience incredibly interesting and fun so we had no other choice but to rate it 5 stars 😉 Yum botik Beto!!❤
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Corry_c
Mar 13, 2025
Amazing Amazing Amazing!!! - The experience was absolutely phenomenal. It was like changing. Our guide Marcella was AMAZING. I cannot recommend this tour enough. We were 6 people, they picked us up at our resort on time and were so courteous. We even had a bit of van trouble (a stick in the middle of the road that we couldn't avoid) the driver fixed the van super quickly and got us a new van while we were at Chichen Itza. It was all so seamless. Our guide was so passionate and was an expert at taking photos of us all. Thank you for everything.
Review provided by Viator
Paula_h
Mar 11, 2025
Chichen Itza Cinote tour - What a wonderful day full of activities to learn and explore ancient Mayanruins, culture and history. My guide was so helpful and informative. I also enjoyed meeting others on the tour from Spanish speaking countries. It was great to hear everything in both Spanish and English. Guide Carmen and driver were both wonderful. The cinote swim was magical and I swam under a waterfall. It was so peaceful and I did a shaman cleansing ritual and slept like a baby afterwards. Highly recommended tour! Make sure to bring snacks as lunch is at 3 pm. Many places sell snacks throughout the tour. Chichen Itza was the highlight and getting there at 9 am before the crowds was excellent. The driver kindly dropped me off at my hotel as it wasn’t far from the dropoff point and I didn’t want to walk alone after dark.
Review provided by Viator
Bogdan_c
Mar 10, 2025
Great visit to Ek Balam and Chichen Itza - We visited both Ek Balam and Chichen Itza, with a wonderful break in Chichikan cenote (including the swimming and lunch). Both of our guides, Frank and Ricardo, were great. This tour is highly recommended for first timers and for those who already visited these wonderful Mayan sites.
Review provided by Viator
Divyakmahajan
Feb 20, 2025
Absolutely do this tour, worth the travel and time spent - This was our first tour in Mexico so our expectations were also very high ( as we had read only great things about Amigo tours).
We loved the entire Chichen itza, Ek balam sites and the Cenote experience.
The only reason for 4 stars and not five was due to our guide not being enthusiastic enough to teach us first timers about the history of the place.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mmekendrick
Feb 19, 2025
Good tour. Very busy! - Really good tour. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and helpful. It was an early start (5:30am) and a long day (13 hours) but it went by quickly. We picked this one specifically because of the early start: we arrived at Chichén Itzá when it opened and though it was hot and it was busy, it was nothing compared to when we left! Ek Balam was great and my kids enjoyed that more than Chichén Itzá.
The cenote was good, the lunch was…fine. Be sure to pack lots of snacks and water because the lunch/cenote is the last stop and it’s a long time to go without eating.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cheryl_b
Feb 16, 2025
Excellent tour guide; More time needed for Chichen Itza - Our tour guide Marcella was excellent. She had lots of photography tips for us at the historical sites and she was very knowledgable. I am so glad we chose a tour that included Ek Balam. We were able to climb the temple, it was not crowded, and we had free time to explore. The cenote was an interesting experience. The water was cold!
There are two reasons we couldn't give this tour 5 stars. Our first stop was Chichen Itza. The positive of arriving so early was that we beat the rush. When we were leaving, the entry area was wall-to-wall people. However, our time at this historical site was too short. We only saw the area of the site with the main pyramid. And, while the photography tips were good, the photos took up a lot of time. We had no time to explore on our own at Chichen Itza. I would have liked another hour at this site to explore.
Second, lunch was included in this tour, however, lunch was not until our last stop at the Cenote. We were picked up at 4:55 AM in Cancun. We did not arrive at the Cenote until 2 PM, which was actually 3 PM Cancun time. Our tour guide suggested that we swim first because people usually don't want to go down 91 steps to the swimming hole on a full stomach. So, we ate lunch at 4 PM Cancun time. There were several opportunities for us to purchase snacks throughout the day, and we did bring some snacks with us. We did not realize that our meal would be so late in the day.
Finally, be forewarned that if you get picked up in Cancun and you have to pick up people in Playa del Carmen, you are looking at a 14+ hour excursion. We were picked up at 4:55 AM and were dropped off at our hotel at 7:30 PM.
Review provided by Viator
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