Full-Day Tour Chichen Itza, Valladolid and Cenote open bar in bus

Posted By : alyxm2024
In terms of a tour, wouldn’t recommend. Firstly our confirmation said “hotel pickup”, with a time of “7-8:30”. We made sure we were ready at 7, then at half past we got our hotel reception to call them to work out what time, as we STILL had not received an email with an exact time. It was difficult enough just finding a phone number. So finally our hotel receptionist gets onto the provider and they tell us pick up is 9:30 and in town. So $40US for a taxi to get to town later, we then waited until 10:30am for the bus to arrive (3.5 hours after the initial time given). Then the tour guide demands we pay $82US in cash before we are allowed on the bus, but cannot tell us what this is for. We show him our confirmation which confirms that our tour price included entry to all activities. He insists that we cannot get on the bus without paying. Reluctantly after 20 minutes of trying to get clarity around what we were paying for, we agree, or risk losing the $160US we had already paid online as he was ready to leave without us. The bus trip itself was fine, however once we arrive at the “buffet lunch” we are hoarded into the scorching sun to hear an endless sales pitch whether we were interested or not. Then we are forced to go into the shops and lunch would be ready in “20 minutes”. When finally seated at lunch, the word chaotic doesn’t even cover it. The “open bar” advertised was not at all open, I asked for two waters and two beers (we had been standing in the sun for an hour by then) and I was told no, just one. We had one drink of water and I requested the beer and another water. No, I was told - there is a limit of 2 drinks per person, including the water. The food itself was also rubbish, and not what I would call a buffet. You are served in a huge queue where the waiters slap food onto your plate, prison cafeteria style. The activities were fine, although 2 hours at the ruins was too long in the heat of the day and half an hour in the town was far too short. This could be overlooked though.
Honestly we were so frustrated the whole day, mainly at the money situation, but mostly at the way the way they were more concerned about pressuring people to buy souvenirs than they were of providing food and drinks. Felt like a scam, but of course I can’t find any details to make a complaint so here it is as a review, unfortunately.
Don’t waste your money. Hire a car or look at private drivers.
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Posted On : 2024-03-06 12:33:10

Posted By : Angelica_A
Zureno and Julio were funny, knowledgeable, and overall amazing to be around. I enjoyed this tour so much!
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Posted On : 2024-02-20 19:24:06

Posted By : ermined2024
I went on this tour Feb 3rd, 2024 with 2 other friends. If you pick a pickup spot on here yourself as you purchase the tickets online, and you are in Tulum, keep in mind that it WILL NOT be respected. You will have to be picked up at the Super Aki or wherever they tell you via email the night before. For one, BE AWARE that YOU WILL PAY EXTRA. They charged us an additional $42 USD each before getting on the bus despite purchasing these tickets online. We asked what was the addiitobal fee for, and they said for taxes....that was it. We were not prepared for this since it said nothing of the sort in the tour description so we did not have cash on us. They told us to get on the bus and they will charge us by card at the first stop, which they did.

Just know if you are waiting, it may take a while for them to come and a guy or gal will just come, not introduce themselves, and yell out names. Once you hear your name, you'll know you're with that group.

For one, there is NO OPEN BAR on the bus. It's a regular bus. Nothing special at all. The only time we were offered a drink is when a guy came around and gave us a shot in a plastic shot cup of this absinthe tasting green in color shot and the only reason they did that was because they placed our pictures on the bottle of the drink (a picture taken right before we went to the buffet without our knowledge of what it would be used for) ebcouraging us to purchase the bottle for over $30 USD.

On the bus it was also very difficult to understand the tour guide when they spoke because their system on the bus was horrible. It sounded like parents talking in "The Peanuts." They also speak English and then translate to Spanish so that everyone can understand.

The first stop was a two hour trip to the buffet area in a Mayan town where again, they encouraging you to purchase things there. We spent quite a while and probably the longest time there. When the buffet was open and ready for us, they took a picture of each group and then allowed us in. The food was authentic amd the meats were quite good but not everything there looked appetizing. There were nachos that looked mushy based on what was sitting on them and they had watermelon slices that also tasted as if they sat out. Don't expect a huge spread of options. It's like 4 options of things to eat. You can eat as much as you want which is nice but there are NO DRINKS that come with this ticket. They offer you drinks while you are there, and we took some drinks thinking it was part of our ticket but it was absolutely was not. THERE ARE NO DRINKS THAT COME WITH THIS TICKET. ITS FALSE.

The next stop was the Chichen Itza and that was very enjoyable. The tour guide for that was phenomenal. He actually has great knowledge and personal experience with some of the discoveries pertaining to those ruins and so the wealth of information he provided was top knotch. We spent also quite a bit of time there but keep in mind there are sellers all around the area heckling you to come buy something. We did not have to pay for a conservation fee.

The next stop was the cenote and keep in mind you MUST pay for a life jacket if you plan on going in. For pay a life jacket and locker I paid about $15 USD and I paid by card. You do not gave to go in or pay for a life jacket and locker, there is an area where you can stand and watch people swim or just take pictures but certain areas will be restricted. You wont be standing too close to the cenote. You must rinse with shower before getting your life jacket (they must see you wet before they give you the jacket). This was one of the more beautiful experiences but incredibly short. We prably spent no more than like 15- 20 min there.

The final place we went to was town Valladolidad which is a very cute town. At that point it is dusk and they only gave us about 20-30 min to check out that town because if the bus hangs around too long, the driver will get a fine. It parks by a park where there are cultural street performers and little stands selling foods, treats, snacks and such as well as many shops around.

After all that, it was a two hour trip back to the pickup spot and you will be exhausted because it's a 12 hour day. Overall, the tour is worth going to but I think there is such a better deal than this elsewhere since it is not what was advertised. The plus is that all the tickets are includes for all the locations which is kind of rare and again, that tour guide for the Chichen Itza was phenomenal but other than that, I was very turned off by the false advertisement of it all. I also do nit plant to book through here or with the Rivieramayabook or Viator again.
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Posted On : 2024-02-15 15:45:38

Posted By : Debra_Julie
The Mayan shaman experience was unexpected and wonderful! We got caught in thunderstorms at the ruins, but glad to buy ponchos and continue with our guide. He explained many things I never knew about the Maya culture. We then visited the Salman cenote, how beautiful a thing to see! Then our last stop was in Valladolid where I was able to purchase candy for my grandkids...cheaper than at our resort. We paid the all inclusive price $103 each. We did not have to come up with additional costs, fees, taxes. Which I feel was a benefit as others in our group had to pay out additional. It was nice to not worry and focus on having fun. It was an especially long day but well worth the time and money. Our breakfast snack was a simple sandwich of ham, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and mayo. Just enough to hold over until our buffet style lunch complete with dancers, pictures with Mayan warriors and photos of us. Which later showed up on a bottle of the family's home made tequila. So we bought the bottle as a souvenir. Yes I would recommend this tour and pay for the vip treatment it was a great trip.
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Posted On : 2022-11-04 15:44:10

Posted By : Lovestocruise
First of all tour company tried picking us up a week early. When we tried calling, they never answered their phone nor our emails. Finally got thru. Then They said they would pick us up in puerto Morelos. They did NOT pick us up at our hotel. They told us we needed to meet them at the grocery store. Walked 1/2 mile there then found out they meant they one by the federal highway….not even near us. We had to take 2 taxis there. Meanwhile I’m texting them saying we’re on our way and almost there. Didn’t matter, they left without us. We actually saw people getting into the van and the van leaving when we got there. Had to take 2 taxis to Cancun $80 to meet up with big bus. Just because the driver was a jerk.
Then they told us drinks were not included and we would have to pay 1$ for all our drinks. Took them over an hour to get the ok from the office to give us our included drinks. Food was not very good. Worst we’ve ever had on a tour (this was our 3rd visit to Chichen Itza. Cenote was too crowded because all the buses arrive at the same time. By that time everyone is tired and hungry yet they stop at the last village.
Got back at 9pm. No dinner.
My advice, pay a little more and get a better tour company.
Tour guides were great!
Jorge and his team were amazing.
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Posted On : 2022-08-30 09:46:18

Posted By : SACIT I
It was a great experience, lots of thanks to our driver Sergio and our tour guide Ricardo,they did a great job.
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Posted On : 2020-10-03 11:50:53