Cancun

Chichen Itza & Ekbalam Tour with Cenote From Cancun

Name: Chichen Itza & Ekbalam Tour with Cenote From Cancun
Brand: Yalku Tours
SKU: 29537P23
Price: 73.00 USD
Rating: 4.5 (37 reviews)

Cancun, Mexico

Chichen Itza Ek Balam and Hubiku Cenote Tour from Cancun

From $73.00

Select Date and Travelers

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

12 hours
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Overview

Discover the cultural history and natural beauty of the Yucatan Peninsula on this day trip from Cancun. At the Maya cities of Chichen Itza and Ek’ Balam, learn about this ancient civilization as you explore archaeological ruins with a knowledgeable guide. You also visit Cenote Saamal to cool off with a swim in the natural pool.

Chichen Itza and Ek' Balam day trip from Cancun with cenote swim
See Chichen Itza's El Castillo, aka Temple of Kukulcan, its most prominent pyramid
Explore the archaeological ruins of Ek' Balam
A light breakfast and lunch are included
Take a dip in Cenote Saamal, one of the region's famous underground pools

What's Included

Box Lunch with sandwhich, fruit, juice and sweet (Just with Plus option)
Lunch
Hotel pickup and drop-off
Bottled water
Chichen Itza, Ekbalam and Cenote Saamal Admission
Guide

Gratuities
Not included Yucatan State Tax Chichen and Ekbalam 48 USD per person. Must be paid at the check in
Life jacket rental it is mandatory for the swimming in the cenote. 3 USD per person in cash

Meeting and Pickup

You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup

Meeting point

Smart Cancun The Urban Oasis
Av Tulum 4, capilla ecumenica, 77500 Cancún, Q.R., Mexico
7:00 AM

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

07:00 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Pickup details

We offer pick up service in most hotels. In the event that your hotel does not have a pick-up service, we will let you know the closest meeting point the afternoon before the tour by sending a message to your telephone or a notification to the email address indicated in your reservation.

What To Expect

Chichen Itza

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Cenote Saamal

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Zona Arqueológica de Ek Balam

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Children must be accompanied by an adult

Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
It is recommended that you bring Sports shoes, Sandals or flip flops, Swimsuit, towel, sunglasses, hat, Biodegradable sunscreen and mosquito repellent, a Camera and Mexican Pesos in cash for expenses and tips
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 18 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

37 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 37 reviews

Change in tour, but was wonderful

David_M, Apr 2024

Sadly the Chichen Itza, Elbalam tour ended up not being available, notified by the tour company the night before. Given a choice of refund or a Wonderful Tour of Chichen Itza, Cenote and Vollidad with a buffet. We changed to the new tour. The Tour Guide was top notch. Everything was wonderful and would absolutly use them again.

Chichen Itza and Ek Balam, nuff sed

Mot_D, Apr 2024

Nisa was the guide and Aron was the driver -- Nisa very knowledgeable, and seemed to have a deep connection to his ancestors and their ways of life. Additionally, he treated us to BBQ pork ribs on the way to the cenote from Ek Balam, and they were AWESOME. Obviously, we'll likely never get those ribs ever again, even assuming we could even find them the town again. Loved the whole experience, even though it was a long day (7am to 8 pm); very clean van, and they picked up from Live Aqua, which was a great plus, since some of the other tours would have required us to get to the center of Cancun city itself to get picked up.

Pick this tour!!

Jessica_K, Feb 2024

The cenote was the best part! It was beautiful! It was located inside a cute hacienda with shower, bathroom, locker, and other amenities. Our tour guide Patricio and our driver Eric (if I remember his name correctly) were super friendly. Patricio was very knowledgeable on Mayan history and culture. We learned a bunch on this trip. Ek Balam was also very cool. It was waaaaay less crowded than Chichén Itzá and we got to climb the pyramid! The only downside to this tour was that the mini bus’s seats didn’t have a lot of legroom. But I do want to point out that the group size is much smaller than other tours 👍

Operator changed the time with insufficient notice so we missed the trip and they offered no redress

Christy_P, Jan 2024

The tour operators changed my departure time twelve hours ahead of the excursion, and we did not know to look for an email, so we missed the email and the pickup. I booked the 8:20am pickup, received a ticket that confirmed 8:20am pickup, got a confirmation text message the day before the trip that stated 8:20am pickup. None of the communication suggested that I also needed to log into my email the night before the trip to check and see if the times had changed after the morning confirmation text. Since I did not see the email telling me the new time, I did not acknowledge receipt or acceptance of the time change. The pickup time changed from 8:20am to 7:00am. When the operators arrived at my hotel, they did not attempt to call our room or my cell phone before declaring us a no-show to the pickup that we had not been informed was happening an hour and a half earlier than we expected. Would not recommend this company because of the poor communication.

10 out of 10

Julie_B, Oct 2023

Great tour. Thomas taught us so much about the Mayan culture and we saw so many things. The driver was great too!

Best tour guide I've ever met

Jessica_S, Oct 2023

Gabriel was the best tour guide I've met in my many years of exploring Mexico. He was informative, fluent in English and was very kind to everyone. I will be suggesting his tour to everyone who visits Cancun! 10/10 service. Excellent guide, wonderful day and I would go over and over again!

Chichen Itza, Cenote, Ek Balam, full day Excusion. was fantastic

EDWARD_H, Sep 2019

We were picked up in the hotel zone of Cancun around 6 am, our driver Jose was professional and prompt. We had two more stops before we were on our way took about an hour. Our Guide was Aldredo {freddy} who began with some information and background about Chichen Itza while we were underway. When we arrived at Chichen Itza we had a few minutes for bathrooms etc then our tour began. Alfredo really knew a great deal about this site I got the impression he was a Mayan Academic as he knew a great deal but knew all of the answer to an assortment of questions from our group about the site and the daily workings and its inhabitants. He informed us and he dispelled many misconceptions about Mayan history. we were there for about 2.5 hours with about 30 minutes at the end to explore on our own. Then we were off to Hubiku Cenote which was a fascinating natural wonder. there for about an hour and able to swim if you wanted. The off to Ek Balam. This site was by far my most favorite. we had already been to Tulum, Muyil and Coba ruins the day before but Ek Balam was magical. Our Guide really shone here, Alfredo went above and beyond with not only the normal history and what structures purposes were but the general idea of what Ek balam was and how that differed from the other places we had been. He explained in detail how the astronomy sciences were heavily taught here and showed us how the Ancient Myans used a math form to do complex computations to not only build the fascinating structures but to chart the heavens as well. I will never forget the place and what we learned. I can't compliment Alfredo enough, his passion for and knowledge of these places was very apparent and we all benefited from it.

Nice tour

Bret V, Jul 2019

Hubiku was great. Beautiful cenote and great food. Chichen-Itza was good but didn't have enough time to explore. Ek Balaam was cool because it wasn't crowded and you can climb the ruins. Tour guide spoke in a mixture of Spanish and English. Some cool information about the Mayan people and the ruins.

AGreat Mayan Day

Allan_S, Jun 2019

Our family of 4 adults took a day off from diving on Cozumel, met smiling Luis at the Playa Delhi Carmen Ferry port bright and early who led us to our awesome driver Javier. Then we picked up Jorge and headed for Chichen Itza, about a two hour drive. We got there before everyone else, had a remarkable tour and time for pictures before the swarm of visitors arrived by many buses. Our pictures came out great. Then off we went to Hubiku Cenote for a really delicious buffet lunch, great Ceviche, salad, fruit, meat and Sopa de Lima. Alcohol extra but reasonable. A dip in the huge Cenote pool felt good after the heat. Then off the Ek Belam which is less visited and you can climb on it to see the burial chamber and five floor huge structure that is the highest point for mikes around. Not as visited but we still got to be there with almost no one around. Then as we were leaving, lots of folks coming in. Jorge was super entertaining and extremely knowledgeable we learned so much about Mayan culture and history. He and Zavier were very mindful of our comfort, lots of water always at hand. Jorge also guided us to what to buy and not buy, and he was spot on. Back to the ferry port in great time. About a 12 hour tour but lots of time to rest in the van and he let us nap so mucho gracias Jorge and Javier you are the best!!

Very educational and interesting...

Martin_M, Mar 2018

Very educational and interesting experience. Sergio, our guide, was very informative as well as entertaining and personable which made the long drive almost 2 hours feel much shorter. I usually like long car/bus trips because it is a good opportunity to see the natural countryside, but in the Yucatan, the only thing you see is heavy shrubs no rainforest plant life Our first stop was Chichen Itza. I have read many reviews with complaints about large crowds, but I did not get that impression. In late February, the weather was hot but not uncomfortable. The ancient structures did not disappoint and one could not help but wonder what the culture and scene was like 700 years ago. Next, we traveled less than a half hour to the buffet lunch and Cenote. The lunch was surprisingly good possibly, because it was traditional Mexican food I would rate it 3. There was also entertainment during lunch, Mexican folk dancing, which was a nice plus. After lunch, we took a plunge in the Cenote. It was not interesting or spectacular and the water was very cold, but the thing here was the Mayan warriors who would let you take a picture with them for tips. These guys looked like the real deal and I started to wonder if Mel Gibson got the Idea for Apocalypto on a tour like this one. I definitely had to get my picture taken with them. After the Cenote, we got back on the bus for about 15 minutes and arrived at Ek Balam. This place was as amazing as Chichen Itza for the huge staircase alone. Very scary and more than a decent workout that you can climb to see the landscape of the Yucatan to the horizon. All-in-all I thought the tour was very well executed, defiantly worth the money we paid, and I didnt really mind the long day we left at 7 am got back to our hotel past 10 pm. In fact, I thought that we didnt get enough time to enjoy the sights so the only solution to this is just see one site per day. The only thing I would recommend is that they attempt to arrange seating on the bus so that people who are traveling together can sit together.

Great trip. Takes all day but is...

Peter K, Feb 2018

Great trip. Takes all day but is worth it. We traveled in a small group. Well organized, all was on time. Early visit of Chichen Itza was a good choice. Crowd was low and we were able to listen to the sophisticated speech of our tour guide. Hubiku cenote was clear water and very nice experience. But the most interesting was the Ek Balam site. We were able to climb on a top of the pyramid, view beautiful jungle scenery and because of later afternoon visit, there were almost no people present.

Really good tour and Carmen was a...

Bart S, Jan 2018

Really good tour and Carmen was a top top host but a few things important to note if you are staying in Cancun!!!!! as it is a long long day! The good stuff. The tour itself was excellent, Carmen who was our tour guide for the day really knew her stuff and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing Chichen Itza, Hubiko cenote and Ek Balam, the latter very impressive, not as busy as Chichen but you can climb structure 10 the acropolis giving you an amazing view over the jungle. 10 out of 10 for that part of the tour. The bad stuff We were disappointed to find out that after a 6am wakeup pick up from our hotel near Playa Mujeres, we were picking up a few guests on the way.. however this quickly turned into a drive all the way to Playa del Carmen where the tour operator merged us with other groups from another tour operator AlisTours. This extended pick up and meeting point added 2 hours as we only left Playa de Carmen at 0800 for our drive to Chichen. This was not well managed our expecatation as we were led to believe that we would only have a few pick up near our hotel . Cancun and not that we were due to go to Playa del Carmen first 85km from our hotel. It added a lot of time and travel that was not clearly communicated before hand. The same in the evening at the end of the day, were led to believe we would be back in the hotel by 1900, but that turned out to to be 21:15... again manage your paying guests expectations correctly. We left Ek Balam at 17:15 and that is a 2.0 - 2.5 hour drive max to our hotel but again, meeting guests again on other tours in Playa del Carmen, switch busses etc, and then and endless number of drop off on the way to our hotel - where we finally arrived at 21:15. ie 4 after leaving the last site Tour great but that is all due to Carmen the guide... would not go again with this tour operator as they simply mislead you on the real travel time.

Absolutely loved this tour. We got...

Marlene S, Jan 2018

Absolutely loved this tour. We got to Chichen Itza before it got really busy, although it was quite crowded when we got there. The only negative was the amount of souvenir stands all over the place. We had about 45 mins free time after our guided tour then headed to the incredible Hubiku Cenote. What a refreshing swim and most of all, beautiful spot. Lunch was quite good as well. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to browse the artisan stands. Ek Balam was absolutely incredible.... we liked it more than Chichen Itza!! Definitely no crowds and the beauty of it is that you can climb the structure to marvel at the carvings... and of course the view is stunning. This tour is highly recommended by us... you get 3 incredible locations in one day. Quite a long tour/day but well worth it. Our tour guide was really nice and our driver so patient and friendly! The only downside to our transport was that we were picked up at 6am as our hotel was at Punta Sam and then we were the last ones dropped off at 10pm because half of the group were staying at Playa del Carmen which is an hour's drive. I suggest the transport company to divide the group for drop off: Playa del Carmen and Cancun. Otherwise, we highly recommend this tour!

This tour was great. Carmen from...

Rahul S, Dec 2017

This tour was great. Carmen from Yalku tours is fantastic. They picked us up at right time. She even helped with hotel front desk to collect required towels etc. She is very knowledgeable and meticulous in planning while being considerate about the participants. van was very comfortable. Carmen explained historical facts and culture in details and very well, She knows the places very well. The trip is planned such a way that we avoided the rush hour at all the sites. I will strongly recommend this trip by Yalku travels.

The reviews for this trip were very...

Colleen A, Nov 2017

The reviews for this trip were very good and we decided to book it. We are at Villa Del Palmar hotel and our pickup time was 5:45 am most of the other hotel pickups are in Playa Del Carmen. From our hotel we went to the Iberostar hotel, Princess Hotel and a food place to pick up 4 other Spanish people who were always late coming back to the van by this time it was 7:30-8:00 before we started. Viator used a local company called Yalku Tours for the tour. The guide Jerry was very good and our driver outstanding. The tour was very good except when we were driving back we did not use the toll road but the local road towards Tulum which took at least an extra hour or more. After a long day of touring an estimated 12 hour tour getting back to our hotel after 15 1/2 hours it was too much. I spoke with Raul the manager of Yalku Tours and asked why he didn't take the toll road back he informed me that it cost about 600 pesos. When we arrived back in Playa Del Carmen after dropping off the Spanish people, we were told that the company was doing us a favor by meeting our van with another van to drop off the people from the Princess hotel but refused to drop off the people at the other hotel and take us directly back to our hotel. Yalku tours was suppose to email us with an estimated pickup time I did not hear from them and had to call them myself. It would of been nice of them to tell us that it would of have been better to take a private tour so we would not have to spend 4 hours picking up and taking people back to their hotels. Raul informed me that at least I was in a comfortable van, it isn't so comfortable when your sitting in it for HOURS we could of taken a tour from our hotel but heard so much about Viator and decided to use them. Very disappointing

This tour was perfect, Just 10...

Jerson_D, Oct 2017

This tour was perfect, Just 10 people participated, the guide Marcela was incredible, she is very professional, knows each history details! Cenote Hubiku is amazing A wonderful place and was Empty, Ek Balam and Chichen are fantastic. Very pleasant tour it worths each dolar!

Overall - GREAT EXCURSION! I will...

Jonathan S, Sep 2017

Overall - GREAT EXCURSION! I will explain why it went from 5 star to 4 star for our experience... We feel that it's important information for both Yalku Tours, and potential tour patrons We were picked up from our hotel promptly at 6AM, which is exactly what we expected. This tour fits in A LOT of great stuff, so it's a VERY long day. Totally understandable and expected. Carmen was our tour guide and she is VERY experienced and highly knowledgable about the Yucatan and Mayan people. Very educational tour indeed. Chichen Itza is breathtaking, but we would have loved to be able to see all of it. Carmen took us to the main pyramid, the ball courts, and some of the nearby areas, but then we were given about 40 minutes to explore the rest. We decided to go to the sacrificial Cenote, but were unable to see the observatory and other areas. That was a bit disappointing, but I digress. Next was the Hubiku Cenote which was amazing! We were blessed by a Shaman, and welcomed to swim in the beautiful Cenote. Was a very cool experience. Lunch was right there on the Cenote grounds and was delicious! Next was Ek Balam. Ek Balam was a way more intimate and explorational experience than Chichen Itza. Chichen Itza is now a world heritage site, so it's understandable. At Ek Balam, you could go pretty much wherever you wanted. We climbed all sorts of things and it was amazing. Since we were the first ones picked up, we expected to be the first ones dropped off. That way, the day would be evenly distributed between all travelers. That was not the case... We stayed at Excellence in Puerto Morelos amazing resort by the way, highly recommended. We were within 30 minutes of Cancun, between Cancun and Playa Del Carmen. For some reason, we were grouped with a tour that had three other pick up stops that were all in the Playa Del Carmen/Tulum area... We were picked up first at 6AM, and then we worked our way down the coast picking up the others, which was no problem. On the way back, there are two different ways of traveling from the ruins and back to the coast. There is a sort of fork in the highway that takes you either South East to the Tulum/Playa Del Carmen area, or more North East to the Cancun area. Unfortunately for us, we went South East back to Tulum/Playa Del Carmen to drop off all of the others first... If we had gone the other way, we could have easily been dropped off first and everyone would have had about a 12-13 hour day equally... Since we went back the way we came, our day was about 16 hours long.... Only us. On top of that, we were also held up because we had to stop for more gas and wait for a Yalku Tours rep to bring the credit card needed to get the gas. Traffic was horrific, as we had to go to a certain gas station off of the highway. I understand that gas was needed to get us back to our resort, but we feel that we should have been dropped off first. We only feel this way because it should have been made a priority to maintain fairness and equal tour length for all travelers. This could have been easily avoided, and was poor logistical planning. Maybe grouping us with a Cancun tour van would have been the best option. All of that being said, Carmen and the driver were excellent! The tour fit in almost everything we wanted to do, and came very close to our expectations. The lack of time at Chichen Itza, and most of all, the circumstances of the travel time to and from, are our only complaints.

We had Carmen and Martin as our...

Treg C, Aug 2017

We had Carmen and Martin as our guides. The whole day was excellent. They picked us up around 6 am from our hotel and drove us to Chichen Itza. We had a couple hours there to walk around and shop a bit and then we went to Hubiku. The Cenote was amazing! The water was very refreshing after walking around Chichen Itza in such heat. We finished with Ek Balam which was personally my favorite part of the tour. It is a recent discovery and as such you are still able to climb the structures. Overall, this was our favorite day of our vacation and I highly recommend the small group tour!

This was an excellent albeit long...

sjmhon, Jul 2017

This was an excellent albeit long tour! Alex was our guide and Diego was our driver. Both were outstanding! We found the tour to be very informative with plenty of time in Chichen Itza, then traveling to the Cenote for a nice swim, followed by lovely buffet lunch with music/dance entertainment at the same site. The highlight for many of us on the tour was Ek Balam - not crowded, beautiful recently discovered monuments. The tour was long 6 AM until 8 PM, but very pleasant. Van was comfortable, clean and air-conditioned. My only suggestion is to bring a snack or 2. Breakfast was light - a very small can of juice and a banana. Lunch was not until 2:30 PM. Bottles of cold water were kindly offered frequently during the trip by our driver, Diego. If you want to see as much as you can in one day, this is a great tour! One caveat - this tour includes a good deal of walking and some climbing.

super first class tour. We arrived...

william.claessens, Jun 2017

super first class tour. We arrived before the mass and Pablo was our expert guide from the heart.