Chichen Itza Options with Cenote and Valladolid City

We had a different experience than was promised and what we paid for. The included breakfast was practically nonexistent. The smaller group turned out to be four enormous tourbuses. We stopped at a rural village with the cenote but the whole experience felt forced upon and very commercial, no matter how many times the guide told us it was all traditional craft (the shop surely didn't look all that traditional). The cenote was a bit of a bummer. Impressive in size yes, but turns out you had to pay an extra 2$usd for a life jacket that was obligatory in the shallow water. The cenote itself was extremely busy and the water not clear as there were no rules as to hygiene. Again, there were people posing in costumes in the cenote and it felt very commercial. The food there was nothing special, and not vegetarian options at all. I think logistically we spent two+ hours more on buses than strictly necessary, and were back at the hotel late at night. The good things: the guide was very knowledgeable (even if yelling over a too loud speaker), Chichen itza is a very special place, and there was a lot to drink. We asked about the disparates between the advert info (what we paid for) and what we were given. They took no responsibility, as they said they don't feel it's their job to make sure the information is correct. A commercially professional business, good driver and good guide, but very poor for customer service and transparency.

In the discription it was stated that there would be a limited group, this however was not the case. It was a big tour bus with around 60 people and not the 25 that was advertised (we specifically chose this because of the small group). Also the cenote was a let down, you were required to rent a life jacket even if you could swim. This was also not in discription of the excursion. The cenote was also overcrowded. We like tours in small groups also because of the connection with the tour guide and in this case we just didn't have that.

A very prompt collection from our hotel even though it wasn’t offered on the website. After reaching the main tour hub, followed by a quick registration we were offered a buffet breakfast.. didn’t look very appetising so opted out.. The tour then started and we made our way to Suytun Cenote.. Had reasonable time here to swim if you wanted to or sit in the cave and watch a Mayan ceremony.. it was an interesting experience.. From there we were ushered over to a buffet lunch at a nearby restaurant.. Now this was much more appealing.. great variety for vegetarians too and a non alcoholic pina colada went down nicely.. Feeling recharged we made our way to Chichen Iza.. This was a rather long 2 hour journey but there was no time for boredom or intention sleep.. This was due to an amazing tour guide (Victor) who was sheer entertainment from the start of the journey, throughout and the very end.. He had in depth knowledge about his country and shared it very well with a most interested group of tourists on the coach.. Once we reached the historic site, we split up into a Spanish and English group.. lucky for us English folks, Victor gave us a very informative and enjoyable tour.. sadly it did rain intermittently and was bit of a dampener however Victor would very quickly lift our spirits by engaging everyone in absorbing conversation.. Once we had finished looking around we then headed towards our final destination, a little colonial town which was very pretty.. Thereafter we headed back and we’re duly dropped back at our hotel.. To summarise, myself and my son thoroughly enjoyed this tour.. we would highly recommend it as it is of an excellent standard...

Chichen Itzá simply amazing and stunning, the tour included a trip to Suytun Cenote which was beautiful. Our tour guides were nice and funny as well as very knowledgeable.