Viagem diurna a Chichén Itzá, Cenote Ik Kil e Ruínas de Coba

Poor. Late for pick-up. Guide was reportedly sick ie. hungover. Guide was lethargic, gave us moderate information about the ruins and its history which was minimal in comparison to the other Guides we could here around us, and was rather aloof. The ruins and cenote were amazing, however. Get a better guide.

The trip was off to a good start, we were picked up on time. A breakfast was provided for us to eat on the air conditioned mini bus. We got to Chichen Itza early, and missed the crowds. The guide was excellent and never left our side, explaining much more that I thought he would. Its a shame I cannot remember his name, because his was so good Then on to Cenote Ik Kil for a lunch and a swim vgood then on to Coba, this was a day out in its self, amazing, again the guide was excellent

Amazing experience! We got to see Chichen Itza, the Cenote Ik Kil, and Coba Ruins, all in good time! Our tour guide, JOEL, was absolutely excellent! Very cool, knowledgeable and passionate. I learned a great deal from him about the ruins and the Mayan history. Wonderful tour, highly recommended.

It is a very long day. Over 13 hours with at least half the time in the van. Second i wish they would have informed me i would be in a van with travelers from Spain. I had 3 years of high school Spanish over 30 years ago, so i was able to understand some of what was being said but this added to the long day. Third, our guide, Jaguar, was terrible in describing the different sites. Fourth, the lunch is terrible, you would be wiser to bring some lunch and spend all your time swimming in the cenote. The sites are wonderful to see so it makes up for some of the issues.

The trip was a great experience. I 32 y/o male from US travelling alone was in a group with two sets of Spanish families. The guide made sure that I felt included and that I was tracking along in the conversations. The trip itself was a very long day. There was a lot to see, and I wouldn't necessarily change the itinerary, but I would suggest the time is better reflected. It was a 14-hour day for me, which was long.

The access to the ruins at Chichen Itza and Coba was amazing. We were at CI early enough that it wasn't oppressively hot, and then the lunch time dip in the Cenote was very welcome. The description could include bring multiple changes of clothes because you really could go through 3 outfits after all the sweating and swimming.

The buffet lunch was unimpressive but provided fuel to get through the day. The shuttle arrived right on time in the early morning, which was great.

Overall, a great trip. A bit more planning/communication about the activities of the day would have made it more comfortable, but nothing that would make this a deal breaker.

We did this tour on Sunday March 5th. After booking a friend told me that on Sundays the ruins are open at no charge to Mexicans so I was concerned that everywhere would be crowded than usual . I didn't need to worry, there were few organized tour groups and the ones there were were small.
Our guide Hugo and driver Jorge picked us up promptly from our hotel at 6:30am. We drove straight to Chichen Itza, stopping at a very clean an well supplied gas station to pick up something for breakfast and use the washrooms. Arrived at Chichen Itza around 9:15 - no lines to get in. During our drive down Hugo and given us lots of info about the Mayan culture and what we could expect to see, supplementing with pictures so that we could understand the detail we were looking for. Our tour around the ruins was at a calm pace and allowed slots of time and opportunity to ask questions and take photos. Hugo was always able to answer our questions and had lots of details about the social and historical aspects of the period . There are lots of small vendors at the site, Hugo said in the order of 700! We are not really shoppers so although we were offered time to look around the markets we didn't - not really here to shop!
After about 3 hrs in Chichen Itza we drove on to the Cenote Il Lil - again not horribly busy. Hugo explained the process of getting a locker and changing and we took photo's of the Cenote from the top - just as beautiful as the posted photo's I have seen. We wee ready to relax for a bit and loved the refreshing water. It was cool but not so cold that we felt we needed to get right out! You walk down steps outside the water to the water level and then there are ladders made of branched to climb down into the water. Many people preferred to jump either from the side or from higher up above the water level. It was beautiful in the water with the sun coming inform the top and all the plants and hanging vines. Lunch is provided, a buffet with lots of choice, in the dining room after changing back into dry clothes. We had an hour and a half at the Cenote and it was a lovely break from walking around the ruins.
Our drive to Coba took us about an hour and a quarter. When we got there it is about 2kms walk to the main ruins but bikes are available to rent - either individual cycles or rickshaw types with a 'driver' doing all the cycling. My husband and I opted for the latter. Our driver spoke english and made the short journey fun. Once we got to the main pyramid I climbed to the top and back while my husband just did the lower part and Hugo watched. It was worth the climb for the views and the experience although 12 hours later I can still feel my leg muscles! Going up I basically scrambled with hands on feet and the steps, coming down I held on the room which is there but at the step level so you really have to be crouched low to hold onto it. There is only one rope but I didn't find a problem keeping hold of it. I think it was about 50-50 pf people holding on and others just trusting their balance!
It was really interested to see both sets of ruins in the same day, Chichen Itza has been much more restored but there are more ruins to see at Coba.
We got back to our hotel around 7:00pm. There was torrential rain on our return trip but Horge was a great driver, we were never worried.
Overall all I would say that this was a great trip, we were very lucky that we were only a group of 2 so could always get our questions answered immediately . I would rate Hugo very highly he knows a lot about his subject and is able to share the knowledge in a way that makes it easy to explain. His english is excellent and he is very friendly. Thank you Hugo for giving us such a great trip.

We had a great day with, Joel, out tour guide. He arrived on time and thoroughly explained how our entire day would go. He was very knowledgeable and friendly. Our favorite part of the tour was arriving to Chichen Itza and Ik Kil Cenote before the crowds arrived so kudos to Joel for making that happen.

This trip was through Excursions Riveria Maya and it was a great day! Our guide was Joel and Lugo driver and there were only four of us on the tour. Pickup was on time and everything went smoothly. We got to Chichen Izta before the large crowds and beat a little of the heat. Joel was very knowledgeable and specializes in Mayan culture and history so he knew a lot about each site. Overall, it's a long day, but worth it!