Recently spent a week in Playa del Carmen and we really wanted to visit Chichen Itza. We rented a house that had concierge service, so we asked her to book us a tour, trusting that they do this regularly and would have good recommendations.
For a private tour, the cost was $600 for the entire van which included entrance fees to the ruins, lunch, and stops at Chichen Itza, Valladolid, and a cenote. So if you have more people, it's cheaper per person. The van picked us up from our house at 7:30 AM and we headed towards Chichen Itza. It's a solid 2 hour drive, not terribly difficult, but there are police checkpoints along the way.
The van had a cooler of waters for us and they gave us small ham sandwiches as a morning snack. We had a driver as well as a tour guide with us, so the guide gave us the tour of the Chichen Itza ruins. We spent about 2.5 hours there which seemed like plenty of time with the guide and solo time for pictures.
After that we headed to Valladolid for lunch. We ate at a local pool and restaurant called Acuatica and had a nice lunch. Definitely not a touristy spot, which I always like. Following that they drove us to the center square of Valladolid where we tasted some local liquors and walked the area.
Ending the day was a visit to Cenote Palomitas. This one had definitely come up on top lists of cenotes, but at times we were the only ones there. It's a massive cave with stalactites on the ceiling and beautiful clear water, perfect for swimming. We spent almost an hour here. From there we headed back to Playa. In all, it was about an 11 hour day and well worth the money. Didn't have to worry about directions, police, or whatever issues can arise. Would highly recommend. read more