When our family booked a trip to Cancún, we all knew we wanted to see the legendary ruins of Chichén Itzá, since it was our first time to the area. Chichén Itzá lies about three to four hours away from the main hotel zone of Cancún in the heart of the Yucatan peninsula. We wanted to learn more about one of the new seven modern wonders of the world by seeing it up close and touring it with a certified guide. Through various films and teachings, we had always heard of the mathematical and astronomical precision of the structures of Chichén Itzá and wanted to see them for ourselves.
A quick search online led us to the Xichén Clásico Tour which was the most searched for and easiest to access online. For those booking online, you get a deal for 71 dollars. We considered the deluxe tour but at 98 dollars didn't seem worth it. We were led by our tour guide Manuel and our bus driver Ivan who picked us up at our hotel at 7:30 in the morning right on the dot. We were the last of five hotels on this trip and the bus was packed so off to the back of the bus we sat. It took over three hours to get from the hotel area to that of the first stop. While we drove by the historical church and town square near Chichén Itzá this was not our first stop. Our first stop was basically a pit stop at a mega store with a Mayan village next door to walk through. Needless to say it was disappointing, as it lasted a full hour with nowhere to go. It felt like this was a sponsored stop and had really nothing to do with Chichén Itzá just a place for retailers to make money.
Then it was off to our first real adventure swimming in the sacred cenote azul, near Chichén Itzá, called Ik' Kil which was in their words was a large sinkhole. It was in fact very lovely and exotic but it was too crowded due to all the tour buses stopping off. Be forewarned everything costs money here, unlike the Xenotes Oasis Maya tour which is their sister tour and gives you almost everything you would need from life jackets to towels to complimentary bottled water . For this tour, you have to rent life jackets, towels and even lockers for your all of your stuff as you can't even leave it on the bus. My recommendation is to bring your own towels from your hotel and own purchased bottled water before you're picked up and remember to stock up. After swimming in the cenote, you get to enjoy a buffet lunch, which tasted decent at best, and be forewarned there was not a drop of Mexican food served expect for a little mole and flan and all drinks but ice water were an additional price. The food was rather bland, but the service was solid as we ate inside their air conditioned dining hall. I wish we had more time at the Ik' Kil Cenote as swimming was fun, but again we were under the clock to swim and eat or else the bus was leaving us behind for Chichén Itzá.
Then it was off finally off to Chichén Itzá. Although it was easy to get in once our tour guide led us past the main gates, I noticed the weather was extremely hot, as in scorching hot, but Manuel was a solid if a somewhat long-winded tour guide. He had to speak to two different combined groups in English during the tour of the grounds. It eventually became so hot that I just wanted the tour to end. The tour lasted a little over an hour and you get free time to walk around for another hour. I just wanted to get back to the bus instead of walking around the entire historic grounds and that truly saddened me because it was really stunning seeing the ancient ruins. There were a lot of market stands selling genuine Mexican gifts. They hawk you everywhere you turn. They give you one chilled bottle of water with a lanyard around it so you don't have to hold it, which was a very convenient way to carry it but it turns lukewarm quiet rapidly due to the extreme heat.
It was a solid day of adventure and history. Glad I crossed a visit to Chichén Itzá off my bucket list. The overall tour was fun, but not the most memorable adventure while in Cancún. The fact that they seemed to charge for everything only made it worse. Would I do it again? Maybe not, but I'd definitely consider it. At least I got the chance to vibrate with the mysticism of the Sacred Cenote Azul in Ik'Kil, while swimming in its refreshing waters (despite the mass amount of other people swimming in it). On top of being able to see the exotic and historical grounds of Chichén Itzá, for this dual experience I will always remember with fondness. read more