Chichen Itza Sunrise And Cenote Ik Kil From Cancun

Tour guide Gabriel was on time, a safe driver, was fluent in English & Spanish, was able to "read the room" and adjust his commentary to the knowledge of his guests, was pleasant, & seemed to enjoy his job. You can tell he's a tenured tour guide with a breadth of knowledge about Chichen Itza & the Mayans. Can easily converse with someone like myself, a world history teacher with basic understanding of the civilization as well as other members of our group that may have had little or no previous knowledge of the subject. Kept the tour moving, adding insight were valuable & added context, moved us to the shade for longer explanations, and we were out in under 2hrs before we started melting from the heat & humidity. Would highly recommend.

Gabriel is a great tour guide - absolutely key to get to chichen itza early and to be in a small group - prívate tour. Super enjoyable

Always sunscreen up and take an umbrella for sun protection. It is advisable to have pesos for snacks while stopping midway to stretch and use the facilities. It takes about 2.5 hours each direction so plan accordingly.

This is our second time back, with Gabriel. This time, we brought (2) other family members, and our son is now 6yo instead of 4yo (as he was diring our first visit). Again, what a FANTASTIC experience. As before, we got there as soon as the park opened and had the place virtually to ourselves, which was better to hear the acoustic wonders of the pyramid itself, and get the best vantage points visually. Gabriel was as informative as he was the first time around. He's the reason we went back with this particular tour company, and why we keep recommending this tour. Also, since we were able to breeze through the site, unhampered by the crowds, we were able to seamlessly continue onto the cenote and spent an incredible amount of time there because there was only 1 other family at that time. This time, since we traveled during the full force of the rainy season (fluke), it was a completely different and AMAZING experience with a natural waterfall forming from all the rain and having the rain gently falling on us. As before, we highly recommend this tour.

If I could, I would honestly give Gabriel a 10/5 star review. He was extremely helpful, informative, and highly educated on the rich history and culture that existed throughout Chichen Itza. He went above and beyond, providing my friends and I with other helpful advice to make the most out of our stay. If we ever find ourselves back in Cancun, we would be thrilled to book another tour with Gabriel. Lots of love from New York <3

We had a wonderful time with Miquel. What a great guy. Knew everything and so detailed. Loved it! Recommend ti visit the temple complex and of course also the swim. A good start at 8, well before all the tourists come in.

Even though we were not able to do the sunrise trip(not allowed), we left early at 6am and entered Chichén Itzá at 8 am. Gabriel was very knowledgeable took time to explain Mayan history to young kids. Communication with Nefi was easy.

What an incredible experience. Unfortunately Chichen Itza isn’t offering the sunrise option anymore; but we arrived before 8am and ended up being the ones to enter the site. Gabriel was attentive and shared his wealth of knowledge. You are doing yourself a disservice if you come to the Yucatán region and don’t check out Chichen Itza. Gabriel even went out of his way to take us to Valladodid on the way back and allowed us some time to see the historic church.

Great experience. And our tour guide Isaac, was very knowledgeable totally recommend it! Loads of fun. Isaac really brought the energy

What a wonderful experience! Nefi with Make Your Own Tours was awesome! It was worth the money to have a private tour on our time schedule. Sure you can find less expensive bus tours, but then you are on their schedule. The Cenote was so cool! We would not have otherwise gone to it. With this tour, your tickets are included as well as lunch. Nefi spoke perfect English and was very knowledgeable. Definitely recommend!

This tour was amazing! We had some custom requirements - pick up from one place and drop off to another and it was all arranged with no problem. Our tour guide Gabriel turned up right on time, and got us to Chichen Itza in good time. We arrived about ten minutes before they opened. There was a long queue to get tickets however ours were already sorted so when it opened we went straight through and were already ahead of the crowds. We were the first people to El Castillo for the day and got some stunning photos with no one on the background! Gabriel let us take our photos and also helped, and then when we were satisfied he started telling us all about the history. He told us very interesting facts and details without talking for too long. It really was perfect. We then left Chichen Itza when it started to get busy and went to Ik Kil, again it was quiet when we got there so the timing was perfect - there were only 4 other people there! Gabriel was very relaxed and said we could take our time and he’d be waiting when we were finished. It really was the perfect day. It’s always a bit funny going to these really popular places as you know it’s going to be super busy but we really couldn’t have asked for better timing to beat all the crowds. Thank you so much!! If I had to choose one thing for improvement it would be to have some bottles of water waiting in the car.

Gabriel is the best tour guide we have ever had! He was so knowledgeable, answered all of our questions, very personable and friendly. We give him 100/10 stars! The hotel pick up was easy, the rides to the destination were smooth and worry-free. You are in great hands with this company! Thank you Gabriel!

Our guide Gabriel was truly amazing! His knowledge is incredible, he was patient and never rushed our group. We went to Chichen Itza, Ik Kil, and Ek Balam. We were picked up from Riu Palace Costa Mujeres early morning and dropped of early evening. A must for everyone.

Nefi picked my wife and I up from Merida. We did the sunrise tour to Chichen Itza then to Cenote Ik Kil and back home. Nefi was incredibly knowledge, kind, and fluent in multiple languages. If you're looking for someone that will work with you and take care of you, Nefi and his crew at Make Your Own Tour are the ones to pick. Unrelated but I wish the best for Nefi and his crew and hope Nefi is able to obtain his dream of being a pilot someday.

This archeological site was on my bucket list for decades and knowing that the site is a 2-1/2 to 3 hour drive from our resort still did not make it appealing to take a bus ride round trip. So it was a no brainer for us to spend more and reserve a private vehicle and guide with "Make Your Own Tour". Our driver, Miguel, was a walking encyclopedia of knowledge for the Yucatan peninsula and Mayan people. His narration during the round trip made the long drive seem much shorter. Before entering the park we stopped road side at a Mayan food cart and ate breakfast tortas along some of the local people. At Chichen Itza, Miguel allowed us to spend as much time as we wanted viewing all the archeological structures. Then we had a two hour stop at a Cenote for a swim and a buffet lunch. The cenote swim and lunch was included in the cost of the tour along with the admission tickets for Chichen Itza, The only additional expenses we had was our breakfast and souvenir we purchased. We were not on a schedule and Miguel asked if we wanted to visit a Mayan cemetery to compliment his narration of the Mayan culture. We took him up on this offer after being reassured that doing so is completely acceptable in their culture. There were plenty of stops for "Los Banos" and Miguel would always let us know how far away the next bathroom stop would be. His SUV was equipped with a cooler with bottled water and juices for us. He asked if there were any other sites we wished to stop at during our return trip but we felt we already had a full day and just went back to our resort. This will be a full day excursion so set your expectations to depart around 6:00 - 6:30 am and not return until about 4:00 pm. Miguel was punctual for our departure. We only brought our phones, some cash, towels and wore swim suits under our clothing with Teva sandals. Wish we had waterproof bags for our cellphones to take selfies while swimming in the cenote. Scheduling this in the middle of our week stay at an all inclusive resort was a great way to have one day outside the resort and still be back for dinner. Highly recommend this tour and vendor.

We had a great time learning from Gabriel the history of the Mayan people and the ruins. Gabriel was also very punctual for our pick up time and we made it to Chichen Itza right before opening time. The cenote swim and buffet lunch at Ik Kil was very refreshing and delicious respectively. Would book with this tour company again!

We had an amazing day with our guide Gabriel. He is very knowledgeable and extremely fun. He got us to Chichen Itza before the crowds and heat. His knowledge of Mayan culture and what occurred over time at Chichen Itza was amazing. We had plenty of time here and at the cenote. For lunch we avoided the usual buffet and Gabriel took us to a small, traditional Mayan establishment where we met the family and were showed the traditional kitchen where our meal was cooked. It was delightful. After the tour we discovered we had left a pair of glasses in out van and Make Your Own Tour delivered them back to our hotel. In our opinion and experience, there isn’t a better choice of tour companies in Cancun than Make Your Own Tour and no better guide than Gabriel!

Was great with Gabriel. Super knowledgeable about the ruins and the cenote. Thank you for the great tour

Nefi was awesome! We did Chichen Itza early in the morning, there were no crowds. This tour guys knows his history and will answer any questions you have. We then went to Ik Kil Cenote had lunch and went for a swim! It was beautiful. We also went to Ek Balam, you Can climb on these ruins still!! It was amazing! Highly recommend, this is the way to go.

My parents and I had a great day with our tour guide Gabriel! The ruins at Chichen Itza are truly incredible and I learned a lot about Mayan history and culture! Unfortunately, the sunrise portion of the tour has not been open for some time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but since it's a private tour, there's some flexibility in how long you spend in each destination, and we were able to customize our tour to include the Ek Balam ruins. I worked with Nefi through WhatsApp on the pricing and itinerary and he was extremely accommodating! Overall, it was a wonderful experience, and I would definitely recommend the Make Your Own Tour company!

Finally, I visited one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in comfort and style. The tour was fantastic! Gabriel was an excellent tour guide and captivated my interest throughout to excursion and peaked our earning about the important legacy of the Mayan people. I appreciate his flexibility and making our tour experience the highlight of our trip to Mexico.

We traveled to Cancun in late June 2022 as a family of four including 2 kids - a 9 month old and 6 year old. Nefi was easy to reach to coordinate pickup for our private tour and was punctual at our resort at 545AM. We had a great drive out to Chichen Itza and Nefi had so much knowledge about the site's history past and present. It was great getting to Chichen Itza right when the gates opened. There were virtually no people and we got great pictures. We toured the site, El Castillo, the arena where they played Pok ta Pok, and we learned about the stories of the Mayan people by looking at the artifacts and hieroglyphs. My 6 year old LOVED the history. We toured the marketplace and after Nefi took us to Jardin Alak for cochinita pibil and the staff there was amazing! Finally we took a dip in the Tekom Cenote. We had it all to ourselves. The water was refreshing and it was a great experience. We returned to our resort around 3pm. The drive to Chichen was about 2 hours but was totally worth it. Don't hesitate to book with Nefi. It was one of the highlights of an amazing vacation!

Seeing one of the wonders of the world, before the crush of the crowds AND before the worst of the heat was awesome. Even better, we (my husband, myself and our 4.5 yr old) were also able to have the Cenote and one of the best buffet spreads virtually to ourselves. Completely worth it.

I can’t express how much I loved this. Unfortunately the sunrise option wasn’t available but regardless we were able to get in before the crowds and get pictures without a person in them! Also the guide was excellent and I felt beyond safe. Would certainly recommend to anyone- it’s well worth the price

We weren’t able to go for sunrise due to COVID, however, leaving Cancun at 5am (on time), got us there at 8am and we were some of the first people in. Our guide, Mischel, was Mayan and very knowledgeable, keeping us engrossed with history, the language, and the place during the ride and the tour. By 11am, we were ready to go just as the big tours on buses got in and the vendors were set up. Then we went to the beautiful Ik Kil cenote. The car we were picked up in was new and roomy, with good AC and a good ride. I highly recommend this tour for anyone who wants to avoid the heat and crowds. For anyone who actually wants to be able to hear what the guide is saying, a small private groups can’t be beat.

We had a great time with Mischel aka The Last Mayan Warrior. He clearly knows his Mayan history, all of the people at the sites and enjoys it all—it was worth every peso and more.

If your traveling to Cancun and your planning on taking an excursion, I highly recommend “ Make your Own Tour” One of the best experiences in Cancun so far. It was the most amazing time at Chichen Itza & Cenote IK Kil and our guide Gabriel was extremely friendly, knowledgeable, attentive, accommodating and over all made me feel 100%safe. Gabriel had us arrive before the crowds, was an a amazing photographer for us and his knowledge of Mayan history is outstanding. A once and a lifetime experience was had thanks to Gabriel. Outstanding

Make life easy - book all your excursions and transfers through Make Your Own Tours! We had 6 adults in our group (ages 43-67) and wanted tours to fit our schedule and not be crammed in with spring breakers... :-) After researching options, we emailed them with what we wanted and Nefi made it happen all over email. Easy peasy. We did a version of the Sunrise Tour (we started at 6:30am) plus cenote swim (AMAZING), a 4-hour private catamaran and snorkel tour, and airport transfers all through Make Your Own Tours. Everything exceeded our expectations!! We even had a minor health scare (PRO TIP: eat breakfast and drink electrolytes!) and were completely taken care of. (I shudder to think what would have happened if we'd been on one of the big impersonal tours.) Make Your Own Tours was the perfect solution for us - highly recommend!! Nefi and his team are great people who are really nice and look out for you. He has spent time in the States - his English is fluent and he understands our nuances :-)

Amazing day, fantastic experience. From booking onwards we had a brilliant experience. Nefi was so helpful as we messed around with date and itinerary changes. Michael was our guide. We asked constant questions, needed bathroom and coffee stops and were generally quite annoying. Michael helped with everything. He was extremely knowledgeable and spoke really excellent English. As well as his factual knowledge he had prepared material on an iPad and was happy to answer loads of questions on culture. We had a great meal and a truly fun day. Cannot recommend highly enough.

The guide was amazing. He knew the history and exactly where to go. The cenote was awesome We added a stop in Tulum and it was so cool. Definitely recommend Batman !!!

Mischel was a fantastic guide. He picked my husband and I up from our hotel in Tulum right on time. We slept the 2 hour drive to Chichén Itzá and he kindly woke us up as we arrived at Open. This was my husband’s second time to the monument and he learned some new things from Mischel. He also helped us take some great pictures to remember the moment. He then helped us get to Ik Kil before the crowds so we could enjoy the cenote relatively quiet. Unfortunately do to a dinner reservation we had that evening we had to eat lunch at the cenote, which I don’t really recommend. It’s a very sad buffet. If you have a chance I’d recommend arranging lunch elsewhere.

I and my friend really enjoyed our the amazing archeological sites and cenotes. Our tour guide was very kind and knowledgeable, we've had so much fun. The service quality is great and I highly recommend to everyone. I undoubtedly will recommend to my friends.

What a great time we had. The trip was fantastic! The guide was very knowledgeable. Very grateful for the experience.

Incredible trip. Cenottes are amazing; Nefi took us a to one that was a little more remote and we had the best time. This was definitely one of the highlights of our time in Mexico!

It was an awesome experience. The service was great. Our tour guide Nephi was so knowledgeable and kind. We had a great time. Highly recommend.

Nefi was an amazing tour guide! We loved visiting the archaeological sites and cenotes. Nefi had amazing knowledge, was a lot of fun to spend time with, and was extremely kind. Highly recommended!

Took an early departure from Cancun to reach the ruins about 8.30 before the crowds arrived. Our guide Gabriel offered the right balance of detail and broad history. The trip to the Cenote was a refreshing break as the heat began to build, followed by a good lunch at the Hacienda. Overall a very enjoyable trip.

We had an amazing day! Gabriel is very knowledgeable and was well-prepared to give us a tour of Chichen Itza and tell us about the history of this place. He went above and beyond and took us to the local Cenote, that remains unknown to the majority of the tourists, thanks to that we enjoyed a very private and romantic experience. Perfect for the Valentines Day! ☺️

Nefi was the most polite and proactive guide we’ve had in our adventures in Mexico. We did a quick 7 day trip to Tulum and Cancun, and we found this tour which was bound to be something special. Sadly due to Covid the sunrise tour was not possible, however, Nefi (our guide) accommodated us with a little few changes to make this experience unforgettable. We will definitely come back to him for our future visits to the area. He definitely deserves all praises! Super professional and nice guy.

Gabriel was a great guide they even customized our trip so we could see another site... so glad they did. The place be took us for lunch was so perfect... historic authentic and friendly. Highly recommend this group as a must hire.

There was a total of 5 of us on the private tour and we are very glad we didn't do a public tour. We learned a lot from Nefi! He was a great tour guide and loved every minute of the tour of Chichen Itza and the cenote. Everything was on our time so that was great for us to explore all we want. If you're up for waking up very early I recommend the sunrise tour...wish we could've done that, but I couldn't get my whole group on board with waking up early ha! This was my favorite part of our trip in Mexico!! ~ Thanks Nefi!!!

My wife and I booked a sunrise tour of Chichen Itza through our USA tour company and we were gratefully connected with Nefi Petlacalco of Make Your Own Tour. He picked us up right on time (4am) from our Cancun hotel and wisked us 2 1/2 hours to the Mayan ruins in his private car while we napped in the back. Early access is limited and he secured passes for us and we enjoyed the sunrise almost alone. His family has been touring for generations and his knowledge of the sites and history is comprehensive. After 2 hours, we enjoyed a visit to a local Cenote, followed by breakfast and back on the beach in Cancun by early afternoon. We highly recommend Nefi to anyone considering any type of tour in the Yucatan. He can customize tours, boat trips, anything, for you and your friends/family.

When we mentioned our 4AM departure for Chichen Itza on our first full day in Cancun people looked at us like we were crazy. The reward for our ambition, however, was more than worth it. My Fiance and I were the first to enter the temple grounds the morning we went, arriving about an hour before the sunrise. No crowds, vendors, or unbearable heat, it felt like we were as close as we could get to going back in time. Our tour guide, Gabriel, was absolutely wonderful. A terrific sense of humor and a genuine appreciation and knowledge of the history and culture of Mayans and the Yucatan. After an incredible sunrise and journey through the ancient city, we were also the first of the day to enter and swim at the Ik Kil cenote, we had it all to ourselves What made this incredible trip even better? We were back on the beach at our resort in Cancun by 1:30pm, with a full day and evening ahead of us. From the communication before we arrived to our tour guides incredible ability and personality and the intimate morning we enjoyed in such a unique and wonderful place, I truly could not see doing this any other way.

We started our morning early visiting the chichen itza at sunrise no one was there we took the best photos Then we went to the cenotes ik kil we Had a lovely breakfast then didn’t go swimming bc we wanted to stay dry for our uxmal pyramids Then we went to another town Valladolid had dinner there We had such a great time with Gabriel it was so much fun honestly he took amazing photos and was very knowledgeable of all the places we went he was punctual and super polite!

Had an absolutely amazing and unique experience with this tour! Got to see Chichen Itza and the Ik Kil Cenote with limited crowds and beat the heat. Great opportunity to get unique sunrise photos without other people in them, little to no stress, and got to do so much more in one day since we woke up early. Our tour guide, Nefy, was very knowledgeable, treated us well and helped take all photos of us. We highly recommend this tour with Make Your Own Tours. Waking up early is hard but 100% totally worth it!

Had a great trip gabriel was a very smart and good guide will bookwith him and them again you cant go wrong and you will have a good time and learn a lot

I chose this tour for several reasons: 1. I wanted hotel pick-up instead of having to find my way to and from a meeting point. 2. I did not want to ride around for an hour at each end going to multiple other hotels for pick-ups. 3. I wanted an early-morning trip that would allow me to see the site in the cool, uncrowded early hours rather than mid-day. Nefi took great care of us! We felt completely safe and taken care of. Nefi reached out before the tour to confirm a starting time, responding quickly to questions (very much appreciated considering we booked less than 48 hours in advance). We were able to rest or ask questions as we liked on the drive. When we arrived in the morning darkness, Nefi lit the way with his phone and we hiked around for a bit in the dark until we turned a corner to see El Castillo towering above. We arrived at the perfect time to appreciate progressively more intricate details as sunlight slowly bathed the site. Nefi methodically took us from feature to feature, taking time to explain and allow us to appreciate each. He also brought along some visual aids that helped us identify features of different carvings and depictions. We ate a delicious breakfast near the cenote. Our van was the only vehicle in the parking lot when we arrived and we had the cenote area to ourselves. On the way back, we saw parades of tour buses going the opposite direction. We are so grateful we experienced these sites as we did!

Lemuel Sr. and Lemuel Jr. are THE BEST guides ! We had our first trip to Mexico last Christmas (2019). Chichen Itzá was a must-go so we were trying to get a more authentic experience and not going on a crowded bus, lots of noise, etc. The price we’ve gotten from another company (Alma LDS Tours) was way too salty. When we call Lemuel’s Cancun Tours, the price was a bit lower . Lemuel Sr. then suggested a “Sunrise Tour” , which was waaay cheaper. And because we wanted the quietest time of the day, we closed a deal with him. He told us to be ready at the reception at 4:20 in the morning. The night before , Lemuel Petlacalco, Sr. , called to share some information on the scriptures that would make sense when we get at Chichen Itzá. We were very impressed by that level of care. His son (Lemuel Jr.) had to take us instead his father due to illness in the family. We felt very secure, comfortable (no crazy, crowded bus!!! Yay), informed , entertained and well-fed. If you go for the sunrise tour, you get breakfast included in the price. If you go after 8 am, you’ll get lunch included. Whatever you want regarding tours (Isla Mujeres, Koba, Tulum, etc) in Cancun... They are the guys to talk to! They’re very polite and friendly. We loved it and recommend them! You will enjoy this tour either you are or not LDS, but Specially if you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of LDS. MANY interesting facts !!!

This is probably the hottest spot in the Yucatan! Bring plenty of water. You will suffer - rain is the only thing that helps. The entrance fee is next to nothing, Parking is/was free. I would never take a tour out of Cancun because of the cost and restricted time schedule (and half your time is spent picking up passengers at all the hotels). Cheaper to rent a car. The cenotes mentioned are not the best - there are many around this area. I just call this place Chitza and so do the locals, you need special permission now to climb the main pyramid - shame - that was the fun part.