Ek Balam, the Mayan Gem, means Black Jaguar, it is not very well known however it is one of the most outstanding Mayan cities ever. It has an amazing acropolis that is 90 feet high and 450 feet long and 165 feet wide. In this building you can see some of the greatest mayan carvings. You are also allowed to climb and enter into most of the buildings like the Palace and Ball court.
You will take bikes to go to a wonderful Cenote with crystal clear waters where you can dive, jump or just swim and relax in its refreshing waters.
We will visit the colonial mayan town of Temozon to have a delicious lunch.
Finally we are going to visit the beautiful colonial town of Valladolid where you will get to know more of this beautiful country named Mexico.
A great tour from beginning to end! Omar was very knowledgeable and hospitable. We even enjoyed some birdwatching along the way. If you’re looking for a great private tour, this is your place!
Caleb picked us up at our hotel. He arrived early in a nice vehicle. He spoke English well and was very friendly and conversational. He drove us to the Sian Ka'an where we went on a private tour of the reserves and canal. The boat tour and floating were so much fun. Afterwards, we chose the ruins to tour. We were impressed with his historical knowledge of the ruins. Our last stop was a popular local taco stop. Overall, the experience was great and Caleb made it even better!
Josh was such an excellent tour guide. We weren’t super excited to have an early ~2 hour drive to Ek Balam until we got in the car and time flew because we had such a great time talking with him. He was incredibly kind, knowledgeable and supportive, and made learning about Mexico, Ek Balam, cenotes, and Mayan history both fun and meaningful. After Ek Balam we visited Cenote X'Canché and a beautiful Mayan home for lunch 🐝 Highly suggest a tour with him! Also grateful to him for teaching us some Spanish. La leche entera 😁
We are a family of four (all adults) that booked the Ek-Balam tour. Definitely a must do experience - fewer crowds than Chichen Itza and more interactive (can climb the structures and walk into rooms). The cenote was beautiful and the lunch at the Mayan village was delicious. Some unique experiences included sampling traditional chocolate and seeing the stingless bees. A great experience made even better by our tour guide Josh. He was so genuinely kind, knowledgeable, and had a great sense of humor. We have traveled to Mexico a few times and used different companies (and they were all nice) but Boutique Tours Mexico was by far the best. Because it is private, you don't feel rushed like you might on a group tour and they will adjust the excursion to your wants. Plus Josh is our favorite tour guide ever!
Josh was an excellent driver, tour guide, and conversationalist! He had many interesting stories, and he was very knowledgeable about the history of the sites we visited and kept us entertained throughout the whole day! The entire family had a wonderful experience, and we highly recommend Boutique Tours Mexico! If Josh is your guide, you won't be disappointed!!!
Josh was very interesting and funny. He was very nice and a great person to be around. He's one of those people you really want to be friends with. A great tour guide and the best one I have had in Tulum, Mexico.
Caleb was absolutely amazing! He took us on an incredible tour of the Tulum ruins and Chichen Itza, and the whole experience was truly one of a kind. The views, the history, and the stories he shared made everything come to life. You can really tell he loves what he does. We had such a great time — thank you, Caleb, for making our trip unforgettable! Also, our driver Yuri took great care of us.
Loved this tour! Both cenotes were beautiful. Best of both worlds with one cenote in the sun and the second underground! It was a once in a lifetime experience! Thank you! 😊
10/10 recommend this tour company. They knew what times we should go for less crowds, super knowledgeable and fun. Can’t wait to bring my kids back
Amazing private tour. Leo was fantastic highly recommend doing any tour with him!!! Very personable and accommodating. Cenotes were hidden gems so very small crowds if any! Tour of the ruins were unbelievable. Can not recommend this enough!
My wife and I had an absolutely amazing time touring Ek Balam, swimming in cenotes off the beaten path, and experience Mayan culture and food. Our guide Homer was exceptional, and incredibly knowledgeable. He gave us an amazing tour of the ruins, explaining the various architectural elements, the symbolism, and significance of each building. He even addressed questions about flora and fauna of the region, highlighting the different plants and animals we saw along the way. Homer took us to two cenotes that felt like the best kept secrets of the region, with one featuring massive natural stalagmites and the other a beautiful blue pool illuminated by the sunlight with diving platforms and seating in the water. We had an exceptional lunch with Pedro, enjoyed honey raised on the property and learned more about the blend of modern and ancient Mayan culture. Homer was an amazing guide and we will 100% be using BTM on our next trip.
Amazing experience. Salvador was great. Private tour through the Mayan ruins and Cenotes was the highlight of our trip.
The tour with Salvador was great from start to finish! The Mayan ruin tour was great and there was a lot of insightful facts you’re told about, next the cenote location is beautiful and unreal! Salvador gave the ultimate private tour experience and to top it off the food provided was excellent and what you would want to experience in authentic Mexican food. Definitely recommend this tour for couples visiting Tulum
The tour was amazing! Salvador was extremely friendly, welcoming and very informative on the culture. He was able to help us understand the culture fully and gain a greater appreciation. 10/10 recommend!
Thank you, Jordy, for such a wonderful trip to Ek-Balam, Valladolid, a cenote, and to the Mayan village of Yuum K’in. Getting to Ek-Balam right when it opens is the way to go—you get to experience it when it’s quiet and not so hot. Baltazar was an amazing guide there. It was nice do a little stop in Valladolid—Jordy was great at giving us history of each site which helped us connect to it. The cenote we went to is beautiful! (Don’t forget to pack up your swim shoes or sandals!) It was semi-covered and you could see little catfish in the water swimming with you! But eating a meal at Yuum K’in courtesy of Laura, Pedro, and Matilde was just the perfect ending to the trip. The food they make is AMAZING! The chicken is cooked underground and the tortillas are made fresh (you even get to make one yourself, but the ones Matilde makes are the best!). All the accompaniments are perfect—the chicken, sikil pak and pickled onions were our favorite but everything was wonderful. I can’t wait to come back!
Salvador was an amazing tour guide I cannot recommend this experience enough! We swam in 3 different cenotes and had the most incredible experiences at all 3. Then we finished off the day with the best tacos we’ve ever had in our lives. If you’re looking for a sign to book, this is it! Also, definitely ask for Salvador, he 100% made our trip extra special. 10/10 would recommend!
We received a recommendation from a family member to use this tour company. It was an amazing day, comfortable ride from our resort, and our guide, Salvador, was great! He was very pleasant with a lot of information and suggestions. Ek Balam is a great tour, as you can still climb on the ruins. We had a wonderful lunch and the cenote we visited was beautiful. It was well worth taking a day away from our resort and the private tour could not be beat. You are able to explore on your own timeline with the comfort of a private driver. We would utilize BTM again and again!
This tour was amazing. We would return and do it again. Leo and Josh were exceptional tour guides. The private cenote was an absolute beauty! Thank you.
The most wonderful time. Manuel expertly led us through denotes, Ek balam, 2 beautiful cenotes and an amazing lunch with a real Pib! Terrific host and ambassador. We will be back!
My husband and I booked a tour and it was by far the highlight of our trip. Our tour guides, Leo and Caleb, were kind, charismatic, knowledgeable, and fun. We were able to take in a cenote by ourselves and only had to share ek Balam with a few other tourists. We also got to visit a traditional Mayan home and enjoy some amazing tacos cooked with very local ingredients. I was worried the day would feel too long, but it flew by and I wished we had more time with our guides. If you are in the area, I highly recommend booking with this company and make sure to request Leo and Caleb!
BTM knocked it out of the park again! This is our second tour with them. Omar picked us up at our hotel and gave us the choice to change our itinerary because there was a possibility that Chechen Itza would be impossible to get into. We chose Ek Balam, two cenotes and Mayan lunch instead. Due to Omar’s great advice we were able to see Ek Balam and the cenotes before the crowds who could not get into Chechen Itza arrived. The Mayan lunch was outstanding! Our family of six throughly enjoyed learning about the Mayan culture. Thank you again for a wonderful time.
Excellent driver and host Leo— helpful in very way and a joy to be with. Excellent transportation. Guide at Ek Balam, Guierrmo, very knowledgeable/ amiable. Cenote experience fun and uncrowded (wear hiking shoes at ruins if you wish to climb pyramids; change to flip flops when you arrive cenote). Mayan themed cultural lunch unexpectedly tasty home cooking. Highly recommend. May repeat trip someday with other family members.
We had a wonderful tour with Omar. Not only was this a private tour, but Omar guided us through the day in the least “touristy” way possible. We started the day stopping at a local stand and had then most delicious homemade empanadas and juice. We then continued on to Ek Bahim and went on a guided tour of the ruins. I highly recommend getting a guided tour (which comes with the price) as there is so much history you can learn that you would not experience if just walking around. We then went to two Cenotes that were off the beaten path. We saw one other couple at each of the cenotes and each was a unique experience. We finished our day by stopping in a local Mayan Village. Omar is friends with one of the people who lives there and we were treated to a home cooked, absolutely delicious Mayan meal (tacos with homemade tortillas, roasted chicken with achiote, rice, beans and homemade chocolate). We were then able to shop in the village where they handmade many of the items. Overall, we had a wonderful day with Omar who made our tour an incredible experience.
We had a fantastic day with Sergio. We did the Ek Balam trip and the ruins were interesting and not crowded but the highlights of the day were the cenote swim in a beautiful deep cavern and the Mayan lunch which was the best food we had in Mexico. Sergio was knowledgeable and friendly and we highly recommend him. As far as the ruins we picked Ek Balam to avoid the crowds and while they are pretty cool, I think I might try to get to Chichen Itza next time
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