Playa, past the beach clubs.
Cenote swims deep in the jungle, the ferry to Cozumel’s reef, Chichén Itzá before the coaches, tacos after dark on La Quinta. Here’s what each tour is really like, what it costs, and where to book it.
If you only book a few, book these.
First visit or fifth, these are the tours that fill a week here: a wonder of the world inland, turtles and reef offshore, and a jungle cenote most visitors never find.
Chichen Itza, Cenote and Valladolid Small Group Day Trip
Small-group day trip from Tulum to Chichén Itzá, swim at Cenote Xux Ha, and stroll Valladolid with lunch, snacks, and hotel pickup.
From $214 per person
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★ 5.0Safe betVIP Chichen Itza Private TourFrom $2851,782 reviews
★ 5.0Books out fastPlaya del Carmen Buggy Tour with Cenote Swim and Mayan Village VisitFrom $991,747 reviews
★ 5.0Crowd favoriteTulum Ruins, Turtles in Akumal and Cenote tourFrom $1291,706 reviews
★ 5.0Worth the pesosJungle Buggy Tour from Playa del Carmen Including Cenote SwimFrom $1101,253 reviews
★ 5.0Easy winHidden Cenote Swim: Snorkeling, Sea Turtles and Beachside LunchFrom $1691,222 reviews
★ 5.0Traveler favoriteFull Day Tulum Ruins Tour Cenote and Swimming with Sea TurtlesFrom $1311,171 reviews
Stand under a wonder of the world.
Leave Playa before dawn, reach El Castillo ahead of the tour coaches and the midday heat, then cool off in a cenote and lunch in colonial Valladolid on the way home. It’s the day people build a whole Riviera Maya trip around.
Which cenote is yours?
Everyone comes home talking about the cenotes; which kind depends on your nerve and your day. Three ways to meet the water, each already priced and reviewed. Pick the one that sounds like you.
Open to the sky
The open swim
4 to 5 hours (approx.) · from $99 · 1,747 reviews
Turquoise water in a sinkhole ringed by jungle, a rope swing, and stairs straight down into the cool. No gear, no nerves, just the clearest water you’ll swim in all trip. The easy yes for a hot afternoon.
See the cenote swims →
Mask and torch
The cavern dive
7 hours (approx.) · 453 reviews
Follow a guide past the daylight zone into Dos Ojos and Kukulkan, where stalactites hang over water so clear the divers below look like they are floating in air. For snorkelers who want more, and certified divers chasing the real thing.
See the cavern dives →
Underground river
The buried river
3.5 - 6.5 hours · from $89 · 521 reviews
Wade and swim a half-flooded cave the Maya once left offerings in, a helmet lamp lighting the formations, the only sound your own footsteps in the dark. The one that stays with people longest.
See Rio Secreto →
La Quinta only gets going after dark.
Fifth Avenue trades flip-flops for cover charges, Coco Bongo turns a nightclub into a circus, and the beach clubs push the party onto the sand. Or start slow, with a sunset sail and a mezcal flight, and let the night find you.
The reef starts at the shoreline.
Akumal’s turtles graze in waist-deep water, the Mesoamerican Reef runs the whole coast, and half the cenotes hide fish of their own. These are the snorkel and dive trips worth wetting a mask for.
The jungle, at speed.
Buggies through the mud, ziplines over the canopy, a rappel into a cenote to finish. Most of these bundle three or four thrills into one grinning, muddy afternoon. Closed shoes, a change of clothes, no regrets.
Where the map runs out.
South of Tulum the resorts stop and a biosphere the size of a small country begins: mangrove channels you float down on the current, dolphins in the lagoons, a Maya canal dug fifteen centuries ago. Go with a guide who knows which turn is which.
Pick your coast, day by day.
The Riviera Maya works in day trips, and each one is a different world. Cenotes in the jungle behind town. Tulum for ruins on the cliffs. Cozumel for the reef. Akumal for the turtles.
Water, ruins, jungle, or road?
Twelve ways to fill a day on this coast. Pick the one that sounds like you, and the shortlist behind it is ready to book.
Gone by sunrise, back by dinner.
The best of the Yucatán sits a couple of hours from your door: a wonder of the world, ruins on a cliff, a jungle pyramid, an island with no cars. Most run door to door with lunch built in.
Three days that never miss.
You can’t see the whole Riviera Maya in one trip, but three days will show you the best of it. Here’s the order that works, from the plane landing to the last michelada.
Day 1
Cenote and reef day
Shake off the flight in the closest cenote, then drift over the reef at Akumal with the turtles. Nothing too early, everything wet. The Riviera Maya at its simplest.
Plan day one →
Day 2
The wonder and the town
Up before dawn for Chichén Itzá before the heat, a cool cenote at midday, and colonial Valladolid for a late lunch. The one long day worth setting an alarm for.
Plan day two →
Day 3
An island or the wild
Take the ferry to Cozumel’s reef, or head south into Sian Ka’an’s mangroves. Either way, end it slow, with your feet up and a michelada in reach.
Plan day three →
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