Under the jungle behind Playa del Carmen, the ground is full of water. Go in.
Which cenote day adds the turtles at Akumal. How early you have to leave for Chichen Itza. Whether Tulum on its cliff or Coba in the trees deserves your one free morning. Reviews of every tour you can book from Playa del Carmen.
Chichen Itza at opening time, turtles at Akumal, the jungle by buggy, tacos after dark.
Four bookings that carry most first trips to Playa del Carmen. What each costs, and what the people who went thought of it.
01The long day inlandChichen Itza, Cenote and Valladolid Small Group Day TripChichen Itza with a small group, a swim in a cenote and lunch in Valladolid. The early pickup is the whole point.
02The coast dayTulum Ruins, Turtles in Akumal and Cenote tourThe cliff-top ruins at Tulum, then snorkelling with green turtles in Akumal bay and a cenote to rinse off.
03The jungle morningFrom Playa del Carmen ATV Adventure with Ziplines, CenoteA buggy along the dirt tracks behind the coast, ziplines over the canopy and a cold cenote at the end of it.
04The first eveningPlaya del Carmen Walking Food TourA walking food tour off Quinta Avenida, through the taquerias the hotel strip never sends you to.
Float, snorkel, wade an underground river or dive a cavern. Choose how far down.
The Yucatan has no rivers on the surface. The rain drains into limestone and comes back up as thousands of clear, cold sinkholes. Four ways to spend a day in them, and what each one costs to book.
★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · Tulum Guided Tour, Magical Cenote, Lagoon Snorkeling and Beachside Lunch · from $169
Snorkel daysMask on in a cenote, then out to the reef or the turtles.
2
Cenotes with turtlesFreshwater in the morning, Akumal bay in the afternoon.
3
Rio SecretoWetsuit, helmet, and a slow wade through a lit river cave.
4
Cavern divesCertified divers follow a guideline into Dos Ojos-style caverns.
All 417 cenote days →
One town on the beach, and a coast and peninsula to reach from it.
Playa del Carmen for the evenings, Tulum an hour south, Valladolid on the way to the pyramids, Akumal for the turtles, and two islands a ferry ride offshore.
Chichen Itza, Tulum on its cliff, Coba under the trees.
Three very different ruins sit within a morning of Playa del Carmen. Chichen Itza is the famous one and the longest drive. Tulum looks out over the Caribbean an hour down the coast. Coba is still half buried in forest, with a long pyramid road you cover by bike.
- 1Chichen Itza, Cenote and Valladolid Small Group Day Tripfrom $214
- 2VIP Chichen Itza Private Tourfrom $285
- 3Tulum Ruins, Turtles in Akumal and Cenote tourfrom $129
The tours most visitors to Playa del Carmen end up booking.
Every Playa del Carmen tour we review →Ruins, cenotes and buggies, mostly in that order. These are the days more travellers take than any others on this coast.
1
Chichen Itza, Cenote and Valladolid Small Group Day Trip
Start from Tulum around 7 a.m. for a guided two-hour visit to Chichén Itzá, a walk and lunch in Valladolid, then a swim at Cenote Xux Ha. The tour includes hotel transfers, tickets, snacks and drinks. Groups are capped at 10, and guides such as Miguel, Paloma and Santi have brought Maya history to life for past groups.
From · $214
Read our review →
2
From Playa del Carmen ATV Adventure with Ziplines, Cenote
from $49
3
Half-Day Sea Turtle and Cenote Snorkeling Tour from Cancun & Riviera Maya
from $99
4
Tulum Guided Tour, Magical Cenote, Lagoon Snorkeling and Beachside Lunch
from $169
5
VIP Chichen Itza Private Tour
from $285
6
Playa del Carmen Buggy Tour with Cenote Swim and Mayan Village Visit
from $99
7
Tulum Ruins, Turtles in Akumal and Cenote tour
from $129
8
Playa del Carmen Walking Food Tour
from $84
Out past the Playa del Carmen surf, the water turns glass-clear.
Catamarans to a beach club with a snorkel stop on the reef, sunset sails with an open bar, private yachts for a few hours along the Xpu-Ha shore. The Mesoamerican reef runs the length of this coast, and most boat days are planned around it.
When the seaweed piles up on the Playa del Carmen beaches, head inland.
In heavy years, sargassum drifts onto the Riviera Maya from roughly April into the late summer, and some mornings the sand is brown and the shallows smell of it. The cenotes are fresh water and never see it. Neither do the ruins, the kitchens or the cave river at Rio Secreto.
What a day out of Playa del Carmen really costs.
Every tour on the site, sorted by price. Cenote swims and taco walks come in cheap; the pyramid days and the private boats do not.
Shared Chichen Itza coaches, single-cenote entries, taco walks and the turtle snorkel at Akumal.
Buggy and zipline mornings, Tulum and Coba days, Xplor and the catamaran to a beach club.
Private guides to the pyramids, Sian Ka’an by boat, whale sharks and chartered yachts.
Three Riviera Maya days you cannot have anywhere else.
Beaches and ruins turn up all over Mexico. A Maya canal you float down in a life vest, a bay named for its turtles and a colonial town built around a sinkhole do not.
Sian Ka’an and the Muyil canals
A protected biosphere of lagoons, mangrove and reef runs south from Tulum to the fishing village of Punta Allen. At Muyil you climb into the water and let the current carry you down a channel the Maya cut through the mangroves centuries ago. Further south the road turns to washboard dirt and the boats go out for dolphins and nesting birds.
- 1Sian Ka’an Adventure Full Day Trip to Punta Allen★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,179 reviews
- 2Tulum Archaeological Site & Sian Ka’an Muyil Tour from Tulum★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 824 reviews
- 3Mayan Ruins & Sian Kaan Tour with Boat Ride and Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 423 reviews
Akumal bay
The name is Maya for place of the turtles, and the green turtles still come in to graze the seagrass a few metres off the beach. The bay is now visited in roped zones with a guide and a life vest, which keeps the water calm for them and the encounters close for you. Go early, before the coaches from Cancun arrive.
- 1Tulum Ruins, Turtles in Akumal and Cenote tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,706 reviews
- 2Private Tulum Ruins, Turtles in Akumal and Cenote Adventure★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 581 reviews
- 3Private Snorkeling with Sea Turtles in Akumal Beach★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 364 reviews
Valladolid
Painted colonial streets two hours inland, the church of San Servacio on the main square, and Cenote Zací a short walk from it, open to the sky in the middle of town. Most Chichen Itza days stop here for lunch. It deserves longer: stay for the evening, when the square fills and the heat lifts.
- 1Valladolid Mayan Bees Tour with Lunch or breakfast and Honey Tasting★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 193 reviews
- 2Full Day Tour Chichen Itza plus Cenotes From Valladolid★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 107 reviews
- 3Shared Mezcal Tasting Experience in Valladolid Mexico★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 97 reviews
Four Riviera Maya trips that sell out or simply stop running.
Most of Playa del Carmen can be arranged from a beach bar the night before. These four run on seasons, permits and fixed departures that take no notice of your flight.
- 01Whale Shark Encounter Full-Day all inclusive Tour from Riviera MayaThe whale sharks feed off the north of the peninsula only from about late May to mid-September. Outside that window there is nothing to book.
- 02Beach Escape: Isla Contoy and Isla Mujeres with Snorkeling.Isla Contoy is a protected bird island with a daily cap on visitors, and the boats holding the permits fill first.
- 03Chichen Itza, Cenote Ik Kil, Coba Ruins Small Group Early ArrivalChichen Itza is a long drive from the coast. Only the early departures reach the gate before the tour coaches and the midday heat.
- 04Tickets to Rio Secreto and LunchThe cave river runs small groups on fixed departures, and the morning slots go well ahead in high season.
Buggies, ATVs and ziplines in the forest behind Playa del Carmen.
Twenty minutes inland the paved road gives out and the tracks turn to limestone and mud. Most of these mornings end the same way: dusty, then straight into a cenote.
Every buggy and ATV day →
Up the coast, down the coast, then two hours inland to the pyramids.
Puerto Morelos
Playa del Carmen
Akumal
Tulum
Coba
ValladolidBy place — the coast and inland
New reviews from the Riviera Maya.
The rest of the new ones →
Round-trip Private Transfer Cancun Airport to TULUM Downtown
Read our review →
Round Trip Transfer from Tulum Airport to Hotels
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Private transfer for 5 hours (go dinner,cenotes, shopping and more)
Read our review →
Private World Wonder Discovery Tour in Chichen Itza, Cenote and Valladolid
Read our review →
Small group tour in Tulum Ruins – Cenote Cave and GoPro pictures
Read our review →
Private Tour Chichen Itza Cenote Valladolid All Inclusive
Read our review →
Private – Tulum Ruins and 3 Cenotes Jungle Adventure
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