Chichen Itza Tour: Early Access Experience

Experience an exclusive tour of Chichen Itza with early access, a cenote swim, and a traditional lunch. Be the first to explore the archaeological site, beat the crowds, and enjoy a mix of guided sightseeing and free time.

Duration: 9 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Cancun - Start your day with a convenient hotel pickup and travel to Chichen Itza early in the morning, allowing you to be among the first to enter the archaeological site!
  • Chichen Itza - Relish the serenity of your early-morning visit to Chichen Itza before the crowds gather, capturing breathtaking photos and experiencing the site in…
What's Included
  • Early Access to Chichen Itza
  • Admission to Chichen Itzá
  • Professional certified guide
  • Air-conditioned vehicle and Toll Road
  • Hotel pick-up and drop-off
What's Not Included
  • Meals and drinks
  • Government fees
Additional Information

Your exclusive direct admission ticket allows you to be among the first to enter the archaeological site, enabling exploration in cooler temperatures and without the crowds. Enhance your visit to one of the New Seven Wonders of the World with this special access tour of Chichen Itza, available exclusively on Viator and Tripadvisor.
• Be the first group…

Location
Cancun
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.6
(4167 Ratings)
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Ronakvaghela
Apr 25, 2026
Malokin Beautiful People! Rodrigo and Alberto dream tour team 🔥 - Great tour! We had such a fantastic experience and felt like we were transported in time to Mayan Culture. Our guide Rodrigo and driver Alberto were just the best, Rodrigo being half Mayan himself was able to give us the best understanding of the culture and site. If you have a tour I cannot recommend asking for him enough. Emotional and historical trip for sure! The timing was an early morning start ~5am (small minibus ~18 people transfer on time arrival to our hotel) and we arrive before the crowds so was great to see the wonder of the world without too many people + early tour drop off works well for us as we had the afternoon and evening free to relax and catch up on beach time Tips - take a packed lunch for early start, water bottles, and some cash for tips for the incredible tour Thanks again for the tour and we will be sure to recommend
Review provided by Viator
Giovcab
Apr 13, 2026
Note 10! - Excellent, the group was small (6 people only), so it was pretty exclusive. We arrived even before the chichen itza opened, so we were one of the first to enter the place. The guide let us take photos before to then make the explanations (also great, because so, no one came out in the background of the photos), after about 15 minutes free for photos, did the explanations and left us about 2 hours free in the space to explore and shop. By arriving early, the tour ends around 1pm, but it is excellent because we have the rest of the free day in the city! I loved it and recommend it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kayla_s
Nov 27, 2025
Chichen itza! Great experience. - This was an awe inspiring experience. To see structures that have stood for thousands of years was amazing. Jorge was super knowledgeable and told details that brought the Mayans to life for me. If you can, ask for Jorge when you go. Our driver, Salvatore, was very good. There was not a single moment where I felt unsafe during the 1 hours there and back.
Review provided by Viator
James_b
Feb 16, 2026
Would definately do this... - Would definately do this trip again. The early morning hurt but was worth it do see the area without crowds. Dennis was a great guide and Jose a wonderful driver. The one suggestion I could make is to have bottled water on the bus and remind passengers to grab something for breakfast for the trip day as nothing was open at 445 am
Review provided by Viator
Anindita_b
Dec 5, 2025
Early access was good, all else, not that great. - Good: Early access - this meant we were at the site before it opened, so we got to see Chichen Itza in peace - before all the souvenir circus was set up, and before the day got hot. This was a big plus. Our guide Jorje was good - he explained things with enthusiasm and in detail. Not so good - - Even with my hotel being in downtown Cancun, I was asked to come to a different hotel for pick up - which was just 400m from my hotel - on the same road (and the vehicle did come from that direction for pick up) - which would not have been a big deal - except for the pick up being at 4.45am - and me being a solo female traveller. I would have hoped for some consideration on this. - Upon completion of our tour at Chichen Itza - we were supposed to meet at the bus at 10am. The driver was delayed by over 1.5 hours - because the van was fueled up with Petrol instead of Diesel and needed to be cleaned out and refueled. Accidents happen I suppose - but waiting 1.5 hours in the heat with nothing to do - i couldn't help but wonder if presence of mind could have helped avoid this issue. - The buffet lunch - was basic, we were told about 5 times that drinks were not included even before we got there and another 2 times after we reached there. Once we got there, after the long wait - extremely hungry and tired, we were ushered into the shop for a mandatory 15 min shopping break. Then finally - the 'buffet' was not self serve, and the people serving seemed least interested in serving us - they wouldnt ask what we wanted - gave tiny portions, skipped items without even asking. I was not planning on ordering a drink, but I was out of water myself, and decided to go for a mango smoothie, which cost me USD 10. Might as well charge us for the lunch and give good service - instead of providing the free lunch that looks like charity and drinks that are practically robbery? - On return - we were pointedly told that tips is needed - which in itself is pretty common, but with the way the day had shaped up - it just seemed like another way to fleece money off us on a tour - which I might add - was not cheap to begin with. - Cherry on top of the cake - I had confirmed on the previous day that the drop off point would be the same as the pick up point. But the guide / driver decided to drop us 400m further away from the pick up point - at a signal - saying 'it would be more convenient with more transport options available'. In my case, this just doubled my walk back to my hotel in the sun. Again - a 400m walk is not that big a deal - but after everything else during the day - it was extremely annoying. And this was not because of any road closures or anything, it was just because they didn't want to have to go down that road and take a long U turn and return - so just to take a short cut in driving / traffic. So yeah - no tip from me sorry, and no pleasant review either. All in all, I would look for other options with early access.
Review provided by Viator
Mark_g
Sep 25, 2025
Too much time messing around vs. actual tour time - The experience is billed as an 'early' tour that takes 10.5 hours. So, after being picked up at the somewhat ungodly time of 4.45am in the morning, we would have expected to be back around 3.15pm. We were not... and it wasn't due to traffic. It was due to the ridiculous amount of drop-offs and pickups up and down the coast of Cancun. The drive from the hotel district to Chichen-Itza is 2.5 hours if you go direct according to Google Maps. We arrived at the equivalent of 9.15pm (8.15am Yucatan time), meaning that 2 hours (each way!) were spent picking up people from different hotels before we departed. It was painful... and many of the hotels were down dirt roads with appaulling road surfaces that meant that it was impossible to sleep on the bus. The tour of Chichen-Itza was fine and the guide seemed knowledgeable... but to spend 12hours+ for 2 hours of tour seemed massively disproportionate. Waiting around for the Spanish version of every explanation in the hot sun was also very painful. I wouldn't recommend this tour to be honest if you value your time and comfort and are travelling from the Hotel Zone.
Review provided by Viator
Julian_k
Dec 29, 2025
9 hours bus ride, but at least tour guide was great - Beware: 5hr bus drive if you're staying in downtown Cancún, not the 2,5 hrs that are advertised for the early access chichen itza tour Pros: -the tour guide Rey was great, very insightful and funny -lunch buffet was touristy but decent -bus had AC and a toilet Cons: -if you stay in downtown Cancún, the bus picks you up around 4am and then drives down to playa del Carmen, stopping at a lot of different resorts (and every stop 10-20 minutes) which means that the overall drive took more than 5hrs -is it early access? Due to the time difference, we were at chichen itza 45min after it opens, so not sure if this really counts So if you're staying at a resort in playa del Carmen, this tour is not bad, but if you're staying in cancún and not that partial to long bus rides, maybe do something else - in the end we spent 9hrs in a bus for seeing chichen itza for 2hrs
Review provided by Viator
Yezie_y
Oct 20, 2025
Great tour, horrible commute - Honestly I wanted to give this 5 stars but I just can’t. Actual tour of the ruins was awesome. Tour guides (Arturo and Jose) were also great, also took great photos for us and was super friendly. I just can’t justify the number of hours in the car for what was basically a less than 2 hour tour and about an hour lunch. The group was small and only had like 8 people or so but 6 out of 8 people were in Cancun area and the other 2 were in Playa Del Carmen, so we got picked up at 4:45 only to be driven to Playa Del Carmen (which for some reason took like 2 hours after our pickup) and then to Chichén Itzá for another 2 hours. We literally spent over 4 hours going ONE WAY THERE. Lunch was pretty weak, I was looking forward to it after reviews but it was nothing special (got the recommended cochinita pibil and it was disappointing). After being picked up at 4:45 AM, we’re getting back to the hotel past 4:15 PM. I don’t know why the people further from us weren’t arranged in a different group. It’s crazy that the tour makes the majority of the group suffer for another 3-4 hours in the car rather than separating it from location. We booked an early tour in anticipation of returning from an excursion at an early time to enjoy the rest of the day, but this was a huge waste of time in the car. Would have booked a different tour if I knew I would have to spend 8 hours traveling in a van.
Review provided by Viator
Jorge_c
Dec 26, 2025
Left me stranded - Sadly we didn’t get to enjoy this trip because the day before the company informed me they would pick me up at the entrance of the hotel by the highway, 5 kilometers away from entrance. At 5 am getting transportation would have been difficult as walking is not safe from hotel entrance to security gate. Company knew of my accommodations yet they didn’t advise of the pick up information but a day before. And I paid for transport from hotel. Bad coordination and they didn’t care to reply to my questions.
Review provided by Viator
Oleg_l
Sep 2, 2025
Tulum protests got in the way - The group is adamant about no refund at short notice. We were trapped in Tulum due to the protest that shut down the highways the day before and were not able to get back to Akumal for our 425am pickup that was about 30 minutes walk away from our hotel. The unforseen circumstance, at no fault of this provider nor ours, prevent us going on the excursion and there was no even partial refund.
Review provided by Viator
From $39
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).