Chichén Itzá, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, is estimated to have been built between 400 and 600 AD. It is the second most popular tourist destination in all of Mexico with over 2.6 million visitors per year! It’s not only an iconic destination for international travelers—domestic Mexican citizens make up the majority of its tourists.
So it’s no wonder Chichén Itzá can be a very challenging place to visit especially if you don’t love crowds or paying top dollar (like me!).
On my visit to meet up with Ellen and Tori in Playa Del Carmen, we decided that organizing a trip to Chichén Itzá ourselves was more our style. This option meant we experienced more freedom, less crowds, and more comfort overall. We ended up spending about the same amount as an organized tour—maybe even a little less!
In this post, I share the step-by-step planning and insider tips that went into visiting Chichén Itzá by our own design. I feel lucky and grateful that I had Ellen and Tori with whom to share the costs and this wonderful experience!
Cenotes exist all over the Yucatan Peninsula. A cenote (pronounced “sen-NO-tay”) is a sinkhole that formed when limestone bedrock collapsed and exposed groundwater below. They are typically quite beautiful and popular tourist destinations in Mexico. Locals also love to go to them to cool down from the hot Mexican sun.
Cozumel has one accessible cenote: Jade Cenote. Jade Cenote is located in a small, historic Mayan town called El Cedral. To access, you must take a tour or pay a fee to enter and explore on your own.
I found my way in by motorbike to check it out. The experience didn’t take long. I managed to avoid the crowds, and I got to see the cenote for what it is: Not exactly the one you want to swim in!
Growing up, my father used to talk about the Mayans and their culture all the time. He was a grade school teacher and annually taught a unit all about the Mayans. Despite so much education and awareness of the Mayans all my life, I never actually got to visit or see real Mayan ruins with my own eyes.
As a result, visiting Mayan ruins was a major bucket list item of mine for my first visit to Mexico. So of course I prioritized this for my first full day in Cozumel!
Cozumel has little hints of Mayan remnants all over the island. But there’s really only two places to go see it—El Cedral and San Gervasio. San Gervasio, however, is the most well-preserved and intentional archeological site of the two to see some of the Mayans remaining buildings.
The choice to see it self-guided not only saved me money, it also gave me the opportunity to see it at my own pace and without being herded around with a crowd!
