Tour to Ek Balam and Chichen Itza?
 

Is it possible to do the two reasonably on the same day? There seem to be a myriad of tour companies, anyone have good experiences wiht one for this itin?

What are your plans (where staying, how many days)?
My recommendation would be to do an overnight in charming Valladolid, and do one ruin each morning and a cenote in the afternoon. As a one day, doing both ruins would be a very long, hot, and exhausting undertaking with visual and historical overload likely.

It's a long weekend on a cheap fare to get some warmth. Using a BOGO certificate at the Intercontinental Cancun and so no change to move around hotels. Looks like you could do a really nice tour roaming the Yucatan peninsula, but not on this trip. I've got a one day out and back from Cancun only.

We did basically what I described above, during a week's trip. I really don't think I could have taken in more than one ruin in a day, let alone in some huge bus full if tourists, but clearly YMMV.
I have heard good things about LocoGringo and Yucatreks, who run smaller tours.
Both of those ruins have their merits. At Ek Balam, smaller, quiet, and more in the middle of the jungle, you can climb a pyramid, and there are some beautiful sculptures. CI has the central massive pyramid (not to climb), a big ball court, other structures and sculpture..... and tons of tourists and vendors.

The cost of doing a private tour, which was what it would have taken to do both CI and EkB on one day, was prohibitive, and I didnt feel like renting a car and dodging the banditos, so just did an organized tour to CI Just as well, we werent sure we would want to climb the pyramid after a few hours trekking around the site of CI int he AM heat.

"dodging the banditos"? Is that like a nine banded armadillo? ;)

Lots of banditos to worry about, I hear. Evidently there is even this card which you get from the rental car agency that gets you out of 3 minor traffic offenses without paying a "fine." I assume those 3 would be the ones the policia fabricated...

There is no such word in the various flavors of Castilian Spanish language spoken around the world, including in Mexico; it's a negatively stereotypical slang term most likely derived from grade B movies that serves no purpose.

The card you mention is available in the Delegación of Cancún and surrounding area, iirc, and it was instituted as a measure to head off propensity to solicit, or pressure to give, "mordidas" or small bribes.

In my experience (driving in Mexico over fifty years), road police trolling tourists with visitor or rental plates has decreased considerably over the years.

Having just driven around for a few days in Quintana Roo and Yucatán, I can attest to the lack of "banditos" [sic]. Driving in Mexico is surely not like driving in other North American countries, but at least on the Yucatán peninsula it is not a problem either.

For any one else considering doing this, yes, very easy to do both - I did both, plus lunch in Valladolid and a dip in the Ik Kil cenote in a day last year.

I used Canada Transfers, private driver in an immaculate van (cold water and towels provided, which was a nice touch after CI) and he was totally willing to go off book, stopping at roadside snack places, loo stops he spoke excellent English, gave some colour about the area, history, etc. but was not a tour guide per se. He helped arrange an English speaking guide at CI, we didn't use a guide at Ek Balam.

Found it very relaxing, as we got everywhere before the tour buses did, so all the sites were very quiet

Can I get a guide on-site if I just show up at Ek Balam? All of the tours I've seen are hilariously expensive if you're just one person by themselves, so I'm thinking about renting a car and driving to the spots by myself.

I know CI won't be a problem for finding a guide, but Ek Balam? Do I even need a guide or is the site still that much of a mystery to everyone?

When we were there, there were a few guys in the visitor center, but mostly selling cenote tours, I think. It's a small, but very beautiful, site, and the explanation on LocoGringo was enough for us. The main attraction is the Jaguar's Mouth sculptures halfway up the pyramid, and climbing to the top for the view of the jungle, and the pretty area around.

When there about a month ago, there were several licensed tour guides (locals, speaking Maya amongst themselves) in the entrance pavilion right by where you go in. I don't think you will have any problems finding a guide.

I second renting a car and finding a guide when you get there!

Enjoy! "ek' balam" means "dark (or black) jaguar", very fitting.

Both are extremely recommended. I agree with Valladolid as a choice for a central base. Quite nice little city. Casa Tia Micha and Casa Marlene are great friendly places to stay.

Chicken Pizza ;) is indeed marvelous. I recommend getting there very early in the morning. For the heat, and also because most buses from Cancun arrive at 11. So you'll be ahead two hours before the crowd.

Ek Balam (30 min north of Valladolid) is great too. Much more quiet. And you can climb the main pyramids. Superb view. it is said you an see Chichen Itza and Coba from the top of it, but I wasn'y able to confirm :)

Indeed I'd visit them in the morning, then a cenote in the afternoon. Cenote Xkeken just south of valladolid is heaven on earth.

Joël

The drive from CUN to Chichen Itza is straightforward and unfortunately monotonous. Once you get on to highway 180 you put the car in cruise and keep driving until you get to Chichen Itza. The tolls along the way are very expensive by Mexican standards. Most tolls in other parts of the country are around 30 to 50 Pesos but the Chichen Itza toll is a whopping 276 Pesos.

Right after you pay the toll though, there's a large hut where you can buy your entry tickets to Chichen Itza. This is an official booth so there's no haggling, and nothing untoward about the operation. It's actually quite convenient to stop there, get a bit of info and buy the tix. They even have a few pictures which they helpfully show you so you know to turn here or there when you get to Chichen Itza.

The speed limit on Highway 180 is 110 kph. It's unfortunately slow - were this road in Europe the limit would be 130 for example. You can cheat and drive at least 120 kph but there are police hiding occasionally so don't push your speed and your luck too much.

I drove from CUN to Chichen Itza then after seeing the site went on to Merida afterward. It was an easy drive and we made it without any difficulty. After a couple of days in Merida we drove straight back to CUN and again, made it without difficulty.

We did this exact private tour as well with Canada Transfers. There are no time wasting pickups at other hotels, no wasted time for others who woke up late, and no stops at multiple souvenir shops with dirty loo stops and kickbacks to make up for the low prices. We used the expensive toll road and added our own quick stops. The driver's commentary was good even though he was not a tour guide. We chose to hire a private guide at both CI and EB, and I think it's worth it since the history is quite different. The buffet stunk, but it was a time saving stop since the cenote is at the same place. The driver made swimming in the cenote easy with his provided life vests and showing us all the do's and don'ts. There was no deadline to leave the cenote, and I found the lack of a set-in-stone deadline made the swim much more relaxing.

Basically, the money we may have spent on a self-guided tour with a rental car we used on this private tour and supplemented with short cab rides (groceries) and the R1/R2 bus for the rest of the stay in Cancun.