Mexican adventure: Tulum ruins tour combined with cenote visit, lagoon snorkeling and beach club lunch
Last updated: 26.03.24
If you’re looking for a Tulum ruins tour, why not combine it with swimming in a cenote cave, snorkel with colorful fish in a lagoon and end it all with a delicious meal at a beach club?
If all of the above sounds interesting to you, you’re at the right place!
When visiting Mexico you can’t miss the impressive architecture by the Mayan people. The Tulum ruins are a well preserved Mayan archaeological site in Mexico. On this guided tour you learn more about the Mayan culture and civilization while observing the ruins with the beautiful background of the Caribbean Sea.
After exploring the ruins it’s time to visit Cenote El Sueño. Jump into the refreshing water and swim deep into the cave with impressive rock formations.
If you love water, I have good news! After your swim in the cenote you will continue your trip to Yal Ku Lagoon where you can snorkel with colorful fishes.
After all these Mexican adventures you will for sure feel hungry. You’re taken to a stunning beach club called Punta Venado Beach Club. At this place you will be served a tasty meal and have time to enjoy the sun before heading back to your hotel.
We had an epic day and I recommend you to do this tour if you’re looking for a combined tour with Tulum ruins, cenote and snorkeling.
This travel blog post will cover the following topics:
- Tulum ruins
- Why combine Tulum ruins with swim in a cenote and a lagoon?
- Everything you should know about the combined Tulum ruins tour
- Our personal experience
- Related question about a Tulum ruins tour
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Mexican adventure: Tulum ruins tour combined with a cenote, lagoon snorkeling and beach club lunch
Tulum ruins
Tulum ruins are part of the Mayan people’s history. The architecture of the Mayans is very impressive and these ruins are well preserved. With a guided tour at this place you can learn a lot about the Mayan people and all their great knowledge.
Walls protect the city and it’s built out of limestone. It’s one of the rare Mayan cities built with walls.
Tulum is the only Mayan city built on the coast. This means you have the beautiful view of the Caribbean Sea in the background when exploring these ancient ruins. This location has an important historical meaning as a center of trading with access to both sea and land.
Tulum ruins is the 3rd most visited site in Mexico.
Why combine Tulum ruins with swimming in a cenote and a lagoon?
To make the day even more fun and maybe also cool down after walking around and exploring the Tulum ruins in the sun, it’s perfect with a swim! And why not take that swim at two stunning locations?
You can combine your Tulum ruins tour with a visit to the beautiful Cenote El Sueño and snorkeling with colorful fish in Yal Ku Lagoon. We did that and both places are absolutely amazing! The cenote especially felt like a unique experience.
Cenote El Sueño
A cenote is a natural sinkhole with fresh water. In Cenote El Sueño you will swim into a cave and experience ancient rock formations.
Yal Ku Lagoon
Yal Ku Lagoon is home to colorful fish and a beautiful place. A great place to snorkel and observe the different fish.
Everything you should know about the combined Tulum ruins tour
Included in tour
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Professional guide
- Snorkeling gear
- Life jacket
- Lunch
- Bottled water
Not included in tour
- Gratuities
- Souvenir photo (available at Cenote El Sueño)
Other practical information about the tour
Meeting point and ending point:
You can select between different hotels to get picked up. You start and end at the same location.
You can get picked up in hotels in Cancun, Akumal, Playa del Carmen, Costa Mujeres, Chacalal, Tulum, Puerto Aventuras, Solidaridad, Xpu-Ha, Puerto Morelos and El Hijo Prodigo. You can check if your hotel is one of the pick up sites or what is close to your accommodation when booking here.
Consider 2 to 3 hours of transportation depending on the pick up location.
Duration:
A full day tour.
The supplier of the activity says around 7 hours but this depends on your pick up location.
It says the tour starts around 9 AM but this again depends on your pick up location. We were picked up in Playa del Carmen around 8 AM. Another group on the tour was picked up in Cancun much earlier. Then the trip is of course much longer than 7 hours.
Time a day:
You get picked up in the morning. The time depends on your pick up location. You will receive a booking confirmation with pick up time.
Minimum age:
You have to be at least 8 years old to join this trip.
Price:
The price is $169 per person
Cancellation policy:
You can cancel the tour up to 24 hours before the experience and get a full refund. Check out more information about the cancellation policy here.
Other information:
The tour is not wheelchair accessible.
The tour is not recommended for travelers with back problems, if you’re pregnant and people with heart problems or serious medical conditions.
Book now – The tour is likely to sell out.
Our personal experience
Visiting Tulum ruins was high on my Mexican bucket list of things I would like to experiences before leaving Mexico. It was one of our first tours we did in Mexico.
In this part you can read our personal experience at the tour: “Tulum Guided Tour, Magical Cenote, Lagoon Snorkeling and Beachside Lunch”.
This is our personal experience and opinion that are expressed.
1. Location – Tulum ruins
Excited to discover the Tulum ruins, we were picked up by a minibus close to our hotel in Playa del Carmen in the morning. During our drive our guide provided us with some practical information about the day. Information about the time schedule of the day, that GoPro cameras have a fee if you bring them to the Tulum ruins and that you can’t bring plastic to the attraction. The guide explains everything you should know about this day tour.
Our first stop was Tulum ruins.
We left our backpack in the minibus and only brought a small bag with our phones and money.
We arrived around 9 o’clock and walked to a souvenir shop, which later should work as our meeting point. At the souvenir shop you have access to toilets if needed.
Together with our guide and group of 10 people we entered the stunning Tulum ruins. The first hour the guide showed us around while telling us interesting information about the Mayan people and the Tulum ruins – A lot of cool facts!
This was my first encounter with the Mayan culture and I am definitely impressed by the stories we were told. The Mayan people were so clever.
After the guided tour we had 45 minutes by ourselves to explore the place more and take pictures. Personally I loved the combination of first going around with a guide and after that having time for ourselves to take pictures and explore more.
The Tulum ruins are located with a beautiful view of the turquoise Caribbean Sea and a lovely place to stroll around and enjoy the many views.
We left the Tulum ruins around 10:45 AM and the line to enter the ruins was huge compared to when we arrived. If you go on a tour by yourself I definitely recommend you to go early. This way you also avoid some of the strong midday sun while walking around.
Back in the minibus and ready for our next Mexican experience. Water and snacks like bananas and cookies were provided for us on the bus. Very nice that the company is taking care of you and making sure you stay hydrated.
The roads to our next location were quite bumpy.
2. Location – Cenote El Sueño
We arrived at the second location which was Cenote El Sueño. My first meeting with a cenote was definitely impressive! This place is super unique and so beautiful – I was definitely not happy as a content creator about the fact that I wasn’t allowed to capture this gorgeous place on my camera roll (haha). You can buy photos taken by the photographer at the place but they were way too expensive compared to what I would pay for them.
In our swimwear, snorkel equipment and a mandatory life jacket we jumped into the refreshing crystal clear blue water. Be aware the water is not warm.
The Cenote El Sueño is inside a cave with amazing rock formations like stalactites – So so beautiful!!
Together with our guide and group we swam deeper inside the cave and it became darker and darker. Our guide brought a flashlight. While admiring the rock formations our guide told us about this cenote.
We saw multiple bats living inside the cave. Be aware if you’re afraid of bats, darkness or having claustrophobia it’s not the best cenote for you to visit.
We were the only group in the water, which felt amazing having the experience to ourselves without crowds. Cenote El Sueño is such a unique and breathtaking place I highly recommend you to visit.
Around noon we left the cenote.
3. Location – Yal Ku Lagoon
We arrived at the third location of the day – A beautiful lagoon called Yal Ku Lagoon. Again we went into the water in swimsuit, snorkel equipment and a life jacket. The water was perfectly clear and it’s a nice place to snorkel and look for colorful fishes.
4. location – Punta Venado Beach Club
The last location of the day was Punta Venado Beach Club by Cancun Adventures. It was the perfect place to end the tour. After being active walking and swimming around it was nice with lunch and time to relax and enjoy the sun.
At this exclusive beach club we enjoyed a delicious lunch. To end this Mexican adventure day we had tacos.
After eating we enjoyed the white sand beach relaxing in a sunbed while listening to and watching the waves from the turquoise clear Caribbean Sea.
Before leaving we got a questionnaire about the tour. I didn’t have anything to improve, they have thought about everything from snacks to ordering food in advance before getting to the beach club for lunch.
The only thing I didn’t like was that you couldn’t take photos at the cenote. But I guess it’s healthy sometimes to experience things without your phone in your hand.
Around 3:30 PM it was time to leave the beach club and drive back to our pick up location in Playa del Carmen.
Related question about a Tulum ruins tour
What is Tulum ruins entrance fee?
The Tulum ruins entrance fee is $12.
Children under 3 years old have free entrance.
Every Sunday there is free entrance for people who are citizens and residents of Mexico.
What are the Tulum ruins opening hours?
Tulum ruins are open between 8AM and 5PM.
It’s always a great idea if you do a tour by yourself to check if anything has changed about the opening hours.
What does it mean that the souvenir photo is not included in the price?
At Cenote El Sueño we couldn’t take our own pictures. If you like to have photos from that experience they have a photographer taking them and you have to pay for it. They are quite expensive.
What to bring on this tour?
We brought a daypack we left in the minibus between every stop (ours have a lock just to be sure).
It’s a good idea to bring a towel, swimsuit (or wear it under your clothes) for the swimming – If you have it then bring your own snorkel equipment.
Bring a hat and sunglasses to protect you from the hot Mexican sun.
Bring a camera or mobile phone for photos (not possible to use at the cenote). Our guide told us you have to pay a fee to bring a GoPro camera to Tulum ruins. We had a water camera (similar to a GoPro), but left it in our locked bag in the minibus when visiting Tulum ruins.
Furthermore I recommend you to bring some cash for tips or if you would like to buy something extra to drink.
You can find the trip here.
I hope this helped you make the planning to Tulum ruins easier. Enjoy a fun day tour at this awesome place when you’re in Mexico.
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