Ek Balam, Ek Balam Village

Ek Balam is the perfect place to visit after Chichen Itzá. It's quieter, more laid back, not as commercialized & you get to touch, feel, explore & truly experience the wonders of the Mayan people ❣️ Make sure you grab a local Mayan guide at the door, (it helps the local economy & their history is amazing 😍), so you can get the full story of Ek Balam & how it ties in with Chichen Itzá. These structures are unbelievably preserved & centuries old. Going inside the rooms & feeling the ancient energy of these people is almost overwhelming. The things the Mayan people accomplished without current technology is mind boggling. Climbing the pyramid is a must ❣️ After roaming around & checking out the entire site PLEASE go out to the parking lot & check out the little "cafe" in the far corner & enjoy an ice cold drink, fresh cooked, homemade Mayan cuisine & wonderful conversation with the chef❣️ A bit of knowledge of the Spanish language makes this a blast. Spanglish is more of a 2nd language to most of the Mayan people I was blessed to encounter than Spanish, you WILL learn some Mayan because they refuse to give up their native language & traditions - YEAH them❣️ I spent a wonderful hour enjoying the shade, soft cool breeze, cold water, great food & fantastic conversation. Then you must go back in & experience the cenote 💕 There's a zip line that goes all the way above the cenote, another 1 that is inside so you can drop off into the water, there's a couple of platforms to dive off into the water & a couple of ropes to swing into the water. All those stairs & walkways are in excellent condition with railings. Please know cenotes are SACRED so you MUST shower off prior to enjoying them, sweat is okay, but not man-made products ☺️. It's a mile walk to the cenote, they offer bicycles as part of the entrance fee & since I'm older they drove me down for a very small fee. Cenotes are magical for me & this 1 didn't disappoint. I will go back & experience the entirety of this magical place again, God willing. I believe once is enough of climbing the pyramid though 🥰

Very big area, nice nature looking like a jungle...super green. The buildings are in a very good condition, restored. You are allowed to climb on the stairs which is a huge plus. Definitely very interesting to visit. I would recommend coming early in the morning as the sun becomes too strong later. In my opinion it's just very expensive for the experience. But I would recommend stopping there for half a day.

Beautiful Ek Balam we loved it. We recommend you to visit very early in the morning when they open. We found a few tourist maybe we were 6 in total for a long while it was amazing. From 11am tour buses from Cancun arrived and gets crowded but we enjoyed almost 2 hours by ourselves. Then we went to the cenote and it was also an amazing experience ❤️

Beautiful site with very few visitors compared to other options. We used an audio tour guide from Action Tour Guide during our visit, worked great! Pros: - You can climb the monuments - Well preserved ruins - They're still excavating a lot which makes it feel very authentic - No vendors walking around the site hawking items Cons: - Steep entry fee (499 pesos per person) - Shady group of locals blocked the entrance and required that we pay a 100 peso parking fee Would easily be 5 stars if it wasn't for the fake parking roadblock.

Authentic Tour. From the ride to Ek Balam to actually being there. Saw local housing the Mexican Government made for the local Mexican Natives. Reminded me of the reservations in Canada, except the houses are built out of concrete to stand when hurricanes happen. The local Mexican Natives are very kind, the tours there keep the locals working and making money. The ruins weren't finished yet but we got the privilege to climb the highest ruins. The food was made from the locals all authentic food's hand made even the bread. I really enjoyed the food. The Cenote was absolutely beautiful, the water was crystal clear. A beautiful memory I'll never forget. I recommend visiting this site. Not only are you Learning more about the history your also helping support the local people.