Day 34: Valladolid - Visit the ruins of Cobá - Tulum
Today we are going to visit the ruins of Coba en route to Tulum, in this new stage of the trip to Mexico in 45 days. But before, seeing that the day has dawned incredibly clear, we decided to take a walk through Valladolid, in addition to visiting the Zicil cenote, which is in the center of the town and completes the list of the best cenotes of Valladolid, which we visited yesterday.
But before and how could it be otherwise, we went down to breakfast at the Hotel Mesón del Marqués room, our accommodation in Valladolid these nights for when it is 8 am to go directly to the Zicil cenote, which yesterday confirmed us, opened at 8 in the morning and we believe it will be the perfect time to see it without people.
But our surprise comes when it is still this hour, it is closed, so it is time to ask security, confirming what we feared: for being Sunday they will open a little later, but does not know if it will be at 8:30 or later.
Scenes from Valladolid
Valladolid
Seeing this, what time it is, and that there is still probably an hour left until they open, we decided to go back on our steps and tour the historic center of Valladolid again, under the sun and practically without anyone on the streets, something that gives us the Best farewell we could have imagined for this stage of the trip to Mexico for free.
In addition to the places we already traveled yesterday and before yesterday, after visiting Chichen Itza, today we get lost in the streets parallel to the main arteries, places that give us a much closer view of the city and that bring us closer to Day of the inhabitants of this town that we loved.
Valladolid
Causeway of the Friars in Valladolid
A few minutes past 9 in the morning when we return to the Cenote Zací, in the middle of the city, where we pay 30 pesos per person and where nothing else access, we realize that although the truth is that it is not as shocking as the ones we saw Yesterday, it is a good option if you cannot visit any other, especially because of the proximity and location.
Canci Zací in Valladolid
Of course, it should be borne in mind that although you can bathe, the water does not have the color or the transparency that most of the cenotes found in this area of Mexico, so if you have the opportunity to go to someone else, We believe it is highly recommended.
Canci Zací in Valladolid
We are not more than 30 minutes when we decide that the time has come to return to the Hotel Mesón del Marqués to pick up the car and when there are a few minutes to 10 in the morning, leave Valladolid to visit the ruins of Coba.
The ruins of Cobá are 60 kilometers from Valladolid and approximately 50 minutes away, so we arrive when it is 11:15 in the morning, considering that we now enter Quintana Roo again, so we have again We add an hour to our watch.
Tips to visit the ruins of Cobá
- The parking lot of the Cobá ruins has a price of 50 pesos and is located right at the access door to the ruins. In case you do not want to pay it, in the town of Cobá, located very close to the archaeological ruins, you can park without problems. In addition you can even park in a restaurant where you go to eat and access Cobá on foot.
- The price of access to the ruins of Cobá is 70 pesos per person and the hours of access from 8 am to 5 pm.
- If you want to enter outside these hours (6:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. or 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.) you must pay 240 pesos per person.
- Although the visit can be done for free, traveling by rental car, another highly recommended option, if you want to know the history and not have to worry about the displacements is to hire this excursion to Cobá from Riviera Maya or this excursion to Tulum and Cobá in two days.
- Keep in mind that if you come from Yucatan, arriving at Cobá is one more hour (check according to the time of year).
- The duration of a complete visit to all structures, with peace of mind, lasts approximately 2-3 hours.
- It is usually very hot and there is not too much shade, so it is worth bringing water, a snack, sunscreen and hat.
- Although all structures are easily accessible on foot, at the entrance you can rent a bicycle or a motorcycle taxi with which to do the tour.
Prices depend on the time you want to rent it:
50 pesos bike all day
Moto-taxi: 125 pesos (1: 20h) and 200 pesos (2 hours)
Prices of bike or motorcycle taxi rental services
- After our experience, we recommend you to take the tour on foot, since this is an experience in itself, in addition to bringing you closer to the archaeological complex.
In addition, considering that distances are easily accessible, we believe that contributing to this type of transport, makes the archaeological site dazzle a lot, since there are moments that instead of visiting an archaeological site, it seems that you are on a highway.
Cobá ruins trails
- If you climb the Great Pyramid, the best known structure of the Coba ruins, we recommend you do it carefully. It is very high, with very uneven steps, in addition to having a considerable inclination. A bad fall can be deadly. It's not like to take it as a joke. Although we comment on this point, this is applicable to all archaeological sites, be careful.
- In the archaeological complex of the Coba ruinsAt the entrance, you have several restaurants and craft shops. In addition, right in the Great Pyramid there is also a small kiosk where you can buy water and a snack, something unusual in the rest of the sites.
After paying 50 pesos for parking and 70 pesos for the entrance to the ruins at the ticket offices, we access the ruins of Cobá, which are the penultimate archaeological ruins that we will visit on this trip and that are another of the places to visit in Mexico essential.
More practical information to prepare your trip to Mexico
- The 10 best excursions in Riviera Maya
- The 10 essential places to see in Riviera Maya
- 10 essential things to do in Cancun
- 10 essential places to visit in Mexico
- 10 essential tips for traveling to Mexico
- The 5 best tours and excursions in Cancun
- Best travel insurance for Mexico
- Security in Mexico
What to see in the ruins of Cobá
Although they are probably not the most striking or largest Mayan ruins, the archaeological site of Cobá is one of the most visited in the country, both for its incredible location, surrounded by vegetation, and for the possibility of walking between structures not yet restored, in addition of many of them not even excavated, which give you moments of film.
Coba Group
The first of the groups we recommend you go to is none other than the one known as Grupo Cobá, in which is the structure called La Iglesia, which is the highest pyramid in the site.
Although it may seem otherwise, it is totally forbidden to climb and should not be confused with the Great Pyramid of Coba, which is the best known structure.
Church. Coba Group
In addition to the Church, in the Cobá Group you can see several more structures among which are several temples and a ball game.
Ball game. Coba Ruins
Nohoch Mul Group
The Nohoch Mul Group will probably be the Cobá sector that takes you the most time to visit. More than the extension itself because it is the place where the Great Pyramid is located, the most famous structure of the site and one of the best known in the area.
Great Pyramid of Coba
With 42 meters high, the third highest in the Yucatan Peninsula, this great pyramid is the icing on the majority of travelers who arrive at this point prepare for the ascent.
As we mentioned before, we recommend you to be cautious, since the steps are quite uneven and there are many people going up and down. It is advisable to take it easy and avoid unpleasant surprises.
Steps Great Pyramid of Coba
In addition to this structure, in this group you can see two ball games and a structure, called Xaibé, which is for us the most interesting and beautiful of the Cobá ruins, which despite being practically restored in its entirety, has finished us falling in love with its incredible lines.
Xaibé Coba Group
Group of Paintings
This group is another one that you can not miss in the ruins of Cobá, where you will find in addition to several interesting structures, the Temple of Paintings, in which you can see several paintings, several stelae.
Group of Paintings
Estela ruins of Coba
Macanxoc Group
The last group that can be visited in the ruins of Cobá is none other than the Macanxoc Group, where a group of several very interesting stelae stand out, some of them under palapas that protect them from the inclement weather.
Estela Grupo Macanxoc
It is 12:30, two hours and a quarter later of our entrance in the archaeological complex of Cobá, when we return to the parking lot and take our car to go directly to the Ginger Hotel, our accommodation in Tulum the next four nights, 46 kilometers away from Cobá and 40 minutes away.
We arrive there when it is 2:15 pm and after parking at the door and leaving the luggage in the room, we go straight to eat at La Malquerida, one of the most recommended restaurants in Tulum, where we order guacamole as an entree and some tacos Shrimp as main course plus beer, watermelon juice and coffees for 500 pesos.
Eating in La Malquerida
Everything great! For what is more than recommended as a restaurant in Tulum town.
After a quiet desktop, we return to the streets of Tulum, ready to visit this small town, one of the best known in Quinta Roo and Mexico, due to everything that surrounds it, where we find a small town, totally focused on tourism, but with a roll that at the moment the truth is that we do not dislike anything, but quite the opposite.
We are practically an hour and a half walking along the main street and some parallel streets, where most restaurants, cafes and shops are concentrated, for when it is just after four in the afternoon, take the car again to go to one of the Tulum's best known places and that is none other than the amazing Paradise Beach.
We park directly on the road, since at the entrance of Playa Paraíso there is no place and after walking a few meters, we directly access one of those considered as best beaches in Tulum.
Paradise beach in Tulum
Paradise beach in Tulum
The truth is that the day does not accompany too much, since we have been accompanied by a fairly strong wind and a somewhat cloudy sky, so as we will have more days to come to this beach, we decided to take refuge in one of the many beach bars that There, where we have a soda and a beer for 125 pesos.
It is here when we realize that the entire coastline of Tulúm, or at least the part that we have known so far, is completely limited by the hotels along the coast, finding only a couple of public accesses through which to access the beach, being the rest of the coast completely closed by hotels and restaurants, something we have to say attracts a lot of attention, since we expected to find a completely open coast or at least, with more access to the beaches than we are seeing.
Paradise beach in Tulum
It's practically 6 in the afternoon when we leave Playa Paraíso to return to Tulum town, a journey that we already do with a closed night, something that although we had not been advised, we hope that we do not have a bill and more in a place like this, where we see That there are many people.
Of course, we warn you that if you drive in this area at night you have to be especially careful, since as we were told, there are many people who walk or bike along the banks of the road, without any signs or lights , so caution should be taken.
This is also applicable if you rent a bicycle, since most do not have lights and tourists do not know where they are going, crossing the road, often without looking.
We arrive in Tulum in 10 minutes and after leaving the car again at the Ginger Hotel, we leave the car and return to the La Malquerida restaurant, where we have been at noon and where we ate a plate of grilled tuna, Greek salad, lemonade, Watermelon water and two express for 495 pesos that are the best farewell to an incredible day.
Day 35: What to do in Tulum: Akumal Beach, Playa del Carmen and Punta Esmeralda
