Zona arqueológica de Coba — Attraction in Quintana Roo

Out of the four Mayan ruins we visited (Chichen Itza, Coba, Tulum and Muyil), Coba was my favourite. I loved how wild and natural it is, and how it doesn't feel overrun with vendors so it's possible to imagine being back all those years ago. We came here at 4:30pm for an evening visit as part of a tour, and this meant it was almost deserted at each part we went to. We hired bicycles for two members of our party, and a Mayan taxi for the other two. The gentleman driving the Mayan taxi spoke Spanish, so we conversed in that even though it was not the first language for either of us.

There are many temples, buildings and structures that we learned about. The ball court is much, much smaller than Chichen Itza's, though very interesting to see. We also learned some local legends, such as the story behind the 'life and death trees', which I won't spoil by giving away in this review. We saw some brightly coloured birds in the trees and found some Mayan stingless bees nesting in a tree.

The highlight for me by a long way was climbing Nohuch Mul, the tallest pyramid in the Yucatan. It has a lot of steps that get narrower the closer to the top you get. There's a rope, but in the end I felt safer going up on my hands and knees once I got a lot higher. Once we got to the top, the view was absolutely stunning. Words can't do justice to the feeling of being up there and looking out over so much nature. We had timed this so perfectly that we got to see the sun set over the jungle canopy. Whilst we were up there, we heard a pair of toucans calling to each other, then one flew across the clearing in front of us.

After climbing back down (it's easiest to go down on your butt), it had got dark at the bottom of the pyramid even though it was still light at the top. We hopped back on our bikes, with our torches this time, and made our way to the exit. It was a surreal experience being in the jungle after dark. There were frogs everywhere - I was worried we might run over one! We were also told to look out for the torches shining off jaguar's eyes, but we didn't see any. The guide said they would have been more wary of us at this point and stayed away.

The only negative was that when we arrived back to the entrance, as the place was still open my mum and I went to use the ladies bathroom. Whilst we were doing our thing, the security man turned off the lights and went to lock us in, even though he knew that we were we were in there (and still doing our business!) It was quite scary having to stop going to the bathroom halfway through and run out of the block so that we weren't locked inside by the guard.

Aside from the debacle with the bathrooms, which our tour guide assured us they would mention to management since it wasn't closing time yet, we had a wonderful time. We would 100% recommend Coba, especially climbing Nohuch Mul if you...

We were staying in Tulum and decided to visit several archeological sites in the vicinity. Coba was one of the places we have chosen. We were heading there on a weekday around noon.

It is around 40 minutes drive from Tulum. The road is decent, easy to follow. You will notice a lot of artisan shops along the road - plenty of beautiful handmade souvenirs with more affordable prices than in Tulum city center.

We arrived to the parking with no problem. The entrance to the parking was around 65 pesos - some governmental tax paid in cash. The parking was large, not full, we could easily find a spot. Around the parking there are a bunch of shops and food places.

The entrance to the park was 100 pesos per person. There was no queue. We bought the tickets and went in. We were offered a guide for 750 pesos for 45 minutes; it could be paid in cash or by card. We refused but it’s only because we felt that the price is too high for us. Otherwise we saw many people taking guides and they seemed to be satisfied.

The area of the park is quite large - if to see everything it is around 6 I’m walking. The problem is that the road is not a proper pavement, a bit challenging to walk, we were tired afterwards. Many people rented bikes or took a bike taxi. The taxi was 100 pesos. Again we were stingy and didn’t pay for the taxi :)) it could be a fun experience - most of people were doing that or renting a bike. Walking was fun but long and might be challenging for those not used to physical activity. Otherwise the path was amazing - ancient maya road under the shade of trees; truly pleasant experience.

As said, the place is large: it consists of several groups of buildings located with several km from each other and connected by the ancient roads. We went to all the locations. We were amazed - beautiful stone structures, somewhere monuments, old writings, old paint. Old ball game fields were simply amazing - incredible structure. Also the tallest pyramid is stunning. You cannot climb it anymore (it’s forbidden), but you can stand at its foot and look up imagining all the rituals that were taking place up there at the top.

The place had tourists but was not crowded, you could walk in peace and enjoy the views in silence most of the time.

Overall it was a great experience, absolutely...

We love this Mayan Ruin! My wife and I have been here at least 5 times. Every time that bring somebody new down to the Mexican Riviera, we take them to the beautiful Mayan ruins of Coba.

Coba is a nice ruin that is deep in the jungle of the Yucatan peninsula. It is about an hour and a half away from Playa del Carmen. We used to hire tour guide service take us. But, those excursions get expensive very quickly.

Since we have gone to these ruins so many times, we decided that it was cheaper just hire a van and driver. I make it clear that we just want the van and the driver. It normally costs about $300 usd for an 8 hour rental. These are large vans and we can easily put four couples in it, however it is normally just two couples. Sometimes I talk to the bell capitan and see if they know someone and other times I have talked to the guys on the beach that are trying to sell snorkeling tours.

We always tell the guy that we will pay our own entrance fees, buy our own lunch and drinks, it has always worked out well.

It costs about $15 usd per person to get into the Ruin. However, they only take pesos for the entrance fee. Make sure that you have Mexican money. One time I had to rely on some lady in line to pay for our ticket. What a life saver.

Then, we normally hire some guy inside of the park to drive from site to site. It costs 10 bucks to hire a tricycle and driver and then we tip the guy another 10 bucks when we are done.

There are signs in the park in English and Spanish that explain what everything is. If you want to save a buck, you can forgo the tour guides that are just inside of the entrance and do it yourself.

However, the tour guides do a really good job if you have the money. I've done it both ways. After doing it with a guide a couple of times, I feel comfortable doing it myself now.

This Ruin is a must see. You will be happy...