Coba Ruins: Cobá and the Grand Mayan
Hiking . Mexico . Outdoor Recreation . Travel . Worldwide Travel
4 Perfect Days in Mexico’s Riviera Maya and the Yucatán Peninsula (Coba Ruins)
You are viewing Day 3 of our 4-Day Itinerary for the Riviera Maya, “Coba ruins.” Click on any of the days in the list below to view the post for other days. You can also click here to view our full, printable 4-Day itinerary with highlights from each day to help you plan your own adventure along the Riviera Maya.
Things to do in Puerto Morelos Mexico
Mayan Palace & Grand Mayan
Tulum Ruins
The Best Beach in Tulum
Coba Ruins & Pool Day – THIS POST
- Bicycle through the Mayan complex of Cobá
- Hike to the top of a dizzying pyramid
- Head back to the Mayan Palace to sip piña coladas at the resort’s luxury club
Ek’ Balam and Chichén Itzá
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Coba Ruins & the Grand Mayan
One of the hardest decisions for the history buff is exactly which sites to visit on a short trip to the Yucatán, because you could easily spend weeks exploring each of the excavated (and un-excavated) sites dotting the peninsula. Add to that the various cities and villages from Mérida to Valladolid and Tulum, and you’d really need several months to do it justice. (And we haven’t even mentioned the beaches and cenotes around the limestone shelf that makes up the peninsula).
A four- or five-day itinerary should include visits to Tulum and Chichén Itzá, by far the most popular and most heavily visited sites. Our next two favorites toward the Eastern coast, though, are Ek’ Balam and Cobá, the subject of our posts today and tomorrow.
As you can see on the satellite map below, there are several routes to Cobá from The Grand Mayan and Playa del Carmen to the South. The fastest route takes you South through Tulum and then back Northwest to the site. Depending on your plans and time along the Mayan Riviera, you may want to see both Tulum and Cobá in one day. There are pros and cons for seeing Tulum first and vice-versa. On the one hand, getting to Tulum when it opens is always the best way to see that site, but then you’ll be visiting Cobá later, in the heat of the day. The climb to the top of the main pyramid is hard enough in the cooler morning; we made the climb in the afternoon heat and paid the price in sweat and discomfort! On the other hand, if you drive to Cobá to start the day in the cooler temperatures there, by the time you get back to Tulum, it will likely be much more crowded and less enjoyable. So, our recommendation is to visit Cobá on another day entirely, even though you may have to drive back and forth a little more than you would if you combine the sites into a single day.
The Best Way to See Coba Ruins: Travel by Bike
The dirt and gravel paths throughout the complex at Cobá are wide, broad, and flat, making them perfect for the site’s many rickshaws and bicycles available to rent for a nominal fee. Sections of the broad walkways are actually part of a much longer system of ancient roads built by the Mayas of Yucatán to connect various sites to Cobá, a Yucatecan version of the Roman roads.
Here, as in Tulum and Chichén Itzá, you will be faced with the inevitable questions of visiting historical ruins in Yucatán: should you hire a local guide, buy a self-guided tour book, or just wing it, and hope to glean something valuable from just being there, soaking up the views of ancient stone ruins and the ball court and the pyramid towering over the lush jungle below? As we mentioned yesterday, hiring a local guide is a worthwhile expense and a small way to give back to the local Maya communities that live and breathe these spaces as they have for thousands of years. Even if you wander around on your own afterward, it is well worth talking with a guide and hearing Maya perspectives on the history and significance of Cobá.
We biked and rode through Cobá, stopping at various structures and excavated sites, like the relatively small ball court that has a small earthen strip between two steep stone embankments leading to two carved stone rings on either side of the court. Although the ball court in Chichén Itzá is much larger (and the largest in all of Mesoamerica or “Middle America”), the court at Cobá is striking because of its scale, design, and setting. The angled sides and embedded rings make this a unique and significant example of the ancient ball games.
Coba Ruins: Climb a Pyramid in Yucatán
There was a time when you could scale Kukulkán, the massive pyramid at Chichén Itzá; injuries from tourists falling down the incredibly steep steps have put an end to that (more on that tomorrow). So if you want to climb high above the jungle canopy, opt for Cobá or other sites further North.
A long rope down the center of the staircase offers a little support for your climb, but be careful; these steps are steep. And by steep, I mean about the width of an adult shoe – sideways. The steep pitch of the stone staircase creates an almost vertical ascent at more than a 45-degree angle up. One misstep and you could tumble all the way down the enormous structure.
I don’t think I’ve ever held Renn more tightly than I did today. Michelle climbed up the stairs with her before handing her off to me about halfway up. At the top, there are no railings or other barriers on any of the sides of the platform, and only the front staircase has been carefully re-assembled from the broken-down pieces that had long since been reclaimed by the jungle. Not only did I have to warn Nyah to stop jumping around up there; I kept Renn in a Vulcan death grip the entire time.
There really is nothing as awe-inspiring as standing atop an ancient ceremonial pyramid like this, looking out over the jungle as far as you can see, a sea of dark green under the afternoon rain clouds gathering before a storm. And then, just when you think the heat and humidity are unbearable, the clouds give up the rain, cooling the air in yet another cycle of rain, seepage through the limestone shelf to the freshwater rivers below the surface, evaporation, rising humidity, and torrential rain. We made it back down the pyramid and back through the complex before today’s rains, but I’m pretty sure we felt the full brunt of the sun standing atop the pyramid.
If you make your way up the pyramid, be careful and take the ascent and descent slowly. If you have children with you, be doubly careful. It’s worth sharing the experience of Coba ruins with little ones, but just be aware of the risks and don’t attempt something that you – and they – are not comfortable doing.
Having made it up and down the pyramid successfully, the girls were ready for a cool drink and some shade. Luckily for all of us, a small store at the base of the pyramid sells a variety of refreshments. We drank some water and (*a special request, rarely granted) a can of soda before the girls hopped back in the rickshaw and Nyah passed off her small mountain bike to one of her friends who hadn’t gotten a chance to bike yet. Perhaps a bit delusional from all the sun and heat exposure, the girls feigned shock and fear while riding along in the cart at no more than 5 mph through the Coba ruins. Evidently, the water and Sprite had the desired effect; they recovered fully from the sweltering mid-day heat in time to head back to the beach and pools
Back to the Grand Mayan: Must-See Luxury Pools
By now, you’re probably starting to see a pattern in how we like to explore: start early with an historical tour, visit the ruins, or otherwise do something active, and then follow that up with a relaxing afternoon and evening. With younger (young-ish?) kids, this feels like a good pace, and we can spend time doing what we all enjoy without overdoing it or going so fast and furious that we’re all worn out after our vacation!
So what is our answer to ghastly heat and humidity out in the jungle? Cool water and piña coladas, of course! And judging by Renn’s yawn, a short nap under a few pool towels is also in order.
We are huge fans of the Grand Mayan and Mayan Palace, for reasons we mentioned our first day here. Two more new reasons to love the resort are the luxury clubs at either end of the property facing the beach. These newly-designed areas feature cozy pools that wrap around and between semi-private seating areas with privacy screens, umbrellas, and various levels of planters and other visual dividers. There are larger, open swimming areas and smaller, more private enclaves if you’re wanting to relax away from the crowds at the much larger (and much busier) main pools.
And just for the record, Renn loved flying up in the air over the pool. No toddlers were hurt (physically or emotionally) in the making of this photo. In fact, she keeps asking if we can just stay here forever. If only we could!
