Tulum Ruins
The only Maya city built facing the sea, on a cliff above a turquoise beach.
Duration
1 hr 30 min – 2 hrs 30 min
Best time
At opening, around 8am
Open
Every day
Entry price
100 MXN
Tulum is the only Maya city built facing the sea, on a twelve-metre cliff, and it was a port: goods came up from the coast through a break in the cliff, where the beach is today. It was occupied from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, later than most major sites.
El Castillo, on the clifftop, doubled as a navigation mark: two aligned openings picked out the single pass through the reef. The site is small and takes an hour and a half to walk, walls included.
Getting there
Two kilometres north of Tulum village, on the coast road. The car park is eight hundred metres from the gate, with a paid shuttle or a ten-minute walk.
What the price covers
paid entry plus a site access fee; check the current rate at the gate
What to bring
- Walking shoes
- 1.5 L of water
- Reef shoes
- Cap
Rules on site
There is no shade on the site and the limestone reflects: from ten o'clock the visit becomes hard going. Getting down to the beach below the ruins depends on the sea state, and the stairway closes in swell.
Checked on 29 August 2026 at INAH — Tulum archaeological zone
Other places in Tulum
- Gran CenoteA collapsed cave filled with clear fresh water, with turtles below and bats overhead.
- Playa ParaísoWhite sand right below the ruins, regularly ranked among Mexico's finest beaches.
- CobáA Maya city in the jungle, with white stone causeways running for miles.
Sian Ka'an Biosphere ReserveSix thousand square kilometres of protected mangrove and lagoon, where you float down Maya-cut canals.