This trip we decided to take a day trip out to Ek Balam.
I figured we could pick up a cheap day trip, via tour bus, and put up with the mandatory stop at a gift store. Unfortunately, the only "guided day trip" available from Isla Mujeres was an overnight trip, and because it included a hotel and all the meals it was pretty expensive.
So, we decided to go it alone.
We reserved a rental car, took the UltraMar Ferry over to Cancun, and with Google as our guide headed out about two hours to Ek Balam.
It was easy to do, and well under $100 for the day, for the two of us: car, food, drinks and entrance fees.
And here is the bonus: because we did not have to waste any time stopping at gift stores or eating at a particular place, we were able to squeeze in a few hours at the Coba Ruins as well. It is not like they are next to each other, but Coba is sort of on the way back, if you return through Tulum.
Ek Balam was pretty cool. It is a ways out there, and not as popular as Tulum and Chichen Itza (Both places we have visited before. You can see photos and read about it here.).
It is also a "newer" archeological site, so there are fewer visitors. The entrance fee is a little higher than the other sites, but well worth it. The site is pretty compact and we spent maybe two hours here, and I felt like it was plenty of time to see everything and even rest in the shade and just stare for a while.
Two or three very cool things about Ek Balam:
The name means Black Jaguar. Or maybe Star Jaguar. I prefer the first name.
You can climb the temples and the pyramid, which is one big reason I wanted to go here. The view from the top of the pyramid is pretty great, and the view of the pyramid from the temples is even better.
Finally, some of the best preserved Mayan carvings are here, including one famous one called the Winged Warrior." Here is a good overview of the site. When you are at the level to see the warrior, you are also staring into "the mouth of the jaguar!" It's all pretty cool.
A few nuts and bolts: parking is free, the only restrooms are in the visitor entrance place, and that is where the snack stand is as well. So we carried water into the site. Unlike Tulum or Chichen Itza, there are very few vendors here, so you don't feel like you are "running the gauntlet" going in. It is a very relaxing place, and really worth going to.
TEMOZÓN
Because we left early and cruised through Ek Balam, we had time to head to Coba. Along the way we found the little town of Temozón, where the main industry seems to be smoked pork! So as we drove I just randomly picked a place. We walked in, and for a few pesos I bought about a half-pound of frsh smoked pork. The butcher cut it up into bite sized pieces, and wrapped it for us. We walked down the street to a store, bought two beers, and sat outside in the sun, leaning against the building, eating pork, drinking cold beer and watching the traffic.
It was a great little picnic stop.
COBA
We went on, making kind of a loop trip, heading back towards Tulum so we could stop at Coba. These ruins are famous because the highest pyramid, almost 140 feet tall, is here. And you can still climb it!
You drive past a lake, and there is the parking just outside the archeological park. It is a short walk in, but once inside it is a mile walk through the woods to get to the main pyramid. You can rent a bike, or use one of the bike-taxis to go in the first mile, but we enjoyed walking it. At dusk, walking out alone, it was magical.
Along the way you see some excavated things: a small ball court (the one at Chichen Itza is bigger and better preserved), some little temples, and stones with carvings.
But most of the ruins are still mostly buried, so you see mounds and hills that you just know hold hidden treasures. That said, the site is just not as well preserved as Ek Balam or Chichen Itza.
There is a fork in the road half way to the pyramid. A Mayan village is to the right, the pyramid to the left.
At the pyramid, it looks "older" and "more crumbly" than Ek Balam or Chichen Itza.
There is a thick rope to help you if you are afraid of heights, but my experience was the steps are plenty wide to just walk up and down it.
The view from the top was OK, but because so much of the site is still forested and unexcavated, I liked the view from Ek Balam a lot better.
Nuts and bolts: the parking is free. The restroom is outside the ruins, and there were no open snack stands inside when we went. We carried in water. The bike rentals are cheap. We just liked walking. Finally, the drive through Tulum back up to Cancun was a nightmare of a traffic jam. UGH.
Overall it was a great day trip. Of the four sites we have seen, Coba is my least favorite.