Visiting the Coba Ruins in Mexico - Everything You Need To Know

Visiting The Coba Ruins In Mexico: Everything You Need To Know

Coba Ruins in Mexico

Mexico is home to a number of remarkably well-maintained Mayan ruins. Chichen Itza is easily the most famous since it’s included in the Seven Wonders of the World and remains the most visited site in all of Mexico. But there is another lesser-known, cheaper to visit and equally as wonderful ruin site nearby, Coba!

Where are the Coba Ruins?

The Coba Ruins are located on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula.

40 minutes from Tulum

1 hour 30 minutes from Playa del Carmen

1 hour 50 minutes from Cancun

How To Get To The Coba Ruins In Mexico

There are a number of ways to arrive at Coba. You can book a tour but we enjoyed going by ourselves and hiring a guide onsite instead.

Rent a car

We chose to rent a car from Hertz for two days so we could visit Coba, Chichen Itza and nearby towns/cenotes.

Renting a car in Mexico can be problematic. Prices may vary a lot. And you may reserve a car online the night before only to show up at the car lot and they don’t have what you already paid for available. I’ve seen this happen a number of times.

We woke up early and went to the car rental lots first thing in the morning to ensure we got a car.

Make sure you get full insurance, roads in Mexico can be tricky to drive on. And always make sure you’re off the roads by dark.

This blog post does a great job explaining why driving around Mexico at night is unsafe.

Read: TOP SAFETY TIPS FOR TRAVELING TO MEXICO

Take a taxi from Tulum

Another option- take a taxi from Tulum! Many drivers will have a set price for round trip to Coba and they will wait for you there until you’re done at the ruins and bring you back.

Round trip could cost as much as 1200 pesos ($60 USD) but it a full half day trip for your driver. You might be able to bargain lower.

And a great way to reduce costs? Get a group to go together and split the taxi fare! Hostels are an amazing place to meet other travelers. Ask around and see if anyone wants to go with you!

Looking for amazing hostels with a fun, social atmosphere in Tulum? Check out my recommendations here.

Pass through small, local towns along the way

If you rent a car, you’ll be able to stop along the way at some of the small local towns. Here you can shop for souvenirs at a better price than in Tulum. Plus your money goes directly to smaller villages/towns.

You can also stop for breakfast, lunch or a fresh coconut on the way!

Small fee for parking

If you drive yourself, have a small amount of cash ready to pay parking and your entrance fee.

80 pesos to enter

Unlike Chichen Itza which is 497 pesos to enter, Coba is a mere 80 pesos, just $4 USD!

Guides available for hire upon arrival

At the time of our visit, the guides said it was $25 per 40 minute tour. But that was per guide, not per person.

So if you are a family or group of friends visiting, a private tour guide could be quite cheap especially once split between multiple people.

The guides were extremely professional and spoke excellent English.

180 pesos for a tricycle ride

After you pass the first set of ruins, you will have the option of renting a bike to get around Coba or hopping on a tricycle being pedaled by a member of the local Mayan community.

Which to choose: Tricycles, bike rental or walking private tour?

The Coba Ruins are surprisingly large, you may not want to walk it all in the heat.

At first we almost skipped the bike because it seemed “lazy” not to walk ourselves. But really, it’s a great opportunity to give your tourism dollars directly to locals instead of just the mega resorts so many people stay at in Mexico!

In addition, you can only look at piles of rocks for so long if you don’t understand what you’re seeing.

Although the tricycle rides are meant more to be a bike service, our guide gave us tons of wonderful information as well! Less than a formal tour for sure but enough for us to appreciate what exactly we were seeing.

Not only was riding on the tricycles much more enjoyable than walking in the jungle heat, it was so fun to connect with someone local who could tell us about the jungle and life in Coba today.

If you go, be sure to tip your guide! Imagine pedaling grown adults through the jungle in the heat… with a mask on!! These guys are rockstars and so hard working!

Massive thank you to Manuel, tricycle 49!