The Ancient Mayan ruins of Chacchoben are about an hour north of Bacalar, a short distance from the highway. While they do see a lot of day trippers from the near by the Costa Maya cruise port at Mahahual, we had the ruins to ourselves with only a handful of other visitors.
Chacchoben, meaning ‘Place of the Red Corn’ contains multiple stepped temples surrounded by shady jungle paths. The two main temples, Temple 1 and Los Vasijas, are perched on a hill top, Gran Basamento, which you can reach by walking up the ancient step in front of the two small temples called Los Gemeelos. Temple 24 is located closer to the entrance and the site contains many structures that are still covered by the dense jungle. Climbing any of the actual pyramids is prohibited.
Los Vasijas
I can’t recall exactly how much it was to enter the site. It was definitely cheaper than Chichen Itza and Uxmal so maybe around $400 -$500 Mexican pesos per adult. Guides were available on site however we chose to explore at our own pace.
Los Vasijas
Plaza B
Temple 24
This was a great pit stop on the way back to Playa Del Carmen, we spent about an hour here and also stopped off in Tulum to get our favourite beef and pork tacos at a restaurant ironically named Good Burger, considering it was the tacos we kept coming a back for.
The drive from Tulum to Bacalar passes through many small Mayan villages, which are so fasinating to see Many of the houses still have the traditional thatched roofs and locals set up stalls along the highway selling fresh fruit- mainly pineapples. Keep an eye out when driving through the town of Limones and you see a small ancient Mayan pyramid sitting in the centre of town, right along the highway.
Temple 1
Other Archeological Zones that could be explored from Bacalar:
Calakmul
Dzibanche
Ichkabal
Oxtankah
Becan
Xpuhil
Kohunlich