Cobá is a Maya city in the jungle 47 km west of Tulum, about 45 minutes by car on Highway 109. INAH opens it daily from 8:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:00, and charges foreign visitors MXN 210. The 42 m Nohoch Mul pyramid reopened for climbing on 7 December 2025 with a wooden staircase.
The Cobá ruins are the remains of a large Maya city in the jungle, 47 km west of Tulum on Highway 109. INAH, Mexico’s national institute of anthropology and history, opens the site every day from 8:00 to 17:00, with last entry at 16:00. Foreign visitors pay MXN 210 and Mexicans MXN 105 (checked October 2026). The big news is Nohoch Mul: after six years closed, the 42 m pyramid reopened for climbing on 7 December 2025.
Cobá is in the municipality of Tulum, so it makes an easy half day from town. It pairs well with a swim, either at the three cave cenotes just outside Cobá village or at the cenotes you pass on the drive.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Hours | Monday to Sunday, 8:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:00 |
| Foreign visitors | MXN 210 |
| Mexican visitors | MXN 105 |
| Sundays | Free for Mexicans and foreign residents of Mexico |
| Exempt | Children under 13, over-60s, students, teachers and people with disabilities, with ID |
| Not allowed | Food, smoking, pets |
Checked October 2026. Hours and fees from INAH’s own Cobá page; exemptions and the Sunday rule from Riviera Maya News, January 2026.
The fee doubled at the start of 2026. Riviera Maya News reported a new rate of MXN 209, up from about MXN 104 in 2025, and INAH’s page now shows MXN 210. Guides that still quote MXN 90 or 100 are out of date.
INAH’s ticket is not always the only charge. The Cobá ejido (the local landholding community) has collected its own fee at times since 2021, and a guide updated in October 2026 lists a community fee and a parking charge on top of INAH’s. Neither amount is published by INAH, so bring cash pesos and expect to pay at the car park as well as the gate.
Nohoch Mul means “great mound” in Yucatec Maya. At 42 m it is the tallest building in the north of the Maya area, according to INAH. For years it was the reason people came to Cobá: unlike El Castillo at Chichén Itzá, you could climb it.
That ended in 2019, when INAH stopped the climb because heavy foot traffic had worn down the original steps. On Sunday 7 December 2025 Mexico’s culture secretary opened a new wooden staircase built over the old stairs. It is 2 m wide, split into two 1 m lanes, one for going up and one for coming down. Ejidatarios from Noh Bec, a Quintana Roo community known for building with tropical hardwoods, made it.
How the climb works now, from press reports and a guide updated in October 2026:
The staircase covers about 120 original steps, so it is still a steep, sweaty climb in the heat. Wear shoes with grip and take water. INAH says the top gives wide views over the Maya forest.
Some 2026 blog posts still say climbing is banned. They were written before December 2025.
Cobá is big. INAH says the city covered about 70 square kilometres at its height, between 200 and 600 AD, with around 50,000 inhabitants. The excavated groups visitors see are spread along jungle paths, and Nohoch Mul is close to 2 km from the entrance.
You have three ways to cover it:
INAH doesn’t publish bike or pedal-taxi prices. A guide updated in October 2026 quotes MXN 80 to 100 for a bike and MXN 150 to 200 for a pedal taxi for two. Treat those as a rough guide and pay cash.
The path from the entrance passes La Iglesia, a stepped temple, then a ball court, before reaching the Nohoch Mul group. Off to the side, the Macanxoc group has carved stelae, though the stone is badly worn.
The most unusual thing about Cobá is its roads. México Desconocido, citing INAH, counts more than 50 sacbés, raised roads of white limestone built between about 600 and 800 AD. Some joined groups inside the city. Sacbé 1 ran about 100 km west to Yaxuná, near Chichén Itzá. You walk along stretches of these roads inside the site.
Recent epigraphy has also fixed the city’s founding date: 12 May 569 AD, according to INAH’s director at the December 2025 reopening. He added that Cobá traded with Chichén Itzá, Ichkabal, Tikal and cities on the Caribbean coast.
By car. Drive west out of Tulum town on Highway 109, the Cobá road, toward Nuevo Xcán. It is about 47 km. A routing engine gives 45 minutes; allow an hour with speed bumps and turning traffic. The same road passes Gran Cenote, Cenote Calavera, Zacil-Ha and Car Wash, so a swim on the way home is easy.
By colectivo or bus. Shared vans and some ADO buses run from Tulum town to Cobá. We couldn’t confirm a current timetable or fare from an official source, so ask at the ADO station or the colectivo stop the day before. The getting around Tulum guide covers colectivos and taxis.
By tour. Every Cobá tour in our list pairs it with something else: the Tulum ruins, Chichén Itzá, or Punta Laguna and a cenote. See the list below and our tours page.
Arrive at 8:00 if you can. You beat the midday heat, and the first groups up Nohoch Mul wait the least.
Three cave cenotes sit 3 to 4 km from the ruins: Choo-Ha, Tankach-Ha and Multun-Ha. You walk down stairs into each one, and they are quieter than the cenotes near Tulum. The Cobá cenotes guide has directions and what each one is like.
If you want to stay over and reach the ruins at opening time, Kaab Cobá (the former Villas Arqueológicas) is about a 13-minute walk from the entrance. The where to stay in Tulum guide compares it with staying in town.
Cobá also sits on the inland road to Valladolid and Chichén Itzá. Cobá to Chichén Itzá is about 115 km, so some coach tours do both in one long day.
9 hours
A ten-person day from Tulum: bike or walk the Cobá ruins, look for spider monkeys at Punta Laguna, eat with a Mayan family and swim at Cenote Esmeralda.
Pickup: Tulum
from$184
Check availability12 hours
Cobá and Chichén Itzá in one coach day, with three hours for lunch and a swim at Cenote Chichikan and a quick look at Valladolid.
Pickup: depends on option
from$67
Check availability12 hours
Two ruins in one long day, Tulum by the sea and Cobá in the jungle, with lunch and a swim at Cenote Mariposa in between and a short honey and cacao tradition talk.
Pickup: Playa del Carmen and Riviera Maya
from$66
Check availability12 hours
A coach loop from Cancún or the Riviera to the Tulum ruins and Cobá's Nohoch Mul pyramid, ending with a swim through the caves of Cenote Nohoch Nah Chich and a buffet lunch.
Pickup: Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Riviera Maya
from$59
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Yes. Climbing Nohoch Mul was suspended in 2019 because tourist traffic had worn down the original steps. On 7 December 2025 INAH opened a wooden staircase laid over them, and visitors can go up and down again. Press reports describe groups of up to 15 people with about 15 minutes at the top. Staff can stop the climb, so follow their instructions on the day.
INAH lists MXN 210 for foreign visitors and MXN 105 for Mexicans, checked in October 2026. Mexicans and foreign residents enter free on Sundays, and children under 13, over-60s, students and teachers are exempt with ID. A local community charge and parking may be collected separately at the car park, so carry cash pesos. Bike and pedal-taxi hire is extra.
About 47 km by road. Take Highway 109, the Cobá road that starts in Tulum town, and drive west toward Nuevo Xcán. A routing engine gives 45 minutes without traffic, and México Desconocido says to allow about an hour. The road passes Gran Cenote, Calavera and Zacil-Ha, so you can add a swim on the way back.
Yes, because it is a different kind of site. Tulum is a small walled port on a cliff. Cobá is a spread-out city in the jungle, linked by more than 50 raised white roads, with lagoons nearby and a 42 m pyramid you can climb. You need a bike or a long walk to see it, so plan half a day.
Allow two to three hours inside the site, more if you walk instead of cycling. Nohoch Mul is close to 2 km from the entrance, and the climb itself takes time if there is a queue for the next group. With the drive from Tulum and a stop at one of the Cobá cenotes, it fills a half day comfortably.
Choo-Ha, Tamcach-Ha and Multum-Ha are three underground cenotes near Cobá village, 53 to 55 km from Tulum on the Cobá road and a few minutes' drive from the Cobá ruins.
The Tulum ruins are a walled Maya port on a cliff above the Caribbean, inside Parque del Jaguar just east of Tulum town.
Chichén Itzá is 156 km from Tulum, about 2.5 hours by car on the inland road through Valladolid.
The top things to do in Tulum are swimming in cenotes such as Gran Cenote and Calavera, 3 to 5 km from town, and walking the clifftop Maya ruins.