Rides in Tulum

Rides in Tulum come in two kinds, and the vehicle changes with the ground. In the limestone jungle behind the coast it is the ATV: a rough track of mud, loose stone, climbs and water crossings that ends at a cenote. Cobá, 47 km inland, needs wheels of another sort. The ruins spread over some 80 square kilometres between Lake Cobá and Lake Macanxoc, and the walk from the entrance to Nohoch Mul, the 42-metre pyramid, is about two kilometres each way, so visitors hire bicycles or take a pedicab along the forest paths. Tulum's own ruins, a walled port on a cliff, are seen on foot.

Tulum rides tours are built around the ATV, and the ride itself is short, about an hour over some 20 km, with ziplines, a rappel wall and a cenote swim around it. Half days last four to four and a half hours. Longer days of six to seven hours add a turtle snorkel at Akumal, a snorkel in the Yalkú inlet or horses. A full day of ten hours puts the ATV circuit together with a bike ride through Cobá, and an eight-hour version adds the Tulum ruins. One day leaves the ATV out: Tulum, Cobá and a cenote swim by road in about seven and a half hours.

Practical. Afternoons run to 29C in midwinter and 32C in high summer, and January nights hold near 18C. Spring is the dry stretch and the tracks are dusty; in the wet weeks of early autumn they turn to mud, so wear closed shoes and clothes you do not mind losing. Bring repellent for the jungle and a hat for the Tulum ruins, which have no shade at all. Bikes and pedicabs at Cobá are paid for at the gate in pesos. Storms between June and November can stop a ride day.