Tulum Ruins Facts and Figures
Every verified number about the Tulum Ruins in one place. Where a figure is a range rather than a single number, it is a range because the underlying charge genuinely moves — not because it could not be looked up.
The site
| Fact | Figure |
|---|---|
| Location | Zona Hotelera Tulum, 77765 Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
| Coordinates | About 20.2149° N, 87.4320° W |
| Maya name | Zamá, from the root for dawn |
| Modern name | Tulum — Yucatec Maya for wall or fence |
| Period | Postclassic, roughly the 13th to 16th century |
| Walled area | About 400 m by 170 m |
| Wall | Three landward sides; 3–5 m thick, 3–5 m high |
| Cliff height | About 12 m above the beach |
| El Castillo | About 7.5 m above its platform |
| Managed by | INAH, inside Parque del Jaguar since late 2024 |
| First European sighting | 1518, Juan de Grijalva's expedition |
| Recorded in the wider record | 1841, John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood |
Visiting, 2026
| Fact | Figure |
|---|---|
| Open | Every day, including weekends and most national holidays, 8:00 am–5:00 pm |
| Last entry | 3:30 pm |
| Ticket windows close | about 3:15 pm |
| INAH admission, 2026 | MX$209 (doubled from MX$104 on 1 January 2026) |
| CONANP bracelet | About MX$120–125 |
| Parque del Jaguar | About MX$180–295 |
| Typical total, foreign adult | roughly MX$515–622 (about US$28–35) |
| Free entry | Sundays for Mexican citizens and residents; under-13s year round |
| Time needed | 90 minutes to 2 hours inside the walls |
| Shade | Almost none |
| Guided tours from | US$39 |
The three-part entrance charge is explained in full on the visiting page, including why every tour listing quotes a different total.
The tours compared here
| Fact | Figure |
|---|---|
| Departure points | Cancun, Playa del Carmen, the Riviera Maya and Tulum town |
| Shortest | 2 hours |
| Longest | 12 hours |
| Lowest price | US$39 |
| Cancellation | Every one refunds in full up to 24 hours ahead |
| Smallest group cap stated | 10 |
| Largest group cap stated | 100 |
How Tulum compares with the other two big sites
| Site | Drive from Tulum | Climbable | Time needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tulum | — | No | 90 min – 2 h |
| Cóba | About 45 min | Yes | 2–3 h |
| Chichén Itzá | About 2 h 30 | No | 2–3 h |
The full comparison is on why the Tulum Ruins matter.
Figures with no reliable source
Annual visitor totals and “most-visited site in Mexico” rankings circulate widely without a stated method behind them, so they are absent here. The same goes for precise construction dates for individual buildings: the structures page gives phases and periods, which is what the evidence supports.
Where these figures come from
Hours and admission come from INAH and from 2026 reporting of the fee change; site dimensions and dates from the published archaeology; tour figures from each operator's own booking listing, relayed as published. Anything that could not be traced is marked above rather than estimated.
Seeing it with a guide
- Tulum Ruins, Turtles in Akumal and Cenote tour — 8 hours, from Tulum.
- Tulum Ruins Tour (Private, Half Day) — 4 hours, from Tulum.