Kohunlich Mayan Ruins
I originally booked this tour through Carnival for $110. Two days before our arrival in Costa Maya I received a letter from Carnival saying the tour had been canceled due to a lack of participation. I decided to book through The Native Choice who received excellent reviews on past tours. I also saved $35 booking through them.
If you booked through Carnival, this is where you would meet your tour. It’s the first thing you see when you come off of the pier. If you aren’t taking a Carnival tour, you have to exit the port area to meet your tour.
Carnival makes it as difficult as possible for people who book outside tours. They won’t allow the tour operators to pick you up in the port area but they will allow them to drop you off at the port. If you book through The Native Choice you will need to navigate the port area, then take a cab or walk to the Native Choice building.
I walked it but I did ask a taxi driver how much they would’ve charged for a ride. I was quoted $4 per person. It took me 25 minutes to get from the ship to The Native Choice on foot. I believe I could shave 5 minutes off of that time now that I know my way around the port area.
The guys outside told me to head inside the building to check in for my tour. The lady working the counter told me it’s a two hour ride with no bathroom break and recommended I use theirs before leaving. They want you to arrive 10 minutes ahead of time to check in and use the bathroom. I arrived at 8:50 which was perfect timing for my 9am tour.
There were just six of us in a van. Two couples and a kid. One of the couples was going on a lagoon excursion.
That left just four of us going to the ruins. Me and a couple from Dallas with their daughter.
They say they don’t recommend this tour for kids under six and I think she was right around that age. Six or seven years old would be my guess but I’m terrible with kids ages. They’re going cave tubing in Belize so the kid will probably enjoy that one more.
They have unlimited free water in the ice chest up front.
Diego was our guide.
From this intersection you can turn left to go to Belize city or right to go to Playa Del Carmen.
We stopped in a Mayan village where the tour guide for the lagoon excursion picked up the couple that was going on that tour.
Once we arrived in Kohunlich we had another opportunity to use the facilities prior to starting the tour. The driver passed out more waters before we started.
Kohunlich consists of over 200 mounds that are spread out over 20 acres, most of which have not yet been excavated. We are going to focus mostly on the ceremonial area which has been excavated.
Kohunlich is actually a mispronounced version of Cohune Ridge. Cohunes are the type of palm trees in the area.
On the short walk from the entrance to the ceremonial area we encountered many howler monkeys.
Kohunlich has three temples, a ball court, and many residential buildings. Twenty thousand people lived in Kuhonlich and the surrounding areas.
This is the first of three temples. This one is known as the Temple of the King.
These are residential buildings where high ranking artisans who specialized in shell artifacts are believed to have lived. Back then these buildings were covered with stucco and most were painted red.
Directly across from that residential area is the largest structure in Kohunlich, the Acropolis.
This is the side section of the Acropolis.
Back in December in Xunantunich on that large structure El Castillo we talked about how that building was originally smaller and over time they just added onto it and it became what it is now on the third or fourth iteration. You can see an example of that on a smaller scale here where they added onto an older building with newer stones in front of the older stones.
The Acropolis seems to be the Mayan version of a gated community. It is a grouping of residences on an elevated platform that can only be accessed by these steps.
We are now exploring the rooms at the top of the Acropolis.
This was actually pretty dangerous. The kid was sitting on the ground under the tree in the middle up here. I noticed she was sitting right next to a machete that was left there by some landscapers that are working up here. Look out for that stuff if you bring kids to sites like this.
This room had a balcony looking out onto the plaza.
That is the Temple of the King as viewed from the balcony at the Acropolis.
On the other side of the plaza to the left you can see steps which were used as seating. Down below this balcony was more seating that was destroyed when the first people who entered this area in the early 1900’s dynamited that section looking for an entrance to this building. It’s believed the balcony actually came out further but that portion was destroyed by the dynamite.
In the middle of the plaza is what’s left of the podium area. This is where sacrifices or other ceremonies and celebrations would take place.
In the back area of Acropolis there are a couple of tunnels which were not in use.
They had a shortage of limestone in this area so they would in some cases take stones from older buildings to build new ones. In this case they either left these areas hollow to save on the stones or they removed stones to build up other areas. These tunnels have started to collapse which is why they’re roped off now.
I am now going up on the side portion of the Acropolis.
On the side of the Acropolis is a small structure known as the Palace. It is believed some of the more important figures in Kohunlich lived there.
We are now entering the plaza area. We see the Acropolis balcony to the left.
These are the plaza grandstands.
This is the podium area of the plaza.
This plaza is known as the Plaza of the Stelae. On the far side is The Stela Temple. We talked a lot about stelae when I was in Coba. They had many of them there. I’m finding most sites have just one or two. A stela was found in front of the stela temple which is where the name of that temple and this plaza come from.
When the sunset as viewed from the Stela Temple is in line perfectly with the center of the Temple of the King it is April 13th which is the start of their agricultural season. In Chichen Itza they used the sunrise instead of the sunset. Their season started March 21st.
This is something I always recognize immediately. This is the Mayan ball court. A better example than what they had in Xunantunich but nothing like the two courts I saw in Coba. I did a deep dive into the game in Coba Mayan Ruins if anyone is interested.
They do re-enactments of the game in Cozumel. That’ll be on the list for one of my future trips.
You are able to find pieces of pottery still on the ground in this area.
Diego found a piece of flint as well.
This is the best preserved residential area they have at Kohunlich.
What I like about this residential area is the beds and closets. Most of the residential buildings I get to see are more like the first ones we saw here consisting of a floor and maybe a wall. This is the first time I have actually seen Mayan rooms with beds and closets still inside them.
This is a great example of a bed and closets.
This is an example of a stela. It has a person with a headdress on it. It’s broken because people tried to steal it but it was too heavy so it broke when they dropped it.
This is similar to what we saw in San Geriveso in Cozumel used to collect rain water. It looks like it still works.
The primary water collection area was over there which is all downhill.
We are coming up on the highest point. The Building of the Figure Heads which is more commonly referred to as The Temple of Masks.
The Temple of Masks is the only location on this site where they found tombs.
The Temple of Masks is one of the oldest structures on this site dating back to 500 A.D.
It contains stucco masks on each side of the staircase. These masks represent the sun god Kinich Ahau. They face the setting sun and the ruling family.
This temple is perfectly aligned with the Stela Temple and the King Temple.
You may wonder how the kid did. She was pretty good during the ride. Once we got to the plaza portion. She sat in the middle of the plaza and said she was done. It got better when we found the pottery and flint. Diego gave her a piece of flint.
She didn’t want any part of the walk back. Along the way she lost that piece of flint and pitched a fit. Fortunately Diego found her a bigger, better one and it was all good again. Then of course the monkeys on the way out helped and lunch even more.
Why wouldn’t she be excited? She had Cheetos in her lunch bag while I was stuck with plain old Lays. After lunch I think she slept the rest of the way back.
This is the lunch sack. We got a coke along with it.
We got like a granola bar, chips, and a sandwich. Usually on Mayan ruins excursions you stop at a restaurant for chicken, rice and beans, and coleslaw or potato salad.
Personally I would rather spend more time at the ruins. I welcome a quick meal like this on the way back. I’m not sure if a Carnival tour offered a better lunch. I saw a video of a ship excursion to Kohunlich from 2019 and they had a sandwich on the bus as well so this may be standard. I’m not sure which cruise line it was. It didn’t look like a Carnival room.
Looking at this map I was disappointed that we did not take the suggested route. We did 1-8, then returned the same way we came. Even if we didn’t have time to hit all fourteen, I would’ve liked to have returned from 8 the other direction and at least seen 9-12 along the way.
Overall I enjoyed the tour. What stood out to me is the residential area that had the beds and closets. I don’t normally get to see those at Mayan sites. I also enjoyed the Acropolis balcony overlooking the plaza and the stucco masks in the Temple of Masks.
Since this was my first trip to Costa Maya, I can’t compare this to other Mayan excursions in the area yet. I will be returning two more times over the next 20 months. My plan will be to cover Chacchoben and Dzibanche on those trips.
