Calakmul Archeological Site Guide

Use our realist Calakmul Guide to plan your next trip to this archaeological site. Calakmul is a Mayan archeological site in the Campeche jungle. Calakmul was our next stop on the Mexican road trip following Chicana, Becan, & Balamku.

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Getting to Calakmul

Calakmul is located roughly halfway between a village of Conhuas and the country border with Guatemala. This is a very remote location and getting there is a bit of a hassle. Even finding Calakmul on the online maps used to be a challenging task. Since our trip Google Maps have improved the algorithm and now correctly identify Calakmul’s location. You should still budget between 2 and 2.5 hours for a one-way trip to Calakmul from Xpujil. This narrow road is paved but in a poor condition with countless potholes, which requires full attention and rapid stops.

Where to Stay

Calakmul’s remote location does not leave potential visitors with abundant accommodation choices. We recommend looking into the town of Xpujil, as the closest settlement with any accommodation options worth considering.

Entrance Requirements & Passes

There are a few entrance fees to Calakmul, ranging from Reserve entrance fee, road use fee, and actual site entrance fee. All in all, we paid under MXN500 (USD30) for two people and a car at the time of writing.

Sights & Places of Interest

Calakmul features several structures, including Structure II, which is one of the tallest Mayan pyramids. However, once you arrive at the site, you need to take a thirty-minute hike to the structures. The trail is clearly marked but has lots of tropical trees all around it, often right in the middle of the path.

Trail & Wildlife

The trail’s surrounding areas are full of wildlife. Let’s see if you could spot a monkey here.

How many you can identify in this photo?

Once we made it to the structures, we noticed that most of them were covered in plants and trees similar to Balamku.

Calakmul’s remoteness and large area allow for the site’s exploration without tourist crowds so common at most Mayan sites.

Ball Court

Somewhat low number of tourists, location inside a tropical forest, and proximity to wildlife contributed to a surreal experience while exploring this Mayan site.

Some structures are more visible than others. Still, we often did not know what another turn or jungle pass would bring.

For instance, we found three Ocellated turkeys right in the middle of the site around the Gran Plaza.

Structure II

Another turn and we found ourselves at the bottom of the 45-meter (148-ft) Structure II. Climbing of the structure was allowed at the time and we decided to give it a try. Although the steps of the structure were quite steep, we made it to the top.

The views from the top of the Structure II are impressive. However, we mostly saw the rainforest since the majority of structures at Calakmul are not particularly tall.

Steep, uneven, and sometimes small steps made climbing down even more difficult than going up. Once we completed our descent, we headed towards the site’s exit since we had a long drive to Felipe Carrillo Puerto ahead of us.

Takeaways: Calakmul

Calakmul offers a true Indiana Jones like experience. Driving through the jungle on a beaten-up road to a site lost in the middle of nowhere with lots of wildlife makes this trip unforgettable. Exploring a Mayan site of great significance with a low number of tourists rounded up a nice visit. Be sure to budget enough time (about 7 hours) and start early as we would not recommend taking this road after sunset due its poor condition.

Take a look at our Calakmul Video Guide and visit our YouTube channel for the latest videos.

Frequently Asked Questions

Safe realist travels!