Chicanna, Becan & Balamku Archeological Sites Guide

Use our realist Chicanna & Becan Guide to plan your next trip to these archaeological sites. Chicanna, Becan, and Balamku are three archaeological sites within one area in southeastern Campeche. We visited these sites on our way back from Palenque during our winter Mexican road trip.

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Getting to Chicanna & Becan

These archaeological sites are located along the Highway 186 that connects Villahermosa and Chetumal. All three sites are within a small stretch of the highway between the towns of Escarcega and Xpujil. We did not originally plan on visiting any of these sites. However, their convenient location and alignment with our route and schedule contributed to our decision to explore Chicanna, Becan, and Balamku.

Where to Stay

This area of Campeche is very remote and does not provide visitors with a lot of accommodation choices. You could consider properties in Escarcega or Chetumal, even though both towns have somewhat limited supply. Alternatively, there are a couple of options in a small town of Xpujil. However, if you plan on also visiting Calakmul during your trip, Xpujil becomes one of your only options.

Entrance Requirements & Passes

All three sites are relatively small, less known, and do not attract a lot of visitors. Their remote location and lack of tourist crowds result in very affordable entrance prices. The price for all three sites combined was just a fraction of cost of Chichen Itza or Uxmal and was most comparable to Edzna.

Sights & Places of Interest

All three sites preserve Mayan structures. While there are some similarities in the rainforest landscape surrounding the structures, each site has its own unique character.

Balamku

We started our exploration with Balamku, the site closest to Escarcega and the largest of all three.

Balamku has a couple of pyramids and several structures with mosaics and artistic elements. However, its true beauty is hidden inside one of the structures. The well preserved masks, mosaics, and ornaments are protected with a glass screen and photography is prohibited.

Most of the Balakmu’s structures are in ruins. At times, trees and bushes are growing directly from the structures, which creates a surreal view.

Chicanna

Chicanna was our next stop on that day’s journey. While this archaeological site is relatively small, it features a lot of structures with beautiful Mayan mosaics and ornaments. Chicanna site exploration is designed as a counterclockwise loop.

Most structures in Chicanna represent well preserved ruins in the middle of a jungle.

This area is also home to numerous insects and animals. We encountered this never ending ant path in Chicanna and many more jungle animals in Calakmul later.

Structure II

The Structure II features a “doorway” and is the most well known structure in Chicanna. Although the structure was destroyed and restored later, it is still breathtaking. Since the Structure II is located almost at the end of the loop path, we finished our exploration of Chicanna and proceeded to Becan.

Becan

Becan was out last archaeological site on that day’s journey.

Rio Bec Architecture

Becan archaeological area starts with a narrow and small but very beautiful human made tunnel. As we later learnt, it is quite common at the Mayan sites of this period and style, known as Rio Bec architecture.

Structure X

Becan also features several large pyramids and the Structure X, one of the largest at the site.

The path circles the Structure X and offers a closer look of its facade.

Ball Court

Another turn and we arrived at the Ball Court. The Ball Court at Becan site is similar to the structures we encountered in Uxmal and Edzna.

East Plaza

The loop path brought us to back to the East Plaza with the prominent Structures I, II and III.

Structure II

One more look at the Structure II and we completed our exploration of Becan and proceeded to the town of Xpujil.

Takeways: Chicanna, Becan & Balamku

Chicanna, Becan, and Balamku are scenic archaeological areas in Campeche. While they are definitely not must-visit sites, we would recommend stopping there if you are traveling along the Highway 186 and have a couple of hours to spare. Each of the sites can be explored in well under an hour.

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

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Safe realist travels!