Coba

Away from the booming crowds of Chichen Itza and the sun seeking hotel goers of Tulum on the Mayan Riviera, Coba represents one of the more off-the-beaten-track archaeological dig sites in the Mexican Yucatan. It can be found nestled midway between the pretty colonial town of Valladolid and the scintillating waters of the Caribbean Sea, enfolded on all sides by dense thickets of uncut jungle and peppered with the colossal outlines of lichen-spotted temples dating from as far back as the first century BC. While the true extent of the site remains unknown, with it being shrouded by the tropical Mexican undergrowth and layers of mud and earth, Coba tour guides can still unveil ancient wonders like the great Nohuch Mul pyramid, which soars 138 feet to the forest canopy (one of the tallest in the region) and can be climbed right to the tip. There are also mysterious chiselled hieroglyphs to see, the ruins of an astronomical observatory and walkways of elevated sacbe paths, which once connected all the major Mayan towns of the Yucatan Peninsula.