The little-visited ruins of Chunyaxché, also known as Muyil, for the nearby village, lie on the north border of the biosphere, about 20km south of Tulum.

Despite the size of the site probably the largest on the Quintana Roo coast and its proximity to Hwy-307, you’re likely to have the place to yourself, as few visitors to the Yucatán travel further south than Tulum.

Muyil was continuously occupied from the pre-Classic period until after the arrival of the Spaniards in the sixteenth century. There is no record of the inhabitants coming into direct contact with the conquistadors, but they were probably victims of depopulation caused by European-introduced diseases. Most of the buildings you see today date from the post-Classic period, between 1200 and 1500 AD. The tops of the tallest structures, just visible from the road, rise 17m from the forest floor. There are more than one hundred mounds and temples, none of them completely clear of vegetation, and it’s easy to wander around and find buildings buried in the jungle, but climbing them is forbidden.

The centre of the site is connected by a sacbé to the small Muyil lagoon 500m away. This is joined to the large Chunyaxché lagoon and ultimately to the sea at Boca Paila by an amazing canalized river the route used by ancient Maya traders. A boardwalk leads through the mangroves to the lagoon and rickety wooden viewing towers. You can potentially enter the biosphere this way, if a representative from the local fishing cooperative happens to be there to offer a boat tour (2hr) to even less explored sites, some of which appear to be connected to the lagoon or river by underwater caves.

The original name of the site is unknown, Muyil is the name by which it is known from the Colonial era, one of the lagoons adjacent to the site. It is also known as Chunyaxché. Cultural significance: is a settlement which by its geographical position had a long occupational continuity. The first material evidence for the Late Preclassic (300-50 BC), when it would have had links with settlements in northern Belize and south of Quintana Roo, relationship breaks to the Late Classic, when its relation to the interior strengthens the Yucatan Peninsula and has a significant population growth, which is related to the construction of some of the buildings that remain today. For the Early Classic (250-600 AD), Muyil was already an important city in which important buildings were built Peten style, like El Castillo and the three foundations of the Group of Entry. With its strategic location, to the early (1000 - 1200 AD) Posclásico, he maintained some contacts with Chichén Itzá first, and later Mayapán. In the Late Post Classic (1200 - 1450 AD), the most famous buildings were built, and when the city became very important to insert in the coastal trading networks of the Peninsula.

Services available in the park, ticket office, toilets and seating area.

Opening hours Monday to Sunday from 8:00 to 17:00 pm (last entry at 16:30 hrs).

Quintana Roo INAH Center. Insurgentes 974, Colonia Blacksmiths, Chetumal, Quintana Roo. CP 77025. Tels. 01 (983) 837 24 11 and 837 0796, ext. 318002 and 318003.

Wear comfortable shoes, water, insect repellent and sunscreen.

By road:

Federal Highway 307 (Reforma Agraria-Puerto Juárez), 25 km., at 70 km southwest of Tulum is accessed. northeast of Felipe Carrillo Puerto. The entrance to the site is located directly on the federal road. Visitors can reach the site by public transport.

By bus:

Catch any second-class bus from Tulum to Chetumal and ask to be dropped at the gate on the east side of the highway.

Leaving the site, particularly if you’re making your way up to Tulum, should be easy enough, provided you don’t leave it too late; continuing south could prove a little more difficult, as buses to Chetumal run only every two hours and colectivos are often full when they pass.