1

Drive South on 307 to Tulum and take the road running northeast through Coba & Chemax, and use Valladolid for at least 1 overnight stay. Stop at the Coba ruins on the way. Out of Valladolid it is a short drive to Ex Balam and Chichen Itza (hit Chichen Itza when it opens to avoid the hoards of tour busses out of Cancun). If you want to devote the time, you can take a side trip to Rio Lagartos to see the hundreds...if not thousands of Flamingos.

Next take the toll road to Merida for a couple of days. Merida is a great colonial city to stay...especially on Fri/Sat/Sun when they close off the streets around the Main Plaza. Lots of free entertainment and tons of fun.

About 50 kilometers out of Merida is the Puuc region of the Mayas. With few exceptions you are free to explore and scramble all over the ruins. Within a short distance you can visit Oxkintok, Uxmal,(in my opinion the most beautiful site in the Yucatan) Kabah, Labna, Sayil, Zlapak and Loltun. If you did not see the Flamingos in Rio Lagartos, you can go to Celestun and see several thousand nesting birds.....at some times of the year 30,000+!

If ruins are your gig....this would be the route to take.

2

A different route would be to hit Tulum and swing inland a bit to visit Coba. There is an old Club Med at the Coba ruin that I have always enjoyed. I would backtrack to the east coast and go south to the Reo Bec region . It is a frontier region, a bit on the primitive side but there are lots of ruins there and no hordes of people. Calakmul is one massive site. I've made the run from Calakmul to Merida in 8 hours by private car, you are not locked into anything in Yucatan as it is just not that big and the main roads are first rate. A private car gives you the freedom to roam. One hard day's driving will put you back in Cancun from anywhere on the Yucatan . I like to use Ticul for a base when I'm visiting the Punic region. It acts as a hub on a wheel to the area's ruins. Get a Guia Roji road atlas before you go and a compass as the roads are not always marked well. I've done what you are planning-ten friends in a 15 passenger van- it was fodder for years of yucks at our get togethers .