LDS Tour C.Chacchoben and Bacalar 7 Color Lagoon.

Chacchoben ruins, which means "The Place of Red Corn" is roughly 110 miles (177 kilometers) south of Tulum, Mexico. It is an excellent (but somewhat distant) day trip to see a high, broad-leaf jungle ruin site. These majestically restored temples take on a mystical quality surrounded by towering mahogany trees, large cohune palms, strangler figs and the hanging tentacles of banyan trees.

Visitors to the site walk a circular path that includes three excavated and restored pyramids, as well as many walls and staircases and a residential development dating back to the 200s BC. Excavation is continuing on several mounds which are known to contain additional buildings. Some structures still bear traces of the red paint with which they were initially coated, and INAH (National Institute of History) has set up shaded areas to prevent further degradation of this pigment by the sun.

Chacchoben was settled back in the 200s BC, but the buildings excavated thus far date from around 700 AD. Chacchoben has an incredible primal feel surrounded by tall palms and trees, many with long beards of Spanish moss waving in the gentle breeze.