Tulum Ruins

The only major Maya archaeological site built on a Caribbean cliff above a beach, Tulum's walled ceremonial center was a thriving post-Classic port city when the Spanish first arrived and its Temple of the Descending God is one of the finest small-scale Maya structures surviving in the Yucatan. The view from the cliff behind the main temple — turquoise sea above the wall on one side, jungle on the other — is the most photographed archaeological vista in Mexico.