About 30 mins away is the coba ruins-it was once a huge city, and there is still 95% that is NOT excavated..I loved this place and was told to get there when it opened at 9am before the crowds..I found a local taxi driver that would take me there and wait as long a i wanted and then to a local cenote and back to tulum (again stopping whenever/wherever for around 600 pesos -50 dollars us).I'm so glad i got there when i did -had the whole place to myself it seemed..I wished i had paid for a guide-instead i cheaped out with a booklet and hired a bike/taxi driver to cycle me around-glad I did ,it was huge place and easy to get lost..Whats cool is they have the tallest ruin there in the yucatan and people can climb on it (all the others-no) I went half way up and could till see everything -am not scared of heights-just coming down stairs and these were deadly steep..after, my driver took me to a place that had 3 centoes-entrance was 70 pesos (5dollars) it was run by a mayan co-op and was not as fancy or tourists set-up as others...I was awestruck when i climbed down those stairs and saw what was like a minature carlsbad cavrens with beautiful pure water i could swim in-just me and my driver...It was magical..

btw..is at Coba that they discovered the stelae that predicted in Dec 2012 not the End of the world as some have said but it says that there will be a "transformation" lets hope for humankind and mother earth that its a Good transformation..

Back to the "town" of Tulum for some lunch and walk around..The food was fabulous and cheap (lot of locals eat in town as opposed to more expensive beach road/tourist area) theres not much to the town except the main hwy from cancun that runs straight thru the middle down to chetmual-there was a police presence on both sides on the hwy (coming and going-at all hours)they dont bother tourists and are friendly put stop anybody "suspicious"..mostly there are just shops, restarants,bars ,few clubs,dive stores,etc on both side of main hwy going thru town with off shoot of streets where people lives, churches...easy to walk from one end to the other..now wher i was at and most hotels (though some in town and 2 hostels there) was located on the separate beach road aprox. 5 miles away-you could bike it -or take a taxi (about 5$ one way)

I still have some more ruins and other pics for the next report-hope Im not boring you all..I must comment that I felt safer in Tulum and its surrounding area than i do in some of the places in my neighborhood-as well as Jam..I never had a bad incident or ever felt threatened or any kind of drama..The Mayan people I met were some of the nicest, most genuine, and sincerely kind people...I truly felt safe-I know Mexico has a bad reputation (and it deserve it) but this area of Mexico is Mayan coutry (and has been for thousands of years) and has truly different vibe than other places I've been to in Mexico-

OK..I go to go-more reports and pics tomorrow ...

Suzen, This thread was broken so that's why there were no responses. Dreadneck fixed it this morning.
Thank you! I love your pictures and hearing about your trip.
regarding safety - I felt that same way on neighboring Isla Mujeres