Below is a link to one persons amazing early morning discovery of the Tulum Ruins.  Amazing pictures as well!

http://expertvagabond.com/mayan-ruins-of-tulum/

Unauthorized Sunrise at Mayan Ruins of Tulum

Comments and photographs By Matthew Karsten

The Mayan ruins of Tulum are located on the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. I was able to sneak in for sunrise and enjoy them all to myself.

Visiting Tulum during the day when it was open like everyone else left me pretty impressed of the site. This is mainly due to the fact that the structures are located on some steep cliffs overlooking the sea.

But during the day, there are also hundreds of other tourists milling about.

Not a very relaxing or moving experience at a beautiful ancient site like this. Wouldn’t it be much nicer to have the whole site to yourself? A private tour?

While I’m not going to publicly explain how I did it — I managed to sneak into the site before sunrise the next day.

Security is posted at the main entrance and patrols the area most of the night.

I later found out from hostel employees that many people try and they always get caught…

Alone in an Ancient City

Sneaking into Tulum was a lot of fun. Walking around alone in the early light was part surreal beauty and part pumping adrenalin! I had to hide from the guards on patrol while at the same time setting up my camera for different shots.

Of course I needed to relax and enjoy the view a bit too.

While I understand why authorities don’t want a bunch of drunken kids climbing all over the ruins at night and wrecking them, I don’t fit that profile. I was just there to make some nice photos and peacefully take in the scenery by myself at this fantastic location.

So if your intentions are harmless, and you’re smart enough to do it safely, I say why not?

History of Tulum

Tulum was a small but important port city for the ancient Mayans. It’s population was about 1000 people. There is a landing beach below the cliffs that was used by ships bringing trade goods.

Today you can swim on this beach, with the impressive Tulum ruins looming above you. A very cool experience.

The site’s main structure, El Castillo (the Castle), was actually used as an ancient lighthouse! Two small windows at the top allowed sailors to navigate the ocean reef at dusk. If they could see daylight through both windows, they were on course.

Tulum is a cool place to visit for a few hours. ★