Climbing Nohoch Mul 2026: Rules, Hours & the New Stairs

Booking choice: The Coba and Punta Laguna day, from $184 per person. Check dates Tour details

Nohoch Mul is 42 metres high, about 138 feet, and 120 steps from the forest floor to the small temple on top. From 2019 it was closed to climbers: the stone treads had been worn smooth by decades of feet, and then the pandemic shut everything. On 7 December 2025 INAH reopened it on a wooden staircase laid over the original steps (Riviera Maya News).

Plenty of blogs and older tour listings still say climbing at Coba is banned. That was true until late 2025. It isn't now.

The quick answer

Yes, you can climb Nohoch Mul in 2026. The wooden staircase opened on 7 December 2025. Climbing runs from 8:00 to 15:30, closed shoes with grip are required, and the stairs close in rain or strong wind. Visitors report about 15 people on the stairs at a time and about 15 minutes at the top, so queues form from mid-morning. Ride straight to the pyramid when you arrive, and pick a tour with at least two hours at Coba.

Visitors climbing the wooden staircase with orange handrails up the grey stone face of Nohoch Mul — The wooden staircase in use, with a lane up and a lane down.

Can you climb Nohoch Mul at Coba in 2026?

Yes. INAH reopened the climb on 7 December 2025 after six years, on a new wooden staircase over the central stone stairway.

The reopening was the headline event at Coba last winter, with Mexico's culture secretary Claudia Curiel de Icaza and INAH director Joel Omar Vázquez Herrera at the ceremony (Riviera Maya News; INAH bulletin 692/2025). Nohoch Mul is the only big pyramid on the Riviera Maya and the Yucatan circuit that visitors can climb again. Chichen Itza has been off limits since 2006, and the temples at Tulum are roped off.

The story of the closure and the rebuild is in the reopening post.

Two hours at Coba by bike with a historian guide: enough time to climb, from Tulum.

Check dates for the Coba and Punta Laguna day

Why was the Nohoch Mul climb closed from 2019 to 2025?

Wear and safety. Millions of feet had polished the stone steps, and INAH stopped the climb in 2019 to protect both the pyramid and the climbers.

Before 2019 people went up the bare stone, hanging on to a thick rope down the centre. The treads were slippery when dry and worse when wet. INAH suspended the climb in 2019, then COVID closed the site, and when Coba reopened the stairs stayed shut. Guests noticed. One five-star review of the Coba and Punta Laguna day from April 2023 notes that everything went smoothly "except people are no longer allowed to climb the steps at Coba."

Ejidatarios and guides asked for the climb back for years, since it was the reason many people came to Coba at all.

Aerial view of the Nohoch Mul pyramid rising above an unbroken green forest canopy — From the air, Nohoch Mul is the only thing that breaks the canopy.

What is the new wooden staircase like?

Two metres wide, with two lanes of about one metre, one up and one down, built from tropical hardwoods by craftsmen from Noh Bec.

The staircase is made of regional woods, tzalam, mahogany, parota and chicozapote, by ejidatarios from Noh Bec, a forestry community in southern Quintana Roo known for its certified timber. It cost about 5 million pesos and was approved by INAH's Archaeology Council after a step-by-step topographic survey of the stairway (Ruptura 360; Mexico News Daily). The work was part of the federal programme of improvements at archaeological sites along the Tren Maya route.

For a climber, the difference is grip. Flat wooden treads replace polished, uneven stone, and handrails run up both sides of the lanes. The original stone steps sit protected underneath.

What are the rules for climbing Nohoch Mul?

Climbing runs from 8:00 to 15:30, closed shoes with grip only, and the stairs shut in rain or strong wind. Visitors report about 15 people on the stairs and 15 minutes at the top.

Hours: 8:00 to 15:30. The site stays open until 17:00, but the staircase closes earlier.
Shoes: closed-toe shoes with good grip. Sandals, flip-flops and heels are turned away.
Weather: the climb is suspended in rain or strong wind, and reopens when it passes.
Numbers: about 15 people on the staircase at once, reported by The Cancun Sun in May 2026; some reports say 14.
Time at the top: about 15 minutes, then down. Staff at the foot keep the flow moving.

Group size and the time limit come from visitor reports rather than a published INAH rulebook, and staff apply them more strictly on busy days. Pack your shoes even on a sandal holiday: a tour won't lend you any.

Flat green jungle stretching to the horizon, seen past stones at the top of the pyramid — The view from the top: forest to every horizon, and the lakes beyond.

How tall is Nohoch Mul and how hard is the climb?

42 metres and 120 steps. It is steep and short: most fit adults are up in a few minutes and need longer to come down.

Nohoch Mul is about 12 metres taller than El Castillo at Chichen Itza, and it is the tallest pyramid in the northern Yucatan (Wikipedia). The steps are steep and you will be breathing hard by the top. Rosie, who climbed in early 2026, put it simply: "The climb to the top is manageable, and the views over the jungle are incredible." Natalia, in December 2025, called it "Completely worth the heaving deep breaths to get to the top."

Coming down is where people slow. Face the stairs if you feel unsteady, keep a hand on the rail and let faster climbers pass in their lane.

A path through dry forest at Coba with a stepped pyramid half hidden in the trees — The approach: Nohoch Mul appears through the trees at the end of the main path.

How long is the queue, and when should you climb?

Short at 8:00, longer from mid-morning when the Cancun buses arrive. Go to the pyramid first and see the rest of Coba afterwards.

The cap on climbers means a queue at busy times, and guests on the guided tours have learned to beat it. A January 2026 guest on the small-group Coba and Tulum day wrote that the guide "suggested we head straight to the climbable ruin in Coba (before stopping to look at anything else) so we didn't have to wait in a very long line." Another in March 2026: "We had 15 minutes per group to walk up, take photos, and walk down."

The plan that works: arrive at 8:00, take a bike or a tricycle straight to Nohoch Mul, about 2 km from the gate, climb, then visit the Coba group, the ball courts and the stelae on the way back. Sundays, when entry is free for Mexicans, and the Christmas and Easter weeks are the busiest. More on timing in the winter 2026-27 post.

Small group, an art historian guide and 2.5 hours at Coba, Coba ticket included.

Check dates for the small-group Coba and Tulum day

Who should skip the Nohoch Mul climb?

Anyone with vertigo, heart trouble, bad knees or no closed shoes, and small children who can't manage 120 steep steps on their own.

The climb is optional on every tour, and you lose little by staying at the foot. The pyramid is impressive from below, and there is plenty more at Coba: La Iglesia, the ball courts, the round-cornered Xaibe and the carved stelae at Macanxoc. Several tours rule out guests with heart problems or serious medical conditions for the day as a whole.

No published age limit applies, and older children climb with their parents. Hold small hands on the way down, which is the steep part. The heat counts as well: climbing at noon in May is a different job from climbing at 8:30 in January. A guest with a fear of heights on the Cancun day wrote that the guide was "empathetic to my fear of heights - but I conquered that!!!"

Which Coba tours give you time to climb Nohoch Mul?

Any tour with two hours or more at Coba. With an hour, as on the Chichen Itza combo, the climb depends on the queue.

Time at Coba, from each listing's itinerary:

Tour	At Coba	Time to climb?
Tulum and Coba from Cancun	2.5 hours	Yes, with a bike
Small-group Coba and Tulum	2.5 hours	Yes
Coba and Punta Laguna	2 hours	Yes, bike included
Private Coba and cenotes	2 hours	Yes, early arrival
Private Coba and Tulum	2 hours	Yes
Coba by bike, Tulum by boat	1.5 hours	Yes, early and by bike
4-in-1 from Cancun	1.5 hours	Tight; rent a bike
Tulum and Coba from Playa	1.5 hours	Tight; rent a bike
Chichen Itza and Coba	1 hour	Only if the queue is short

The early starts help too. The bike and boat tour and the private cenotes tour aim to reach Coba before the buses, and the Chichen Itza combo goes to Coba first thing. Guests on the Cancun day say it plainly: get a bike and "ride immediately to the main attraction, Nohoch Mul."