Named after the King Stone Sculpture found on the site, El Rey Ruins sits within the Cancun hotel zone, and is home to 47 stone structures, which are the remnants of ancient settlements in the area.
Far from the largest by any means, the El Ray Ruins give onlookers a glimpse back in time, to see how settlers lived, back in the era between 1300 and 1500AD, although the entire archaeological history of the site extends back much further to as early as 200AD, before immigrants arrived from the Yucatan Peninsula.
For a long time the site was an important Mayan port situated along the Caribbean coast. It wasn’t until Spaniards arrived in the 16th century that the Mayans abandoned the site. Today the archaeology of the El Ray Ruins is significant. With mural paintings being found dating back to the post classical era, as well as various objects such as bracelets, copper axes, and even bones, the archaeological findings in the area have been more than extensive.
Being situated within the Hotel Cancon Zone this area is the perfect stop off location for tourists who are on their way to visit other sites such as Chichen Itza. Although not as cinematic, and as highly excavated as some of these other places, El Ray instead offers a relaxed experience to take a look at some of these foundations that were such a big part of Mayan civilisation along time ago.
For anyone who is interested in understanding greater details of the El Ray Ruins, its also worth checking out the Museo Maya Museum which has artefacts excavated from the site, and here you can really understand the history of the Ruins in greater detail.
Visiting the El Ray Ruins is extremely affordable at $50 pesos. If you really want to look back in time at what the site was like a 1000 years ago it may be worth jumping on a guide tour, which costs an $100 pesos.