As mentioned, to get to the ruins of Oxkintok, you’ll first have to get to the town of Maxcanu from Mérida. Simply head to the main ADO bus terminal, from which you can take a direct bus run by the Sur company. The one-way journey lasts about 80 minutes.
At the time of writing, buses depart at 8:00, 9:00 and 10:30. I’d originally planned to take the 9:00 bus, but there turned out to be a huge line on this weekday morning. I had to wait 30-40 minutes before buying my ticket, and I ended up having to take the 10:30 bus instead. It’s best to take potential long lines into account when planning out your day.
Another thing to know about this bus route is that you can only use the orange-colored ‘Ahorro Bus’ electronic bus card. While I already had one of these cards, it lacked balance. Oddly, the station has a machine installed for checking your card balance, but not one for topping it up! So I ended up having to wait in line to get it topped up by a staff member.
A smart way to avoid potential hassle would be to get one of these cards and top it up in advance, so you can head straight for the departure gate when you arrive at the station. (From my experience, some buses in Mexico that use this card also accept cash, but the drivers on this particular route do not.)
As mentioned above, from Maxcanu, you can simply hire one of the local rickshaw drivers to take you to the ruins. As I’d read online that the road to the ruins was pretty bad, I was looking for a regular taxi but didn’t find any. Fortunately, though, the first rickshaw driver I asked agreed to take me for a reasonable fee of 60 pesos.
Also, as mentioned, I ended up having the ruins caretaker drive me back to Maxcanu as part of our agreement. Otherwise, I would’ve had to walk most of the way back, as the ruins are quite remote.
Fortunately, getting back to Mérida was straightforward, as there is a woman at the little bus station whom you can pay in cash to top up your bus card.
At the time of writing, bus is the only way to reach the Oxkintok ruins for those traveling independently without a car. But fairly soon, the anticipated yet controversial Tren Maya should be up and running, and Maxcanu/Oxkintok will be one of the stops.