What comes to mind when you think: “trip to Mexico!” For me, it’s a hot, sandy beaches, cool nightlife, mariachi bands, tacos, and cervezas. Mexico is well-known for its crystal clear water and party atmosphere, but that’s just a small piece of what the country has to offer. If you’re looking for the best of both worlds, Tulum is the place for you!
What is Tulum?
Tulum is Mexico’s up-and-coming hotspot. It’s still somewhat low key when it comes to tourism and untouched by the struggles that plague other parts of the country. There is no bad element in Tulum and I never felt unsafe walking around by myself. Tulum is a laid-back eco-friendly town that mostly attracts hippies and yogis.
Tulum has two parts: the downtown area and the beach village in the jungle. The downtown area is a city with lots of cool hippy bars and restaurants. You can find plenty of souvenir shops, tequila stores, hostels, and cafes. If you’re a city person, this is the place to be. If you’re looking for night life and discos that play lots of reggaeton, check out downtown Tulum.
If you’re more of a beach person, you’ll want to stay in the Tulum jungle village. From downtown Tulum, it takes about 25 minutes to the beach, so don’t get sucked in by cheaper downtown prices if you plan to go to the beach every day. In my opinion, it’s worth it to splurge a little on a cool beach bungalow or treehouse accommodation and stay on the beach.
Tulum Beach
Tulum’s beach village is one street through the jungle. On one side are the hotels and beach, on the other side are shops and restaurants. It’s very underdeveloped in an effort to preserve the wilderness. In fact, the village jungle is located in the Sian Ka’an reserve, a biosphere reserve and UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.
Most of the hotels and restaurants in Tulum are eco-friendly. That means they use very little water, which is unfiltered, and light. Air conditioning is rare except in the more luxurious places, and even then you might only be able to use it during certain hours. While this can be a little frustrating sometimes, it also leads to Tulum’s very cool and unique nature. Tulum is full of tree houses, beach bungalows, and natural abodes. Almost every house, hotel, and restaurant is built high into the trees to be able to see above the jungle to the ocean. This makes for some incredible sunsets. It also makes you feel like you’re in Robinson Crusoe.
Because of the naturalness of Tulum, it’s really popular with hippies, hipsters, and yogis who want a spiritual retreat getaway. Many of the hotels are pet-friendly, meaning you can hang out on the beach with your dog. A lot of the hotels offer yoga on the beach, Mayan clay massages, and hammocks for chairs or beds. Tulum’s jungle village is a very calm, relaxing place with little nightlife but plenty of cool things to do.
Where To Stay
If you’re hanging out in Tulum’s village, check out the Azulik Villas. There are two restaurants in this resort, both in a tree house. You can get from one to another via a rope bridge or treetop walkway. There are also spiral stairs that wind around a tree trunk from ground up to the bar. Once at the bar, table areas are connected by nets where you can lay over the trees and streams below. It’s a maze to get from place to place in Azulik, but that’s the charm of this beautiful hotel. Whether you decide to stay here or just go for dinner or drinks, definitely plan a visit, especially during sunset.
The Papaya Playa Project is another cool hotel in the beginning of the jungle village of Tulum. Papaya Project is a gated sustainable complex with beach bungalows, tree-high pools overlooking the ocean, a yoga studio, and a very creative and artistic like-minded clientele. The Papaya Playa Project’s project is to help you reconnect with yourself and with nature in an eco-friendly and environmentally responsible way.
The thatched beachfront bungalows of Ahau Tulum are a magical experience. Ahau is pet-friendly and popular with yogis from around the world. Every day the staff offers some type of yoga experience, from hot yoga to aerial yoga to regular beach yoga. The on-site cafe offers local organic vegan food harvested from local Mayan residents. If peace, health, and serenity are your objective in Tulum, Ahau is the place to be.
I stayed in OM Tulum, closer to the far end of Tulum. OM Tulum has thatched huts with porches and hammocks. The beds have mosquito nets, but they seemed to be for decoration since I never saw bugs in the room. The walkways through the palm trees to the beach were cute and very rustic. OM Tulum is an eco-hotel so the water is unfiltered rainwater (my hair felt so good!).
Because the cabanas are tucked in the well-landscaped jungle, the sunlight doesn’t come through the windows easily making it easy to sleep. You can use air conditioning from 6:00pm to 4:00am, but it only sometimes works. However, I visited in June and it was bearable without air conditioning. The OM Tulum is a minimalistic style hotel perfect for peace, quiet, and relaxation. And the staff is great – the bartender at the on-site restaurant never even questioned our morning tequila ritual.
Finally, at the very end of civilization in the jungle is Casa Malca, a well-guarded fortress of a hotel. It makes sense this hotel would be hard to find, set back from the street, and under constant watch: it was Pablo Escobar’s mansion back in the drug-running heyday. Now, though, a Colombian art dealer bought the property and turned it into a hotel. It started with 8 guest rooms, then turned into 20, and now has 40. It’s a pricey hotel but it’s a full luxury hotel that takes special requests and makes sure its guests are satisfied. The hotel is full of interesting pieces of art, with different rooms decorated to a different style. You also can pop by (after being radioed in by security) for a drink at the bar or dinner on the beach.
Where To Eat and Drink
Azulik has three amazing restaurants with perfect sunset views among the treetops of the Mayan jungle. Kin Toh is a traditional-modern mix of delicious gastronomy with private treehouse tables. You can get some of the best tequila in Mexico at the Kin Toh bar. And relax in the nets above the streams and trees when dinner is over!
Cenote is a restaurant at mid-tree level. The restaurant offers farm to table dishes that you can enjoy right in the middle of the jungle.
Or try Mexico’s finest sushi at Tseen Ja. It’s fresh right from the sea in a great atmosphere, where you can sit in nets, tables, thrones on the floor, or cocoon-like thrones around a table. Tseen Ja is a different kind of treehouse that literally feels like you’re eating dinner in a tree overlooking the ocean. The sunset from Azulik is second to none!
For an authentic Mexican meal of tacos, quesadillas, fajitas, or burritos, head to Mateos. They play great music in a great atmosphere where the servers have as much fun as the customers. It’s probably the most exciting place in Tulum jungle, although it still clears out by 10:00 or 11:00. If you’re looking for tacos, cerveza, tequila, and a good time, Mateos is the place to go. It’s recommended by all the taxi drivers!
For a fancy date night or quiet after dinner drinks, check out Gitano. It’s romantic and peaceful, although we only went for drinks so I can’t comment on the food. The candles set up everywhere kept the bugs away and gave the atmosphere a great feel. Low-key, relaxing, and romance are the top three adjectives to describe Gitano.
If you’re looking for the best bar scene in Tulum’s jungle village, check out I Scream Bar. Say it fast – sounds like ice cream bar, right? They do sell ice cream! They also have a chant that they scream out to attract people to come drink with them. It’s open late and you can sit right on the sidewalk for great people watching. There are also tables and food during the day in the back for a calmer feel. You can catch live music and male bartenders dancing like strippers, all while drinking some great tequila or mezcal. Come for the ice cream, stay for the party.
For the best breakfast in Tulum, take a walk on the beach down to Ahau. As a health-conscious hotel, all the meals are labeled with vegetarian, vegan, and local food. The dishes are big and delicious, and the juices are amazing! You might even have a dog friend who keeps you company (and wouldn’t mind sharing your bacon).
For quick food, don’t pass by the small #hashtagpoke food truck! It’s fairly new in Tulum (started in summer 2018). A few people from Los Angeles, who started the same business there, moved to Tulum and have had a lot of success with their delicious poke bowls on the main strip of Tulum. Support the dream to move to paradise and try out the local poke bowls! Whether you like your sushi raw or want to try the vegan bowl, you’re bound to walk away with a smile on your face.
If you’re in downtown Tulum, head over to Batey. It’s a popular hotspot with the hipsters and hippies. It’s also recommended by Mexicans as a great place to go. When we walked by the main street and all the side streets in downtown, Batey was the only one full of people at 5:00, with people spilling out into the street. It’s a mojito bar with live music and a great atmosphere. You’ll always find a good conversation at Batey!
How to Get Around
Tulum is not very built up yet; they’re lucky to have a paved road. The road has bumps every so often to keep cars moving slow since it’s barely two lanes wide. There are no lines on the road. It’s very rustic. The best way to get around Tulum is by bike or walking. Since it’s only one road wide anyway, you can walk the beach or walk the street and window shop along the way. There are also taxis everywhere in case it gets too hot or if it’s too far to walk. Renting bikes is a great way to go a little further without paying the taxi fares. If you do park, make sure your hotel has a parking lot or enough street parking where you’re not looking for parking late at night. Parking is tough in Tulum! FYI – there is no Uber or Lyft in Tulum yet.
Other Nearby Excursions and Activities
The Tulum Mayan ruins are right at the turn off for Tulum’s jungle village. It’s an easy stop for anyone staying in Tulum and only a day trip from Cancun or Playa del Carmen (Riviera Maya). As one of the few walled Mayan cities and with its gorgeous Caribbean views, the Tulum ruins are well worth checking out.
The Coba Mayan ruins are a little further into the jungle of Mexico. This is another ancient Mayan city with a great pyramid (one of the few you can still climb), some religious temples, and the largest network of stone causeways in the ancient Mayan world. It’s about an hour drive from Tulum, but you will pass through some great little villages selling lots of trinkets at good prices. Coba is not a big site so be careful not to pass right by it!
Just a few minutes drive from Tulum is the Gran Cenote, a beautiful and well-kept freshwater underground pool where you can swim with turtles and fish, explore caves with bats, and see incredible clear blue water and green flora. The Gran Cenote is a great cenote for first-timers, just make sure to plan accordingly to avoid high traffic periods. They do have lockers and rent snorkel gear at the Gran Cenote.
About 30 minutes north of Tulum is Akumal, a small village with a few great attractions. Akumal is home to the Akumal Monkey Sanctuary and Rescued Animals. The sanctuary is down a dirt road at the far end of town, giving the rescued animals the feel of living in the wild while employees still protect and care for them. The tour is a little pricey but you get to go into a monkey cage, play with a boa constrictor, and hold beautiful birds.
You can also snorkel with the great sea turtles in Akumal! You can plan your own trip for free or go with a tour. It’s a very popular activity in the Riviera Maya so plan to get there early before the masses and before the soft Caribbean sand gets stirred up and ruins your pictures. Check out these tips from traveladdict.net.
Have you been to Tulum? What was your favorite thing to do? Where was your favorite place to eat or drink? Did you do any of the nearby excursions? Let me know in the comments below!
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