This time last year, Kyle and I were planning our annual
spring vacation. Kyle was watching the discovery channel and saw the Mayan
ruins overlooking the ocean and said “let’s go there”. I wasn’t convinced – I
wanted to go somewhere chic and not relive college spring break. So with a
quick google scan I found out that Tulum was one of the chicest and most
stylish beach destinations. I read that Reese Witherspoon and Gwyneth Paltrow
had recently visited so I was instantly down.
Tulum, Mexico lies on the southern tip of the Riviera Maya.
It is very low key especially when compared to its neighbors Cancun and Playa
del Carmen. There are no resort hotels, only “boutique” hotels with less than
10 rooms. The beaches are “Tulum crowded” which means – they are almost empty.
I also noticed that while most of the tourists in Cancun were America, most of
the tourists in Tulum were European.
Getting to Tulum is not so simple, you have to fly into
Cancun, take a three-hour taxi or bus ride and pray that the bus is actually
going to Tulum. The taxi ride was actually fun because you drive past Cancun,
Playa del Carmen, and the security check points which seemed to be every other
mile. We stayed at Mezzanine Hotel on the “Northern” beach of Tulum. Being
first time Tulum visitors, we wanted to stay at the North beach because it was
“less crowded” and we were able to see and walk to the Mayan ruins from our
hotel room. Next time, I think we will stay in south beach because this is
where the majority of hotels/ restaurants are and Tulum is NOT crowded.
Some of our favorite excursions included walking through the
picturesque Mayan ruins on the cliffs, floating through the Mayan canal,
snorkeling at Akumal, snorkeling through the cenotes, and massages on the
beach.
My favorite trip was a scheduled tour that took you through
the Sian Ka’An ecological preserve and floating down the Mayan Canal. After
hiking through the nature preserve, you take a boat ride to the entrance of the
canal, they then drop you off and give you a life jacket. To be honest, I was
scared at first – I thought some wild animal would jump through the marsh and
attack me… but our tour guide laughed and explained that this is all fresh
water and that there are no killer sharks or wild animals in this area. Beware
– if you do this trip – BRING FLIP FLOPS while you’re floating. You have to
walk back to your boat on this little bring for about a ½ mile – it feels like
you’re walking on burning COAL! Thank god our tour guide gave me his flip flops.
Since our hotel was on the northern beach, we were about to
walk to the ruins. On the way we stopped to have some fresh coconuts at a
nearby hotel. The ruins were amazing, but after about 30 minutes of what felt
like the hottest temperature in the world- we were ready to jump into the
ocean! Swimming in the ocean next to the ruins is so beautiful that it feels
surreal.
After the ruins, we took a taxi Akumal, which means “Turtle Bay”. They sell tour
guides of this area, but you can just rent a snorkel and fins and go out on
your own for about $5. The turtles and sting rays are so close to shore!
Another must is to snorkel though the Cenotes, which are
formed from sinkholes. I don’t recommend buying a tour package from your hotel
but to actually just go to the cenote site and hire a tour guide there. It is
much less expensive this way! I am the world’s biggest baby so I was obviously
terrified to be snorkeling through these dark caves but once I got in, I was
obsessed! It was so beautiful, you could see 500 feet down. Our tour guide took
us to several “rooms” throughout the cenote. One room was known for housing all
of the bats. Great. Well he had us turn off our head lamps… bats started flying
every where!!
Our favorite restaurants included Posada Margarita, Casa
Violeta, El Camelo (in the city), and our hotel restaurant Mezzanine. The food
in Tulum was absolutely amazing. It was the best food I have ever had by far!
The seafood was so fresh that you would see men bring in the fish swung over
their shoulders still on fishing lines!
Posada Margherita was an Italian restaurant on the beach. The
homemade pasta and fresh fish were absolutely exceptional. I also loved the
appetizer that included several types of bread, cauliflower, and pecans. We
ended up going to this restaurant twice. The first time that we went – we
didn’t bring enough cash but wanted to keep ordering drinks and desserts, so
they let us pay them the next day! A restaurant in America would never let you
do that! This restaurant has such a relaxed romantic atmosphere – it is open to
the beach, there is quiet music playing, and is only lit by candles! It is a
must when visiting Tulum.
My second favorite restaurant was Casa Violeta, where they
had a sitar player! We ordered the seafood platter that included several types
of fish, calamari, octopus, clams, shrimp, lobster, and the most delicious naan
type bread. The atmosphere of this restaurant was also very romantic with a
completely sand floor, candles, and fabric draped from the ceiling
The hubs and I had such an amazing trip… I can’t wait to go
back. I’m not sure if we will go on vacation this spring but I definitely see
beach trips with Sydney this summer! Any tips for vacationing with little ones?
