A Secret Paradise: Tulum, Mexico

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?