Tulum

Imagine waking up in a place where turquoise waters meet ancient ruins and beauty is embraced by nature, beginning your day with the choice of either unwinding by the pool or embarking on an adventure in a jungle utopia. That is what Tulum feels like, constantly in amazement of it’s tropical charm. Before visiting I heard plenty of thoughts and opinions, some extremely positive and intriguing, others not so much, and honestly, I had no idea what to expect besides the aesthetic perfection all over Instagram. Either way, we were taking some time off normal life to go somewhere new and that was exciting! After spending 8 days in what ended up being complete paradise, I am writing to share the wonderful experience and maybe even inspire someone else to plan their trip! (If you don’t care to read my ramblings, recommendations and tips at the bottom of the page)

Day 1:

Flying at midnight from Portland to Dallas then finally Cancun was quite the travel, arriving in Mexico at 1 pm. The one thing I will say about the Cancun airport is once you make it outside, the car rental services will hassle you. We pre-scheduled a pickup from the airport with a travel company, which I would recommend doing, unless you plan on renting a car. The drive from Cancun to our hotel in Tulum was about an hour and a half. We arrived at our hotel, Una Vida, close to 3 pm and the hotel was immediately on my list of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Our room had a queen bed with hand-crafted wooden furniture, neutral colors and our own private pool right outside the sliding glass door, I was ecstatic. We wandered the property, checking out the shared pool, gorgeous outdoor seating area and sister hotel, Bardo. After taking it all in, we walked to a nearby restaurant, Burrito Amor. This ended up being one of my favorite spots. After enjoying a fantastic early dinner, we made our way back, noticing the differences from home - the produce stands, lush greenery, stucco buildings and thatched roofs. I loved it.

Day 2:

To our surprise the hotel had a complimentary breakfast that ended up being a huge highlight of the trip. I had green juice and scrambled eggs almost every single day, my boyfriend got coffee and Chilaquiles. After breakfast we decided to bike our way to the Tulum Ruins. In Mexico, vehicles do not yield to pedestrians! Personally, I’d recommend just walking but some people like to live dangerously so to each their own. Once we got to our destination, we got offered a package to visit the ruins and then go snorkeling at the beach. The Ruins were filled with history, they were built by the Mayans between 1200-1450 AD but were completely abandoned by the end of the 16th century due to disease and illness brought by the Spanish and other European explorers. After making the loop and admiring the Ruins, we walked to the Playa Santa Fe beach, hopped on a boat and went snorkeling. Seeing the Ruins from the ocean gave an incredible point of view, also a lot less people to weave through. After living through the bike ride back to the hotel, I put my red dress on and we made our way to Canova Cantina, which was recommended by a very reliable source stating that this was an amazing Italian restaurant. When we arrived, we got a bottle of wine and bread to start, then ordered a margherita pizza along with spinach and ricotta plin. The pizza was great, but the plin?! Spectacular! The pasta melted in your mouth, then topped with butter and pecans, I can truly say this was the best pasta dish I have ever had. A day well spent.

Day 3:

We decided to give ourselves a relaxing day after the eventful one we had before, woke up and got ready for the sun then headed to the pool at the sister hotel, Bardo. These 2 hotels remind me of yin and yang, Una Vida being very light and bright and Bardo being dark and a bit mysterious. Both are beyond peaceful, aesthetically pleasing and have a calmness to them. They offer yoga classes, pilates, ice baths and temazcal, along with each having their own restaurants. The staff are so kind, welcoming and extremely helpful, we went to them for many recommendations, and they answered any questions we had. The clouds eventually put a stop to the pool day, so we relaxed a bit in the hotel room, then headed to the beach for dinner. Tulum is basically split into 2 sections, the beach and Centro (city/town area). The beach is where you will find most of the Instagram known spots, fancy hotels and restaurants and the influencers that go with them. Centro, where Una Vida and Bardo are, gives you the authentic Mexican culture, which we ended up preferring and spent a significant more amount of time exploring. We ate dinner at Funky Geisha, it had a great atmosphere and was a fun place to have dinner. They had a great Pad Thai dish, we also ordered sushi which did not disappoint. A lot of the resturants in this area have a reputation of outstanding meals and experiences.

Day 4:

Our most eventful day in Tulum! The tour bus picked us up at the hotel at 7 am, then we had a 2-hour drive to Chichen Itza, one of the seven wonders of the world. There are plenty of tours to choose from, we did a group tour that the hotel set up for us. Once we arrived at Chichen Itza, we had a wonderful guide who gave us facts and information about the history of the ruins. It really is amazing to be somewhere so significant to the world and see firsthand what humans were capable of so long ago. After the ruins, we went to the city of Valladolid for lunch. We ate at Hosteria del Marques, this restaurant had the most beautiful Spanish architecture and Mexican cuisine, it was a treat to say the least. We were able to explore around the city a bit before having to head to our next destination and found that Valladolid is truly magical. The buildings are colorful with incredible tile and artwork, they have the most magnificent church, Catedral de San Gervasio. Lastly, we went to our first Cenote, X’ux Ha. This was an experience I will never forget, walking down the stairs to find the bluest water with glimpses of light from the openings in the top of the cave was unlike anything I have ever seen before. We jumped in the crystal clear water and had the best time. Doing the group tour was a great decision, we got to meet other travelers and learn about their lives and places they have explored. I would highly recommend doing a tour if you are visiting Tulum, and probably anywhere.

Day 5:

We woke up to a pleasant surprise of sun, it was supposed to rain all day according to the weather app. We didn’t have anything planned this day except to just relax, listening to the rain in our cozy room, but the nice weather meant I had another day to lay by the pool enjoying my book, The Alchemist, which I also highly recommend. After a few hours it was time to get some food, we had heard of a really great place in Centro called Burgerito. About 10 minutes into our walk… torrential downpour. We made the most of it running through puddles, taking cover under awnings and laughing about how terribly wet our clothes had gotten. Finally, we decided to be the true Pacific Northwesterners we are and became the only people walking the sidewalks showing up to the restaurant completely soaked. The restaurant was full because no one wanted to leave, due to the rain of course, so we were seated outside at the front but safely covered. I ordered the famous Burgerito, basically a hamburger meets burrito. My boyfriend ordered a BBQ smash burger, which ended up being my favorite. Amazing food, cute atmosphere and the rain ended up being the cherry on top. Walking back, we discovered another gem, Aldo’s! They have wonderful ice cream and sorbet; you can find one on almost every block. We ended the day with warm showers and dry clothes.

Day 6:

Beach day! There are many hotel beach clubs to choose from, basically you either pay an entrance fee or must spend a certain amount of money on food drinks to be able to “rent” one of the beach chairs, beds or cabanas. We decided on Mia beach club, getting there around 11 am we were the first and only people for a couple hours. It was windy but still warm and nice to spend time on the beach dipping in and out of the ocean surrounded by palm trees. Laying by the ocean all day is great for 2 things: people watching and getting some color (remember your sunscreen, trust me). They had good drinks and food without being too overpriced, most of the beach clubs and restaurants are expensive in this area. We visited Tulum at a great time, before it got too busy with Christmas breakers and party people, the “busy” time in Tulum is technically November to April but we went December 8-16th and had no problem with getting in places, crowds or business.

Day 7:

The last full day of a trip is so important to make the most of especially when you are enjoying it so much! I found a cenote day club, on Instagram of course, and decided we had to go. Vesica Tulum immediately exceeded expectations We walked through the grounds to the cenote and lounge area in awe, it was gorgeous. The cenote has the most beautiful emerald-green sparkling water surrounded by plants and stone. Cenote’s have a symbolic significance of life and death for the Maya culture, they are a wonder of their own. We had the most peaceful and relaxing day eating good food, enjoying our surroundings and soaking in as much of this vacation as we could. Afterwards we got ready for dinner at our favorite place… Canova Cantina. We ordered the plin (again), lasagna and culurgiones. All 3 were unbelievably delicious, the plin still takes the number 1 spot though. Finishing dinner was sad, the taxi drive back to the hotel was sad, going to sleep was sad. I did not want the week to come to an end.

Day 8:

Waking up for the last day in Tulum was bittersweet, most of me wanted to continue playing the part of the sun-kissed, crazy haired, beach bum explorer I had become, but the rest of me was so excited to see my animals and get back to routine. I had my last bite of scrambled eggs and sip of green juice before packing up, then said goodbye to the room and hotel who had so nicely become our temporary home. The Cancun airport is a mad house, our flight got delayed which meant the connecting flight in Dallas would be in jeopardy. My luggage ended up spending more time in Dallas than I hoped but we made it home! Safe and tired yet refreshed from a much-needed vacation.

Tulum stole my heart if you can’t tell. This was my first trip out of the country, and I could not have been more fulfilled, being able to experience the culture and tradition, food, artwork and overall environment was truly a gift. I didn’t realize how taking a week to explore a beautiful new destination would make me feel, I came home well rested, energized and inspired. There are plenty of books and movies about explorers, world travelers and adventurers that show Earth’s beauty and diversity but doing it yourself brings the feeling to a different level, especially with someone you love or on a solo “self-discovering” journey as we saw through some of the people we met who were having just as good of a time. Thank you, Tulum!

Recomendations:

Hotels:

Resturants:

Canova Cantina - Italian
Burrito Amor - Burritos, Smoothies, Juices (Healthy option)
Burgerito - Burgers, Burritos
Funky Geisha - Asian
La Taqueria - Mexican
Kukulcan Tacos - Mexican

Beach Clubs:

Mia
Playa Santa Fe
Taboo

Cenote’s:

Vesica (Cenote Day Club)
X’u Xan
Gran Cenote

Things to do:

Visit the city of Valladolid
Chichen Itza
Tulum Ruins
Snorkeling
Explore other Cenote’s

Tulum Ruins featuring special guest, Ctenosaur

Things to know before visiting Tulum:

Transportation: Most places in Tulum are accessible by food or bike. You will more than likely want to take a taxi from the town to beach, or vice versa, before getting into ANY taxi always ask how much it will cost. You can also rent a car at the airport.

Bathrooms: In Tulum and surrounding areas toilet paper goes in the trash rather than the toilet.

Weather: It is very tropical weather, which means humid and warm. We had off and on rain while we were there (beginning-middle of December) but it never got cold. Day temps were between 70-80 and nighttime temps were 60-70.

Money: Tulum uses the Mexican Peso ($1 = ~16/17 Peso, this changes so google before going), most places will accept credit/debit card but it is good to have a bit of cash on you.

Language: Spanish is the native language but you will find very little problem getting by with English.

Other: A lot of reservations or taxi orders can be made using WhatsApp. I would recommend downloading before visiting makes life easy!

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