Boho chic, fancy bars, restaurants and hotels, good music, amazing events, show-off, celebrities and beach life - you can find all that in Tulum. Well, I am not a fan of the show-off part, but I understand it for this kind of place, plus we live in a free world.
We arrived in Tulum by bus from Playa del Carmen. The distance between the two locations is 65km, or about an hour drive.
DAY 10:
There you have Tulum, a unique seaside town, where you can escape the reality and enjoy a weekend or better a week, turning the city into a sort of boho-style Cote d’Azur.
We spent the first afternoon in Tulum relaxing in our hotel – Orchid House, which is honestly one of those places you cannot get enough from. I wanted to move in forever. It is located between the Tulum Beach and the centre in a currently developing, quite rich area called Aldea Zama.
After we took 2-3 hours off the grid, we went for dinner in Gitano and we finished by having a drink in Rosa Negra, which is located right on the other side of the street.
DAY 11.
I was surprised to see how tough is to move around Tulum. No matter where you stay you need to go by car/taxi, bike or a scooter. I don’t recommend a car as Tulum Beach road gets quite busy and I don’t like to get stuck in the traffic. Renting a scooter is the best idea for going around Tulum as the distances are not that short. We rented our scooter from ibike Tulum for 4 days - MXN660/day. The most common though is to rent a bike, but trust me don’t do this mistake because it takes ages and a lot of energy to go from point A to point B and we need that energy for the endless Tulum days and nights, which often turn into one.
After getting our scooter we were free to explore whatever we want and as much as we want. First, we went to take some pictures by the famous ‘’Follow that dream’’ sign, after we did a quick shopping tour where everything looks amazing but explodes the wallet.
We visited Ahau Tulum and Pablo Escobar’s mansion – Casa Malca. To enter Casa Malca you have to pay MXN2000 per person – MXN1000 to visit the mansion and MXN1000 to eat in the restaurant and stay at the beach. We didn’t have the choice to skip any of the 2 costs, but the place is cool, so I am happy we went to see it and stole some vitamin sea time, also met Carmine Conte from Tale of Us.
Since ‘’Afterlife’’ festival was knocking on the door the same evening, we ate pizza in Boccanera, which was not at all a bad decision for some energy boost. Before heading to the crazy fiesta we also passed by Meze for a drink. ‘’Afterlife’’ is located in Zamna and has 2 scenes – called ‘’The Jungle’’ and ‘’The Island’’. We survived the jungle and the island until 8:30 AM and went back for 2-3 hours nap. Who sleeps when in Tulum, right?
DAY 12.
Matcha Mama is a great party recovery place for survivors – loved the fresh juices and smoothies they offer.
Kick of energy, followed by Nômade Tulum for lunch. The concept of this place is unique. Go, google it. Unfortunately, straight after this there was a storm and we got it while driving the scooter. My boyfriend and I went as quick as possible back to the hotel before to continue the bars and restaurants hopping tour. This evening on our calendar was Casa Jaguar.
DAY 13.
Grand Cenote o’clock. This was my favourite cenote from all the cenotes we’ve visited during those 2 weeks in Mexico. The entry fee was also a bit higher compared to the rest of them – MXN180.
Unfortunately, we had to check out from the Orchid House this day, so we didn’t stay long at the Grand Cenote, but we loved how blue the water is and also the cute turtles swimming around. Don’t forget your GoPro.
After check out, we straight checked in in our next hotel and went to eat some burritos, before the following crazy event we had on our agendas – ‘’Day Zero’’. The location of this one was WOW. It was located at the Dos Ojos Cenote, where we were allowed to swim, we could do clothes shopping, to eat and watch some small shows, to climb 3-4 floor tree houses, to go get lost in small caves or walk around ruins. Climbing 3-4 floor open tree houses while partying... Really? Hope everyone is safe after the end of the event. This was crazy, but such a cool place to watch the whole location and light show from above. I am speechless to describe this place. It was the most insane festival I’ve ever been to. This time we went at 6 PM and of course didn’t leave before sunrise.
DAY 14.
Archaeological Zone of Tulum – Mayan Port City Ruins MXN65.
For sure, we couldn’t leave without seeing those ruins facing the sea. We also met again our dear raccoon friends around.
Next stop – MIA Restaurant & Beach Club and the best for the end… We finally went to my dream hotel – Azulik. And yes, it really is as good as it looks.
So the truth about Tulum… For some people, Tulum could be truly incredible and for other an awful, pretentious place, where a lot of values are forgotten when the money plays. The truth is that less than 25 years ago this place had just over 3,000 inhabitants, but today Tulum has around 35,000 locals and hosts more than 2 million tourists per year. Once being a small fishing village and designed to sustain only around 7,000 people, now it is expanding with the speed of the light. This brings a real threat to the ecosystem of Tulum which is unique, thanks to the network of rivers forming the cenotes. The cenotes are the only source of fresh water in the area, which makes it also a very critical point for the area’s survival. The cenotes suffer, because of the huge amount of visitors and the lack of regulation for the real estate companies who never stop building and contaminating the once being eco-friendly and quiet village.
Tulum as every place has its positive and negative sides, but for me, this place turned to be my personal boho-style heaven. Everybody sees from a different perspective, so I suggest you to love, travel, be kind and judge less. Let’s try to make the world a better place and appreciate every moment because nothing is given.
Coming up next week:
PART 3: Belize - Go slow and enjoy this unBELIZEable country.