After spending just shy of a week in Tulum, we really felt like we had a good grasp on the area… After all, it’s not THAT big of an area to cover. As we mentioned in last week’s post, we had done a lot of research on Tulum before we went, but we still had a few questions that just couldn’t be answered without actually being there and seeing for ourselves. We’re going to guess other people traveling to Tulum might have some of the same questions. Our guide to Tulum should answer most of your burning questions and hopefully give you insight in to a few things you might not have known about!
Your Guide to Tulum
Difference between Tulum town and Tulum beach
There are two different areas of Tulum; Tulum Beach and Downtown Tulum. The Tulum beach area runs the length of the beach and is about three miles long. Tulum Beach Road consists of the beach resorts, tons of restaurants, shopping and more and Downtown Tulum is exactly that – downtown!
Beach clubs in Tulum
Just like beach clubs in other places of the world, beach clubs in Tulum are fabulous. Most of them are connected to a beachfront hotel or beachfront restaurant. If you aren’t staying at the Hotel, usually, you can pay a small fee to enjoy the amenities it offers. Usually this fee can be paid by purchasing a certain amount of food or drink.
Beach Access in Tulum
Beach access in Tulum can be a little tricky if you aren’t staying beachfront. In order to get on the beach, you either need to purchase food or drink from one of the beach clubs, or enter via the public beach, which is a good ways away from most of the fun.
Where to stay in Tulum?
We stayed on the jungle side of Tulum which is right across the street from the beach but it’s still different than staying on the beach. We will definitely stay on the beach side at one of the beach hotels next time so we don’t have to find a beach club every time to be able to access the beach and we’d definitely recommend you do the same.
Outdoor restaurants in Tulum
Most restaurants and shops in Tulum are outside or “open air” style restaurants, with lots of bugs. We’ve been to other tropical destinations but have never felt the mosquitos as much as we did in Tulum. The copal helps immensely, but be sure to bring bug spray (with deet!) and apply frequently. Also, with most places being outside and the intense humidity, you’ll definitely want to plan your attire appropriately.
The food in Tulum
If you read last week’s post on the best restaurants in Tulum, you can pretty much skip over the section. If not – listen up! Eating in Tulum it’s not like eating in America or other countries for that matter. Eating in Tulum as an art form… It has meaning and purpose and so much life. It’s an experience in itself. Better yet, just read last week’s post!
A few of our favorite restaurants in Tulum:
- Hartwood – difficult to get in to, but so, so worth it! $$$
- Gitano – One of the best vibes, with delicious cocktails $$
- The Real Coconut – Clean eating at its finest $$
Happy Hours in Tulum
There are quite a few happy hour spots in the Tulum Beach area. 2 for 1 cocktails is the most common type of happy hour specials we saw and it was usually for margaritas and mojitos. If you saw last week’s Tulum food post, you know we LOVED the passion fruit mojito at Tulumunchies, which we got on happy hour! We loved being able to get tasty drinks for a discount to start off our nights.
Beach Swings in Tulum
If you looked up the best Instagram spots in Tulum, you’ve no doubt seen some of the gorgeous swings lining bars and beaches. Most of those lists only list swings at some of the bigger places like Coco Tulum (which does have gorgeous white swings, BTW). But the beach swings are literally everywhere. At least half of the restaurants (probably more) we went to had them. They’re not some hidden secret you have to go search out. Just blink and you’ll find them.
Is Tulum Affordable?
There are a few things you have to take into consideration when it comes to deciding if Tulum is affordable. We went during a very slow time, so our accommodations were incredibly affordable.
When it comes to the affordability of food in Tulum, we felt the prices, in most cases, were somewhat lower than those of any normal city in the US.
- Meals: Most between $10-$15/person
- Drinks: The average cocktail was roughly $8. Cocktails in Tulum seemed to be far lower priced than what we’re used to, especially for the quality!
- Accommodations: We paid $40/night at Sunset Hotel Tulum, (because of AirBnB credit, we paid even less!). However, we do know most of the year, especially at the nicer hotels, you can spend upwards of $400usd/ night.
- Activities: There are SO many! Cenotes cost between $2 and $15. Be sure to have pesos here as most are cash only!
Burning Copal for mosquitos
While we highly recommend bringing a deet-based mosquito spray like the Off Deep Woods travel size bug spray. BUT, just about every restaurant you enter will be burning Copal to help ward off those pesky mosquitoes. You’ll see the restaurant or beach clubs in Tulum walking around with what essentially looks like a small pot that is smoking (don’t twist our words with that one), this is Copal and we thought it smelled amazing!
Air Conditioning
This one was kinda big for us (but not big enough for us to really care). We are very hot natured people so having air conditioning is one of the first things we look for when booking a place to stay. Tulum is trying to remain as sustainable and eco-friendly as possible. That being said, many of the hotels are run off of solar panels or similar contraptions. Meaning, many either don’t have air conditioning or don’t run the air conditioning during the day…. Which, for us, was totally understandable.
At our hotel in Tulum, the air conditioning would turn off at 7:30am and not come back on until 7:30pm. For us this was okay because we just planned our day around leaving by 7:30 am and then didn’t spend much time there during the day unless we needed to shower or get ready. Be sure to keep this in mind when looking where to stay in Tulum.
How to get to Tulum
There are multiple ways to get from Cancun to Tulum; the bus, a taxi, shuttle or renting a car. We think renting a car is the best option available for the 2 hour trip from Cancun to Tulum. It will give you the freedom and ability to not only explore Tulum to the fullest without having to pay for taxis every time you need to go somewhere, but also to explore on the way down from Cancun to Tulum.
The drive from Cancun to Tulum is incredibly easy, as it’s only the one main highway all the way down to Tulum. The roads are easy to navigate, just make sure you watch speed limit signs as the speeds change quickly and if you’re a nervous driver, stay in the right lane. Additionally, Mexico is big on texting and driving so make sure to keep your eyes on the road and not on your phone!
Do I need a car in Tulum?
If you’re planning to explore more than just the immediate area you’re staying in, we definitely recommend renting a car. We loved being able to drive to places to eat, explore or just sightsee at our free will. To really get to see everything there is to see in Tulum we think a car is absolutely necessary. But be sure your accommodation offers parking, because parking in Tulum can be a little difficult.
There is no Uber in Tulum
With Uber popping up everywhere, we were somewhat surprised to hear there was no Uber in Tulum. BUT, once we arrived, we quickly saw why. There are taxis everywhere in Tulum. Morning, noon and night, the taxis are there.
Tips for taking a taxi in Tulum:
- Pricing changes throughout the day. More demand = higher prices.
- Most drivers speak at least a bit of english.
- Ask the driver “how much from here to x destination” to get their pricing.
- When they give you their price, haggle with the driver a little BEFORE you get in the car. You should be able to get their price down at least a little.
Renting a car in Mexico
Rental cars in Mexico are fairly cheap. In Cancun, you’ll find several of the big US rental car companies like Hertz, Budget, Fox, Alamo, Enterprise (which is what we recommend) as well as other local rental car companies.
- Cost: Roughly $10-$15/ day, but when you add insurance is when renting a car in Mexico gets expensive.
- Insurance: About $20/day for liability coverage and $30/day for full coverage. Mexico requires everyone to pay for liability insurance on rental cars. Most US car insurance and/or US credit card companies typically won’t cover rental cars in Mexico but check with them to confirm.
- Damage waiver: $150-$2500. Taking the physical damage waiver is up to each renter. Depending on how much coverage you take for physical damage will determine the hold put on the card. Taking no coverage on the car will have the highest hold around $1500-$2500 US dollars. One of the highest hold’s for a rental car we have ever heard of. Taking the full damage waiver will have the lowest hold around $150 on top of the rental.
Parking in the beach area is limited
This one is no joke. If you aren’t staying in the beach area and are able to walk most places or ride a bike, beware. Parking is incredibly limited. Some restaurants offer a couple parking spots and there is one, maybe two general parking areas, but other than that parking in Tulum is extremely limited.
Tulum’s speed bumps
The roads in Tulum are easy to drive on other than the SPEED BUMPS. They are huge and, at times, hard to see, so stay alert and make sure to pay attention to these. They can really do damage to your car if you go too fast.
Bike rentals in Tulum
If you aren’t renting a car, we highly recommend renting bikes. Bike rentals in Tulum are fairly easy to come by and range in price from $3/day to $15/day. Ask your hotel concierge for who they recommend and if you don’t have a concierge, just take a stroll down the beach road, you’ll see plenty of places to rent bikes.
Cenotes in Tulum
Tulum and the entire Yucatán Peninsula is known for cenotes. A cenote is a deep water-filled sinkhole that has natural pools that make their way to the surface when the underground cavern collapses. Some cenotes are caves or caverns, some cenotes are totally enclosed and some are semi-open. There’s plenty to choose from in Tulum. We visited two of the best cenotes in Tulum – Cenote Dos Ojos and Cenote Calavera.
Overall, Tulum is one of the most special places we’ve ever been and we highly recommend it to anyone looking to escape for a long weekend! Our guide to Tulum touched on a ton of things, but was there one thing you were curious about that we didn’t touch on? Let us know in the comments!
