My Travels To: Tulum

Hotel Azulik Rooftop Bar

Tulum is a beautiful place about an hour and forty minutes from Cancun International Airport. If you're looking for a tropical getaway away from large resorts and typical touristy vibes, then I'd definitely recommend Tulum. There are two different areas within Tulum: Tulum Beach and Tulum Downtown. Each area has different things to offer and where you decide to stay in Tulum will depend on your preferences and what you are looking for.

Tulum Beach is a strip along the beach with several boutique hotels and villas. Almost all of these hotels have day beds, cabanas and lounge chairs right on the beach that are only a few steps from the hotel itself. The most common and probably safest mode of transportation along the strip is by taxi but you can also walk or rent bikes as well. The road on the strip is very narrow with heavy traffic during some parts of the day and there's not a lot of lighting at night so do take caution if you prefer to walk or bike.

Tulum Downtown is about a 5-10 minute drive from Tulum Beach depending on what part of the strip you are staying in. There are a lot more accommodation options with a wide price range in Tulum Downtown including hostels and Air Bnbs.

The major differences between Tulum Beach and Tulum Downtown are:

1. Hotels, restaurants and bars in Tulum Beach are more expensive than those in Tulum Downtown

2. Tulum Beach offers a luxurious jungly/beachy vibe whereas Tulum Downtown is your typical downtown area in the Caribbean

3. The beach is walking distance from Tulum Beach but you it's a 5-10 minute drive from Tulum Downtown

Beachfront of Coco Tulum Hotel

Coco Tulum​

​My friend and I stayed in Coco Tulum, a boutique hotel with 26 different cabana style rooms/suites. We stayed in a cabana in the beach zone (literally steps away from the beach) with a small patio with a hammock. The hotel has a restaurant Juanita Diavola and a beach club with cute swings that are so Instagram-worthy. Upon checking in, the front desk gave us 2 free drink tickets for the restaurant and beach bar, and every day when house keeping comes around to clean your room, they provide a new bottle of purified water (free things for the win). The hotel also offered daily bike rentals for $12/day (we asked around and this was the cheapest option we could find) which was super convenient for getting around on the strip. And if you're an adventurer like us, you can even ride to nearby cenotes like we did! But make sure to apply and reapply lots of sun screen because the sun has no mercy. Overall we had a great stay and loved nothing more than seeing the sun rise on the beach every morning. Would definitely recommend staying at Coco Tulum if you're planning to stay in Tulum Beach area!

Bungalow at Coco Tulum

Cenotes

Cenotes are nature's pools, usually found in pits or sinkholes from limestone collapsing. There are several cenotes in Tulum and even more scattered throughout the Yucatan and Mexico. We spent two full days exploring so many different cenotes and they did not disappoint. My top three favorite cenotes are Cenote Calavera, Cenote Nicte Ha, and Cenote Dos Ojos. Other cenotes we visited were Gran Cenote, Cenote Car Wash, and Cenote Zacil-ha. All of these are relatively close to where we stayed and we were even able to bike to Gran Cenote, Cenote Zacil-ha, and Cenote Car Wash (I almost gave up but somehow pushed through so if I can do it you can too!!). If you are planning to visit cenotes, I'd recommend investing in a snorkel set so you can see the fish and turtles and won't have to spend money renting at each place.

Cenote Calavera

Cenote Calavera is a 15 min. drive or 30 min. bike ride from Coco Tulum. This is probably one of my favorite but also one of the scariest and most fun cenotes in Tulum that we went to. There are three sink holes with the one pictured on the right being the largest one. Since this cenote is a partial cave there were bats hanging out on the roof of the cave as we were jumping in and swimming around (they didn't seem to be bothered and never attacked one of us). The jump does not seem bad at all in photos but as someone who is horrified of heights it took me quite a while to muster up the courage to jump, and I was so glad I did because it was such an adrenaline rush and so much fun. We went during the afternoon and it was pretty packed but everyone was very friendly and respectful when it came to waiting for their turn to jump. If you are a thrill seeker, this has to be one of the cenotes that you visit if you are ever in Tulum.

Cenote Calavera

Cenote Nicte Ha

Cenote Nicte-ha is a 30 min. drive from Coco Tulum but is along the same road of Cenote Dos Ojos and others. We got there around 11am and there were only three other people there besides us, which made this cenote that much more surreal and beautiful as we were swimming and admiring the nature around us in peace and quiet.

Cenote Nicte Ha

Cenote Dos Ojos

Cenote Dos Ojos is one of the more popular cenotes along with Gran Cenote. There are 2 different cenotes that you can explore which is why it's called Dos Ojos. This is a good cenote for diving as it's one of the deeper cenotes and not ideal for snorkeling as there are not many fish. Even though there were a lot of people, we found a remote entryway into the shallow part of the cenote where you can start swimming and make your way all the way around to the large opening. We swam through the cenote, mostly in darkness as most of it is in caves, admiring the stalagmite and stalactite.

Cenote Dos Ojos

Azulik Hotel

If I didn't have a budget and was made out of money, I would have chosen to stay at Azulik Hotel. Azulike is a luxury hotel and one of the most expensive ones at 1,000+ per night stay. Every part of this hotel is a jungle oasis with almost every part made out of wood with serene natural sounds playing in the background and candles lit on every corner. The architecture and aesthetic of this hotel is amazing, which is why it is such a popular place among tourists. Luckily, you can still experience the beauty of this hotel in other ways besides having to pay the ridiculous amount to stay there. They offer 1 hour yoga classes for $25-30 per person every morning, and although you may be able to find a cheaper yoga class, doing yoga at Azulik's dome-shaped yoga room is absolutely worth it.

We decided to go back to visit their bar during sunset but we went too late and they were already full during our first attempt so we tried again the next day and made it in (they have a max. capacity of ~80-90 people I think). You pay to get in and get one free drink of your choice while enjoying hour de vours that waiters bring around and serve. It's a bit pricey but we thought it was worth it since you get to enjoy the sunset while admiring the jungle view and snacking on hours de vours (which do fill you up if you eat a lot, and there's no limit so why not?). We were curious as to what other parts of the hotel looked like so after the sun set, we ventured into the hotel's two restaurants, Kin Toh and Tseen Ja, and also checked out their cool (but very expensive) boutique shop and art exhibit. Walking through the hotel felt like walking through a massive tree house in the jungle with hammock nests, bridges, and the nearly all wood decor.

Sunrise in Tulum

If you are planning a trip to Tulum and need some recommendations or reviews, please feel free to reach out to me here.