Only a 2 hour drive (bus journey) from Cancun airport, sits the town of Tulum. With a reputation for it’s boho feel, the Mexican beach destination now offers so many tourist attractions and things to do, that it’s fast becoming a popular stop site for backpackers.
Stay in a Ahau Tulum’s budget beach huts
Hire a bike and explore
Get up early for yoga and sunrise
Eat like a vegan king
Tulum stays true to it’s boho/hippie vibes with an absolute ton of vegan food and restaurants, so good that even the meat eaters amongst you will love it! Check out my full post about vegan and vegetarian eats in Tulum.
Explore Tulum’s ruins
Visit the cenotes
Cenotes (sink holes) originate from the collapse of rock that exposes the groundwater underneath. They are particularly infamous around the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, and were sometimes used by the ancient Maya for sacrificial offerings. Now, they are beautiful (and refreshing) stops for tourists, and in abundance around Tulum (we visited 4 in one day alone!!). We were lucky enough to find a local taxi driver who was friends with entrance guards, meaning we were allowed entry alone before opening!!
Get a boho cocktail
Tulum is teaming with beautiful hotels, but we got full boho vibes from the Turkish style set up of Nomade Tulum’s bar area. Plump floor cushions, wooden tables and chiming music made for the perfect place to relax during the mid afternoon heat. The hotel can be found at the end of the main hotel strip.
Hit the town centre bars
The big hotels host a good few beach/bar parties, however, we found them to be overpriced and pretentious (think Cancun spring break), playing nothing but dull pre-club house music. We found the famous Papaya Playa Project to be especially disappointing. It took us a few days to figure out that the real parties (and atmosphere) were in the town centre itself.
Head to Batey bar for live music, a re-purposed VW Beetle drink stand, and the towns most famous flavoured mojito bar. Clientele is made up of both travelers and locals alike, and had a much more natural buzz to it.
Get a crystal massage
You know what they say (‘when in Rome’). I had a couple of very rude encounters with some of the ‘top’ spa’s in Tulum, with on in particular telling me they wouldn’t give me the treatments I wanted because I wasn’t spending enough money (my bill at that point came to $145!). We found that some of the best treatments were available at the hotels, at half the price of the stand alone spas. I chose Ahau Tulum for my crystal massage.
The treatement room is set up in a jungle beach hut, just out of the way of the main beach strip (but still close enough to hear the waves). The massages incorporate sacred crystals to align your chakras in geometric healing with Quartz, Amethyst, and Labradorite (to name a few). I’m known for my love of crystals, but was skeptic when the receptionist told me that she’d also taken the massage and was so overwhlemed that she’d cried. However, the skeptic in me was put to rest as I burst into tears at the tap of a crystal to my forehead as my masseuse finished. A complete soul searching experience, not to be missed, they even let me take one of my crystals with me.
Have you been to Tulum? What was your favourite bit? Did you stay in any beautiful locations on the East coast of Mexico? Tell me your stories people!?
8 Comments
kasiawrites
Looks great!
Roselinde
The cycling trip along the ruins sounds very cool!
andcomewhatmay
I’ve always been attracted by Tulum (and Mexico in its entirety) but your post taught me some aspects I didn’t know about Tulum ! So now i’m really craving to go there, good job 😉
myveggietravels
Thank you so much!! I wish Tulum had just been that little bit more off the grid… but beggars cant be choosers, and Im still pinning to go back!
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