Tulum

Mouth-watering tacos. Beautifully designed hotels. Breath-taking beaches. Refreshing cenotes. Awe-inspiring ruins.

You can’t get bored in Tulum.

We flew into Cancun and rented a car to drive to Tulum. There are other ways to get there, but we liked having our own car to stop along the way and maximize our freedom.

Between Cancun and Tulum, you can stop at Akumal. It’s a bay that’s full of turtles you can swim with. Really cool! We saw about 10 of them in just half an hour.

Then you get to Tulum. There are two parts: Tulum Old Town is more traditional, authentic and definitely worth a visit. Tulum Beach is a 10-15 minute drive from the old town. It's more fun but much more touristy. We opted for a couple nights in each and recommend that mix but many people just go to Tulum Old Town for a day from the beach.

In Tulum Old Town, we stayed at Hotel Bardo which was a very sexy, cool, well-designed concrete bungalow little place with a great restaurant, pool and vibe. They also have yoga classes, healing rituals, etc. There are a bunch of really cool taco spots right nearby where the tacos are literally 25 cents each. One you have to go to is Taqueria Honorio right in town. It has the best tacos I've ever had. EVER!

In Tulum Beach, there are dozens of amazing hotels that all would be great to stay at. I recommend La Valise where we stayed. It’s a thatched roof small boutique hotel that was really stunning. We stayed in the Master Suite, and it was perfect. It actually burned down after we were there and was just rebuilt. Now the bed rolls out onto the balcony so it’s even better! They gave us a complementary cooking class which was great. It was on a platform over-looking the beach, and we made some killer ceviche and guacamole. We also considered Casa Malca, Nest, Tulum Treehouse and Sanara before settling on La Valise.

Regardless of where you stay, you can walk up and down the 2.5-mile strip behind the beach to find all the restaurants, shops and bars. Everything is outdoors and very mosquitoey so don't forget the bug spray! Clandestino was a cool kind of outdoor dive bar that's very low key. It has great cheap drinks, burgers and a natural swimming hole in the middle of the bar that you can go in with your drinks. Arca is a more upscale restaurant outside in the jungle with some truly incredible food. Hartwood is also a stand-out restaurant with excellent drinks (the chef is from a really good restaurant in Brooklyn), and I'd also recommend the restaurant, Kitchen Table.

In addition to hanging on the beach, you have to check out the cenotes. They are basically watering holes that you can swim in that are super beautiful and amazing. If you’re a certified diver, diving in the cenotes is a must. It’s my favorite diving I’ve ever done. There are thousands of cenotes. Some are closed because of covid, but your hotel should be able to give you up-to-date info on which are open now. Here’s a list of some of the best ones.

Lastly, you have to visit Chichen Itza and the other Mayan ruins. Chichen Itza is a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Tulum Beach but well worth it. There are also ruins on Tulum Beach and in the nearby city of Coba. If you go to Coba, you might want to stay for a night or two at Coqui Coqui. We didn’t have a chance to go but some friends went and had an amazing time. It looks stunning!

There are so many other great places to explore in the area like the incredible restaurants in Merida or the exhilarating whale sharks off Isla Holbox, but this is a good start for Tulum!