Don’t go. 😅😂
Fine, go if you like photogenic restaurants.
I am writing this article because everything on the internet is out dated. What worked for 2016 no longer works for 2022.
Tulum was our second city in this trip. We took a bus straight from Cancun to Tulum.
Cancun is super tourist friendly and we were excited to see the relatively local side of Quintana.
We rented a car in Tulum and learned that there is a mandatory “basic insurance". Even though we booked online and our credit card comes with insurance.
Our only options were either have our money back or pay the basic insurance, which is more than the cost of the rental car. NOT HAPPY.
We took the car and headed to our hotel : Copal Tulum Hotel
The surrounding is tourist but everything is under construction. Googled routed us to muddy and bumpy roads that we really could’ve got stuck. Our hotel is beautiful, and I love the smell of copal. HAPPY.
We were super excited to snorkel in Akumal, only to be disappointed again:
We brought our own snorkels all the way from Seattle. On the way there, people were trying to sell us some kind of tour. We said no thank you and paid the national park entrance fee. After entering, they told us that we can only snorkel at a certain area unless we pay for a “tour".
Later, we realized that the locals basically fence off where the sea life is, without their “tour" all you can see is seagrass. We paid for the tour eventually 500 peso per person, which is not much, but I know this beach was not like that couple years ago. If you want to sit down anywhere with shade, the restaurant/hotel staff will let you know the price you have to pay. NOT HAPPY.
Anyway, the snorkeling wasn’t that great either. We did see two turtles, squid and some cool fish, but mostly sea grass.
We also went into the gran cenote. The water is super clean. There are some turtles and fish. There is an entrance fee and a quick shower is mandatory to wash off the sunscreens on you. I appreciated them making effort to keep the place clean. Happy.
One afternoon, we decided to go find this cool sculpture (picture). We arrived at Tulum beach walk, found a paid parking lot which was reasonably priced and started our walk. Soon we realized that this walk was not fun because the road is so narrowed, unpaved and pedestrians needs to share the road with all the cars and scooters. NOT HAPPY.
Lots of photogenic restaurants here though, definitely come here hungry. The pricing is close to what we are paying here in Seattle, which is quite expensive for Mexico.
Here are some restaurants that we ate at and it was reasonably priced for Mexico:
DelCielo for brunch
Tulum Food Trucks it is actually the place that’s next to it. Super popular and local. 20 peso for a taco. Follow the crowd and you’ll find it.
Fit-a-licious healthy ,delicious food
Copal restaurant– their fires is amazing !
Imelda’s Ecocina authentic local place by the beach!
Here are some other restaurants that’s good but on the expensive side:
Kokoro Tulum if you want japanese food
Bejuco Restaurant with beautiful decorations. A tasty restaurant!
We did find one thing that’s amazing in Tulum: our guide at Tulum Archaeological Zone
We were able to skip the line and have a guided tour.
Looking back, I think this is my favorite time in Tulum. This gentleman is so knowledgable and I could feel his passion overflowing while he tell the stories. He even did his own researches and talked to/visited posterities.
The iguanas are so cute and entertaining as well. I love seeing them coming out from the cracks.
Maybe I thought I would definitely not recommend coming to Tulum, I guess in the end I’m still happy that I saw all these places. I think it’s worth it. Maybe I won’t travel to see this city again this life, but I’m glad that I did. What do you think? Do you want to go?
I liked Cancun, Cozumel and Playa de Carmen, but there are lots of articles about them. I don’t know I will write an article about them. Always happy to answer questions. Let me know!
@jennyandberries
Cross Culture Living 