Tulum Travel Guide

Tulum, Mexico —

Filled with beautiful beaches, award winning restaurants and a buzzing beach road full of upscale shops.

This post will cover everything of note from my trip!

TRAVEL —

 I took a direct flight to Cancun from Nashville, which was only two and a half hours. It was a quick and easy trip.

TIP: When you walk out of the airport, there will be a ton of people trying to get you to ride with their cab service or rip you off with rental car prices. Just keep walking and ask someone where the ADO bus is.

Be sure to bring at least $50 USD with you on the flight. You can use this money to exchange at the airport to buy bus tickets if you aren't planning to use a specific car service to Tulum.

TIP: Don't exchange a ton of money at the airport - the exchange rate isn't great there. The main beach road is where we found the best exchange rates, surprisingly.

We wanted to keep transportation cheap, so we rode the ADO bus into Tulum. There are two stops - the first in Playa Del Carmen and the next one is Tulum. The trip will take you around 2 hours or so on the bus.

The bus ticket to Tulum was pretty cheap - around $20 USD (for 1 person).

We stayed in a large house (sleeps 8) located in the Downtown portion of Tulum. The house is called Casa Blanca. It was super spacious, and the pool was incredible.

Staying downtown will give you a more realistic cultural experience. If you aren't looking for that, I recommend any of the boutique hotels located on the main beach strip at Tulum Beach. They all looked beautiful!

We explored our neighborhood most mornings and came across some local wildlife (!!)

RESTAURANT FAVORITES —

Raw Love (Downtown Tulum)

They had the best smoothies I've ever tasted. Everything was so fresh and the outdoor restaurant itself was unreal.

Burrito Amor (Downtown Tulum)

Best breakfast hands down. We regretted not stopping here for more meals once we had it on the last day.

Ki'bok Gourmet Cafe (Downtown Tulum)

Another great breakfast spot. If you're a big coffee lover, this place is for you! There's a really cute clothing boutique right next door as well as a famous mojito bar where they hand press the sugar cane for their drinks. I kept hearing it was a fun place to go at night, but unfortunately we didn't get a chance to make it.

La Eufemia Taqueria (Tulum Beach Road)

If you get to La Eufemia earlier in the day (11AM) you can grab a prime spot on their beach chairs. They will provide a menu to order drinks, tacos, guac, and my absolute favorite — chocolate milkshakes. Hang out on the beach while being served delicious (inexpensive) tacos until the sun sets. It’s a very laid back place and a fun spot where young people from all over the world come to hang. We met people from California to Sweden to Australia to Virginia. It was a unique place!

Pollo Bronco (Downtown Tulum)

This is a great lunch pick. This place is a local spot - not many tourists visit. It was inexpensive and delicious. It was recommended by the owner of the house we stayed in and they serve phenomenal chicken!

Antojitos La Chiapaneca (Downtown Tulum)

Another amazing taco spot for seven pesos each. Inexpensive and delicious! Their Al Pastor tacos were incredible. We ate here for a quick dinner one night and grabbed gelato next door! Highly recommended.

Kitchen Table (Tulum Beach Road)

This jungle restaurant (quite literally in the trees) had delectable appetizers. Everything is made in their outdoor kitchen and very fresh. The entree dishes were also good, but the apps were phenomenal. I recommend going here for a few appetizers and drinks.

(Tip: this is a cash only restaurant)

Gitano (Tulum Beach Road)

The best dinner spot atmosphere wise. It was a dream. Candle light, tons of foliage, and a chandelier hanging from a massive tree. The dinner was great, and the atmosphere was incredible. They are also known for their Mezcal drinks, so be sure to try one. I got Stardust and it was delicious!

Hartwood (Tulum Beach Road)

The best dinner spot food wise. Their menu changes all the time based on what's fresh from the sea and land. I was visiting in May, and they don't take reservations during this month. If you're also visiting during this time, be sure to get there early to get a table. If you show up at 6:30 you probably won't get seated - it's an extremely popular spot!

SITES TO SEE —

Clearly you need to spend some time relaxing and enjoying the beautiful beaches! There are loads of resorts on the main beach road with picturesque places to lounge. You can also rent cabanas if you aren’t staying beachfront.

I spent an entire day walking around downtown and visiting local shops. The small markets and food stands were neat to visit and I enjoyed exploring the bustling city.

The main beach road is also worth carving out time for. Beautiful, curated stores with unique clothes, ceramics, gifts and more.

Chichen Itza

If you have the time in your trip, I recommend renting a car and driving up to Chichen Itza to see the Mayan pyramids. It was a neat experience to see the history and culture in Mexico. We got a tour guide and he gave really great insights that wouldn't have been obvious if you were just walking around by yourself.

One down side - there were really annoying vendors everywhere. They were trying to sell touristy gifts and it got pretty irritating — just don't engage with them. However, I did break down on the way out and bought a tiny white cat made of quartz.

It reminded me of Pearl (!!)

Cenote Ik Kil

One of the coolest things I've ever done was visit this cenote. Red Bull has held their cliff diving competitions here in the past, and I can see why. Swimming in the fresh water was such a neat experience. Be sure to take a towel with you to wrap up in, because the water is a bit chilly!

Las Coloradas - Pink Lakes

We were brave on this trip! Not everyone would feel comfortable renting a car and driving two hours across Mexico to see these lakes, but I’m glad we did.

a little bit about Las Coloradas...

Las Coloradas is a small fishermen town in the east corner of the Yucatecan coast inside Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve, the Yucatan’s largest wetland area. This little known part of Yucatán has picturesque and unordinary landscapes, a giant salt factory and amazing pink lagoons that gives the town its name. There were desolate highways and miles of empty beaches. It was beautiful.

The lakes are not always a peachy pink color, so be sure to research before you make the trip! Sometimes the water is more of an orange color, but when it's prime season, the water is pink.

OTHER TIPS —

When getting cash out of the ATMs, I recommend getting a large sum out at once and putting it somewhere safe where you're staying. Then just take what you need for the day. I made the mistake of not taking out enough, and I incurred multiple large ATM bank charges.

Before you visit, study up on some easy key phrases. Before getting into cabs, I recommend asking the driver how much the ride will cost. If you can't speak any Spanish, use a translator on your phone. We found most of the cab drivers were really friendly, but most didn't speak much English. They seemed to be much more friendly when we spoke Spanish!

I really recommend going to Tulum during the month of May. It's right before their rainy season begins, and we couldn't have had better weather.

If you have any additional questions, feel free to reach out!

Psalm 37:4