Tulum

Stop #3: Tulum

Situated along the Caribbean coast of the Rivera Maya, Tulum is quickly becoming a destination spot for many travelers. From boutique shops, and luxurious and local restaurants, to ancient ruins and cenotes. Read along and I will share with you all of the exciting things you can see and do while visiting this trendy city.

Ruins to Visit

From Tulum, the ruins of Coba are about 50 minutes away. Since we couldn’t check into our next hotel until 3pm, we decided to stop by the ruins and check them out.

The Ruins of Coba ended up being the first ruin site we’ve seen so far, so we were very excited to see this side of history. When you get to the ruins entrance, you are greeted by many locals offering to give you a tour of the history you are witnessing. We decided to just rent bikes and ride through the grounds ourselves. Every once in a while we would stand close to some tour groups to hear what they were speaking about. Although we missed some very valuable information about each structure we saw, it was still amazing to ride around and see with your own eyes the type of things the Mayans accomplished during their time. It was truly an amazing experience.

When you go to Tulum, you’ll probably be tempted to visit the Ruins of Tulum. I have to say it is absolutely worth going!! Just like the Ruins of Coba, they had tour guides outside the entrance offering their services for a price in different languages. Instead of getting a guide, we bought a tour book from the novelty shop. Although the book broke down the importance of what we were looking at, the tour guides told rich stories and real history (from what we heard from a distance).

The structures on the grounds were incredibly impressive to witness, everything has a reason to be there and you can really feel that when walking through. Everywhere you turned you would see an iguana either on a structure or chilling in the shade overlooking a cliff. My theory is that these iguanas could be reincarnated Mayans still protecting their lands. Whatever they are there for, it was so fun spotting them in the most random places. While walking through the ruins was breathtaking, there were no trees to hide from the hot sun. Thankfully, right next to the ruins, there was a beach called Playa Santa Fe. Walking on the beach you are able to see the cliff side of where the ruins are overlooking.

Cenotes

Not too far from the ruins, there were a series of cenotes in the area, Multun-Ha, Tankach-Ha and Choo-Ha. We decided to visit Multun-Ha because the others were too full of tourist groups. Just like at the other cenotes, they ask us to rinse off our bodies before entering the water. Making this the 5th cenote we visited, it was completely different than the others that we’ve seen. Cenote Multun-Ha was completely underground in a cave!! To enter we have to go down a long stairway that opens up directly into the waters. It was amazing seeing a whole body of water in a cave like this, but I will admit I was a bit scared, once you get in the water if you look down it’s just completely dark!!

(6th cenote) The most famous Cenote of Tulum and maybe even all of Mexico has to be El Gran Cenote. A 15-minute drive from the hotel zone, I would say it was one of the most beautiful cenotes I’ve seen so far. Make sure you get there early because they close at 5pm!

It’s $25USD to enter, but it is worth the price. Before getting close to the water, they have showers where you must rinse yourself off and toilets to use. You have the option to get a life jacket as well as rent a locker to hold your things. This cenote would be considered a half-open cenote since part of it has a small cave and other parts are open but still surrounded by limestone. At Gran Cenote, they had a species of turtles swimming around in the waters and some bats sleeping in the caves. The water was such a clear blue color, it’s really unbelievable how something could be so blue.

Where We Stayed in Tulum

We arrived at our beautiful hotel in Tulum called Na’la Tulum. It isn’t located within the famous Tulum hotel zone, but a couple minutes outside of it. If you decide to stay in the hotel zone, you won’t even need a reason to leave. Inside the zone, it’s like its own little world. It is the prime location for most tourists who travel to Tulum. Na’la Tulum was within walking distance to the center of the city of Tulum where there are countless restaurants, bars, and stores to shop in. There were plenty of other hotels in the area that were also not in the hotel zone if you are interested in venturing outside.

Restaurants in Tulum

The city center of Tulum is full of life. You can feel the energy of people enjoying their holiday, heading into bars, and eating the best foods. As we walked into the city, we had one mission on our mind. Pizza. There are a number of Italian restaurants in the area, but we decided to try out II Bocconcino Tulum. It has a cute seating arrangement where you can face outside and the staff was extremely friendly. They had a large selection of pizzas, but if you are into seafood I absolutely recommend the shrimp and pesto pizza.

With some research, we found out that there was a local taco spot that was a must-visit! At Taqueria la Chipaneca each taco was for less than $1 so you know we went nuts. When we arrived, there was a line of people waiting for takeaway, and once we sat down a line formed to eat in. We each ordered 5 tacos and 1 quesadilla, and enjoyed every bite!! I can definitely understand why they are the talk of the town. If you find yourself wandering the streets of Tulum you must check this spot out.

5 minutes walking distance from my hotel, there was a little caravan that was selling vegan food called Liefs. We needed a day when we didn’t stuff our faces with meat, especially after that delicious local taqueria. The ambiance was such a cute vibe, with plants and reusable materials all around. Their food was very fresh and well made.