Tulum

Quintana Roo, Mexico

Fun and Cheap things to do in Tulum – Mexico

Let’s be real, this trip can get pretty expensive if you want to visit all the cool hotels and eat at all the fancy restaurants, BUT it doesn’t have to! My girlfriends and I spend 4 days in Tulum on a budget, we each exchanged $300 dollars for pesos ( about 5,500 pesos each ) to take with us before leaving and that’s all we spent, aside from the flight, place to stay and car we rented of course. It is better to exchange money and take pesos with you as some places don’t accept card or charge a percentage to pay with credit.

We got an Airbnb in town, depending on the season if you message the host they will even give you a discount to stay at their place! Our house came with 4 bikes, and we were just about 10 minutes bike ride into town which was nice. We did rent a car which came in handy for further destinations.

One thing I do advise is if you can afford it, get a hotel on the beach. It’s a bit more expensive but totally worth it! We spent almost every day at the beach, but always had to drive about 20 minutes to get there and parking wasn’t easy.

The drive down from Cancun to Tulum

We left Cancun Airport with our rental car which we rented at MEX rent a car through http://www.discovercarhire.com . When I tried to make a reservation online at other websites for car rentals the prices were really low ($1 a day) and it seemed a little weird, this website seemed more legit. They offer you insurance when you book so when you go pick up the car you don’t need to pay extra for additional coverage. They will try to sell it to you in any way possible, and even scare you into getting it, but we didn’t and we were just fine.

Since we were going to pass Playa del Carmen anyway on our way to Tulum, we decided to make a pit stop and have lunch there and see the town. Playa is very touristy and had more of a party scene. The beach wasn’t that nice for swimming, but if we had more time we would definitely have checked out Cozumel (next time!). We had lunch at INTI Beach, the food was pretty good and the drinks were delicious.

Driving down was really easy and I felt safe the whole time.

Mayan Ruins and Public Beaches

This place is VERY touristy and will get super crowded fast, so be there when they open at 8am. You can park up the street and walk over, if you drive up close to the entrance the guide guys will stop you and try to sell you a tour. It was super annoying. They wanted to over charge us for everything, scared us saying that we would have to walk far under the sun and heat, said the beaches were only open to people who were on a tour and I just really felt like I was being scammed.

We didn’t know what to expect but decided not to hire a tour guide and try to go on our own. We parked the car up the street, only paid 50 pesos and walked over. It was only a 10 minute walk, in the shade, to the entrance. The ticket was 75 pesos per person. It was super hot and a lot of mosquitos, make sure to bring sunscreen and bug spray.

Mayan Ruins was very unique, nothing like I’ve ever seen before. Very beautiful to take photos and read about the history of the city. It quickly got crowded and we decided to go for a swim. We knew that there was a public beach there so we were prepared with out bathing suits. This was the best way to cool off after walking around.

From the Ruins, right when you exit instead of going right, go left and take the bath down to the public beaches. We loved this beach, the only down side was that it smelled really bad.

Here are some photos from this day.

Cenotes

We only had time to check out 2 cenotes, Grand Cenote and Cenote Calavera. We went to these on different days because we wanted to make sure to get there as soon as they opened so it wouldnt be so crowded.

Grand Cenote opens at 8am, this is when we arrived and this is also when a tour bus arrived! So getting there right when they open maybe isn’t the best idea. We left at around 10:30 and it was just as crowded. To enter this cenote you need to pay 200 pesos per person and before even going down close to the water you need to take a full body shower, cold shower. I regret not taking a little waterproof baggy for my phone to take photos. I did take my GoPro but you swim through a cave to get to the other side which was a bit dark for the GoPro to capture. One side of the cenote the water is dark blue and crystal clear. There are even turtles. You swim through the cave, with bats, to the other side where the water is a baby blue. It’s so beautiful and great for pictures. Bring a snorkel to this one!

Cenote Calavera opens at 9am, and that’s when we got there. It soon got really crowded so try and get there as soon as they open and don’t think too much, just get in! I think I liked this one the best just because it was more unique. There were little holes that you could jump in which was super cool. This Cenote seems to be really deep, I really wish I knew how to scuba dive to check it out under the surface. Later I saw some super interesting videos on youtube of people diving there, if it’s your thing its a must!

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JUMP HERE ⬇️ don’t need to tell me twice! 🙋🏽‍♀️

A post shared by Rafaela Mendes Ferreira (@nativadomar) on Nov 12, 2019 at 2:44pm PST

Zona Hotelera

My friends and I only had a few days, so we decided to narrow down the hotels we wanted to see from the good reviews I’ve read online and from what the locals told us. Since we we’re staying in town it was about a 15-20 minute drive down to the Zona Hotelera everyday, parking there is not very easy but we did find a place that only charged us 100 pesos for the whole day that was located right in front of the I Scream Bar.

From the main road to the beach most hotels won’t let you access the hotel to get from the road to the beach and vise versa, this I thought was pretty annoying. I didn’t understand why we couldn’t walk through to get from one side to the other. I wish they were more open to the public, some places you cant even get close or the security comes running (literally) to charge you or tell you to get off the property.

We walked through Ahau, Nomade and La Zebra. Everyone at these hotels were super nice and very friendly. They didn’t try and brush us away or charge us for just walking around. Ahau Tulum has that beautiful towering wooden sculpture , perfect for pictures! Nomade was so beautiful, I wish my house looked like that! And it smelled so nice, I can’t explain it, but if you get a chance, go!

La Zebra was great because you could park there for free as long as you consume something at the hotel, so you just need to get a receipt and give the guy on your way out with your car. We stayed here almost the whole day one day, we had to consume each 700 pesos to get a beach chair which was so easy, they had a great variety of drinks and our waiter Erick was awesome! I would definitely recommend this place.

Eat, Drink & Dance

One of our favorite places was Batey Mojito! Drinks we’re great and great prices, really fun atmosphere and it was right on busy street full of little bars and places to dance.

Next to Batey Mojito, there’s a place called Ki’ Bok, breakfast here was delicious and you can’t beat the price!

Another place we loved was Matcha Mama, great smoothies and bowls, great for instagram pictures and the employees we’re super nice. I just love going to places where I am treated well. There was a pizza place next to Matcha Mama called La Onda, I really wish we had time to eat here but we only discovered this place the last day! The owner was so nice he even made a pizza and was handing it out for everyone to try, it was soooo delicious! On my list for sure for next time!

Mateos is a Mexican restaurant that we loved. We ordered each kind of tacos and even desert, everything was amazing. The food was so good and the beer was very cold the way we like it. They also have a sunset happy hour on the roof 2 for 1 deal, totally worth it. I really wish I had a photo of this place to show you the atmosphere and food, but you know when you’re so hungry you don’t even remember to take a picture? That was us. But you have my word it’s worth checking out.

If you love burritos like me, you must try Burrito Amor. I had the Grilled Rib Eye and it was probably one of the best burritos of my life!

For a late night snack by the beach we went to Tulumunchies, we had the four cheese pizza there and it was super good. Everyone was super friendly as well. There’s a bar there but the drinks were kinda expensive.

The same day after pizza we went to I Scream Bar, this place is super fun! Drinks were really good and the prices were great! The bartenders are super fun, I won’t tell you why but go and you will see! It’s a surprise haha.

Last night in town we had dinner at Rosa Negra, one word, WOW! The food was A MA ZING. It’s a bit pricey but totally worth it, I promise! PS: You need to try the cream if artichoke soup, I’ve been dreaming about it!

Before heading to the airport next morning we had breakfast at Canopia Restaurant, the food was good and suopr fresh. Best part was they had parking and it’s right across the street from Ahau Tulum sculpture so while your food was being prepared you could snap a photo!

What to pack for your trip to Tulum

• Sunscreen (the sun here is really strong)
• Bug spray (bugs everywhere!)
• Bikinis (can’t have enough)
• Jean Shorts (and shirts or you could just rock the bikini top with them)
• Maxi Dress (for those perfect instagram photos haha)
• A hat (again the sun..)
• Flip Flops (I brought sandals and didn’t wear them not one day)
• Sarong (Light to carry and you can use it to sit on the beach)
• GoPro (if you have one, if not bring a waterproof case for your phone)
• and lastly, if you have crazy hair like mine.. a leave in hair conditioner since you’re going to be in and out of the water all day.

Hope all this information was useful and if you’re thinking about going to Tulum, you should! It’s different from any other place I’ve ever been before.

Here are some more photos from my trip..

SAFE TRAVELS!