After Valladolid we were off to Tulum. The Lonely Planet describes Tulum as sort of feeling like a truck stop because the town lies on the main highway traveling to Cancun. To be honest I can see where it was coming from but at the same time I really enjoyed our time in Tulum, and I’m glad we didn’t go stay in Playa Del Carmen or Cancun instead whilst we were there.
It seems the closer to Cancun we get the more touristy everything is. For example I was amazed I didn’t have to pay to use the bathroom in Chichen Itza, and it had toilet paper in the cubicle itself! Totally different from the rest of Mexico.
Our hostel in Tulum was lovely very open and felt super beachy (despite Tulum not being on the beach). The room was huge, we had the biggest and comfiest bed of the whole trip, and we had our own bathroom and all the taps in the bathroom were conch shells. It was very cool. I would’ve appreciated hot water on more nights then the first (we stayed three) but oh well.
Also if anyone is in Tulum and is sick of Mexican food there is an awesome place around the corner from our hostel (which is across the street from the bus station). Uno sells the best ramen bowls, and some pretty yummy sushi. We went there twice and it was awesome both times. And please, if you’re around say hi to the pooch out the front he’s very friendly.
Our first full day in Tulum didn’t exactly go to plan. We figured we’d go to this Tulum Jungle Gym which was an outdoor gym on the beach and basically the whole reason we were in Tulum (Callum had seen it advertised ages ago on Facebook, whilst we were still in Australia). Our bathers were still damp from being shoved into bags and never properly dried out so we passed on those figuring we could buy some cheap ones when we got to the beach, our first mistake, our second was thinking we could ride the bikes to the gym.
So we hired ourselves some old fashioned bikes from the hostel and took to the streets of Tulum. We rode down the main thoroughfare stopping and checking out some shops along the way before we really decided to be on our way. From Tulum to the beach there’s basically just a massive road. The bike ride took us around 30 minutes to get to the “beach” in the hot sun and unfortunately when we got there and checked the maps it was another 4km to the gym. So we decided to go to the gym tomorrow and catch a taxi, or rent a scooter or something to get there. Cyclists we are not. So the beach it was.
Now coming from Australia where some places it feels like if you keep walking you’ll eventually find the beach Tulum was a little off putting. We just sat on our bikes staring at the wall of jungle before us knowing that the beach lay on the other side. The jungle led parallel to the road as far as the eye could see and was dotted with the odd unwelcoming gate. We ended up braving one of the gates and was greeted by a bunch of semi-pushy staff who I have a feeling wouldn’t have let us onto the beach if that had been our goal. But we’d missed breakfast and as the unwelcoming gates led to hotels and restaurants we told them (all of them, we were asked by at least three people who seemed to just pop out of nowhere) we were after food. So we were grudgingly let in to a fancy beach hotel with many seats facing the water, some canopied sun beds sitting on the pristine beach and a whole bunch of oily tanned tourists lounging about in varied states of undress.
I don’t actually know what the rules are in Mexico regarding private beaches. I was told in Cancun a lot of the beach is cut off by hotels and lobby’s, but you can just walk through and go to the beach. They might try and charge you but they have no right to. I can see how people can get confused though but I’m not even sure if those rules apply to Tulum (surely they would though). So we had the most expensive breakfast we’d eaten thus far and decided to maybe go looking for a beach in a less fancy area. So we googled where the hell the “public” beaches were and realised we’d ridden past them. So it was back on the bikes after breakfast and back to the beaches.
We found the beach, but it was lacking the usual shops that always seemed to crop up everywhere in Mexico, except apparently the beach. So we had nowhere to buy bathers and our other bathers we’d put into a laundromat that morning to get a little TLC with all our other clothes. So we cheated and locked up our bikes there, caught a taxi back into Tulum and hit up a few shops till we found somewhere that sold bathers for a decent price and would let you try them on. Once that was done it was back to the beach!
The sun was hot, the air was still, and the sand didn’t burn your feet like back home. The water also wasn’t exactly warm but it didn’t take your breath away with an unexpected chill. It was nice and not too busy so we set up camp and settled in. Callum drank a coconut and we lounged around soaking it all in. There was the odd wanderer coming through trying to sell their wares but they weren’t pushy and it was a good time there on the beach in the sun. Nice to have finally made it to the ocean.
We were calmly chilling when some guy offered us a boat ride out to a reef so we could snorkel. We’d bought ourselves some snorkels earlier in town (figured it might save us the price of hiring them out) so we agreed and we were whisked away to a boat with some other tourist types.
Now we don’t come from the side of Australia with the Great Barrier Reef, but everyone’s seen the pictures and we have a few reefs here and there. This reef, and I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure it was dead. Or dying. Usually they’re pretty colourful right? There were fish but they were the brightest thing around. The whole thing was a bit depressing and I was just waiting for someone to try and break something off to take it home (a BIG no, no for the health of the reef and the fishes). Either way it was an experience but I wouldn’t really recommend it.
By the end of that it was late afternoon and Callums ravenous stomach was starting to make some growling noises. So we wandered further down the beach and found a little area that had food, massages, and a hostel. I have a feeling that was Paradise Beach which was recommended to us and is apparently a nice place to stay (and a bit more of a pricey for a hostel). We had dinner there officially smashing our budget for the day to pieces as it was yet another pricey meal. Then it was back to the bikes and we rode home in the dark. Also FYI there aren’t any street lights on the road back to Tulum, so make sure your bike comes equipped with a light if you’re planning on riding back at night. Ours, naturally, didn’t so it was an interesting experience.
All For Now,
Rachel
Travel Bee 