Tulum came highly recommended to us, and since it's a 5 hour flight to Cancun and a 1 hour drive, the travel time is not too bad. The #1 thing I love about Mexico is that it is easy to get to , yet you feel so far from home...OK and the margis. After agonizing for weeks on Trip Advisor reading reviews after reviews, we decided to stay at "THE BEACH" hotel in Tulum. It is a small boutique hotel, just like all the other hotels on that strip of beach. It is beyond ridiculous there. We love it. We had an awesome room- our bedwas facing the beach and the sun rises directly ahead so we got to watch the sun come up every morning.
Our room which was actually a bungalow, was perfect. It's an open bedroom/living area with a couch and small table, marble floors and sliding doors. We had a jacuzzi in our room behind the bed- curtains and a half wall separate the two so you can have privacy or look out into the beach from the tub. We also had an awesome shower/bathroom(this is a must for me). Out our back door was the patio that leads onto the sand with hammocks and day beds and Palm trees; and out the front door is the pool. The pool separates into fingers that lead up to each bungalow. Upstairs is a private sundeck and private plunge pool with a perfect view of the beach/sunrise in the am and the sunset in the pm. First day we literally laid on a beach bed all day and read, napped and drank maragritas.
The second daywe got up and went for a run- and a full-on rain storm hit. We were soaked but it was great. We checked out a lot of other hotels along the way (they're all located on this several mile stretch of beach) and we are so happy with ours. We noticed THE BEACH is one of the only hotels that have bungalows right on the beach...the rest seem to be further away from the shoreline and a little more "on property" feel. We literally walk out the back door onto the beach and a few steps away from the water.
A lot of the places here are European owned so the food is amazing. Our place only offers Mexican food: it's delicious and we get breakfast included every morning.
I drank out of a coconut daily that fell from a Palm tree right there on the beach. We went to an outside restaurant for lunch called "Casa Banana." It's Argentinian- we split a skirt steak sandwich and washed it down with 4 margaritas...I was on vacation so it's ok :) We actually went back for lunch everyday to Casa Banana except the last day. The dinner spot we went to a few times is called Hartwood. It was written up in NY times and the concept is that only food and livestock from this region are served. No imported foods at all. The menu selection is like The Lark in Santa Barbara. It's not Mexican but all ingredients come from here. I had pork ribs, of course, and Bryan had some amazing grouper fish dish. An Italian place that was highly recommended called Posada Margherita also didn't disappoint. The pasta was fresh and the seafood was sooooo good. On the last day of the trip we ditched out of line at the ruins just to go back and eat there. The ruins will always be there, right? Next time.
CASA BANANA SANDWICH
POSADA MARGHERITA SEAFOOD PASTA
The weather is warm and constantly breezy- very comfortable, and moving clouds all day. The clouds make for picturesque sunrises and sets. The water is tepid and clear. The rain comes and goes quickly and makes the whole experience more tropical.
It's turtle season in October, so baby turtles come up onto the sand around 730 at night. We never saw them, only the hole they came out of and little turtle footprints. So cute.
Tulum is very Eco friendly. We only got AC from 530-930pm in the room. And no exterior lighting at night. They ask us to keep the electricity to a minimum at night to conserve and to avoid confusing the baby turtles (I guess they follow the moon)
We took a little excursion to snorkel at Akumal...it was worth the drive....dip into these waters:
ONLY CONS:
All ATMs in the town were broken and most places are cash only. Exchange your money at the airport!!!!!! At one point we had to add up everything we ordered at dinner so we didn't run out of money. I felt like I was back in college. We used our last dollar!!
The internet connection here is horrible(only Bryan would consider this a CON but I had to mention). I prefer to "unplug" on vacation so it didn't bother me.
Recommendations:
THE BEACH HOTEL thebeach-tulum.com
CASA BANANA for lunch
POSADA MARGHERITA/HARTWOOD for dinner
AKUMAL snorkel
COQUI COQUI for fragrances and gifts