Tulum: Best of Mexico's Riviera Maya (Video)
 

Hi FT'ers!

My boyfriend and I are currently travelling Mexico for 2 months and have just spent a week in Tulum. This is definitely our favourite spot on the Riviera Maya! Find out below why that is…

What’s on offer in Tulum?

First off, Tulum is a great beach resort town. It has some amazing public beaches where you can take a dip into the beautiful Caribbean sea, go snorkeling or just lie around soaking in the sunshine for a dose of vitamin D and vitamin Sea. If you are looking for a nice beach, go to Playa Paraiso – we really enjoyed that one!

But Tulum is not just a beach town, it also features some great sights and activities. You can visit the Tulum ruins, which are the only Mayan ruins still in existence today that have been built on a clifftop overlooking the sea (75 MXN entrance fee). They’re definitely worth a visit – even for the dramatic scenery alone!

You can also visit one of Tulum’s many cenotes and even go scuba diving in several of them! We did a 2-tank scuba dive in the cenotes of Dos Ojos, which was an incredible experience. We dove with Scuba Tulum and found our guide, Dominic, to be very professional and an excellent guide. It was our first time diving in an overhead environment and we truly enjoyed it!!

We made a video of our diving in Dos Ojos, exploring the Tulum ruins and visit to the wonderful beaches of Tulum, which we highly recommend checking out if you want to get a better feel for how truly beautiful the place is:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC59..._as=subscriber

What makes Tulum different from e.g. Cancun or Cozumel?

Before arriving in Tulum, we also visited Cancun and Cozumel. Cancun is essentially known for its big resorts and good nightlife (cue spring break mania during spring break). If you don’t mind going to beaches that have (not so scenic) huge hotel buildings along the major portion of the coastal strip, then Cancun could be a good spot for you.

Cozumel is different in the sense that it’s an island which is very often frequented by cruise ships. It is also very touristy but has a very Caribbean feel to it and many people go there e.g. to enjoy good scuba diving.

Tulum is different from both Cancun and Cozumel since it has more of a boutique, bohemian vibe. You’ll find a lot of very picturesque spots to eat along the beaches, Instagram-friendly bars, cool clothing boutiques, etc. It has a very distinct vibe to it that we really appreciated. If you don’t have a huge budget to spend in Tulum, you can have a great time by staying in one of the many hostels or budget hotels which line the city’s main street – as we did. However, if you have a big budget, you’ll be able to stay in incredibly cool (non-chain) hotels which just looked amazing passing by and would surely be a unique experience to spend a couple nights in. Tulum also has some of the best contemporary and fusion restaurants that we have seen on our trip so far. And a lot of them – as well as a lot of fancy bars, etc.

I hope you found this post useful and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!!

Safe travels & have a great day,

Kim

@KimDDD Very nice, KimDDD!

You both seem to be having a great time! Thanks for taking the time to share.

If you’re in the area for a while yet, there’s a group of pregnant female Tiger Sharks that come every winter to your current area. They seem to be less aggressive and quite approachable, so you might inquire at your dive shop.

And I certainly agree about cenote diving. Crystal clear water, amazing sights, a few endemic wildlife like the blind cave characin, thermocline and haloclines, stalactites and stalagmites. I think our first or second cenote dives were in Dos Ojos. (We’re advanced wreck divers, and these were different overhead environments.)

And don't forget the opportunity to go into the Sian Ka'an biosphere to float down a clear Maya-dug canal, and to see the manatees and birds, beaches, Mayan structures, cenotes, and spectacular sunsets.
Tulum is also a good base from which to see the ruins at Coba, where you can climb a pyramid.
The local Maya people are very friendly, welcoming, and quite proud of their rich ancient culture.

Thanks for the tip! We're actually already in Merida now so will not be able to do the shark dives... If you've done any other good diving around Central or South America please feel free to share. We'd like to dive some more since we habe about 6 more months om the continent but are trying to keep it budget friendly - heading to Utila in Honduras as well (very cheap, said to be good and you can swim with whale sharks there).

I hope you’ve enjoyed Mérida on Sunday, when all the families are out, downtown center streets are closed to motor vehicle traffic, etc.

I’ll give the diving a bit of thought. Utila will probably be the best, as there’s not much great land based diving until Costa Rica.

We'll have to wait until Utila then!

We really loved Merida. It has a city feel to it, but doesn't feel to overwhelming and it has some great food. Also some good access to nearby sights. Now we just arrived in Mexico City, which is a whole other ballgame haha.