Tulum, Mexico – where tropical beaches meet ancient ruins and the nightlife doesn’t stop until the sun comes up. And let’s not forget about the cenotes around Tulum, those magical swimming holes that will make you feel like you’ve stumbled upon a secret underwater paradise. As reluctant as I was about visiting this tourist hotspot, I had a great time exploring the cenotes, eating delicious food, and enjoying the nightlife. Read on to hear more about my honest, uncensored opinion on exploring Tulum.
Table of Contents
How to get to Tulum
Bacalar to Tulum
Tulum is very easy to get to especially with an ADO bus. I took a bus from the Bacalar ADO bus station to the Tulum bus station for around 350 pesos. The ride is less than 3 hours and is comfortable as usual with ADO buses.
Alternatively, you can take a colectivo from Bacalar to Tulum for a far cheaper price. The colectivo stop is here but you may need to go there in advance to get a ticket first. I tried to take a colectivo last minute and couldn’t because I didn’t have a ticket and the colectivo was too full.
Cancun to Tulum
You are also able to take the ADO bus from either the Cancun airport or Cancun city, to the city of Tulum or the Tulum Ruins. From the Cancun airport, the tickets will be around 360 pesos. The Cancun city, tickets will be around 240 pesos. At the Cancun airport, the tickets can be bought on site and each terminal will have an ADO bus stop (except for Terminal 1). You are always able to buy ticket directly from the ADO app.
You are also able to take a colectivo from downtown Cancun to Tulum. The colectivos can be found somewhere around here. And as always, the colectivos will be cheaper than the ADO buses.
Where to stay in Tulum
There are several hotels, hostels, AirBnbs, and resorts around Tulum. I spent a couple nights at the Aloft Tulum because I had some free night vouchers. The hotel was clean, comfortable, and fun as Marriott hotels usually are.
The Mayan Monkey hostel was right across the street. I did not stay here but I had a friend stay here who really enjoyed it. The hostel is a fancier than you might think, has a pool and bar, bike rentals, and plenty more.
The party hotspot in Puebla, otherwise known as downtown Tulum, is Straw Hat Hostel. Yes, it’s a hostel but it’s also a very busy rooftop bar with dancing and loud music. Not sure how anyone staying there is able to get good sleep with all the noise and partying on the rooftop. The crowd is mostly backpacker and younger, and the nightlife almost every night was a lot of fun. With every bar you go to, be careful with your drinks! I’ve heard a couple horror stories in Tulum so always be safe.
Che Hostel is another social spot in Tulum. Similar to the Bacalar Che Hostel, the Tulum Che Hostel also has a pool, a bar, and several social activities every day.
There are several other options that I can’t speak for since I did not see them. But as touristy and busy as Tulum is, there’s a place to stay for everyone.
What to do in Tulum
Visit the beach – or don’t
The beach may look great in photos but when I went it looked nothing like that. They did say that 2022 was the year they had seen the worst sargassum growth in the area. The entire beach was covered in this brown seaweed and the shores were brown and murky, not turquois like in most photos. The beach with the bigger resorts was reportedly being cleaned daily so there may have been less of an issue there. Nonetheless, it made the beach unswimmable.
In addition, free public access to the beach in Tulum is very limited and definitely not in walking distance if you are staying in the Puebla area. Most of the beach requires entry into a beach club or a resort which you of course have to pay for. Some of the free public beaches I found are Playa Paraiso, Playa Pescadores, and Playa Ruinas (can also visit the Tulum ruins).
To get to the beaches you are able to take a taxi, rent a bike, or take a colectivo. I saw one colectivo stop here, and there may be other in the Puebla area of Tulum. However, I did not take any colectivos during my time in Tulum so I’m not experienced in where exactly it stops.
Take a dip in the Cenotes around Tulum
Since the beach were basically un-swimmable, my friends and I decided to see the cenotes around Tulum. Cenotes are an underground cave or a natural pit that is now filled with water creating a pool. The ancient Mayan civilizations thought of cenotes as the entrance to the underworld, thus sacrificial offerings were dropped here.
There are several cenotes near Tulum and they are all incredibly beautiful. I was only able to visit 2 during my time in Tulum, but I did visit several more around Valladolid. Here are some of the cenotes near Tulum that I had listed to see:
- Cenote Tortuga (650 peso entry for 4 cenotes. Only 2 that are freely swimmable and 2 that are underground. Additional 100 pesos for a locker.)
- Cenote Calavera (the one with the instagram-able swing)
- Gran Cenote (500 peso entry fee for a very popular spot and crowded spot)
- Parque Dos Ojos (home to 5 cenotes including Cenote Dos Ojos, Cenote Nicte Ha, Cenote Jaguar, Cenote Los Monos, Cenote El Pit)
- Cenote Azul
- Cenote Jardin del Eden
I took a taxi for about 1000 pesos to visit the Cenote Tortuga from Puebla. There are colectivos that I’m sure are much cheaper than this that also go to some of the cenotes around Tulum.
Tulum Ruins and Snorkeling
I’m sure many of you have seen photos of the majestic Tulum ruins against the turquoise blue beach. This is a very popular spot for tourists and can get very crowded. I took a taxi from downtown to what looked like the road that takes you to the entrance of the ruins. We were dropped off somewhere around this corner and were immediately approached by a tour guide. The guide sold us a deal that included the entry fee into the ruins along with a snorkeling tour for about 500 pesos. Not sure if this was a good deal or not since the tickets to just the ruins are only 85 pesos, but the tour guide was very persuasive.
Ruins
The ruins themselves are spectacular and some of the views against the blue ocean are beautiful. The beach was brown and murky from the sargassum that summer so I’m sure in other seasons when the water is actually blue it’ll look even more beautiful.
Snorkeling
From the ruins we walked onto the road parallel to the beach until we came to the point the tour guide had marked off for our snorkeling excursion. This was about a 15 minute walk and the meeting point was here. We showed the guide our paid voucher that we were given earlier and then were taken onto a boat. The boat took us out to see a view of the ruins from the water, and then to a snorkeling spot. We jumped off the boat with the snorkeling gear that was given to us and were free to snorkel for about 20 minutes. 20 minutes was plenty because the sea life in that area was very active. We saw turtles, rays, and all different types of reef fish.
Amazing sushi!
We got dropped back off at our meeting point on the beach. My friends and I decided to walk the beach since we were already on it, and found an amazing sushi place called Kogure Tulum Japanese Cuisine. From there we found a taxi to take us back to downtown Tulum.
Enjoy the Nightlife
Nightlife in Tulum is really something else. In a town as touristy as Tulum, there is plenty of nightlife every night. I mostly spent my nights in Puebla but I really wish I had tried going out to some of the bigger clubs by the beach. This is my list of places I went to and wanted to go to while I was here:
- Straw Hat – young, backpacker crowd that’s fun pretty much every night
- Santino Bar – classier than Straw hat but still a young fun crowd
- Batey Mojito and Guarapo Bar – dive bar vibe with a live band and amazing drinks
- Gitano – the spot for Friday nights and it has a disco ball!
- Papaya Playa Project – the best place to go on a Saturday night, but get there early because it gets packed
Where to Next?
From seeing the majestic ruins to visiting the cenotes in Tulum to partying the night away at one of the bars in Puebla, Tulum was a blast. While it was great to see my friends from home in Tulum, I was ready to leave this bustling tourist hub. My next stop takes me to the island of Cozumel, another tourist hotspot. My main objective here was to go diving in the stunning reefs around here. Join me as I explore the sea life near Mexico!
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