My BFF & I returned from our trip to Tulum in July 2021! As soon as we got out of Cancun *cough, cough* & reached Tulum, we had the BEST time. This group helped me research a lot prior to our trip… so here are some things we personally learned & experienced!
ACCOMODATION: We stayed in an amazing bnb in the Tulum Centro area. We felt perfectly safe, even walking around at night (we saw other people doing the same AND we had each other) – though of course, just like you would elsewhere, be smart about it & keep your guard up at all times! Staying in the Tulum Centro area was a great way to save $$$ not only because accommodation tends to be cheaper BUT the restaurants close by are WAY cheaper as well when compared to beach road. I also loved that it felt way less commercialized & more local.
TRANSPORTATION: We rented a car in Cancun & unintentionally ended up driving half of our roadtrip during the nighttime to Tulum. At first, we were really nervous about this considering some stories we had heard. BUT, thank goodness all went smoothly & we had NO encounters with the police our entire trip. Regardless, we had everything ready if they were to stop us. Prepare for the worst & hope for the best! *we were told that there may be a certain time towards evening where there are no police check points for the rest of the night. we do not know the specifics, but maybe this is why we were not stopped at any! we started driving around 6/7PM.*
When we got to Cancun, we began second guessing if we should rent a car or just do the public transportation route. Let me tell you, we are SO GRATEFUL we decided to KEEP THE RENTAL. We rented from a very local shop named iDrive Rental Car. They didn’t include ridiculously high deposits most other car rental companies require AND they did not charge a young driver fee. Keep in mind,
when you use more local companies like this, you CANNOT expect them to speak your language and/or English. We used google translate to communicate & though it went a bit slower, all went well. They were so patient with all of our worries & questions. We HIGHLY recommend this company.
DRIVING ON TULUM ROADS: Tulum is being completely built up as we speak. Construction is everywhere, especially in the center. The roads are BAD. The worst potholes we’ve ever seen and thousands of them. The “main road” that you have to use to get from the center to the beach road is pretty much alllll potholes. Note this when you are trying to get from point a to point b. We had a little freaking volkswagon bug & it did the job. Slowly….. but surely!
BEACH CLUBS: We did sooo much research on which beach club we could get the best experience since in the short time we were there, we only had one day to spare for this. Reluctantly, we ended up choosing Taboo… only because we are not huge fans of EDM & wanted more hiphop/rnb/t-pain vibes you know?! I was nervous Taboo was going to be a waste of money (because it’s $$$) but honestly this was one of the best days of our trip. The experience was worth every penny. We went on a Monday & chilled there from 1:30-7 & had ourselves a BLAST. Traveling Mexico can take a lot out of you, so if you can, treat yourself to a day of relaxation & fun! We did hear great things about Playa de Papaya & Ziggy’s (more chill) too but didn’t get to experience them
Note that HALF of your cover charge for Taboo can be used for drinks and food. It was $112 for us to get in & then spending the whole day there, we spent an extra $48 USD per person. Like I said, it is PRICEY, but to us it was totally worth it & the best way to end our adventure.
CENOTES: I did heavy research on Cenotes & built us an itinerary for a whole day of cenote hopping. It would be too long to post in this, but comment if you’d like more info on all the cenotes we did! We started from the center and at the end of the day ended up about an hour and a half away. We went to LOTS!
CHICHEN ITZA: We have a goal of visiting all of the world wonders and we crossed off number 3 this trip! I researched multiple different tour companies & I am SO HAPPY with the experience of the one we chose. I ended up booking through Viator & it was a pricier tour but worth every penny! Which we felt SO lucky about, because a tour we did in Cancun (we only spent half a day there) was the worst we had ever experienced. So do your research when/if choosing a tour!!!
Hope this helps someone out there! Enjoy these photos of paradise!