a november week in tulum, mexico.

let me start with this statement: we LOVE mexico. LOVE it. it’s a reasonable distance and airfare away, the people are lovely, many towns take u.s. dollars despite it not being the national currency, it gives us an opportunity to practice our spanish, and many places are still reasonably cheap. tulum, while stunning and fun, is not one of those places. i repeat: tulum is NOT CHEAP. sure, we found some bomb tacos and beachside massages that didn’t break the bank, but there was an upscale vibe to a lot of the restaurants and shops that took us a little by surprise. that said, i still highly recommend it as a vacation destination. just keep your expectations in check. if you’re me, for instance, and show up to every dinner in jorts and a muscle tank because BEACH VACATION, you might feel a little underdressed. just sayin.

moving on. here’s a rundown of what we did/ate/saw. we were there with our one year old niece so here “kid friendly” is code for “has high chairs”. most places did not.

Stay:

• casa ganesh
  • beautiful property nestled amongst larger hotels
  • we booked the largest casita as well as one of the regular rooms
  • very friendly and attentive staff
  • had a pack and play crib thingy for the baby
  • there was construction pretty much on all sides and while we did pay a cheaper rate and the staff was incredibly apologetic, it was pretty annoying

eat & drink

Lunch:

• taqueria honorio (in town, not on the beach strip).
  • patronized by locals and visitors
  • all the tacos. per mat they were all good, but i’m veggie and they had excellent veggie tacos (pictured).
  • GET THE HORCHATA
  • very informal. also google says they close at 2pm but i’m pretty sure they’re open until they run out of food. whenever that is.
• mateo’s
  • a “something for everyone” kind of place. we went there 3 times and i think i had almost everything veggie on the menu. i hear the fish tacos are also good.
  • upstairs lounge has hammocks and is apparently amazing but only open after 5:30pm and we were always there before that.
  • kid-friendly
  • mat’s favorite: molcajete bowl. one of the best meals of the trip in his opinion.

Dinner:

• cenzontle
  • charming “secret garden” restaurant
  • delicious unique food and tasty cocktails
  • delightfully random music selection
  • not the fastest service
• arca
  • new york fancy meets jungle dinner party atmosphere
  • they have a drink called Har Mar Superstar (please YouTube if you’re not familiar with his work).
  • staff was borderline too attentive, but the food was great.
• gitano
  • dim lighting with a disco ball if that gives you any sense of the atmosphere
  • delicious food though not the largest of portions
  • also felt fancy, and yes I was still in cutoffs and flip flops.
• simple
  • excellent restaurant for the pescatarian crowd
  • very friendly staff that gave us free mezcal
  • not veggie friendly- there were very few items I could eat. They did make me a special coconut ceviche which was good but didn’t actually contain very much coconut.
• posada margherita
  • really delicious Italian food with lots of fresh pasta in a stunning beachside location
  • veggie and kid friendly
  • cash only
  • where the white people go. seriously. it was all the white people.

To Do

• yoga at ahau tulum
  • beautiful loft overlooking the ocean at a resort property
  • suitable for all experience levels
  • class was taught in English, mostly.
  • sometimes there’s a dog that just comes and wanders around
  • it’s above the restaurant of the property so don’t expect silence with your om’s and savasana.
• coba ruins
  • 40 minute drive from town
  • not too large- covered the entire thing in about 60-90 minutes
  • you can hire a guide to tell you the history. mat’s dad is an archeologist so we didn’t need one!
  • lots of walking. there are bikes available but also pedi cabs if you want to feel like you’re riding in a chariot.
  • hike to the top of the largest pyramid. it’s steep and not for the faint of heart, but the view from the top is 100% worth it.
  • bring your sunblock and bug spray.
• diving the cenotes (we went with the company mexidivers)
  • takes you to Dos Ojos and Batcave cenotes
  • reasonably priced and only takes 4 divers at a time
  • friendly and knowledgable dive masters that sang with each other from the front seat of the van
  • a little terrifying (we hadn’t dove in a few years and buoyancy control is a big thing when swimming in caverns, apparently) but also really cool.
  • Batcave is an actual bat cave. as in your surface from underwater and look at bats hanging out.
  • it’s probably equally interesting to just go snorkeling to be honest, but a lot more people do that so it can get crowded.
  • go later in the day. according to the dive shop most tour groups from the big hotels in cancun and playa del carmen go earlier in the day.
• tulum ruins
  • beautiful coastal ruins with lots of views of the turquoise waters. you might be able to access the beach on some days, but all the access points were blocked off when we were there because of rough waters.
  • iguanas sunning themselves everywhere
  • it was really crowded and we heard there are certain sundays that all mexican citizens get free admission, so maybe avoid those days if possible or go really early in the day.

tulum ruins