Tulum Travel Guide: Part 2 - The Rose Tinted Glasses

If you follow any influencers on social media you have probably heard of Tulum, Mexico. Tulum has quickly become one of my favorite places. It has some of the coolest hotels and restaurants. They all have a super chic bohemian vibe, with no details left out. There are cute surprises hidden at every corner waiting to be discovered. I have compiled this Tulum travel guide to hopefully help you narrow down where to stay, eat, and things to do. Happy travels friends!

What To Do:

Tulum is full of activities for all types of vacations. You can lounge on the beach, ride bikes up and down the strip, take a yoga class, have a spa day and much much more. You can make Tulum as adventurous as you want or as chill as you want. Some of our favorite activities include:

–Shopping:

Tulum has so many shops along the beach road that are worth stopping by. Most of the shops carry beautiful handcrafted goods unique to Tulum. Hopping on some bikes and cruising the strip for some shopping makes for a really fun carefree day.

–Cenotes:

Cenotes are waterfilled sinkholes that are created when the roof of a cavern collapses. The Cenotes have crystal clear blue waters. They are cool and refreshing so they are perfect after a warm day exploring some ruins. There are many different cenotes around the Tulum area. You can hire a cab driver for a couple of hours and they will take you on a trip to visit whichever ruins and cenotes you want. The drivers will wait for you while you explore and the concierge at your hotel can help set it up and let the cab driver know where you are wanting to go. We visited the Gran Cenote and Dos Ojos.

The Gran Cenote is probably the most frequented due to how beautiful it is. It is pretty small so it really doesn’t take much time to explore. Dos Ojos is a lot larger and does require a guide because you go through a cave. The guide is hilarious and extremely knowledgable about the cenote and the Mayan’s. The cenotes require Peso’s so if you are planning to go to a few make sure to bring plenty of money. They also ask that you rinse off before you get in the cenotes and refrain from wearing makeup, bug spray and sunscreen unless it is biodegradable.

–Mayan Ruins:

There are a couple of different ruins that you can visit near Tulum. The main one is the Tulum Ruins that is located at the end of the hotel zone road. It is definitely the most famous and most frequented by tourists. They do offer guided tours, or you can choose to opt-out and wander freely and read the plaques with the information. The ruins are located on a cliff overlooking the water so you may want to wear a swimsuit to go for a swim.

We sadly did not get to visit the Coba Ruins and the Chichen Itza Ruins, but I have heard tons of great things about them and seen tons of beautiful pictures. Coba is about a 30-minute drive from Tulum while Chichen Itza is about 2.5 hours. Chichen Itza is considered one of the new seven wonders of the world so we will definitely be visiting the next time we go back.

–Cooking Class:

A couple of years ago we had some friends recommend that we do a cooking class while on vacation. We took their advice and have NOT regretted it yet. We have been to Tulum twice and did the cooking class with Lina’s Mexican Kitchen both times. It is by far our favorite night of the trip! Lina and her sister lead the class in her kitchen and they are so sweet and super informative about cooking. She gives you options to pick from when planning your menu and sends you home with a recipe book. The food is delicious and it just makes for such a special night eating on her patio with her and her sister. I cannot say enough good things about this cooking class!

Lina's Cozy Patio Tulum, Mexico — Lina’s beautiful patio

Where To Stay:

One of the things I love most about Tulum is all the different boutique hotels they have to offer. Boutique hotels are smaller and less commercialized as the resorts you typically stay in for vacation. The entire strip is lined with all of these hotels. The prices range is dependent on the time of year you go and of course by how fancy you want to get. For this reason, you can make Tulum as expensive or as affordable as you want.

–El Pez:

On our first trip to Tulum, we stayed at El Pez. A company called Colibri Boutique Hotels owns El Pez which also has 3 other hotels on the Tulum strip. We got the opportunity to visit 2 of their other hotels while there. They each have a little different vibe but all 4 offer great service. El Pez is located a little closer to the beginning of the strip which is a little bit of a downer but everything else they have to offer is a major perk. Breakfast is included with your stay but it should be called breakFEAST because it is, in fact, a delicious feast. You get fresh-squeezed orange juice, coffee, a starter, and the main dish. A couple of the starters are yogurt and granola or bread with homemade jelly. They have some other options too, but the yogurt with granola is my favorite.

While you are eating breakfast there are local fishermen that come to the waters in front of the hotel to catch some fish. Chris and I love getting to watch them catch some of their fresh fish every morning. El Pez also offers a turndown service where tea and a piece of chocolate are delivered to your room every night. The staff is so sweet and very eager to wait on you. They are super knowledgable about Tulum and help with any service you needed to book.

Price-wise El Pez is the cheapest of the 4 Colibri Boutique Hotels. La Zebra has the best location and the coolest beach area. If you have kids it is probably the most kid-friendly hotel. Mi Amor is a little more upscale and has more of a rocky beach. If you choose to visit the spa at a Colibri Boutique hotel, you will get to visit Mi Amor.

–Coco Limited:

Coco Limited is owned by Coco Tulum which is right up the road. The first night there we actually walked up the beach to Coco Tulum to grab dinner and drinks. When we first arrived we were greeted with welcome drinks and the staff showed us to our rooms. Coco Limited is super affordable but I think that it is one of those “You get what you pay for things.” The facilities are very nice and beautiful but it does not include breakfast, they don’t offer bike rentals, and the staff isn’t as helpful as some of the other places you go to. Overall it was still a very good affordable option.

–Nomade Tulum:

We stayed at Nomade Tulum the last couple of days on our trip and I highly recommend it. I will say it is a little on the pricey side which is why we only stayed for a couple of days. Everything about it is top-notch though. The decor around the hotel is amazing and every spot has been so thought out. A buffet-style breakfast is included with your stay. There are 3 different restaurants at the hotel, but some are only open for lunch or breakfast. They offer yoga as well as other daily classes and bike rentals. The hotel staff is extremely helpful. I can’t say enough good things about Nomade, it was amazing.

We have also looked into The Beach Tulum multiple times. It is in a great location, probably about the center of the strip. They have a really cool restaurant/ bar area with pool tables and swings at the bar. A couple of others that we have looked into are Be Tulum and Nest Tulum. They are both located towards the end of the strip and have a similar vibe to Nomade Tulum. Be Tulum is a bit on the pricier side while Nest Tulum is more affordable. We can’t wait to get back and hopefully try a couple of these out.

Coco Limited Tulum, Mexico — Coco Limited Balcony View

Where to Eat:

There are SO MANY good places to eat in Tulum so I will try not to ramble and literally say all of them.

–Breakfast:

A lot of the hotels include breakfast so we never really ventured off and tried too many breakfast options. We did try Matcha Mama one morning. She makes bomb smoothies and smoothie bowls. As an added perk, it makes for a great photo op.

–Lunch:

I have two absolute MUST lunch spots. The first is a quaint little Italian restaurant called Posada Margherita. The restaurant is located on the beach and has the cutest walk from the road to the beach. I mean it is complete terracotta greenhouse dreams. They have the best bread in Tulum. While we were there, they were working to open a pizzeria which we will definitely give a try when we go back. They only take cash so make sure you have some pesos. The second lunch MUST is Charly’s Vegan Tacos. A staff member at Nomade recommended this one and it did not disappoint. It is right up the road from Nomade and is a food truck style restaurant. It was honestly the best tacos we had while we were there. Chris was so excited because they were the only place that we found that had jamaica tea.

Posada Margherita Tulum, Mexico — Posada Magherita Entrance

–Dinner:

This is the tricky part to narrow down because there are so many good ones and there are still so many options we still want to try. Hartwood is a MUST! It was the best overall food that we had the entire trip. We all four got something different and everything that they brought out was perfection. You do have to make reservations ahead of time because they get full quick. We made our reservations about a week before we went just to make sure we got them and that we didn’t have to worry about it once we got there.

Casa Jaguar and Mur Mur are both very similar and are both equally as good. Mur Mur is a little cheaper than Casa Jaguar (which could have easily just been what we ordered). They both have cool shops surrounding them that are worth checking out. Casa Jaguar host a jungle party on certain nights of the week. It does start pretty late so if you are a grandma like me you won’t make it to the jungle party. If you are looking for a more fun and chill night I would recommend Juanita Diavola at Coco Tulum. They are a pizzeria serving brick oven pizzas and Jenga that you can play while you hang out and wait for your pizza. They also have the best Margherita pizza I have ever had in my life. It was so good we got two and went back later that week for another.

–Drinks:

Coco Tulum hands-down win the best margaritas and they are home to the iconic white bar swings overlooking the beach. Gitano’s is a mezcal jungle bar and restaurant. Next time we go we are trying the food there. They have some awesome drinks and you get to sip on them under a disco ball in the jungle! They have so many cool rooms with such cool vibes.

If you are looking for drinks and a sunset view Mateos and Azulik are your best bet. The sunsets on the jungle side so you have to get up pretty high to see it. Mateos has a “sunset lounge” with a little bit of a laid back vibe and some nights they have live music. Their drinks are just okay, in my opinion, Azulik has better drinks but they are a little more pricey and upscale. Azulik is a hotel/ restaurant that is known for their insane luxury treehouses. Even their restaurant has little treehouse nest that you can watch the sunset from while you sip on your drinks.

–Dessert:

If you have a sweet tooth like me, Origami has the best gelato in town. I swear we went there at least 4 times and it was not my idea every time! That’s just how good it is.