This is the part of Tulum that’s right on the beach where most of the action is (I recommend you stay here if possible – more hotel recs below)
Raw Love → Raw, vegan smoothie bowl place right on the beach
Fresco’s → One of our favorite spots for breakfast
Ziggy’s → Another great breakfast spot
Delek → Stayed here once – the food was great for breakfast, lunch, + dinner
Hartwood → Sooooo good. Make a reservation the month before by emailing reservations@hartwoodtulum.com. (For example, if you’re going sometime in February, they start taking reservations January 1st).
Atila → We stumbled upon this place one night and I honestly thought it rivaled the famous Hartwood. The food was so good, plates meant for sharing, natural wines. Reasonably priced for the area and CC accepted
Bal Nak → A quieter, unassuming place that has delicious food & cocktails and wonderful service. Highly recommend this place for a nicer and more relaxed dinner.
Posada Margherita → Italian place on the beach with good pastas + pizzas, and cool vibes.
Kitchen Table → Another delicious option for an outdoor dining experience on the jungle side of the road. Make a reservation!
Gitano → A very large restaurant and bar with great cocktails. Becomes a bit sceney later in the night.
NÜ Tulum → This is where we had our rehearsal dinner. Food was so good!
Yoga at Ahau → (As of Feb 2022) Everyday at 9am. $20 USD. Mats provided. You don’t have to sign up beforehand—just show up 10 minutes or so before class. You get a lovely view of the beach + ocean, and Raw Love is right below it so you can grab a coffee and a smoothie bowl when class is finished.
Yoga at Sanará → (As of Feb 2022) Mon–Tues at 8am + 9:30am. Wed–Sun at 8am, 9:30am, and 11am. $25 USD.
Yäan Wellness → Fancy spa day for a special occasion
This is a quiet, nice neighborhood in between the Hotel Zone and Tulum City (El Centro) with upscale, affordable Airbnbs. Good if you have a bigger group, are on a budget, or are staying for a longer period time / are working. Rent a bike so that you can easily get to where you need to go (taxis are expensive and traffic is bad). Here are a few spots if you’re staying there – no need to go out of your way for these places though.
Rossina Café → Cute café with a full breakfast menu. They also have decent wifi if you need to get some work done.
Matcha Mama → A good spot to get smoothies and smoothie bowls.
Ola Bikes → This is where we rented our bikes when we were staying in the neighborhood. There are also a lot of cute restaurnats near this spot, but we didn’t try any.
Tomate.mx → Their version of Seamless, if you need quick food delivery
AKA Tulum City, the more bustling part of town. There are definitely places to stay (and authentic tacos to eat), but I’d generally recommend the Hotel Zone or Aldea Zama for your accommodation. It’s worth visiting one night to try some authentic Mexican food though.
Tulum Taco Tour with Victoria → This is a great way to explore Tulum Town (El Centro) while trying some authentic Mexican tacos. We had the best time!
Burrito Amor → Ordered this on tomato.mx one day and the burrito was delicious.
Don Cafeto → Authentic, no frills Mexican food on the main road.
Bike to the ruins → About a half hour bike ride from the Hotel Zone, and then you can explore the archeological site.
Visit a cenote → We visited the Gran Cenote once, it was cool.
Hotel Zone
Aldea Zama:
Tulum (and the Hotel Zone in particular) heavily favors cash. Many places don’t even accept credit cards, but if they do, they mark up your bill significantly. They accept USD but the conversion rate is horrible. ATMs are few and far between and unreliable, so get pesos at the ATM at Cancun airport &/or get some at your bank ahead of time. For our last trip, we got $20,000 pesos (a little less than $1,000 USD) at our bank ahead of time for a weeklong trip. We had a lot leftover at the end of the week, but we go back to Mexico a lot so we didn’t mind.
MY FAVORITE INTERNATIONAL ATM HACK: When getting cash out at an ATM internationally, it will ask you if you accept the currency conversion rate (which is always extremely high). HIT NO. You will still get your cash, but you will be charged your own bank’s conversion rate, which is likely to be much, much lower. This will save you huge amounts of money (think $2 in fees vs. $50 in fees for a ~$250 withdrawal). (You will still get charged the ATM fee, however I love my Charles Schwab account for this because it refunds me all ATM fees).
Tulum is about 2 hours south of Cancun. We book Cancun Vans for getting private transfer to & from the airport – easy and reliable and nice to have someone waiting at the airport when you land.
Most hotels and restaurants use it to communicate.
Is shotty all over Tulum – so you’ll have to rely mainly on Wifi
If you’re in the Hotel Zone there will be taxis all over. If you’re staying in Aldea Zama, here are a few taxi drivers you can reach out to via WhatsApp to schedule a ride (English or Spanish is fine)
Sergio → +52 984 228 1346
Mary → +52 984 593 2429
Vincente (van, larger groups) → +52 984 130 4218