Tulum, Mexico!

Butcher selling his meats from the side of the road near Coba.

Tulum is broken into two parts, the town & the beach but both have their unique features & flavours. The beach is about a 5min drive or a 15min cycle from Tulum town. Town is where you get your cheap tacos, cheap drinks, tamales by the roadside, souvenirs, hats, t-shirts, crosses, hammocks. It is however better to wait and shop in Playa Del Carmen if you are going to be passing through because although Tulum gets a lot of tourists, their markets cannot compare to markets of Del Carmen where you can haggle on every cent. Tulum beach has a very different manicured feel to it. This is where we slept & arose to the sounds of the ocean but for cheap eats & tacos, the town is your best bet. If you are willing to drop some $$ then there is an amazing restaurant called Hartwood. Fresh fish is caught daily which is just what I wanted & the added bonus of a delicious drinks menu. I believe the chef is from New York & here the flavours will not disappoint. They do take reservations & they fill up very quickly. The staff are incredibly friendly & it was like home away from home vibe.

Going to the cenotes is a must and they are literally dotted all over the coastline from Cancun to Tulum. Another day trip is to bike to the Tulum Ruins. They are not as great nor are they as expansive as the ruins at Coba but you still get to walk around some ancient ruins with a beautiful ocean on one side.

To check out where we stayed, have a look at two of my other blog posts click on these links for The Papaya Playa Project & Azulik.

Mexican roadside chicken

Tulum Ruins

Papaya Playa Project, Tulum

The Papaya Playa Project was a stay we were most looking forward to on our trip. We had been drooling over the photos on their website & I was constantly following them on Instagram. Initially on our arrival, I was surprised at how big The PPP was. There must be over a hundred cabanas & casitas, throwing me off somewhat because I got the impression it was more intimate. Thankfully, being low season it did feel more intimate, there were plenty of free beds on the beach, outdoor breakfast was never packed, especially for me, being the early riser. We did arrive at the end of a full moon party, which happens once a month. This is not really my kind of thing as it attracts a much younger crowd ( perfect for the 20something crowd) & I have done the whole Thailand trip thing. I noticed in one day age range change from early twenties (who carried small kegs around) to early-thirties, now these were my kind of people. They wanted to drink, eat and relax, who doesn't after a long summer of work.

Staying at the PPP is in no way cheap. For us, it is unaffordable in the high season, especially for four nights. Our cabana was very cute, beach front view, sounds of the waves rocking you to sleep at night, electricity & a/c. The other accommodations ranged from jungle cabanas to casitas, some more luxurious than others. I did love waking up to the sunrise & starting my day with a nice cup of coffee. The workers on the beach began at 6am digging holes and collecting seaweed. It was a never ending job, with every wave new seaweed rolling on shore waiting to be raked and buried. The idea here is the keep the beach pristine, no one likes to see seaweed but it didn't bother me in the slightest. That's nature at work, what bothered me more was rubbish & cigarette butts that shouldn't be there. People, please respect the beaches, it is not your rubbish bin.

We took our hunger into the local town & had some of the finest street food Tulum has to offer. Tacos with bbqed meat, tamales, agua fresca & more tacos, beware of the spice level. I hopped from stall to stall comparing each neighbours tacos and flavours until I was full and could fit no more, I felt a little bit like Violet from Willy Wonka, please roll me down the street now. I was left wanting the flavours and spices from Tulum town. I don't want to feel like I'm at home when I'm on holidays. Feed me what the locals eat, open my eyes to a different world. Unfortunately most hotels do not do this. They give you the beach, the drinks, the weather but when it comes to the food, they make it like home so you don't feel like you are too far away. You have all the conveniences of home but you're abroad. If you want a fantastic meal but pricey then Hartwood down the road is for you, cab price $9 from The PPP. If you want cheap & tasty food head into Tulum town & eat with the locals.

I had fun, I fell asleep on a beautiful beach, the weather was great, it was quiet thanks to low season. They had an amazing spa which was run by a very friendly and welcoming woman called Gabby. Gabby is the kindest soul, you SHOULD meet if you stay here. Her holistic centre, gave me the best massage of my life. Up on the hill near the kite surfing station was an open shack with winds blowing in & sounds of the rolling waves. My massage therapist Carlos who I found out later, was the official therapist for the Mexican Olympics gynastics team. Wow, is all I can say, this guy knows what he is doing. If I could have afforded one everyday then I would have. Come for the beach & stay for the massages. Seriously though, if you are staying nearby he is worth dropping in for.

Did I mention the diving pelicans? OMG check them out in the photos below. They are amazing creatures, I spent hours watching them. I was told by a local that they eventually die from smashing into the water so many times at such heights. Rumour has it, they actually in a way kill themselves. They know when the time is near & take a giant skydive that leads to an untimely death. Why survive if you cannot fish?

Adventures in Akumal!

As the cold creeps in, memories of Akumal are keeping me warm. It's crazy because we almost didn't stop here, we figured we would just go on ahead to Tulum but I insisted I wanted to see the turtles. October is the season for them, in they come, waiting by the shore line & at night lay their eggs on the beach. Good luck finding them in the morning because they are buried under 4 feet of sand, so there is no fear of stepping on them. I spent two days in the water snorkelling around them, I was in awe. They are such beautiful creatures & if you listened carefully, you could hear them munching on the seagrass.

We stayed in another amazing Airbnb in Akumal called the Hellas Room, inside Villa Tajkumal. Our room had a Mediterranean vibe to it, we absolutely loved it & the pool out back was to die for. Our host Myrna was amazing and we would recommend anyone heading here to check out here site and other accommodations.

The beach is perfect. It is the nicest beach I have ever stepped on. The sand was perfect, the beach was clean, the water was turquoise and calm. People signed up for tours to see the turtles all day long but it really isn't necessary to do a tour as they are just waiting to be seen in the water. Rent a lifejacket & a snorkel kit and off you go. You will see plenty of them ranging in size. It is a good idea to respect the turtles & to not dive down & touch them. It is stressful for them & less turtles will return each year if tourists frighten them. They all seem to be tagged, I guess they are watching to see how far they travel each year. You will spend all day watching them gracefully swim about, it's an amazing experience.

What I didn't realise when entering Akumal is that it is a gated community. The long winding road up to Yal Ku Cai Lagoon is all privately owned properties and they all got together to make it a community. It is a little weird in a way, but the advantage is it is well taken care of. Over the highway & across the bridge is Akumal town. There really isn't much there, a small shop, a few restaurants but its pretty tiny, cute but tiny. The weather in Akumal was unreal. Blue skies all day long. It was the only place on our trip that we got to see a sunset. The sun was splitting the stones, it was so hot Farah could barely handle it & she's the tropical one. For me, my lower back & the backs of my legs went all out Irish on me, they got burnt during all the turtle swimming. Aloe, became a good friend of mine. It wasn't a bad burn but I saw people on the beach clearly burnt to a crisp from the day before & not covering up. How they managed the sun hitting their burns a second day in a row, i'll never know? Not only is it dangerous but it really hurts, it feels like you're cooking. This one fella was redder than a cooked lobster. Another couple were oiled up, her skin was like a cheap leather belt but shur, she thought she was the bee's knee's.

Golf carts are one way to get around the strip, bicycles are another. Restaurants are dotted along the coast. Luckily our place was plonked right on the beach, right next to the turtles, the boats, the restaurants & all the action. What a fantastic spot! At the opposite end is Yal Ku Cai Lagoon, a nice area for a quick snorkel, if you are not a great swimmer it's a good idea to have a lifejacket here as well, there is a nice current. If you are heading to Akumal and reading this blog, I am deeply jealous. You will have a ball.