Tulum recommendations

Tulum is wonderful. There is a city side and a hotel zone. You will probably want the hotel zone to be on the beAch. Zebra is really good and has one of the best beach setups I have seen. Beds, loungers, swings, etc all setup for hotel guests on a great stretch of beach. I would put Tulum’s beaches as one of the top in the world.

For activities, I highly recommend checking out the grand Cenote for snorkeling. It is also a beautiful spot to lounge afterwards.
There is also a cool beach right below the Maya ruins.

There are pricey options near the hotel zone for food, but our favorite meals were in the city side eating street food for under $3. We rented bikes and biked to everything while we were there.

One problem with Tulum is the number of choices because it’s all boutique hotels. It’s hard to narrow a search. The price range between places varies greatly, so that might be the best place to start.

LaZebra & Mezzanine have been mentioned. Both are great, sister properties under the same ownership, but both are expensive. I believe LaZebra is more centrally located. I recall Mezzanine being closer to the ruins.

Thanks

Hartwood was awesome for finer dining but still casual. Just make sure you have pesos because the atms can be an aggravation and some places will not exchange. 2 people wining and dining was close to $200.

Pizzeria Manglar does not look like much but it was awesome.

For breakfast, tunich and azafran are good choices.

There is a Walmart-ish grocery on the road leading to the ruins and beach if you need little stuff or some beers for the room. It is good to have mosquito spray on you at all times for non-beach related journeys.

Also, if you go to Akumal (Sp?) Beach north of Tulum you are almost guaranteed to swim with a sea turtle. Get there early and park at public parking then walk to the beach. There will be people hounding you about tours/snorkel gear (bring a snorkel)/private beaches, etc. but don’t bite on it. Just find a spot on the beach, put your stuff down and swim out as far as you are comfortable.

We stayed at an Eco resort with no AC or lights at night (just candles). Although it was tough with the heat and mosquitos, the views and getting to see sea turtles lay eggs on the beach and helping volunteers release hatchlings into the surf were a great life experience.

August our bungalow opened fully to the sea over a cliff and there was a nice breeze until the last night so it wasn’t awful and I was acclimated after about 2 days. Needless to say I cranked the fan up over the bed every night and the rental car drives were heaven. The mosquitos are what you have to worry about. Louisiana mosquitos don’t like my blood. Mexican mosquitos fricked me up good.