It is far from undiscovered, yet we liked the balance of stunning beauty and Mexican culture with relative proximity and just a ton of fun things to do. We stayed at Livetulum, a boutique hotel in town with a swim up, apartment style room decorated with rustic antiques and Frida Kahlo art and images. It was pretty cheap in peak season and had a great big breakfast served outside in a room small enough to chat to other guests about sights to see and restaurants to dine at. The street itself was a mix of ramshackled, rubble filled lots (developing country style) and cute boutique hotels, hippie cafes and Mexican restaurants. The beach was a 4 mile drive where the jungle stops abruptly at the stunning azure shoreline. I don't think I've used the word azure in my life!
Tulum is charming and has a super laid back vibe. We found the playa paraiso the first beach day and it was perfect. Umbrella and chairs by the sea. A beach that stretched to the ruins and back. No seashells though, in case you were wondering. Austin enthusiastically built a sandcastle with me, who used the ancient Huber gothic sand dripping method of castle building and Hayden, who built a moat and dug a hole til he hit water.
The Rivera Maya is steeped in the ancient history and even the super touristy parts (like the chochkey-riddled street leading to the ruins) weren't so bad. The ruins themselves were well presented...a lovely natural path that led to the opening of the roped-off ruins AND had giant iguanas all over the place.
Tulum is a total food scene and we had mixed luck here, mostly because of happenstance. We loved La Coqueta so much we ate there for dinner twice. The fresh fish filet Mayan style with chipotle honey was to die for (and I hate chipotle). The margarita was insane: fresh lime juice and tequila; As it should be. Also good but a little loud ("mommy, let's go to the disco party") was Mateo's. We were not fans of El Capitan and we tried several times to eat at Matt's favorite taco place but it seemed to only be open from 9:00am - 9:47am daily.
On Wednesday with Hayden's insistence and my reticence, we went to the Grand Cenote. Cenotes are underwater caves that pepper the interior around Tulum. I fretted over everything: cold water, Austin's fear, Austin's safety, bats...it was of course fine. Austin loved it. I liked it. And after about an hour we headed for the beach.
While the days of Austin napping on the beach are over, we timed it pretty well and managed to get several hours and lunch in before returning to the hotel for a nap for him and some rest for us. When he woke, he would immediately want to go into our perfect little pool where in the matter of minutes he figured out how to swim on his own (with a life jacket) instead of clinging to one of us. He could swim the length of the pool. And he used a kick board too!
We are hopeful that this might be the first of Austin's extraordinary vacations that he remembers. Our confidence grows, because with a direct flight, reasonable prices &/or points, and a fairly easy car ride down, Tulum is a keeper.
You took me with you on this trip...all the happy photos and this post. How good that Tulum might be a "keeper" - a favorite place to return to and one that Austin will have memories of when you are back home. You do the "vacationing together" times so perfectly. We always did too when Hayden was growing up.
ReplyDeletePS...why don't we meet you there next year for a winter getaway! We'd love it!
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