This is my second time visiting Tulum and I decided to celebrate my 30th Birthday with a group of my friends My first trip was with my good girlfriend and sister Melissa Chanel. We visited in May of 2018 and our goal was to disconnect, eat, drink and sleep. And that’s just what we did.
This trip around I wanted to do more exploring but Ill be sharing where we stayed, where we ate and what we did while in Tulum.
Where to Lay Your Head:
In my previous Tulum guide we stayed at The Highline brand new airbnb/hotel that was super chic and cheap. But this go round I had planned to have about 10 of my girlfriends join me to celebrate so I had to find an airbnb that was NEW and would accommodate that amount of people. I stumbled across a few different but went with Soho-Horus it sleeps 6 in each loft and the loft I chose had a private balcony.
I loved the atmosphere though it was super deep in the jungle of Tulum and not many taxi drivers knew how to get there. So we quickly had to learn our way around. The highlight of the airbnb were the in house massages we scheduled. Absolutely phenomenal! The downside was the cold water. The listing specifically mentioned having hot water which wasnt the case but I think this is a trend with Mexico honestly. We had that issue at Highline but we had to leave the shower running for like 10-15 mins and then the water was hot enough to burn your skin off. So honestly if you dont care about hot water it should fine. Im very detail oriented and believed it couldve been a little cleaner. Sink had dried food and the sheets had a few tiny grease spots. For my next trip Ill most likely try out another airbnb thats closer to town and not as deep. We did have scheduled transportation to and from the airbnb to the airport for $250 total round trip and there was also a manager who was available almost always who could answer questions and get us taxis to the beach and town.
Link to Soho-Horus
Where to Eat:
Breakfast/Brunch
For Breakfast we checked out Del Cielo a super cute brunch spot that was in town. The food was so tasty and fresh. I’ll definitely check them out in the future and recommend you check it out as well.
Matcha Mama is a quick pit stop for fresh acai bowls and smoothies. Great for breakfast or a quick refreshing snack. They have one on the beach and in town.
Dinner
For our first night we went to my favorite bar and restaurant called Mateo’s. Very cheap Mexican food but very good. We should’ve gone back for our last night but opted to try and new spot and we had a disappointing experience Ill get to that later. But definitely put Mateos on your list. The drinks are super popping especially the Dragonfruit Mojito! bomb!
For my birthday dinner I made a dinner reservation at Casa Malca’s restaurant called Philosophy. It is the former home of Pablo Escobar. I visited here on my last trip but we got there too late and it had gotten too dark for pictures. So we went my birthday dinner and made and effort to get there early enough to take pics. The food was great and the ambiance is even better. All of the staff was great and hospitable. They even brought me a few birthday desserts. I love sweets so it was perfect. Make sure you at least go to take pictures.
Cerveceria Chapultepec was super cute but the service was horrible and the food was probably the most basic we had had the whole entire trip. Everything on the menu including drinks is 21 Pesos. Cheap but trash in my opinion go at your own risk.
What To Do
I strongly suggest posting up at a beach club on your visit to Tulum. We checked out Papaya Playa Project which I loved because the ambiance and atmosphere was clean and organized. You pay $55 Per person to get beach access, towels and a cabana for everyone to escape from the sun. The minimum is $55 and that goes towards the food and drinks. They have good for and the drinks were fire too. We tried a Papaya Mojito, MY GOD so delicious! Try it.
One thing we didn’t do our last trip to Tulum was visit a cenote. Cenotes are a natural pit or sinkhole that exposes water underneath.
There are over 6,000 in Tulum so it was hard to choose. Thank God for Halfietruths on IG she shared a lengthy and descriptive article on all the best cenotes.
Check it out here! Cenote Guide
Although there were so many to choose from we went with Casa Cenote Tortuga. Its about 10 mins from town and comes with a guide, life jackets and access to 4 cenotes. Perfect right. And it was only 400 pesos/$25 USD they only take cash no cards. It was a very cool experience. Took about two hours but we enjoyed every minute.
Money
I only spent $400 USD Which is cheap to me because it encompassed so much. Food drinks transportation and the cenote excursion. I say that 400-500 is a good amount to have if you are only staying 3-4 days.
Tip to keep in mind
-You can get cute but you will sweat because the humidity is insane. Pack cute but breathable items like shorts, skirts, tanks etc.
-DO NOT DRINK THE WATER OR GET ICE WITH YOUR WATER unless you want to be sick.
-Bring mosquito repellent, once the sun goes down they will get you good.
-Download a translation app and a money conversion app to help you with haggling and making sure you pay the right amount for you food checks etc.
Check out my blog post from last year I’m sure it will be helpful too!
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