Tulum Travel Guide

Winter was cute but I’m ready for you, Summer!

Warm weather is on my mind right now! Plus, this post is way overdue. This summer, me and 10 girls traveled to Tulum for my sister’s Bachelorette party. Of course, with a big group comes a lot of research and planning. It was my first time in Tulum but I think we did it right with the time we had (4 days). Tulum is the coolest place, it’s one long strip of Instagram heaven. It’s basically one long road lined with palm trees, chic hotels, restaurants, and adorable open-air shops.

Tulum has it’s own signature vibe – It’s a sexy, zen, romantic and laid back place that loves to party and have fun.

In this guide you’ll find where we stayed, where we ate and went out and any other general info I think you should know when traveling to Tulum. I hope you enjoy!

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TRANSPORTATION

We direct flew into Cancun airport and a driver was waiting for us to take us to our final destination, NEST Tulum. Tulum is a 2 hour drive from the airport. I organized the driver through NEST and it was super affordable, between all of us it was around $20 per way. Once your there, you can cab or bike around town. The cabs are super cheap (We spent no more than $5-10 each way). Sometimes the ATM’s won’t connect to the internet so be sure to bring cash for cabs, tips and other expenses, and everywhere accepts US dollars which makes things super easy. During the day NEST had bikes we could rent.

WHERE TO STAY

We stayed at NEST Tulum and they have a hotel and a villa – We stayed in the Villa and we all absolutely loved it. The location was great, it felt very central to all of the recommendations we got in terms of where to eat and go out at night. The villa is ocean front, right on the beach, and included full breakfast service every morning and concierge service, which was amazing for booking transportation, ordering food/drinks, booking massages, etc. while we were there. The manager even gave me his personal cell number and we could text the front desk via What’s App which made me feel super comfortable too. The people in Tulum in general are really nice! There are a ton of amazing hotels in Tulum, I don’t think you can go wrong. Casa Malca, Be Tulum, Nomade, Le Zebra, and Azulik are a few others that come to mind. But, special shout out to NEST because they took such great care of us! I would 100% stay here again when visiting Tulum.

WHERE TO EAT/GO OUT

The food is amazing everywhere you go. I lived for the fresh fruit every morning! We learned from the locals, Tulum has a pretty set schedule in terms of where everyone goes out on the weekends – Thursday’s at Casa Jaguar, Friday’s at Gitano and Saturday’s at Papaya Playa Project. So on Thursday we ate a late dinner at Casa Jaguar, the food was amazing, and then hung around until the restaurant turns into a lounge/club at 10/11PM. OnFriday we had dinner at our villa and then went to Gitano for dancing – Think disco jungle vibes. And Saturday was our big night out at Papaya Playa Project (PPP), which is a huge event on the beach. You can get a table here, because it’s so big you might loose your friends, but ultimately we decided against it and I’m so glad we did. It’s such a big venue and we ended up meeting a group earlier in the week who invited us to chill at their table so we had a home base. Again, the people in Tulum are so nice and everyone’s just in a great mood. PPP was almost like a mini music festival with body painting and it was way less sweaty and gross since you have the breeze from the ocean.

WHAT TO DO

Besides lay on the beach and drink tequila all day, there’s tons to do in Tulum. We loved our villa though and so we spent a lot of time there! We planned to go see the cenotes but never made it (too much tequila – you know the drill). They came highly recommended though, just do your research on which ones to go to. I heard they can get over-crowded with tourists. On one of the days we walked down to the beach to Casa Malca, the former Pablo Escobar estate, for a pool day. You can order food and wine (They will keep the bottles of rose coming if you know what I mean!) from the pool servers. Another day we walked down the beach for breakfast at another hotel – Chiringuito Tulum. Basically, anywhere you go will be cute and delicious. Other rec’s I got were Cenzontle, Kin Toh (where you eat in a “nest” – super cool), Arca, Raw Love (for acai bowls), and Hartwood. Tulum also has some amazing shopping, so definitely make time for that!

THE ELEMENTS

We heard a lot about the seaweed situation before we went – The beach supposedly smelling of rotten eggs, not being able to swim in the ocean, etc. There is seaweed in Tulum, that washes up on the beaches, but the resorts do a great job taking care of it and rake it up daily. I didn’t really notice a smell either and I swam in the ocean no problem. Tulum is very hot though, especially in July! All I can say is… Plan on your makeup melting off and sweating through your clothes. Bring bug spray, breathable clothes like linen, tons of swimsuits, easy, flowy slip dresses for nighttime, and don’t even bother with heels. The town is very casual!

Scroll for a few more favorite snaps from Tulum!