With her post-COVID travel bucket list ready to be checked off, our Style Editor and travel Queen, IK spent three days in Tulum last month. Here’s the lowdown on what to do, what to see, and most importantly, what to eat!
Tell us about getting there:
On the first day, I actually arrived in a hurricane, so my first advice would be to check the forecast and book a hotel in Cancun just in case you get stuck there. No-one drives when there is a hurricane, which means you can’t get to Tulum, so you’ll need a hotel and definitely some pesos to get what you need if you’re stuck. Hurricane season is from July to October, so although the weather is great pretty much all the time, you can get caught out.
There are a few ways to get to Tulum: there are lots of buses and shuttles that go from the airport or central Cancun, but the cheapest (although not the fastest) way to get there is the Ado Bus. If you’re a New Yorker and you’ve used Greyhound buses, this is a million times better. It’s clean, it’s nice inside, it’s really luxurious and feels like you’ve paid hundreds of dollars, but actually you’ve paid nowhere near that. There is also a money exchange place at the bus station in Tulum and I recommend you change money there because I got 19.5 pesos per dollar, but I saw places in Cancun only offering 13.5.
Which spots would you recommend we visit?
My friend came with an itinerary, and we made reservations ahead of time, both of these things are good to do as there’s a lot to do, but restaurants and the beach clubs get very popular even on week days n day one, we only really had the afternoon, but in the evening, we went to Kin Toh restaurant which is like a big treehouse and you have a little booth table like a nest in the sky. It’s one of those places that you feel like Instagram created because there are so many good social media-worthy photo backdrops. The food there was delicious and there was a live DJ and for the first time since the pandemic I could actually take of my mask and dance in a little private area and it just felt like a little slice of normalcy. There is also a section of Kin Toh which is called the birds nest, and it’s the perfect photo opportunity right on the roof of the hotel so I recommend going there while it’s still light to get some good pics.
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On the second day, we wanted to go to a more beachy area to relax in the sun, so we went to Coco Beach. On the way we stopped at a few of the tourist spots to take pictures, if you look at Tulum on Instagram you’ll see a lot of photos of the same places: Ahau Tulum and Selina Hotel. At Coco beach there are a few street traders who come along the waterfront and show off their items to the visitors. They sell things like jewelry and watches, dreamcatchers, accessories and some summer fashion pieces and rather than just showing them off out of a bag they put on a fashion show on the beach and try things on for you to see. I purchased a few things from three different vendors. I appreciate these small businesses’ hard work. asked our cab driver from the second night about going to a cenote and he recommended one not far from the hotel and agreed to take us the following morning. So on Day 3 we went to the Gran Cenote and it was GORGEOUS. I wasn’t too keen on swimming but my friend went in with her life jacket on, but even if you don’t swim it is just a beautiful place to visit. There are little turtles on the rocks, there’s beautiful azure water, it’s surrounded by jungle and if you can swim I really recommend going there because there’s a big cave that you can swim right in to.
Taboo. You have to pay to get in (it was 3000 pesos, ~$145 for the two of us), but it opens at 12 pm, and I would say get there for when it opens or just after because it gets busy. This is the kind of place that just has a great vibe, amazing food, great service, and is a lot of fun. It’s right on the beachfront so you can relax in the sun, take a dip in the sea and order food and drinks to your loungers.
Where should we eat?
I already mentioned the Kin Toh restaurant, I’d definitely recommend it for a great setting, good food, and fun vibes, but we were a little surprised when the bill came. It wasn’t crazy, but you’d think Mexico is quite cheap, but it was priced a little more like Manhattan. If you want something a little more affordable, head to downtown Tulum and find where the locals eat.
On the second night, we had a reservation at a place called Ziggy’s. This place was super duper cute. There are swings at the bar; there are tables on the beach and a live saxophonist! The food here was unbelievably good, and I can’t stress enough how delicious it was. I definitely recommend eating here. We ordered jackfruit dumplings which you can’t miss, some empanadas and a steak. For dessert, I ordered a crème Brulee, which comes out in a slice of pineapple, and the waiter brings the blow torch to the table and glazes the top for you!
At the Taboo Beach Club, the food was SO GOOD, I know I’ve said this about every place, but here it was insanely good. I ordered the best beet salad I’ve ever had – It was so good that a bee landed on my plate and was nibbling on the dressing. I was not mad at the bee. I let it eat while I ate! I also had deliciously spicy rigatoni pasta, but I had to stop eating it to have room for dessert. If you go, although the food is good, you don’t really need an appetizer or entré. The desserts are so big and tasty that you can honestly have the beet salad and a dessert.
On the last night, we had reservations at Gitano, which also has a location in New York, so we wanted to see what the Mexican version would be like. It was raining a little, but it didn’t kill the vibe, especially as the tacos here were amazing. My favorite part about this place was a drink called Kisses in the Car. It’s made with Mezcal, Passionfruit, Tangerine, and Habanero. They were so good. I had two.
Any final tips?
Definitely use our driver Andre, he was amusing, gave such amazing service and was fair with his pricing. When we go back, we’ll definitely hire him for the week for everywhere we need to go. If you visit Tulum, you can book him by calling his number: Andre Vazquez / +52 98413343002.
You should really go to Taboo. The music, the food, and the vibe there was amazing, and that was during the week, so I think it would be even more lit on the weekend.
Overall, Tulum is very friendly, you can talk to anyone, and we met a couple of really nice American people there, even a woman from New York with whom I ended up sharing a cab back to the airport as we were on the same flight home! There are many either girl groups or couples there, but it’s a great place for anyone to travel to as it has everything from luxury beach bars to jungle hikes. I love Tulum.
