Tulum…Chapter Three

This will be my final post on Tulum…and this will be on the “other” Tulum.  Here’s a Google shot of the area.  You can see that the beach is quite a distance away from the actual town of Tulum and as I said before, you definitely can’t walk it.  You have to drive down Highway 109 which then runs along the coast.

On my first day there, I took a cab down to the area thinking that I could walk along the coast where there would be a lot of restaurants and hotels.  Well, there are a lot of restaurants and hotels, but it’s not a “walking” kind of area.  It’s the kind of place where you make arrangements where you’re going to stay and that’s pretty much where you’re going to stay unless you’ve rented a car.  The road that runs along the coast is not walker friendly, it’s narrow, and busy with cars, cabs and delivery trucks.  There are no sidewalks and you feel quite exposed to the traffic if you’re walking along the road.

There are public beaches along the coastline and lots of vehicles just stop alongside the road which can cause some delays.  The hotels are on each side of the highway and are secluded so that you really can’t see what they look like unless you actually walk up and see them personally.  Since the cab had dropped me off, I just walked down the road and decided to stop for a margarita.  This was the view…

There was a nice little bay off to the side…

A nice view but the place was pretty much empty.

I ended up catching a cab and going back pretty quickly because I could see real soon that this wasn’t a place where you could leisurely walk around and enjoy the sights.

When I rented the car to go to Coba, I initially was going to explore some of the colonial inland towns, but then decided to drive down the coast.  It was the wrong choice.

This is all you could see for miles.  Just resort after resort without actually being able to see the coast except for an occasional public beach.

I finally ran into the  biosphere which was a dirt road filled with potholes and because my already suspension-less rental car had 184,000 miles on it, I didn’t want to take a chance of getting stranded, so I turned around.  What a disappointment.  I wish I had explored some of the colonial towns with the beautiful churches and quaint downtown zocalos instead.  Well, there’s always next time.

On the way back, I stopped at one of the resorts where I had a 10% coupon from the hotel where I was staying.  Resident dog…

Nice mosaic…

And nice view when you get to the restaurant…

But it was one of those places that played music with a DJ on the beach which I am NOT a fan of.  When I’m at the beach, I just want to hear the sea gulls and the sound of the waves against the shore.  I don’t want to hear the heavy beat of some rap song while I’m trying to relax.  But then again, I’m not 25 years old anymore, am I?

Went down to the beach and this is the view to the right…

And to the left…

Toes in Tulum sand…

Here’s what I had for the 10% off…a nice healthy salad.  And it was very good!  And I think it only cost about $20 USD!!  What a deal, huh?  No, it was not worth it, but that’s what these resort places are charging and are getting away with.

While I was eating, a young women came up to me and asked me what I was eating because she thought it looked so good.  We got to talking and she told me that she was from the U.S. and had moved with her Mexican husband and two young children to Tulum sight unseen.  Wow…that’s a big leap of faith.  She told me that she has her good times and bad but that she would never go back.  It seems like everyone who moves to Mexico wants to stay.  That says something.

So…the question of the hour.  What is my opinion of Tulum?  I wouldn’t go back in the near future.  There are too many other towns and cities in Mexico that I’d rather visit first.  First of all, there really isn’t that much to do in the town.  If anything, it’s a starting point to do other things like visiting cenotes or ruins.  Secondly, the restaurant prices are definitely not a bargain so you don’t feel like you’re saving a whole lot by staying there.  Thirdly, and most importantly, I don’t like the fact that the beach and the town are so separate…and that it’s difficult to get that “beach feel” if you’re not staying at a hotel ON the beach.  And while Tulum has hotels and restaurants right on the beach, they are not conducive to people just strolling by to stop in.  You have to make a point to go to any of the restaurants on the coast line.

Another thing you have to keep in mind in regards to the hotels along the beach is that many of them have limited electricity.  They are eco-friendly and some of them don’t have electricity during the night hours and most of them don’t have any air conditioning.  I asked about room rates while I was there and could have gotten a room for about $55 USD a night.

While I don’t regret my stay in Tulum, I don’t think I would stay there again in the near future.