03.31.2015

TULUM travel guide

Just me, a secret beach in TULUM, and a can of Dos Equis…

You probably read my Inspired by TULUM post (and my packing list) so it’s kind of still sinking in to me that I actually had such a beautiful, amazing experience in such a vibrant little city.  Here are just a few highlights:

The balcony of our ocean-front Master Suite at Casa De Las Olas = heaven.

How I woke up every morning, looking out at the beach. I always wanted a canopy bed as a child (my bedroom ceilings were never high enough) so I made sure to pull down the curtains every night to re-live my childhood fantasy. #weirdo

I love this group shot at the Casa De Las Olas communal breakfast table (Jessika, me, Jamie…yep, two Jamies and a Jessika.)

Since our hotel was pretty much top secret (seriously, they don’t even have an actual address and you only get directions once you book a room) this is the entrance from their private beach back to the hotel. So chic, so private.

Beach finds.

Visiting the “pet cemetery” cenotes was probably one of my favorite activities. We did a 1-hour swimming tour (with life jackets, so you’re not actually swimming the whole time) of the caves that was AMAZING.  This is a must-do, for sure.

After we went to the cenotes we went to the local ruins, which was also really awesome but, my god, was it HOT OUTSIDE.  I decided not to climb up, because of my sprained foot, but my friend Jamie climbed up to the top so I live vicariously through her (she’s in the blue dress with red purse).  Oh, and Jessika got stung by a bee right on the ass…and the best part is that was her first time getting stung by a bee EVER. She’s gonna be so mad I just blogged about that 🙂

Just an idea of what the main road in TULUM looks like- so quaint and chic (with the exception of all the speed bumps, aka “topas”)

I’m in love with all the open-air shops.

Coqui Coqui! We stopped into the boutique after hearing about it from literally everyone.

This sign called to us and, gotta say, we LOVED this tour…for obvious reasons. But for real, their tequila was really good and we ended up buying a bottle that we sipped straight- with NO HANGOVER.

I’ll take ALL the tequila, thanks.

One of my favorite meals on the trip, hands down, was this top secret beach restaurant- Chamico’s.  Much like our hotel, the first rule of Chamico’s is that you don’t talk about Chamico’s but, I’m sorry, I have to share this gem (plus it was featured in a New York Times story about TULUM so whatever at this point).  There’s no website, no phone and here are your directions (we got them from our hotel manager).  To get there, turn off the highway onto a small dirt road (look for the sign for the Jashita Hotel) and drive down to Soliman Bay. Give the guard at the makeshift gate a look that says you know what you’re doing (even though you’ll feel like you don’t). Then drive past palatial villas until the road ends.  Once you hit the end you just walk up to a table on the sand and order your freshly caught fish.

OMG is all I have to say.  We ordered fresh lobster, lobster ceviche, shrimp and four cans of Dos Equis. Heaven.

Can you even? On our last night our hotel manager, Chris, took a bunch of us to the TULUM preserve to see this amazing sunset. So unreal.