Honeymoon In Tulum – Rocio Isabel

I’m finally able to share all of the details around our honeymoon in Tulum! I’ve promised this post since we were still playing in the sands of Tulum but let’s not forget mom life and how it manages to get in the way of a lot of my plans, haha! But alas, I’m here to go over everything that we actually did in Tulum, our personal thoughts and opinions on a few places we visited, a few recommendations if you’re planning on visiting, a sneak peek into our hotel choice, and just a couple of DO NOT tips!

As promised, I’ll be sharing how we budgeted for this 5 day honeymoon in Mexico, but that will be in another post since the whole budgeting thing is a bit longer to explain but totally worth it! Oh… and I’ll be leaving the full review of our hotel choice in another post, too, as there is so much to share about Cabañas Tulum! So keep an eye out for those posts this month! I’ll leave them linked here as soon as they are up!

Again, we went to Tulum for our Honeymoon and our main goal was to just relax. We were craving a beach and we were craving quiet. I can confidently say, we got both. We went first week of November, and it was still pretty mild as far as crowds go. Peak times to visit Tulum are from November-March so keep that in mind if you are looking for a less busy experience.

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HOW WE GOT TO TULUM

TRANSPORTATION TO/FROM AIRPORT
We flew into the Cancun airport, which is a 1.5 hour ride to Tulum. When you arrive at the airport, things get a big hectic trying to find a ride to your destination. I would HIGHLY recommend booking a ride through a shuttle service because the arrivals area of the airport was incredibly packed with taxi drivers and shuttle services hassling for a rider. I was asked nearly 12 times in a matter of 15 minutes if I needed a ride. Mind you, I am also fluent in Spanish but I could see the look of overwhelm on my husband’s face with so many people asking him questions in a language he didn’t understand. Luckily, I was able to find our driver with STP Caribe that we booked through our hotel stay. We pre-booked a private van with A/C and WiFi.

CURRENCY EXCHANGE
Try to go ahead and exchange your money into pesos BEFORE leaving the airport. While most places accept cards and American dollars, there is always a possibility of running out of cash or running into a place that doesn’t accept cards. Trust me, it’s happened to us. Avoid the inconvenience of having to run around the area searching for an ATM or a place to exchange currency. Also keep in mind that most ATMs in Zona Hotelera are out of order and some aren’t safe to use. And if you can, pay in pesos. You’ll actually be saving just a bit by paying in the local currency since the exchange rate is actually slightly different each place we went to.

Whilst most restaurants and hotels will take USD, you’ll save money by paying in the local currency as the exchange rate is slightly different at each establishment.

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WHERE WE STAYED IN TULUM

CABAÑAS TULUM BEACH HOTEL AND SPA IN ZONA HOTELERA

After many months of researching, we decided to go with Cabañas Tulum for a variety of reasons. A few of our top must-haves were:

1. right on the beach
2. private plunge pool
3. breakfast included
4. Air Conditioned
5. CLEAN.

Cabañas Tulum checked off all of these boxes and was the most affordable compared to the other hotels with these features and amenities in the area. Not only that but the reviews seemed to be all positive, especially when it came to the cleanliness of the hotel so for us it was a no brainer! Cabañas is a small boutique hotel that was adult-only which made for a quiet and relaxing stay. We booked a Beachfront King with Plunge Pool. What I loved about it was the fact that all you could hear was the sound of the waves but just a few short steps away from the music from nearby hotels, if you wanted that vibe.

While the hotel was not all-inclusive, like I said… breakfast included was a must. Cabañas has two hotels on the property, Fresco’s and Ziggy’s. Both have a fantastic menu with delicious options. You could order directly through WhatsApp and have your food delivered to you wherever you are on the property, including your private plunge pool. As a matter of fact, everything could be done through WhatsApp. You could text the concierge anything you needed: reservations, taxi service, massages, towels, secret romantic plans to surprise your wife for her birthday! (Thanks Babe <3)

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WHAT WE ATE IN TULUM

The food in Tulum was honestly some of the best food we’ve had… ever! I actually created a WHOLE dedicated blog post to the food alone because in explaining some of our favorites (and not so favorites), this section got a bit length. You can check out that blog post here!

But in a nutshell, in Zona Hotelera, we ate at:

Ziggy’s
On the Hotel Cabañas property and you can eat right on the beach. Food was delicious but definitely try the Maracuya Creme Brulee.

Fresco’s
Breakfast at Hotel Cabañas was included at this small restaurant on site. But hands down my favorite dish here was their Soft Crab Tacos. Seriously, I might have ordered it at least 6 times.

Arca
Reservations are recommended. We LOVED the roasted bone marrow and my personal favorite dish from the trip, the Soft Shell Crab

Hartwood
HIGHLY RECOMMEND! Small intimate restaurant with a menu that changes daily based on what they catch and find that day. Fish cheeks were SEXY! Who knew that sentence would ever be true?

Mr. Shmokey
Great for a 4th meal. They serve barbecue and other smoked dishes. Perfect stop after partying in the jungle.

Macario
Not my favorite. They serve Modern Mexican Cuisine. The food was just okay looking back and comparing it to everything else we had on our trip.

Antojitos La Chiapaneca
If you’re looking for traditional (and very affordable) tacos, consider making your way downtown!!! Each taco is just over 50 cents. Our whole meal of 6 tacos, guac and chips, beer, soda, and water was JUST under 10 bucks. Lots of taco spots downtown but we visited Antojitos La Chiapaneca and they did not disappoint!

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NIGHT LIFE IN TULUM

There are a ton of places to enjoy the night life in Tulum. I will say one thing… house music seems to be the biggest find. I’m not really into the untz-untz house music, but you can definitely find me where the good drinks are at. Two of our favorite bars for night life in Tulum were Casa Jaguar and Cortazar Bar.

Casa Jaguar was a great place for cocktails after dinner and did not have a cover for their restaurant or the bars up front, however, they did have a cover for the bar in the back. We walked back there to take a peek, and it was literally just a bar and DJ with the same music you could listen to in the rest of the restaurant and the bars in the front. Not worth the extra $20 per person if you ask me. We wound up making an American friend that night and had a fantastic experience with the bartenders trying different smokey cocktails they were working on perfecting!

Cortazar Bar was my personal favorite. It’s literally a tiny hole in the wall bar. So small you might miss it just walking by. We did, 3 times. The DJ played the best 90s Dance, Hip Hop, and R&B. The drinks were without a doubt on point and the mixologists were so down to earth and took care of us from the moment we walked up to order drinks all the way until the lights came on when they closed. Hands down one of my favorite nights. Oh, and there was no cover. Photos taken from their IG because my phone died halfway through the night. I just wanted proof as to how small this place was.

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Bike Rentals

I’d say bike rentals would be the best way to get around in Tulum if you’re focused on staying in Zona Hotelera. The roads aren’t the smoothest but it’s way cheaper than renting a taxi to take you up and down the street. Most hotels offer bike rentals included with your stay. Lots of bike racks and parking on the area, just make sure you don’t lose your key and lock! I have heard of some people having issues with bike chains coming undone or tires being flat but we didn’t have any issues with ours so maybe double check your rentals before leaving the property you rented them from!

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Massages On The Beach

While our hotel did offer massages in their in house spa, we found them to be a bit too pricey for what we were looking for. Before taking this trip, I told my husband I wanted to get a couple’s massage but after seeing the prices, I was a little hesitant in booking. On our first day in Tulum while walking the beach, we came across a little cabana with 3 massage tables and a few women packing up. I curiously asked what their prices were and after spotting a $40 1 hour massage, I immediately jumped at the opportunity to book the couples massage I so desperately wanted! They eagerly took us at that moment and the massage was SO RELAXING we decided to go back again the next day! We wound up getting 3 couples massages during our trip! Seriously, to get a relaxing 1-hour massage right on the beach listening to the sound of the waves… for $40 bucks a person! HEAVEN! FYI they were located right between La Luna and Coco Hotel. If you are coming from Cabañas and walking the beach in the direction of Coco, you’ll know you passed this massage hut if you’ve gotten to Coco.

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Cenotes

We visited Cenote Calavera on our trip. There are quite a few others to visit but given our time constraints (and honestly, feeling pressured with time from our taxi driver because we spend most of our time looking for a working ATM), Cenote Calavera was the closest to us at the time. If I’m being completely honest, it was just alright. I mean, it’s just a hole in the ground with fresh water. Cool. I might get some eye rolls because of this but seriously… think about it. It’s a hole… in the ground… with fresh water. Just an instagrammable if you ask me. And depending on the time of day, cenotes can get a bit crowded so it may not feel as serene when you’re constantly hearing “did you get the shot”. Now, it was pretty cool the first time jumping in and seeing clear water and stalactites hanging from the ceiling of the cave. Not a fan of the bats, though.

In fact, Lance (and his doctor, haha) was 1000% convinced that swimming in the cenote made him sick on our last day. Could have been the bat poop, who knows.

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Safety

Don’t drink the water. The hotels should give you bottles of water to use for drinking and brushing teeth. Drinking or brushing teeth with water from the faucet is not safe for your body. If the hotel does not provide water, please bring bottles of water with you to do this.

Heads up, when walking along the beach, chances are you’ll find yourself being offered drugs of many kind. My husband and I were offered all types of drugs at least 6 times in one day. You’ll also find many heavily armed police walking the streets and beach. Don’t let this freak you out. If anything, we felt more safe seeing this. Mainly because there was an incident just the week before we arrived of a drug related shooting that happened downtown.

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If you’re looking to take a honeymoon trip to Tulum, I hope this post is helpful in your planning. But if you happen to have any other questions about Tulum, I’d love to help in any way that I can! Just message me your questions and I’ll send what I have!

Un Besito,
Rocío