Recently, my family and I traveled to Tulum, Mexico for my mother’s birthday. We flew to Cancun and then rented a car and drove to Tulum. After much consideration about if we should rent a house or stay in a hotel we decided to rent a house. Our plan was to stay in Tulum for a week but because of unfortunate events with the Earthquake in Mexico City and then Hurricane Maria our flight got pushed back a couple days.
Our trip began on Wednesday and we had to get up at three o’clock in the morning for our flight. We didn’t land in Cancun till lunchtime and then we had a 2-hour car ride to Tulum. On our way, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant on the beach called Chamicos, which is off the beaten track. We had read about it in a past New York Times article, 36 hours in Tulum. Chamicos was known as “the secret restaurant” and is located right on the beach and has the most delicious and fresh seafood one would ever taste. After lunch we continued our journey and made it to the house at about 5 o’clock. We were all so exhausted from our trip that we just unpacked, explored the house on the beach and eventually went to bed.
We woke up refreshed the next morning but unfortunetly we woke up to a huge rainstorm. We had to stay inside most of the day because of the high winds. Eventually, the rain stopped, but by then it was time for dinner and we went to a famous restaurant called El Captain. The majority of El Captain’s seating was all outside and the tables were under a nice pergola surrounded by greenery.
On Friday, we went to visit the Temple Ruins. Tulum’s Temple Ruins is a pre-Columbian Mayan walled city and are located on a 40 feet (12 meter) tall cliff along the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Historians believe that the Mayan’s named the site “Zama” which means “City of the Dawn” because it faces the sunrise. The three most famous structures are El Castillo, The Temple of Frescoes, and The Temple of the Descending God. After the ruins we traveled down to the beach area where we went snorkeling. Our session was about an hour long but we saw so many Turtles, because we went during nesting season and we saw three giant Stingrays. During our sessions of exploring the sea we kept noticing that these school of Purple fish were following us and every time we would stop they would stop and wait for one of us to move. We kept laughing about it until our guide said that they were attracted by my sister’s purple swimsuit. Once our session was over we made our way back home because we had ordered a chef that came with the house to cook dinner for my mother’s birthday. He served us Guacamole and Shrimp skewers, and stuffed mushrooms for our Appetizers. Later, for our main course he served us Lobster with rice and for dessert a Lime Crumble.
The house that we had rented was right on the beach so on Saturday we hung around the house for the morning and did our own thing. There were some family members who went and did more snorkeling or kayaking in the ocean, while others played in the pool or tired to get some sun. Around 3 o’clock we drove to Playa del Carmen, which took about an hour and a half. The shopping there was amazing and really cheap. I would say this is a great time to go to Zara ladies. The Peso currency is 17 to the dollar and 23 to the pound. After we went shopping we went to a restaurant called La Casa de Agua, which is a Mexican fusion restaurant. If you end up going to the restaurant they have a couple tables in their wine fridge if you want to escape the heat.
On Sunday, we went to Dos Ojos Cenote. A cenote is a natural pit or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of bedrock that exposes groundwater underneath. The Mayans often used the cenotes for sacrificial offerings. Dos Ojos was freezing cold when we jumped in with our snorkel gear, I thought I would eventually adapt but it didn’t happen. During our journey we came across a young girl who had to stop on a rock with her companion because she was so cold and her teeth were chattering. When swimming in the Cenote we swam with a flashlight and we had to keep popping our heads up to make sure we weren’t going to run into any sharp rock. Towards the end of the tour we got lead to where all the bats were, which was interesting but creepy because of how many of them there were in the cave. This experience is definitely not for anybody who gets claustrophobic because it gets really tight the further you go into the caves
On Monday, we got up early and made our way to the colonial town of Valladolid. Valladolid was founded by the invading Spaniards in 1543 and was built atop a Mayan town, which was once called Zaci. In 2012, Valladolid became known as “Pueblo Magic,” meaning “Magic Town,” which was initiated by the Mexican Tourism department to recognize towns in Mexico based on their rich culture, beauty and historical relevance. Though we didn’t have much time to visit the beloved town one could tell it was a place one could get easily hypnotized by. After our visit at Valladolid, we jumped back in the car and made our way to Coba. The Coba Ruins are an ancient Mayan city and is the largest network of stone causeways of the Mayan world. The ruins are about 27 miles long and because of how spreads apart the ruins are from each other, bikes are given as an option to travel the vast landscape. At the end of the path there is a pyramid called Nohoch Mul Pyramid that visitors are welcomed to climb up and experience the remarkable view of the Yucatan and non-public areas of Coba. One can also experience the Coba Ruins through Zip-Lining and experience a remarkable view and have a blast doing it. After Coba we went to a restaurant called Cetli, which was so delicious. I had the national Tulum dish called Chile en Nogada which is a pepper stuffed with minced beef, pork, raisins and pineapple in a walnut cheese and sherry liquor sauce with pomegranate. I highly recommend going to this restaurant if you end up visiting Tulum
On Tuesday, we went to the Monkey Sanctuary, where numerous monkeys have been rescued from circuses and people who kept them as pets. At the end of the tour one can feed two very special monkeys. Though it was a lot of interacting with the monkeys, the mosquitos ate everybody alive despite the fact that we had mosquitos repellent. However, many people we talked to did say while we were visiting that September is the month of mosquitos. After the Monkey Sanctuary we had the chef come back for an early birthday dinner for my sister. The chef made us Paella along with a mango tart dessert, which were both delicious.
On Wednesday, we planned to leave and go back home but due to the Earthquake in Mexico and Hurricane Maria hitting the States we were pushed back until Saturday. The next couple days we did some more snorkeling in the ocean by our house, caught some sun and played games in the pool.
Tulum was an amazing experience and my whole family had such a great time filled with laughter and happy memories. I would highly recommend going to Tulum if you get a chance.
Happy Travels!
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