Tulum

Mexico is a common destination for the average American. I heard a lot about Mexico since I moved to the United States however, safety was a concern to me.   I learned a lot of safe places to visit and where I can mingle with the locals, from my former boss LG who is from Queretaro Mexico. From our conversations, I prepared a list of places to visit in Mexico with different experiences in min.  This time, I needed to see the ocean. It may be the non-proximity to the sea in Texas, my aversion to lakes or the nostalgic feeling I experience every time I see my friends back in the island enjoying a beach Sunday that keep this location in my mind for quite some time.  There is not comparison with the sea in my book, in my story.

Missing the sea and a little of a laid back atmosphere was high in my list for our next family vacation destination. This is why I chose Tulum, Mexico. I longed the opportunity of exploring the Mayan history, visiting “cenotes” while exploring a little of the Yucatan Peninsula.

 

Tulum did not disappoint. Located south from Cancun in the Yucatan Peninsula with the Caribbean Sea as the background, is a beautiful area to experience nature, history and a tropical  relaxing time. I recommend  to visit humid places early during the hotter months because later on, the high temperatures and humidity can be quite challenging for outside activities. We traveled in early June, which according to locals is low season. Outside of the sea area, you can feel the heat and humidity but if you are in one of the small hotels and guesthouses at the beach then, you will feel the breeze.

A flight from either DFW or ATL is around two hours to Cancun and one hour forty five minutes from Cancun to Tulum by car if they know where are they are going. There are no big resorts in Tulum but a series of boutique hotels in the “hotel zone”. I felt this was a good sign to differentiate Tulum from the crowded Cancun.

We stayed at La Zebra Tulum, which is part of the Colibri Boutique Hotels Group. According to the locals in the area, this is the best hotel from the group and offered the best food that I tasted in the area. Unlike other hotels in the area this hotel welcome children and the staff are very attentive with the little ones. You can see that they like children actually, and at the same time they were very respectful of guest with no children. There is an area right besides the restaurant that serves as a playground. It is not coincidence that most family with small children ate around that area.

This hotel has one of the few nice restaurants that are not located in the jungle side of the road. It is open in all areas to allow the breeze but with glass doors that can be closed when they rain show up. Most of rooms have some sort of sea view but I felt that our room G3 had the most fantastic view. I love the breeze with the sea aroma absorbed by my pores, the music coming from the restaurant at late afternoon and a balcony big enough to dance while listening salsa music. The room was very comfortable with a great King Bed, two twin beds for the kids, small fridge, double shower and a series of other amenities. There is not TV in the room but in our case, we did not needed. They offer free WIFI.

Once you arrive, either Alejandro or Flora receives you with Margaritas for the grown ups and lemonade for the little ones. The hotel will request your passport, security credit card for any additional charges that were not included in. They give you a personalized tour of the hotel and take you to your room.

The restaurant offers breakfast, lunch and dinner until 9.00 pm. We ate at the restaurant most of the time. Dining with the Caribbean Sea as your view, great food, friendly service, and with my family was one of those happy moments.

Usually you arrive by the time that “check in” is active therefore, you loose for the most part, a day traveling, arriving to Tulum and getting use to the new accommodations and area.

We chose to relax the next day at the hotel. The view was fantastic and having the sea very close where you can smell it was better. On top of the restaurant there is an area with a small pool, bar, reading and social area where our kids spent time when they were tired from the sea.

We booked our tours with Boutique Hotel Tours for the third day. I chose a weekday instead of Saturday or Sunday because I wanted to avoid the big lines and big crowds. We chose Coba Ruins and one Cenote: Multum – Ha (Ha meaning water). Northwest of Tulum are the Coba ruins first and then we drove to the Cenotes. Our tour guide was Sergio who was very knowledgeable of the area (he was a teacher) and the history. It was like going back to past. First we went to Coba Mayan ruins where only a few of their estimated 6500 structures have been uncovered. According to our guide, it was believed that the Mayan just disappear after the Spanish conquest but in reality they just hid in the jungle where they could not be found.   The Mayan community survived 500 years after the colonization. It is amazing visualize with the few structures that are visible the greatness of the largest populations of the Mayan cities. There are places that can give us a glimpse of ceremonial and sports events. At that time the wining team captain have to be sacrifice was one of those morbid details that kept me interested in finding out where all of these happened These structures were fascinating and still there is much more to discover.

The main attraction is the Nohoc Mul Pyramid, which is 126 feet tall, and the tallest dated approximately 500 A.C. in the Yucatan Peninsula, second to Guatemala Nohuc Mul in Central America according to locals but it depends on inclination and measurement. It is an impressive structure composed of 120 steps up.

Once we visited the ruins, we headed to the Connote. We arrived early enough to take a shower before heading underground and discover this mystical place. The water is fresh, sweet and crystalline. It is quite deep.   With the right equipment available you can dive and access another Cenotes in the area since all of them must be connected somehow. During half hour we were living our own blue lagoon moment until the crowds began to arrive. At that moment we decided to have lunch and then go back to our hotel.

We spent Saturday and Sunday in the beach area in Tulum and visited several shops. Among my favorites was JOSA Tulum with Nati who is this vivacious argentine girl that helped me choose another Kimono type of dress. Also ”Ay Bendito” and having baguettes and coffee at Bean and Bagz while chatting with their incredible sweet staff.

We chose to visit the Tulum town and ruins on a Monday. It has a gorgeous view of the different temples and houses contrasting with the vibrancy of the Caribbean Sea. The children enjoyed frozen fruits like Mango and Watermelon and Gelato in the downtown area.

Realizing that this was our last week and that I will be missing the sea, we immerse ourselves in relaxing beach time the rest of the week. We were able to observe around 10.00 pm the incoming turtles to deposit their egg at the beach. By the end of the week, we traveled back to Texas, very relaxed, and gushing about our fantastic time in Tulum.

For information for La Zebra Hotel please visit www.lazebratulum.com. For tours contact Boutique Tours Mexico at www.boutiquetoursmexico.com.

These are some of my summer essentials for a chic vacation: