Ten percent off steroids + 2 for 1 muscle relaxants….

Well it’s been a much lower key last week or so for us. The weather gods have forsaken us just as we reached the Maya Riviera & Caribbean Sea, meaning we haven’t been able to spend our time at the beach as expected. Trap didn’t need his speedo’s as the constant strong winds battering Tulum meant that swimming in the ocean was tricky at best, treacherous at worst with pounding waves and strong currents. On the upside we got a lovely full-body sand exfoliation on the first day we tried to lie on the beach, so our skin is glowing and we’re still finding sand in odd places a week later 🙂!

Tulum Beach is a rather unusual place and I can’t say we’d come here again or necessarily recommend spending much time here. I’ll start with the good…

What is fantastic about the area are the ce-no-tes and the archaeological site. The cenotes are spectacularly clear, fresh water holes in the ground that are all over the place. You can swim, snorkel, dive in them depending on the size and structure. Some have full restaurant & hotel facilities, while others have an entry gate, a few sun chairs and a drinks stand. We opted for one of the lower key ones Cenote Calavera (skull)  and weren’t disappointed. It had an extensive cave/cavern system which can only be explored by scuba, however there was enough to see from the surface. The water was turquoise and aqua, beautiful and SO clear it was hard to believe. With little fishies swimming around, a couple of underwater swings and a small cafe that sold tequila, beer and light snacks. It’s about $25-50 entry depending on the cenote, so you want to spend a few hours there. 

The Tulum archeological site is one of the most visited in Mexico and I have to say we saw more tourists here than we have the entire trip so far (although still no other NZers)! It is situated at the top of cliffs 12 metres above the Caribbean Sea. It was one of the last cities built and inhabited by the Maya and achieved its greatest prominence between the 13th and 15th centuries. Maya continued to occupy Tulum for about 70 years after the Spanish began occupying Mexico, but the city was abandoned by the end of the 16th century. It is one of the best-preserved coastal Maya sites and is pretty cool perched high above the pounding waves. We got caught in a rain shower on the ATV, but it was very windy and hot, so we dried pretty quickly!

So onto the not so flash stuff. While the beach is public and anyone can use it for free, trying to get to it is an issue. There’s one public access point right at the start of the beach which you sort of have to clamber over some rocks to get to and the rest of the 7 kms south and 3 kms north are all controlled by the hotels and beach clubs. Technically the hotels and clubs are not supposed be able to prevent you walking through to the beach so long as you’re not drunk or causing trouble, but the reality is, they are fenced, gated and security controlled, so if you aren’t staying there or don’t have an access arrangement, there is big pressure to pay for a day pass. And when I say pay, what I really mean is PAY THROUGH THE NOSE! It is anywhere from nz$60-500 to enter the beach club. At the one we had access to from our hotel it was $60 and you got a $50 credit but when entree’s go for $30-40, mains $45-100+, wines $28-40 (150ml - yes you read that correctly) and cocktails $30 each, your credit does not go far! If you want a drink, beer is your best bet at $10/12 a bottle for local beer. On the whole I’d say it’s around three times the price of elsewhere in Mexico. So unless you want to join the 18-30 year olds, partying the day and night away to DJs and have a spare thousand a day to spend, I’d either stay in town or bypass altogether and do a day trip to the cenotes and ruins from Playa del Carmen - which is nicer, more accessible and still has all the beach clubs/bars/flash hotels etc. We only heard a few drunken stumbles out of cabs in the early hours but did find quite a few tumblers with dregs of alcohol perched on walls etc around the streets in the morning!

Oh the other positive is that there’s a 10% discount at every pharmacy on steroids and viagra - no prescription needed, and 2 for 1 on muscle relaxants, ibuprofen, anti nausea or anti diarrhoea pills. There are more pharmacies here than any other kind of shop including souvenirs!!!

Ok my rant is now over 😁. 

We then spent a few days in Cozumel which had a really nice feel about it. After a hot afternoon wandering the streets - which are really lovely, once again the weather spited us and a big storm came in overnight, closing the port to anything other than cruise liners and the large ferries and cancelling my diving trip 🤬. We managed a wee dip in the pool before it blew up and got quite chilly!! We hired a buggy for the day and arrived to see we’d been allocated the Barbie car which I LOVED, Trap came around to it and secretly loved it as well. Had a great trip driving round the island. The coast is very accessible but there’s very little beach and it’s covered in rocks and seaweed. We did find a wee rock pool to sit in and a beach at the southeast end of the island to have a wee swim and snorkel - still blowing a gale though, so visibility not great. I would highly recommend staying on Cozumel - lots of nice bars, restaurants and shops, a lovely friendly feel and really accessible.

We’ve just arrived in Cancun for the last leg of our Mexican adventure - hoping to get out to the underwater museum tomorrow but still very windy here. The cocktails are back to nz$10 so yay! 

We’re off to Costa Rica in a few days for the next leg of our trip, so we’ll be cashing in our peso for some colons…

Till next time, adios amigos J&T xx