Travel Guide: Tulum Pandemic Edition
My Tulum, Mexico trip was birthed out of having heavy cabin fever and the desperate feeling of simply needing to travel. Traveling in the middle of a pandemic may seem very outlandish to some but my friends and I decided to JUST GO!
I will give you all the tips and tricks on our trip. Hopefully, you have some solid takeaways for your experience in Tulum, Mexico. If you have additional questions feel free to leave a comment or send a message to me via my IG: Jordie_JB.
Accommodations. We stayed in an AirBnB. Our AirBnB was conveniently located about 10 minutes from the local downtown area of Tulum where there are a lot of stores, restaurants and grocery stores. We were about 25 minutes from the main strip in Tulum. The Tulum beach strip is a small road that runs the length of the beach where a lot of the resorts, beach clubs and restaurants are located. If being in the mix is important and having that convenience, you may want to stay in a resort on the strip.
Restaurants. Due to the fact we are in the middle of a global pandemic it is key to have reservations. Most, if not all, restaurants are not operating at full capacity, only 40-50%. It is essential that if you travel to Tulum during the pandemic you have a reservation and that you are not more than 15 minutes late because they will give your reservation away.
We were able to hit a lot of restaurants that were really good. I will list them all here with a basic review of the food, service and vibe of the restaurant.
Gitano - This was our least favorite restaurant and the service was bad. Granted we did not have a reservation because we missed our original restaurant reservation and Gitano did indeed accommodate us. However, that does not excuse the service we received which was horrible. They ended up discounting our bill after seeing us visibly upset. Food was mediocre at best.
Tora - Amazing! We ordered so much food and absolutely nothing disappointed us. The service was just as speculator as the food. Highly recommend. Tora and Rosa Negra are both at the same location, they operate under different names and menus. I am assuming Rosa Negra is equally as good.
Casa Malca - Casa Malca is a resort and restaurant which is known to be one of Pablo Escobar’s old mansions. The art work here is insane! The restaurant is half inside and outside on the beach. While we were there, they were only serving people on the beach due to the pandemic. Service was great and the food was equally as good. This was probably the most expensive restaurant we ate at although Tulum is very reasonable pricing wise on the food.
Burrito Amor & La Querida - Both local spots are both very good. Burrito Amor we frequented often in the mornings for breakfast burritos. La Querida was a great local spot that our driver we had recommended for dinner one night for a local good place.
I have some other restaurants we either did not get to hit or the restaurant just was not simply open because of the pandemic that I am more than willing to share.
Excursion & Exploring. We were able to do a couple of things exploration wise that you may find helpful. The main thing we wanted to do which was see the Ruins which were closed due to the pandemic.
Mia Beach Club & Restaurant- In Tulum, on the main beach strip mentioned earlier. This is a beautiful beach area and restaurant. We spent the afternoon here. We had lunch ordered drinks and we to the pool here. Definitely recommend for a daytime beach vibe. A few of the beach clubs were closed due to the pandemic so definitely research others if you travel there.
Cenotes - These are natural caved in pits that were formed due to limestone collapsing which created natural pools of water. You can swim down and jump into the caves. The Cenotes are beautiful and I highly recommend if you’re into nature and swimming. There are a few locations where the Cenotes are in Tulum. Some Cenotes are larger in size than others. There are two locations for Cenotes. We went to the one which was about 15 minutes out from the main Tulum area. There is another location a little further out which is about 30 minutes. The Cenotes that are further out are a lot more grand in size. Definitely ask the locals or your driver about both if this is something that interest you.
Laguna Kaan Luum- It is a natural laguna that is an open body of water that runs into the bigger body from the Cenotes. There is not much to do here. There are swings and hammocks you can relax on. You can rent a drone and a few other things if you’re into that. This is definitely more of a chill and relaxing vibe.
Cancun Boat Day Trip- Cancun is about an hour and thirty minutes from Tulum. We took a car to Cancun and had a boat for a day that travel to Isla Mujeres, we stopped in the ocean for snorkeling and stopped at another private beach. Alcohol was provided all day on the boat as well as a light breakfast and buffet lunch. This is an all day thing from 7am-7pm (including when we got back to our AirBnB).
Tulum Notables: As you know, we traveled during a pandemic so of course a few things were not business as usual and which was expected we just planned accordingly. At the time of our trip Tulum/Cancun had only starting to open up about a month prior, so opening up are happening in phases. Depending on how COVID continues to shape the future that could get better or worse. It is no telling but do your due diligence. Bring bug spray! Tulum is the jungle and the bugs are another level. Pesos are preferred but you can use American cash. Most places will do the exchange rate for you but it can be annoying. I did use my credit card while in Tulum at some places. I personally like to use a credit card that does not charge internationals fees when I travel aboard because the fees get crazy. We had the same driver our entire trip who was apart of our AirBnB and he was amazing helped us with a lot of different things we did.
This is pandemic travel in Tulum. I recommend it for anyone looking to travel now for reasonable price and seemingly safe trip during the pandemic.
I have a separate blog entry that discusses more in depth about traveling to Mexico from NYC/NJ and what restrictions and face mask requirements under my “Lifestyle” section.
Happy Travels! :)
