Tulum Beach vs Tulum Pueblo: There's a Big Difference!
- Aug 3, 2020
- 6 min read
I recently visited Tulum for the first time and was not aware what a big difference there is between Tulum Beach and Tulum Pueblo! If you are planning to travel there, you will want to know the difference.
I am normally an (overly) thorough sort of investigator before I go to a place but when I went to Tulum recently, I may have messed up a bit. I had seen a lot of beautiful pictures on Instagram (Follow me @texastospain) and online so I knew I wanted to go there. I had also read about some fitness travel destinations there and they looked amazing. So when I was in Progreso living it up, one morning I woke up and decided to pull the trigger on the Tulum reservations and I may have jumped the gun.
I like to stay in hotels and vacation homes from AirBnb depending on how long I will be in the destination. If I will be there more than a couple days then I like to stay somewhere with a full kitchen so I can make my protein shakes in the mornings or cook throughout the day, eating out every meal gets old. We knew we would stay in Tulum for about a week so I decided to go the vacation home route.
I have stayed at AirBnb's in multiple states and countries, I love it but this time it did not pan out. I noticed there were not many homes near the beach but many of them didn't look too far away and showed pictures of bikes. They reported they were in Tulum Pueblo. Now I'll admit there are surely homes near the beach but they were probably full because we decided to go to Tulum at the very last minute while roaming around the Yucatan Peninsula. But I thought hey, we've been drinking too much beer some bike riding will be good for us... yaaaaa so here goes..
Tulum Beach
Tulum Beach is a magical place with gorgeous Caribbean waters, upscale restaurants and resorts, and down home hippie cafes and juice bars.
It is a two way street with people walking and biking and the beaches are spectacular. Some beaches have a lot of rocks but it gives it a different vibe than your run-of-the-mill sand and water that's it. Although it can make it difficult for swimming so choose your beach wisely if you want to do more than sunbathe and the occasional dip to get wet.
There are many expensive, luxurious hotels and some more reasonable places mixed in. I recommend booking early for this destination because (as I found out) the good spots fill up quickly.
We spent a beach day and had dinner at La Zebra Hotel and liked it so much we thought that when our reservation at the vacation home ended we would come stay there for the weekend before heading back to the states- wrong! It is completely booked and the management said they are completely full through the end of May! That means if you want to stay there, you need to book months in advance. Spending the day there was still lovely and we enjoyed it very much and that option is always available. I also found there was space at the hotel next door and they were reasonably priced. Their beach is not as large but there are many beautiful options along the beach there.
Tulum Pueblo
Let's just say that if you are picturing yourself at those beautiful beaches from the yoga retreat website that you saw, this is not it.
Now that is not to say that Tulum Pueblo doesn't have it's certain charms. We found some decent nightlife and some good meals but I'm sorry it was nothing like closer to the beach.
They may lead you to believe that Tulum Beach is just down the street from Tulum Pueblo, as they did us. "3 km to the beach", I thought that that's nothing on a bike, a pleasure. Ha! They are dreaming.
Now, you may be saying to yourself, "I am not the USUAL traveler, I go far and wide from just resorts." Okay, that's what I thought too. And in fact, there are a lot of backpackers, locals and other hippie sorts in Tulum Pueblo and they seemed happy as can be. I'm sure if you are into Ayahuasca or other varieties of that sort of thing, it is probably there. I personally am not and I was in Tulum for my birthday so I was picturing an all-together more luxurious affair.
That being said, in Tulum Pueblo, you can find for cheaper accommodations and also *last minute* accommodations as we did. We found a couple good bars and restaurants that we enjoyed such as Encanto Cantina where you can get some good vibes, good music, good cocktails, and their plantain dessert is amazinggggg and Los Milagritos where I had the best chile relleno of my life. I also enjoyed everything that comes out of Burrito Amor.
There was some other excitement such as constantly almost getting run over on the bikes and getting pooped on by a bird at a lovely breakfast under the trees. Hey, they say in Italy that it's good luck! I was able to get my entire iPhone touch screen replaced (I dropped it on a tile floor in Progreso) quickly and for quite a good price at TelCel, I was very happy about that.
Okay I got a little off track there, if you decide Tulum Pueblo is still the gig for you, know this.
There is a very good chance you may get hit by a car on a bike.
The beach is much farther than they say but it's not a bad ride. However, once you get deeper into Tulum Beach, the sidewalk ends and you are now on a skinny two lane road that is very busy with cars, walkers, and other bikes.
The beach is an extremely long stretch. There is a huge difference between going to the first area of beach and beach resorts than to the part where say La Zebra is located. You pretty much must take a taxi or have a vehicle.
If you are familiar with pesos and the rates, it cost us 150 pesos to get from our place to La Zebra. We thought that he was trying to overcharge us until we finally got there and saw how truly far away it is. (It was so neat, we didn't care)
If you have a car or a moto then I would say staying in Tulum Pueblo would not be so bad distance-wise, but you should still know this:
We rented a vacation home that had many new modern homes in the same area. "The new expat neighborhood." Great!- Noo noo noo. This neighborhood is on the opposite side of the entire town from the road to the beach, making that 3 km distance highly inaccurate. This entire neighborhood is still under construction, we were literally surrounded by jackhammers from 6 am until after dark on most days. They advertise relaxation, trust me when I say it's not going to happen. You would be amazed that after a few days the sound of the jackhammer can almost lull you to sleep from the rhythm of the banging but if you want to try to stay awake and maybe have a relaxing afternoon, you better do it when they are having siesta time. Lastly, I will mention in this same neighborhood you will find a discoteca that is not close by but it is so quiet in that area that it sounds like it is next door. They will probably stop playing music at 2 a.m. and the jackhammers will start at 6 or 7 a.m. Finally, to end this rant, the roads are not all complete. They may provide you with a bike but you will be lucky not to break your rear end using it and then have to ride down a stretch of highway with semi trucks to get into town.
If you do decide to stay in Tulum Pueblo, please don't stay in the neighborhood with all the expat AirBnB homes. I'm literally cringing just thinking about it.
Conclusion
If you are going to Tulum, plan ahead and book in advance. Do yourself a favor and do it right. Stay at a place right on the beautiful beach and have a fantastic time. It may be a little pricey but it is worth it. You will love it!
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