There’s a lot to love about Mexico’s coast, it’s world-famous for it’s perfect white, sandy beaches and turquoise water, and my favorite… all the jungle vibes. And about two hours from Cancun, we have the hottest tourist destination of the year, Tulum.
Tulum is the most beautiful, exotic, spiritual getaway there is (often compared to Bali, see my last blogpost). I’ve heard some people say it’s overrated but trust me when I say it’s nothing like I’ve ever experienced before.
There is a right way to do Tulum so you can enjoy the wholesome experiences like ruins, cenotes and hole-in-the-wall food spots while raging your ass off on the beach strip, and this blog has it all. How to do Tulum in ONE week, you ready?
DAY ONE: TRAVEL & CHECK-IN
Getting to Tulum was not as crazy as we expected, I would definitely carve out a whole day for it though. We arrived Saturday evening in Cancun and booked a private shuttle to Tulum from the airport which took an hour and a half. We got to our Airbnb in Downtown Tulum at around 8 pm and were ready to hit town.
Pros of our Airbnb: Super spacious, private pool and community pool, awesome hosting from Diego (the owner), and good WiFi.
Cons of our Airbnb: Would have rather stayed on the beach strip the first half of the trip versus downtown, lots of mosquitos and cockroaches.
We went out on the beach strip at night which is about a 20 minute taxi ride. I would not pay more than 300 pesos on the way to the strip (we definitely got hustled the first couple of nights).
The strip was incredible, we location hopped to different bars and smoked hookah and enjoyed the vibes. A few learning from night one: DO NOT WEAR HEELS EVER IN MEXICO and Casa Jaguar was overpriced and average for a restaurant.
DAY TWO: DAY CLUBBING
We headed over to the beach strip to party ALL DAY and it was incredible. Some of the tourist hotspots for Sunday raging include Taboo Tulum during the day and Rosa Negra at night.
Highly recommend getting bottles and a cabana at Taboo, it’s not CHEAP but it’s definitely not Vegas expensive. My favorite part about Tulum was there were hookahs everywhere, such a vibe.
DAY THREE: RELAXATION
Depending on where you stay in Tulum, I really recommend taking a day to enjoy the resort and amenities. We took this day to recover from the day of raging before, work and also chill by the pool.
Travel Tip: Download Tomato on your phone – it’s the DoorDash of Mexico.
DAY FOUR: FINE DINING
The food in Tulum is immaculate, there’s so many great options but one we thought was delicious was Arca (owned by a Michelin Star chef). It’s the definition of eating in the jungle, lots of great vegetarian options and just a super serene environment overall.
Delicious squash! 
Going out after dinner is a breeze since you’re already on the beach strip, guess where we went? Our favorite: ROSA NEGRA!
DAY FIVE: EXCURSIONS
In order to make this trip somewhat wholesome, we decided to a whole day of excursions. I booked a private shuttle/tour with Ocean Tours. We ended up making our own custom tour with them because we wanted to see certain things so we had two fabulous tour guides pick us up from our Airbnb along with a photographer and they took us to explore the Mayan Ruins. We learned so much about the history and did a short hike through the forest.
Then we got to the water activities (my favorite!) – two MUST things you have to book is the Cenote Casa Tortuga where you quite literally swim and snorkel with TURTLES.
TORTUGGAAAAA 
Lastly, we headed to the most Instagrammable cenote there is… DOS OJOS. Snorkeling in this cenote was an unreal experience while watching trained scuba divers disappear through each underground cave. I felt so at peace when underwater. The tour included an awesome Mexican lunch and the photos were definitely worth buying (as you can tell).
DAY SIX: SUNSET EXPERIENCE
We are officially leaving our Airbnb (thank god!) and moving to a resort – The Mudra Resort in Downtown Tulum. We rented out the penthouse there which was three bedroom, three bathroom, and fit our whole squad perfectly.
We spent the day exploring Downtown Tulum starting with brunch at Kibok Cafe (incredible food and iced coffee!) The rest of the day was spent chilling in the pool and enjoying our resort (again, I loved this place).
In the evening we booked the BEST SUNSET EXPERIENCE EVER, Azulik. This is a bucket list item for sure, do not miss this. Its first come first serve so get to the Azulik hotel around 5 pm and then start standing in line to be let in at 5:30 pm. Once you’re in, it costs $50 for a ticket to the roof along with a drink ticket. Take a scenic walk to the roof and enjoy the live DJ, incredible drinks, and overall ambiance for the next couple of hours. If you’re lucky (like us!), you’ll get invited to the Speakeasy under the rooftop post sunset for drinks and more music.
Afterwards, we went to dinner at a local Mediterranean restaurant called Pasha. Pasha was my favorite restaurant in Tulum, you must order the Mezzanine platter. They had a live Mayan show too!
As the night starts to end, a few of our group members went out in Downtown (no point going back to the beach strip again!) and the rest of the group went to the street food strip. Ask any taxi driver, they will know this strip. BEST. ELOTE. EVER.
DAY SEVEN: HEALTH & WELLNESS
Spiritual healing and wellness to start off the day! We did the Temazcal Ritual at the Amansala Resort and it was wow. We got in touch with a local healer that performed a body & soul-cleansing ceremony through hot stones – basically we sat in a sweat lodge for an hour. It was insanely hot, super difficult mentally and physically (I only lasted 25 minutes) but proven to have incredible therapeutic benefits.
Our night time activities included incredible Thai food at Mezzanine (MUST GO HERE!) followed by a night of amazing drinks, jungle beats and vibes at Gitano.
DAY EIGHT: FOODIE-ING AROUND
Our original plan for the day was to head to Bagatelle for brunch but we were all exhausted from the week and decided to do a wholesome day filled with a food tour. We had a Tulum hole-in-the-wall hot spot for lunch called Antojitos La Chiapaneca. It’s supposed to be one of the best Tulum spots, not my favorite because I’m vegetarian.
But my FAVORITE thing this day was Palma Central, it’s a cute local food truck area (similar to SF’s Spark Social) that has vendors of all different cuisines. I throughly enjoyed pasta, falafels and a Nutella crepe here! The perfect last day vibe.
TIPS FOR TULUM
- You have to book a Covid test ahead of time to get back into the country, it costs about $80.
- Always take mosquito repellant everywhere you go.
- Pack as much anti-frizz and anti-humidity things you can – my poor hair.
- Take multiple sandals and flip-flops because you will not wear anything else.
- Make reservations at hot spots like Gitano, Mezzanine, Bagatelle etc. ahead of time (this saved us a lot of time!)
- Split your time up between the Strip and Downtown – so annoying to go back and forth and taxis are expensive.
- Look into hiring a driver for your stay versus going the taxi route every night.
- Bring a lock for your suitcase and always lock up your passport and money (shady people in the world!)
And if you’re still not convinced about Tulum…. Check out the “Tulum” highlight on my Instagram (@nehaltenany). Call up your homies today for the best time ever.
