Beach Ruins

The Beach
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We´ve decided to write this section of our blog on the Mexican Caribbean in a way that will hopefully be useful to other travellers planning to go there (sorry family and friends if it seems a little too much detail). After spending two weeks in this region visiting and staying in numerous places we believe we have the answers as to which are the best beaches, how to gain access onto the beaches and how to survive the Caribbean as a backpacker.

Our first port of call on the coast was Tulum, a picturesque place located on the Caribbean sea. After catching an overnight bus from Palenque we arrived in Tulum early in the morning and were instantly hit by the heat. After settling into our thatched roof bungalow we headed straight for the beach. As we first caught a glimpse of the beach we were amazed by its beauty. The beach at Tulum is magnificent with completely clear turquiose water and pure white silky sand. Even when it became overcast the water still appeared a bright turquoise colour. It was a great spot for swimming as it had just a few gentle waves and the water was very warm which I found strange compared to the ocean in Australia. During October there were only a handful of tourists here, a mixture of resort goers and backpackers. As a backpacker you definately don´t feel out of place here. We´ve given Tulum 2nd place as far as brilliant beaches go in the Mexico Caribbean and definately recommend spending a couple of days here.

After a couple of hours at the ruins we once again spent the day at the lovely beach

The ruins
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As a backpacker you have two options for accomodation. You can stay in a beachfront cabin which are very basic, a bit more expensive and we´ve been told full of mosquitos. The second option and the one we chose was to stay in the town of Tulum which is a five minute taxi ride to the beaches. The hostel we stayed in and recommend is called Casa Del Sol (an easy walk from the bus station). The price here for a double cabin with shared bathroom is 250 pesos (US $20). The majority of other basic places are about 400 pesos and some of them are awful, so choose wisely. You can either get a taxi to the beach for 40 pesos (US $3) total or the local bus for 10 pesos each but the buses only run to the beach at 9am and 12pm returning at 5pm. Its easy to get a taxi both to and from the beach at any time of the day.

Iguana by the ruins
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Accessing the beaches in the Mexican Caribbean is an issue of contension. Fancy resorts and beach clubs are normally situated along the beachfront making it difficult to access. In Tulum there are two options. You can access the beach from a public access point near the ruins and walk to the nicest spot in front of the beach club (there is only one on the beach). Alternatively taxis will drop you at the beach club and the security will let you enter the beach from there without any issues at all. You can either pay around US$6 to use the beach club facilities or simply lay on the sand with your own towel in front of the beach club. If you want to do it cheaply I recommend bringing a packed lunch and drinks as the beach club is ridiculously expensive and there are no other food/drink options within walking distance. If it pours down the beach club will generally let you stand under their umbrellas without any charge but are quick to ask you to leave (their umbrellas) as soon as it clears up.

The ruins and the sea
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There are lots of local cheap Mexican restaurants to eat in along the main road in town and after eating in a few we found them all to be of a high standard. You also get the expensive places too if you want to splash out.

We spent our second day visiting the ruins which are situated in a magnificent location overlooking the azure waters of Tulum. The actual ruins are nice and different to other Mayan ruins as they are quite low in height and have a great ocean view. Of added interest is the large number of Iguanas everywhere around the ruins, unfortunately there was also a large presence of Mosquitos and they don't hold back - make sure you have repellant on! We recommend visiting the ruins before 9am as they get very busy with daytrippers from the cancun resorts, you only need an hour or two there. After a couple of hours at the ruins we once again spent the day at the lovely beach swimming and relaxing. What a beautiful spot!!   Shannyn