Traveling to a city where you've never been can be a little overwhelming. One of the hardest things is understanding the layout of the city. And you've got to figure out where to stay, where to eat, and what parts of town are cool. So today we are going to try to help you understand the different areas of Tulum. We have stayed in the 4 major areas. A local may not lay out their city this way and it's likely broken down in much smaller sections than this, but after visiting 4 times I think this system is helpful to understanding the way Tulum is laid out.
Tulum Town- Tulum doesn't really have a downtown but if it did this is what it would be, and this is where most of the locals live. It's about 10 minutes to the beach and has a totally different feel than the other parts of Tulum. There is one main road that goes through town and the street is lined with vendors who sell everything from hammocks to clothes to jewelry and many other random things. There are also a lot of restaurants that have amazing food but aren't as expensive and fancy as the restaurants in the beach zone. This is a great area to stay in if you want to appreciate the local culture and save some dollars. Staying here is significantly less expensive than staying by the beach. This is the Airbnb we stayed in on two of our trips. We love Tulum town, but if this is your first time in Mexico and you are concerned about safety at all- this might not be the place for you. Watch our video here if you want to know if we think Tulum is safe or not.
The Beach Zone- This area is what made me fall in love with Tulum. You drive down this two lane road and see people riding bikes through this bohemian jungle and through that jungle on one side is the ocean. Truly magical. This road is lined with boutique hotels, restaurants, shops, etc. If you want to wake up and see the ocean, this is where you stay. There are a few reasons you may not want to stay here like you have a large group you are traveling with or you are on a budget. There are a few options that aren't too expensive but you'll have to sacrifice air conditioning. We stayed in Coco Tulum in 2017 and loved it! We had a little bungalow right on the beach and could open our door and see the ocean, and we did have air conditioning. When we stayed there it was the most affordable option for hotels by the beach and had a/c. You can't beat waking up ocean, but with the seaweed problems Tulum you may reconsider staying beach side. We have a video coming soon that talks about the seaweed problem in Tulum.
Aldea Zama- This is where we stayed on our latest trip in May 2019, and we really enjoyed our time here. Aldea Zama is between the beach zone and the town. This isn't an actual gated community but AZ is its own thing. It's like a little village in the middle of Tulum, and it is a newer development. There is still quite a bit of construction going on but that wasn't a problem for us. There are lots of Airbnbs in this part of town and there are a few hotels. Aldea Zama also has it's own restaurants and shops, and this area is very walkable and bikeable.
We loved the Airbnb we stayed in this trip, and it is pictured here in all the photos in this post. The amenities and the decor were next level, and the host was nice and attentive. There was even a small cenote right behind our Airbnb! There was also a pool that was shared with other guests and an outdoor grill and kitchen area. The kitchen was fully stocked with everything we needed to make a meal. We highly recommend checking this place out. Aldea Zama would be great for people who don't want to sacrifice amenities and are more concerned about safety. Our Airbnb had it's own private security and a lot of the places here had their own security as well.
You can see a video tour of our Airbnb and more of our Tulum trip in this video! Just click play to watch right here on the blog post.
Outside of Tulum/Akumal- I wasn't sure if I was going to include this in a post about the areas of Tulum since this is not a part of Tulum. I decided to include it because there are several places that are advertised as being in Tulum but aren't. If you want an all inclusive resort experience, this is where you'll want to go. There are only a few resorts inside of Tulum and they are very expensive. There are also more Airbnbs on the beach in Akumal. In Tulum proper there aren't any Airbnbs right on the beach. All of the Airbnbs in Tulum proper are in town or Aldea Zama. The first time I went to "Tulum" I stayed in this area and was pretty disappointed that we weren't really in Tulum, but we were actually 20-25 mins away. Honestly, Tulum isn't the kind of place where you want to do all-inclusive. There are way too many amazing places to see in Tulum that limiting yourself to a resort is total waste. If you want to do the all inclusive thing, save some money and do one in Cancun.
I know all of the areas in Tulum sound appealing and they each have something special to offer. So naturally you need to visit at least 3 times to try them all! If I was a millionaire, I would chose to stay on the beach BUT I'm not and we really truly enjoyed staying in both Aldea Zama and in town. When you are in Tulum, you can't choose wrong because you are never far from the beach.
If you liked this post, please pin an image to your Pinterest to share the love! And follow us on Pinterest if you don't already.
No comments