Week 76: Tulum!
- elenalilamartin
- Jun 19, 2024
- 7 min read
Week 76: June 9th-15th, 2024
Me and my friends have a tradition of an annual girls’ trip that began in college. We’ve gone to places like Palm Springs, Cabo, and this year, we chose Tulum. In an attempt to save money, we booked an Airbnb based on a recommendation from our friend’s sister. The place was gorgeous in photos and thankfully just as gorgeous in person. The link to the Airbnb listing is here if you'd like better idea of where we stayed. Our attempt at saving money failed, because after a few days in Tulum, it is evident that going to an all-inclusive resort like we did before in Cabo is actually way more cost effective, especially for a larger group. We spent so much more money this year in Tulum than last year in Cabo, but to be fair, we’re still new at this. We are still getting the hang of the financial planning. Despite the large price difference, this year’s trip planning was actually much more organized and streamlined. We got together once at the beginning of the year to choose a destination & dates and book flights and stays, and then met again closer to departure date for itinerary details.
Of course, for organization and all things extra, I created a shared Google Slideshow with my friends for us to brainstorm and build together.
Next year, I hope our girls' trip will be an even better balance of finances and good planning. There will probably be another slide show, of course.
After an exhausting day of traveling through Tijuana and Mexico City, we arrived in Tulum and got to the Airbnb and hung out in the pool. The humidity and heat made the outdoors feel like a sweaty, wet oven, but the air conditioning and the pool kept it bearable. That night, we had a very yummy dinner made by a private chef at our Airbnb. A couple days before the trip, we were able to pick specific days and mealtimes we thought having a chef would be helpful (and we added it to the slideshow itinerary!) Each meal was delicious and definitely worth the price tag on days we were too exhausted to make our own meals or venture out to restaurants. The convenience of the optional chef service on each day was a great feature at our Airbnb. A couple of the other meals we had from the Airbnb chef service were chilaquiles, omelettes, steak tacos, and salmon. It was great to be treated like a princess and I was so thankful the food was so good.
The second day was pretty open schedule until dinner, so we decided to explore and get brunch somewhere. We walked a few blocks from our Airbnb to the corner market, got brunch by the beach at a fun cafe called Potheads, and walked around some local shops.
I also really wanted to go to some archeological sites like Chichen Itza, but we couldn’t fit that into the schedule because it was pretty far away. Thankfully, I got us all to go to the Tulum Ruins, which are incredible.
The grounds have recently been updated by the people who run the park to protect the ruins more and provide walkways between buildings. I loved seeing the hundreds of iguanas roaming around the ruins. Our tour guide at the ruins was named Yael and he was adorable and incredibly knowledgeable about Tulum’s history. It was crazy to think about how the ruins of Tulum are considered some of the more ‘recently built’ Mayan civilizations but were constructed in the 13th century.
Bonus - I found this old photo of my family years ago in front of the same ruins! I have no clue how my parents got us to Tulum so long ago. The Tulum airport was just built last year, so props to them for adventuring with two small kids.
After our excursion tot he ruins, we went home to shower and take a nap. Then, as we'd planned, we had an amazing club-like dinner at Bagatelle. The club atmosphere while trying to eat dinner and have conversation was a funny mix, but it was really fun. They had a DJ and LED lights and mini performances by people dressed as Michael Jackson and Kiss (AKA Miguel Jackson and Beso). They even had us stand on our chairs and dance periodically between courses! The food was super good and though it was expensive, it was worth the experience.
With our tummies full and happy, we had more energy and were already dressed up. So, despite the pouring rain, we went to a club called Bonbonniere across the street.
We arrived way too early to the club because we were the only ones at Bonbonniere for about an hour and felt very watched by all the workers. It was funny, because in America, most places close at 2am. Apparently, Bonbonniere closes around 5am. Thankfully after 1am, the place started to fill up. After a couple hours, we called it a night and were surprised with a swamp! The trek from the club to the main entrance and our taxi driver was absolutely flooded. It was insane, because the rain created a shallow lake over a long wooden plank bridge and we were basically ankle-deep in swampy rain puddles until we got back to the front. It was a hilarious end to a fun night, though I’m sure we looked (and smelled) like wet dogs.
The rain, which was apparently the first of the season (lucky us!) continued throughout the trip, mostly at night, but didn’t prevent us from doing any of our planned activities. It did prevent us from a dry Airbnb, because none of the buildings in Tulum are sealed properly and there was water everywhere. It wasn’t a big deal, since it was only by the windows or the hallways, but we had to make sure to walk carefully on the tile floor so we didn't slip.
The second day, after a yummy breakfast from the Airbnb chef, we spent the day at Taboo Beach Club. It was super windy, and a bit cloudy, but not unbearable. A funny thing about the beach club is that we were surrounded by women with BBLs and major plastic surgery. I loved it, but we all definitely felt a little sub-par in comparison to their enhancements. We had to politely decline the server’s attempts to upsell us on items off the menu many times, but having a hospitality expert in the group helped (thanks, Victoria!).
The day club was really fun, but, like the day clubs in Vegas, incredibly exhausting. We didn't do much that night other than watch Perfect Match on Netflix and treat our sunburns and bug bites.
Some relaxing, not club-related activities were needed after the first few days so we also went on a private boat in Playa del Carmen and swam in the bay. The storming weather meant the open ocean was not an option due to the port being closed, but we preferred staying anchored and swimming anyway. Our trip on the boat included drinks, fruit and guac and chips. Our boat guide was named Emmanuel and he was super funny, very friendly and had only been working at the yacht company for two weeks! We let lucky to have included him on our boat party. He chatted with us about Pride month and how it is still very hard for gay men in Mexico to feel safe and accepted. We told him to come visit us in San Diego any time.
I don’t think I realized how deep in the jungle most of Tulum is. It is still very undeveloped, but it is full of massive, semi-built resorts. I wouldn’t be surprised if in five years, Tulum looks and feels totally different. Right now it is touristy, but not as commercial as Cabo, and definitely much smaller. I hope the new development does not hurt the jungle environment too much. So much of the world has been ruined by human intervention and construction, and not everything needs to be ultra-sterilized and developed for enjoyment. The Tulum jungle’s lack of a real road or development was especially evident for our wonderful taxi driver who, upon realizing our trip was about 30 minutes on a bumpy, muddy, dirt road deep into the jungle, decided to stay with us to make sure we got back home okay. He generously agreed to drive us to a hotel and resort deep in the jungle called the Yellow Nest in Dos Ojos park. There, we got floating breakfasts, day passes and experienced a (thankfully very) short temazcal ceremony and relaxed by the pool.
A temazcal ceremony is an ancient Mayan tradition of sitting in a hot sauna with volcanic rocks and purging yourself of negative energy. I’m not sure how people would sit in a suffocatingly hot and humid dome for more than thirty minutes, because I felt like I was going to die. Maybe it was the negative energy leaving my body that made me feel that way, but I’m not too sure. I’m glad I did stick around and participate in the meditation even though I considered tapping out many times.
After our time at the Yellow Nest, we also took another dirt road in the same part of the jungle to Taak Bi Ha. This was a relatively small cenote, or underground cavern filled with fresh water from deep in the Earth. It was an amazing feat of nature. How animals like bats and fish can thrive in environments like that never ceases to amaze me.
The water was so fresh and clear, and the bats flying around above us as we swam around reminded me of something. I had to tell my friends about when I was little, and I had a strange-looking, grey stuffed animal cat who I named “Guano,” thinking it was cute. My sister then notified me that guano was, in fact, bat poop, and naming a stuffed animal that was a little odd. I didn’t care. I liked bats, and I liked my cat Guano, so don’t worry, I kept the name.
Our last dinner was at Rosa Negra, a restaurant run by the same people who own Taboo. Fighting through our exhaustion, we put on cute dresses and had a great final dinner.
Like with any trip to a tropical destination, I’m ending this one happy, fulfilled, and riddled with red, angry mosquito bites, a lighter wallet, and much browner skin. It amazes me that I am surrounded by successful friends who are willing and able to take these trips every year. I am so glad we have this tradition. We’re growing together as people and as a group of strong women, though our collective strength was definitely tested in Tulum by the drinking, adventuring, and the heat and humidity. Despite the annual evidence that our bodies are not as young as they to be, we plan to continue doing this for as long as we can. I can’t wait for next year’s girls’ trip. I don’t want to overdo it with the photos, but just know our iCloud Shared Album for seven people has over 1,236 photos that I will cherish forever. We also had disposable film cameras that I cannot wait to get developed.
See you next week.
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