Have you heard of Tulum? It is one of the most desired destinations in the Riviera Maya. Its dream beaches and its natural environment dotted with Mayan ruins and cenotes make it a very special destination. Would you like to visit it? We recommend where to stay in Tulum.
At the epicenter of the Riviera Maya, Tulum offers great possibilities to vacationers. This destination has plenty of arguments to seduce anyone: paradisiacal environments, lovely beaches, historical and cultural attractions, fun for the whole family, romantic locations for couples, and good food.
Where to stay in Tulum?
Tulum is warm all the time. Its average temperature is quite stable: it ranges between 24 and 29 ° C. Although these data invite you to visit it all year round, many travelers prefer to do so between December and May, that is, during the dry season. In this way, they ensure that the rain does not affect their plans.
Before visiting this destination, it would not hurt to know a little more about the most emblematic places that compose it. You will determine the place that best suits you to sleep in Tulum to make the most of your stay.
Cheap hotels to stay in Tulum
- Hostel Che Tulum
- Amorcito Corazón Tulum
- Harmony Glamping Tulum
- Elements Tulum Boutique Hotel
- El Punto Tulum Hotel
- Hostel Che Tulum
- Ruta Del Sol
- Mama’s Home Hostel
- Maison Tulum
- Casa Macarena Tulum
The vast majority of Tulum’s accommodation is concentrated in its town and in the Hotel Zone. However, there are other points where there are also lodging options. We recommend seven ideal areas to stay in Tulum well-differentiated, and that stands out for the tourist interest they generate and for the possibilities they offer.
1. Tulum Pueblo / Center
Choosing this area to stay in Tulum reports certain advantages. As the accommodations are not located in front of the beach, the town is somewhat away from it. They have a more affordable price. It is also the point where more services and things to do you will find.
The town offers dozens of hotels, inns, bed, and breakfast. It can be a good center of operations from which to move to the different surrounding attractions.
Also known as the town of Tulum, especially by foreign tourists, this area of the city is full of cafes, restaurants, supermarkets and handicraft, clothing and souvenir shops.
The fun does not end at nightfall. In bars and restaurants, you can enjoy live shows while enjoying a delicious dinner. There are also clubs to dance and sing in karaoke. If you wish, you can witness the folkloric ballet performances that are offered in the building where the municipal palace is located.
The taxi service is cheaper in this area of Tulum. It is a good means of transport to move around the town or move to the Mayan sites, beaches, and cenotes if you do not have another means.
2. The Weather Vane
This is considered by many to be the fastest-growing residential area in Tulum. More and more families, many from the United States, move to build their permanent home or vacation residence.
It is located in the middle of the jungle, but very close to the main road and along a road in the process of becoming an avenue that leads to the beach. In addition, it is only one kilometer from the center of Tulum.
In the neighborhood, it is common to see luxurious houses and functional or under construction condominiums. To sleep in Tulum, there are beautiful properties for rent, although getting one can be a bit difficult due to high demand, especially during the high season.
La Veleta is an area in full development. Aware of its potential, the Mexican government has decided to invest in infrastructure to make it ready. The project includes the construction of bridges, roads and even a railway network that will connect it with the rest of the Yucatan Peninsula.
3. Hotel Zone
At night and from the sea, facing the coast, you can see a colorful strip of light that shines brightly. It is about the lighting of the hotel zone. If you want to have many options in terms of accommodation in Tulum, in this area of almost twelve kilometers of extension, you will find hotels for all tastes and budgets.
Certain accommodations are deliberately more rustic. They usually consist of ecological cabins with electricity generated by solar or wind energy. At certain times of the night, the lights go out.
If you require lighting after a certain time, you can light the candles in the room. It is a romantic alternative tailored to those newlyweds who choose Tulum to enjoy their honeymoon.
Other complexes are much more luxurious, with all the features you could expect from a hotel in a cosmopolitan city, such as a swimming pool, jacuzzi, spa room, gym, Wi-Fi, air conditioning, satellite television, etc. Also, some packages include tours to nearby archaeological sites. The choice is yours.
The hotel zone borders the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, a huge protected natural area declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987. It is located just in front of the Caribbean Sea and the Mesoamerican Reef System.
Like the entire peninsula, there are two well-differentiated ecosystems, white sand beaches and turquoise waters on the coast and jungle scenarios with abundant vegetation, inland lagoons, and cenotes.
In the latter, the masses of trees that form islands of vegetation in the middle of swamps and springs are common. They measure up to thirty meters high and two kilometers in diameter. The reserve also has more than twenty archaeological sites.
4. Tankah Bay
Less than twelve kilometers from Tulum, there is a destination with paradisiacal natural environments and airs of exclusivity. We refer to Tankah Bay, the place chosen by many tourists to erect their vacation properties.
Its greenish waters, its palm trees rocked by the wind and its white sand beaches have earned it the nickname of the “Mexican Tahiti.” As the sea near the coast is calm and shallow, the bay is a good point for families traveling with young children.
The more adventurous will want to enter the ocean and dive to “visit” the Mesoamerican Reef System, a coral reef about a thousand kilometers long that stretches along the eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula and Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras.
This makes it the second-largest reef on the planet, just below the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. In addition to diving, other popular water sports in Tankah Bay are rowing and kayaking.
The nesting turtles is a seasonal attraction. It occurs between May and December, months in which there are many possibilities to run into a turtle that comes to spawn on the beach, especially at night. We recommend you to wear water shoes if you are going to bathe on the beaches of the north coast since the seabed is somewhat rocky.
Tankah Bay is home to the Manatee Cenote, a natural well with crystal clear waters surrounded by an extensive mangrove system that attracts all snorkeling enthusiasts and divers eager to get certified for swimming in open water.
Those who wish to learn to dive can take classes at one of the two centers in the area. Some of the freshwaters of this cenote seep into the Caribbean, forming a turquoise eye in the sea.
To the south of the bay, there are bars and restaurants with local and international food that remain open until late at night. Some of them are in front of the sea.
Those who choose Tankah Bay to stay in Tulum will find four and five-star hotels with all the comforts. They are few, but they are usually sufficient to cover the demand for an area where privacy is one of its main attributes.
5. Zama
Aldea Zama is an ecotourism settlement and a residential area that is located in a central place of Tulum. From here you can travel by bicycle to the main attractions of the city and its surroundings: the town, the cenotes, and the pre-Hispanic ruins. It borders the only paved road in the city that takes you to the beach.
Permanent surveillance, Wi-Fi access and underground water, electricity, telephone, cable television, and internet services guarantee a comfortable and secure stay.
Many of the buildings are friendly to the environment. It is not uncommon to find properties made of natural materials or that are supplied by clean and renewable energy sources. Condos in the middle of the vegetation and the adjacent cenotes are also common.
The streets and sidewalks have the color of the sand to merge with the natural environment, and the buildings cannot exceed three stories high. In this way, they do not obstruct the visibility of trees.
Aldea Zama combines the best of both worlds, demonstrating that the human being can live with nature without over-exploiting it. This symbiosis is the result of good planning that meets the latest standards in green building.
In a few years, Aldea Zama has become the most exclusive location within a destination that has aroused great interest within the national and international real estate market.
Despite its vertiginous development, the environmental impact has been minimal, thanks to government policies and the efforts of its inhabitants to make Tulum remain a green and sustainable place.
The great variety of restaurants, shops, and bars located along the main avenue of Aldea Zama could make it, soon, in the new downtown area of Tulum.
6. Soliman Bay
Traveling by vehicle, ten minutes from the walled city of Tulum is a quiet place, considered by many to be the ideal place to spend your stay during your vacation or even to settle after your retirement. It’s about Soliman Bay. No matter if you are looking for adventure or relaxation, here you will find a lot of both benefits.
The coral reef near the coast offers protection against intense waves. This characteristic makes the bay the favorite place for young children to swim in its waters. The beach consists of fine and shining sand, and almost no rocks are visible.
However, due to the presence of turtle grass, we recommend wearing water shoes. As for flora and fauna, high palm trees and seabirds stand out in the water in search of their food.
The buoys located near the reef allow you to moor smaller boats, such as a kayak, and get off with your snorkeling or diving equipment or to get to know corals closely, and swim with the Caribbean’s own fish, rays and sea turtles. In fact, these magnificent reptiles arrive at the bay between May and September to nest.
Most of the properties that are located along the main road of Soliman Bay are private residences. However, there is also a small but acceptable tourist infrastructure to stay in Tulum. This includes small hotels, both cheap and luxury, and restaurants with international and Mexican cuisine.
Enjoy a good meal in an environment in the middle of the lush jungle or stay with the typical beach experience, ordering seafood at the seashore.
As we have already said, the famous Mayan ruins of Tulum, which give their name to the entire municipality, are very close to the bay. This ancient Mayan city is located on a cliff that faces the Caribbean Sea.
It’s the time of splendor between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. Even after the arrival of the Spaniards, it continued to be inhabited for seven decades by its original settlers.
It is one of the preserved pre-Hispanic vestiges. As if that were not enough, the ocean view is spectacular.
Very close to Soliman Bay is Xel-Há, a park full of attractions: the largest natural aquarium in the world, swimming with dolphins, diving and snorkeling in underground rivers, as well as zipline rides and aboard amphibious vehicles.
7. Paradise Beach
Considered by many frequent travelers as one of the best beaches in Mexico and part of the top of the best beaches in the world, Playa Paraíso is a must-see destination if you come to Tulum. Its natural beauty is its best cover letter. It could not be otherwise, taking into account that it is a Caribbean beach.
The change in shades of the waters that bathe the coast is more striking and evident. The scale includes several shades of blue, ranging from the lightest to the turquoise, a prodigious symphony of color.
The sand, meanwhile, is particularly fine and smooth. And thanks to the sun, which shines brightly for much of the year, the water maintains a pleasant temperature.
The infrastructure of Playa Paraíso is focused on pleasing the most demanding tourism. Beers and well-frozen cocktails from local bars are the perfect antidotes against the Caribbean heat. And the best of Quintana Roo, Mexican and international cuisine is enjoyed in the restaurants in the area.
If you are looking for accommodation in Tulum, you will find a wide range of hotels that includes first-class options. Those who want to get away from modernity can stay in the cabins of Villa Pescadores Tulum. The rooms are spacious and rustic, but no less comfortable than those of the large hotel chains.
Playa Paraíso is located near the ancient city of Tulum, the Xel-Há Ecological Park and several cenotes, including Calavera, Carwash and the Great Cenote. Without a doubt, a good option to stay in Tulum.