A few days in TULUM.. where I STAYED, SIPPED, and PLAYED.
from top clockwise: My crew.. 2 Ginas and Christilyn. Spicy ritas at ARCA, Papaya Playa Project, street tacos, our rooftop airBNB
When I talked to my girlfriend in early December about a trip she was going on to Mexico specifically Tulum, my ears perked up.. “Can I come??” She was also taking a few days in Mexico City.. I opted for the beach half of her vacay in Tulum. My girlfriend Gina has quite a knack for finding cute AIRBNBs and making vacations easy by planning most of it. Which allowed me to literally just show up and tag along… I didn't do much research so I just knew that the photos were content heaven.. If you are a blogger ( or insta whore ) you understand.. Below is my personal experience.. Hope this helps anyone on their way..
Day 1 Not full day just ARRIVAL
I am a flight attendant so for other FAs out there I non-reved on United out of LAX, super early on the 6:30 am flight. Mahalo UA.. you all were so so nice and made my flight fabulous. ( side note FA- flight attendant.. Non-rev is a term used to literally describe how any FA gets around.. As a “non-revenue” passenger )
LAX to Cancun to meet my girlfriends who were flying in from Mexico City. Once I had my first Tecate as I waited for them to land, we then took a ( personal ) shuttle to Tulum, which can be anywhere from 1 hr 30 min to 2 hrs.
Arrived at our FABULOUS AirBNB, which was pretty seamless as far as the key sitch. Not knowing so, we rented a place, that was nestled into a new development.. Like brand new apartment building. Click here for the link to my Airbnb. It had a coffee/wine shop below and cute bodega perfectly placed for beer, Tequila, wine, & snack runs.
We were excited and decided to get dressed nicely and hele’d on to Tulum. At this point it was already dark. We headed to ARCA, which came recommended.. I was pretty hungry but we ended up sharing 4 appetizers and 2 entrees. Each came out presented by the server and explained. Not at all the Mexi food I was expecting.. It was wayyyy more fancier.. And it was delishhhh.. The atmosphere was magical too, we sat beneath the stars by candlelight… spicy Margs in hand.
After dinner we walked to the end of the strip and stopped into one more bar.. Which I don’t remember the name bc it didn’t show up on my bank statement.. But I am 100% positive this is where my card got compromised .. more on that later.
Day 2 FIRST FULL DAY ( Sunday )
Woke up with the plan to do Yoga on the beach but my Yogi in the group woke up with a soar tummy. She got sick on something maybe in Mexico City.. we “speculated” since we all shared everything the night before and the rest of us weren’t feeling oozie.
So unfortunately without her, my 2 girlfriends Gina and Gina.. yes 2 Ginas.. Continued out and went to the Beach Club that was tahhh diee for. Papaya Playa Project. So SO comfy, cute, DJ, yummy cocktails and service with a smile. As you saw if you follow me on IG.. we certainly enjoyed ourselves. To use the facilities, including pool, beds, chairs, beautiful esthetic oh & complimentary towels, it was a minimum of $50.00 per person..USD ( $1000 pesos ) .. which wasn’t v hard and IMO a p good deal.
On the way home after 12 we wanted to stop and get some drinks for the evening to bring back.. Something to note: NO ALCOHOL SOLD IN
Tulum after 12 on Sundays. So we ended up in a cpl bottles of wine downstairs at the lil cafe that turned into a wine bar at night. Problem Solved. Although I did wake up in the middle of the night with gnarly heart burn.. It was that and the combo of probably spicy ritas and tequila.. Its hard to say.. Thx Dr G for saving me with Zantac and Tums at 2 am .. LIFE SAVER.
all photos at Papaya Playa Project
Day 3 MY PERSONAL FAV
Today was the day to go see the famous Cenotes of Tulum
REAL QUICK: A cenote * pronounced* si-ˈnō-tē
is a deep, water-filled sinkhole in limestone that is created when the roof of an underground cavern collapses.
Okay we hired a tour from AirBnb Adventures.. Annnd it was the best decision.. Again not mine.. Thank you Gina!
photos DO NOT do it justice.. clockwise.. second Cenote, Mexican Flag, me jumping into first Cenote (so FUN), Sam leading the way for us, G and I
Our tour guide Sam explained he would take us to 3 Cenotes.. Each has very different feelings. Sam picked us up in his car.. Spacious enough for the 4 of us..
The first Cenote.. and notably my FAV
+First Cenote was Sam's personal fav.. And not to deter you but mine too!! Completely secluded.. As in we were the only ones.. Big, spacious, blue, refreshing, and complete with a rope swing, chairs and tables. I mean it was perfect.
+Second Cenote Sam told us “this is a strong one, you will see what I mean” ummm did we ever.. A longer road and towards the back of the jungle.. This Cenote was in a shady, and the actual water pool was not as “open” as the previous. It was more like a cave.. Well it was.. There were bats and they were flying all around in that cave. It was kinda creepy, but in a natural beautiful “oh my god” way if that makes sense… It actually really put more perspective on the diversity of each cenote. It was pretty cool. And certainly a contrast. Which I appreciated.
After that and a Modelo.. We decided it was lunch time.. Another fav was Sam took us to one of his taco spots.. Now this is what I was craving!! That and an Orange Fanta.. Sigh. This is when I felt most like I was in Mexico, on this day.
+Third Cenote VERY CROWDED. But also very photogenic. It was certainly the easiest to get to, and maybe that’s why. Divers, groups, INSTA INSANITY is how I’d describe this particular spot. We stayed just long enough to jump in literally through a whole and climb up, and ppl watch for about 10 min with Iguanas. I appreciated Sam showing us this one.. And perhaps we were there at peak time.. But nonetheless pretty spectacular as well.
We were done at 2:30 annnd Sam was nice enough to drop us off at the Mayan Ruins which were by the beach. So in our minds we would walk from here to up the beach and around to the beach strip of Tulum. It was kinda a lot of walking ( which I was good with) and although I was a bit tired the ruins were incredible.. So was the beach. We exited the park and walked down the beach where we bar hopped and watched the sunset.. It was beautiful perfect weather, and muy delicioso spicy margaritas with a few cervezas.. Made for a perfect ending to a long adventurous day..
TO CONTACT SAM For AN ADVENTURE AND RECEIVE A DISCOUNT when mentioning babe on a mish, he prefers you FIND HIM HERE on his insta you can simply dm him or you can find him on Airbnb adventures but it maybe a tad more expensive..
For dinner we went to Burrito Amor. Tasty and cheap..
top clockwise: Mayan Ruins, Mother Mary, Beach walk bar hop, last Cenote
Day 4 and downtown tulum
It was unfortunate that Christlyn was unable to go with us to Playa the first day and it was something she really wanted to do.. So we went back.. It was an easy sell. Beautiful and service was on point.
After we spent half the day enjoying cocktails we headed home because we wanted to do happy hour at the Nest.
I didn’t mention this before but on our quest for alcohol on Sunday I picked up chicken , peppers and onions to make dinner in one night. It was perfect with fresh corn tortillas from the bodega downstairs.
Honestly TULUM IS NOT CHEAP. The prices are very comparable to LA or NY. Not exaggerating. Here and there you can find cheaper drinks around. I wasn’t quite prepared for that, and I kept feeling like it was just a waste, small portions left me hungry and with no money.. I hadn’t anticipated spending so much ( I also didn’t do much research, so I accept that its part my fault) .We were in a very “resorty” area. So to be expected I suppose.
That being said I wanted to go to the NEST, apparently a very cool place for happy hour cocktails.. They wanted to charge you $50 just to get in… which included ONE COCKTAIL.. I was disappointed, and again felt like it was another rip off.. As one door closes they say.. We walked down a little bit further to Mina, and it was mellow, we could sit together and converse and laugh. I thought to myself.. Wow I love how life works out. I'd much rather be able to sit here and enjoy the company of these ladies than with strangers vying for a photo. I mean me included. lol.
After Mina’s.. We headed into town determined to get more of that authenticity I had been craving. I had a churro craving granted & got to shop a little. However, we ended up at a bar with swings and our faces on a Tequila Bottle.. So there ya go. I tried. Lol.
And in the END it was a damn good time.. like the best.
so whateves. again life working-out.
from top clockwise: us posing for our Tequila Bottle ( didn’t know at the time ), our exit from the ruins to the beach, bags on the streets, me living in my Tanlines suit, deish churros. worth every bite.
THIS TRIP with 4 other girls was insanely fun.
But I have to say.. Tulum has a very forced LA-ishh/zen inspired vibe.. And if you’ve been to one restaurant.. that variation is in the one right next door. Which I loved, infact i took a zillion pics to immolate some of it myself one day..don’t get me wrong.. But ISSA VIBE that they all kinda are doing collectively. If that makes sense. The people were extremely nice, service everywhere was impeccable, but I don't think I will be back.
More than thankful for the experience, and very happy I went.. in my future trip to Mexico I am looking forward to it being a surf trip with more tacos and less pesos lol..but seriously.
+I did feel safe. Our AirBNB host had offered us a taxi driver that was super nice and trustful. He watched our bags on the last day when we stopped in a beachfront hotel one last time before heading to the airport and was polite as can be.
+My card did get compromised once or twice I guess..at that last bar on the first night. I know because I googled where the charge came from ( appeared as CLIP MXALIMENTOS Y BE ) and others had also had this happen to them. Also there was a double charge of what I did not make. *rookie mistake*
+We didn’t really need a car.
+We brushed our teeth with bottled water and I tried not to pull a Charlotte from SATC when I took a shower.. Lol iykyk
+2 of us got sick and I had really bad heartburn which I NEVER get but.. I don’t ever drink Spicy Margaritas either.. So yeah
+I’d say bring Tums and Zantac was my homegurl on the trip.. Pepto Bismol too maybe?
+lived in my TanLines bikini
My body just wasn’t used to it all, nonetheless this is travel.