Tulum is probably one of the most artistic places that I have been to. You can easily find cute cafe, restaurants and shops around. Here are my favourite photo spots around Tulum.
1. Raw Love Tulum
This place is a little pricey but very cute and I loved the atmosphere there. If you keep walking straight from Raw Love Tulum, you will find many small apartments like what you see in the picture above. Also this way will lead you straight to the beach, which is awesome!
2. Matcha Mama
This famous place (as well as many other famous places) is on the main Resort road in Tulum. The price for a smoothie, or a smoothie bowl is standard for this area, which is ranged from 8$-20$. If you are a budget traveller (like me), you can hop in for a picture and they usually don't mind since a lot of people take pictures here anyway and it becomes a normal thing for the bartenders there.
3. Follow That Dream sign
This sign is close to end of the resort road, by Lolita Lolita. It is usually not busy, but you will a lot of cars passing by most of the time. To avoid the cars, come here after 5pm and there would be almost no cars passing by.
4. Delek Tulum
This place, hands down, has the best food, the best view and the best people. We entered this restaurant randomly on our last day in Tulum and couldn't be any happier with the food and the people. The staff was so kind and welcoming, it felt like home. They also welcome the guests to use any facilities that they have along the beach, including hammock, beds and even brought us a free drink. We stayed here for a few hours and regret not knowing this place any sooner. If you have a chance, please do yourself a favour and visit this place, you will not regret it!
5. Tulum Swings
My first intention was to visit Coco Tulum, but found these swings along the beach instead. If you keep walking along the beach around the resort area, you will find many of these around.
6. Azulik Tulum
This place was very high on my bucket list as I love how unique the place is, and I want to see it with my own eyes for once (pictures would be nice too if I am allow to take any). Just like many others, I couldn't afford a night there (and wouldn't want to spend that much money at a place anyway). To reduce the price of visiting this place, I planned to grab a drink at the restaurants only. When we arrived at the restaurant, the staff already seem very unwelcoming, as they probably got too tired of people like me, who just want to visit the place through eating/drinking at the restaurant. Though I understand they want to protect their hotel and guests, I strongly believe the restaurant guests should be treated the same way since we are still spending money at the restaurant, and the restaurant is open to everyone anyway. Many of you might disagree with me by wanting to see things I can't afford, and we can't always have what we want, I wanted to take the chance that I could anyway so I wouldn't regret it later.
After waiting for a good 30-45 minutes, we got in and was stopped at the restaurant entrance, which you are required to pay up front for your drink. I have read many blogs about this place, and many people say they paid around 20$ for a cocktail only. However, Azulik changed the rule and guests must pay a minimum set fee of around 50$/person to get in. At first I misunderstood that the price for both of us was 50$, so I told the waitress to keep the change for tips (around 10$ of change), but then the waitress complained that it is 50$ per person, and we must pay 100$ for both. We decided to leave since we thought it's not worth the high price. Surprisingly, she asked me for the change back (which I told her to keep for tips). I explained to her that I did not take any change, and showed her my purse because I did not have any cash left since I gave her all of my cash. She insisted that I took the change and we stood there arguing awkwardly. Later on, I borrowed my friend Jasmine 10$ to pay her back for the money that we left her for tips to end the argument (Yakes!)
We left in disappointment and went to the public beach by Azulik. So if you are keen about visiting this place just for the sake of a picture, I recommend to come to the beach area instead.
7. Grand Cenote
If you go to Tulum, I highly recommend this Cenote. The Grand Cenote isn't as grand as I thought it would be, and there are 2 cenotes instead of 1. Most people only know about the 1st cenote which you can easily see after passing through the entrance, but if you keep walking straight, you will see smaller stairs which will lead to the second cenote.
I also went there very early to avoid the crowds and went straight to the second cenote, which in my opinion, the prettier one. We had this place to ourselves for a good 30-45 minutes before it got busy. The water was a little cold but it was nice to swim in once you get under the water. We hung out at this place for 3-4 hours and it felt amazing!
Lastly, I hope you don't get too caught up with pictures and enjoy every moment! Have the best time in Tulum!
Love,
Annie Pham
@anniepwanderlust