Tulum: A magical day at the Mayan Ruins

When we got to our resort and looked at adventure packages, a day in Tulum came out tops on recommendation and curiosity. It was a half day trip, which included a visit to the ruins and exploring Tulum town.

Tulum was built around the 13th century and is most popular for retaining its Mayan culture. For this trip, we were reunited with our fave Mayan, Patricio who we initially met when he guided our Chichen Itza tour. We were very intentional about this visit so we chose a smaller group of about 10 people (Mr E and I included) and were able to tailor our experience a little. What makes the site of the Mayan ruins in Tulum even more special is that it sits just off the coast of a beautiful beach protected by a wall. Today, you can see remains of the wall covering sections of the city which at some point in history was a seaport. How cool?!

Funfact – Tulum means Wall in Mayan language and the city is enclosed by walls which open into the Caribbean Sea.

Tulum was one of the last cities inhabited by the Mayans (probably why it is the best preserved of all the ruins). It was inhabited until around the 16th century when a plague (brought in by the Spaniards *ahem*) eliminated a massive number of the Mayan population. This meant that the site was inhabited by different sets of people as the years went by; and structures were being refurbished and developed depending on the styles of the inhabitants.

Getting there...

We had an early-ish start and left the resort at 8am, ready for the 30 minutes drive. Patricio had advised that it was better to get there in the morning before the crowd and before the sun got really hot. You see, there is no shade when you get to the ruins so if it rains or the sun is particularly harsh on the day, you are exposed.

Tips –

Comfortable clothing. We had our comfy clothes and shoes (needed because you will walk a lot).
A hat. I had my wide brim hat for sun protection even though I had covered my face in factor 50 sun cream.
Water. I also had my mandatory bottle of water. Dehydration is real, guys!
Did I already mention sunscreen?
Bring snacks
Pack a swimsuit

Related Posts

For where we stayed in Mexico, see here

For more on Mexico, see – The Sun Rises In Mexico and Adventures in Mexico

Cost

It costs about 65 pesos to get in if you are not hiring a guide. It is 600 pesos with a hired guide, and if you have a video camera, you HAVE to pay an extra 600 pesos! Wild? I know! Since we booked it as part of a tour, Patricio settled all the entrance fees and chats and soon it was time to walk into the ruins! I will recommend you to get a guide; preferably a Mayan. Guided tours are really the best and give a more personal touch to these experiences. No point going all the way to Mexico to see the ruins and have to rely on google for general information. No Sir!

Aside from giving you a more in-depth background of structures that google and books won’t tell you, it is also a way of giving back to the community.

The site

Ruins. Ruins. More Ruins.

The Beach

Just from the top, we were looking down at the beach. It is interesting to note that Tulum is a part of the Mesoamerican Reef System along the Caribbean coast of Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and of course Mexico. It is the second largest coral reef in the world (after the Great Barrier Reef of Australia) and is actually still in formation. You can snorkel to see different species of fish, molluscs and corals.

There is a section of the beach cordoned off which is protected for nesting turtles.

Wildlife

This trip was the first time I paid close attention to wild life. I do not particularly like animals as they scare me so much but thanks to travel, I am now more adventurous with coming close to and photographing animals.

We saw iguanas everywhere on the formations, very easily blending in.

White-nosed Coatis which resemble raccoons – well they belong to the same family. I actually thought they were the normal raccoons until Patricio explained that they were coatis found in south and central America. They are quite friendly and would come up to you if you appear to invite them but we were warned not to feed them.

Funfact – The difference between a coati and a raccoon is that raccoons are nocturnal and coatis are more active in daytime!

There are lots and lots of different species of birds and insects as well – none stayed still enough for me to photograph lol but we could hear them chirping and buzzing around the formations!