Tulum Mexico vacation, February 12 2023
Adventure for Noel and Lionel Space, Nanaimo BC
(Photos can be clicked on for a larger view)

Sunday we explored the Tulum ruins plus water expedition. The weather was about perfect. On the map it looked simple: head East from Tulum to the beach, turn North to the ruins at the end of the road. The going was slow as the barely 2-lane wide road was also swamped with walkers and bicycles on the 3.4 km stretch of road along the shore after the 3.2 km road to the access road. We finally got almost to the end only to be told that we could not enter the ruins that way (which we could almost see from where we were), but had to go all the way back to the city of Tulum, head North, and then head East to enter from the West side rather than the South side. Half an hour later we get to where we think the turn off is. We saw a sign for the ruins while in the bumper to bumper traffic and turned right directly at the sign. Unbeknownst to us, the locals had put in a road there (which was actually before the real road entrance) and made themselves look very official as they would stop you and try to sell packages to the ruins, beach, and reef snorkeling in their broken English. After 10 minutes of haggling from the car, we noticed that there were no other cars forking over their money, so we decided to forge on ahead and take our chances. We took a left and a right to get back onto the actual entrance road and got to the end to be approached by another person in official looking attire with Tulum Ruins something-or-other embroidered on her top. I was still suspicious, but we bought a package deal for a shuttle, ruins walk, beach access, and boat ride to the reef. All parking is far from the actual ruins and if we knew the language and how to navigate the purchase of tickets to all the features that you can purchase first hand at the direct ticket booths, we probably could have paid substantially less, but it was beyond our endurance level to do so and we were running late. If you plan a visit, skip any "tours" offered outside; you can park for 100 pesos by the gate, walk the 1 km to the ruins ticket with a 5 minute line and pay 90 pesos per person; you can then decide if you want to also walk or taxi (300 pesos) the km to the free public beach and do a half hour boat ride with 20 minutes of swimming for a negotiable 300 pesos per person. We anticipated that the crowds might be few due it being Super Bowl Sunday, but we didn't know that every Sunday is Mexican day where all locals where allowed in for free; surprise.

We caught the shuttle for the 1 km trip to the ruins entrance to save some of the wear and tear of walking. After getting through the ruins entrance, a short walk on the path leads to an intersection. Most people were going through a tunnel to the right that was only wide enough for one person at a time, so we followed the crowd. Surprisingly, this took us to the City Ruins that we wanted to explore. The path that continued straight must have continued out to the point where another small structure exists. In the picture below, we entered along the wall on the left side. However, most of the structures had been reduced to their foundations as the wood portions had weathered away.
 
Tulum ruins map. 
 
Tulum castle. 
 
The castle is mostly intact due to not using wood for the upper structure. 
 
 
All that greenery is sustenance for the many large iguanas there, that like to pose for the tourists. They were perched on the many foundations that remained as well as eating in their vast gardens.
 
Iguana. 

Once walking to the beach edge of the ruins area, you can look out over the cliffs. Those small dots in the water close to the horizon are boats with snorkelers, where we would be in another hour or so. Although February is not the sargassum season, we were still surprised to see so much of it on the beaches.
 
Ocean View. 
 
North point in background. 
 
Dorothy, Dave, Lionel, and Noel in front of the castle. 

We then had to find our way to the beach access for the boat excursion. We eventually figured out we had to exit on the South side of the ruins to get to the road to the beach. We discovered it's a 1 km hike to the beach, so we hired a taxi. We checked in at the shore front, waited about 10 minutes, and then boarded a small boat with about 7 other people onto the choppy waters. The trip included a detour to the East side of the ruins for pictures and then back to the snorkeling area and I was concerned my propensity for seasickness might disrupt my enjoyment, but the trip was short enough to prevent that from occurring.
 
Dorothy and Dave heading to the castle. 
 
Castle from the ocean. 

We then joined the other dozen boats to do some snorkeling. We had purchased a camera that could do under water photography for this trip. Unfortunately the day was a bit windy, which made the waters a bit murky. There were just a few fish and the coral out at the reef was rather dull. I did cross over a small skate as I headed back to the boat.
 
Fish and coral. 
 
Small skate. 

Although we only snorkeled for 20 minutes (with fins), it was a bit exhausting to our aging bodies. We made our way back to the beach, changed into dry clothes, and hiked the half kilometer to the beach entrance road. It was a kilometer back to the shuttle, so we decided to take a taxi back to the car, which took the route along the South road that we had first come down and had to turn around at, then loop all the way back to town, down the main highway, and East to the ruins again where our car was parked; a total of 7.6 km. Just as we got back to the shopping center (5 pm) all the shops and eateries closed down, so we drove back to the center of Tulum for dinner.

So after a week of settling in at our place in Tulum, we got to do some adventurous stuff. Now that we've seen how inundated the advertised places are, we are going to explore further away for spots that might feature more local attributes. The hundreds of tiny shops here all seem to sell mostly the same stuff, most not hand made and possibly not made in Mexico. There's a pharmacy on just about every block, since Mexico provides drugs over the counter that require a prescription in the U.S. and Canada. Crowds are everywhere, on the streets, in the shops, on the sidewalks; it's a bit more hectic than what we wanted on our vacation. And we are over budget, since there are charges for everything and nothing is cheap. Even the grocery store charges by-the-hour parking, where food is sometimes double the cost compared to back home.

Monday will be a rest day by the pool. More turbulent weather is expected at the end of the week, so our schedule may get tricky.

Tulum main page