Thank you to all who once again made my trip easy.
I just returned from 9 days in Tulum. Thanks to you, I changed my dollars into pesos at the Cancun airport's ATM, then hopped on the bus to Playa del Carmen (65 pesos). Very nice bus; very easy ride.
From Playa del Carmen, I took a second class bus to Tulum (250 pesos). It was very crowded and I was lucky that a very nice man gave up his seat for me. I took a cab from the Tulum bus station to my hotel on the beach ($10 USD).
When I arrived at Dos Ceibas ($85 USD) the room was gorgeous, with a ceiling fan and a mosquito net and mosquito coil. Breakfast was not included. The next morning, I walked on the newly paved road with my (one, wheeled) suitcase about ten minutes to Amansala, where I stayed for a 7 night yoga retreat.
The beach is beautiful.
It cost $10 USD each way every time I wanted to go into town, so I went once on the employee bus for 100 pesos (about $1.00 USD). Tulum has several interent cafes but as in all Latin American countries, the internet is not always available.
If anyone has any questions, I am happy to answer them.
Catalina

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Tacomaranch-
I don't know when the last bus is from PdC to Tulum. I caught mine at 3:45 p.m.
It was windy on the beach 2 days; one was overcast, too. On those days, I left the beach and went into town.
Yes, there were definitely mosquitos. I took 100% DEET spray and used it but somehow I still got bitten. You must be very careful to keep the mosquito net fully closed at all times. They will give you coils to burn in your room, but I was told not to sleep with them burning as they are very bad for your lungs!
The ocean was calm some days and rough other days. The water was not warm enough for me to swim in, but others did.
It's good to have a car as it is expensive to take a taxi into Tulum from the beach - $10 each way. If I had known, I would have rented a car.
The best was the yoga & meditation I did each day (I was on a yoga retreat). The food was unbelievably good and clean and fresh and healthy. I took long (2 hour) walks on the beach. I wish I had been able to see the sun set, but I wasn't able to because it rises on that side.
The worst?
The fact that the hotel added extra charges onto all services, making them comparable to the price of US services, yet the people providing the services did not receive much of the additional charge. That really bothered me, but I guess that's common. I still didn't like it.
Catalina

When we were in Tulum last month, the first 3 days were fairly breezy, with temps in the mid 80's. The breeze made the water a little rough, but it was certainly warm enough to go in. The breeze also kept the mosquitos away. The 4th day, the breeze died down, and sure enough we had mosquitoes coming in to our room at night. The mosquito net worked fine. One of the most fun things we did was drive down to Muyil ruins (20 miles south of Tulum and not well marked). The guard there arrainged a boat ride for us thru the Si'an Kaan reserve. This was very memorable, and well worth the $25 each.

Some of the prices here may be a little off. It couldn't possibly be 250 pesos from Playa to Tulum. 25 maybe? It was 35 by collectivo which is more expensive than the bus. The employee bus probably would have been 10 pesos ($1) rather than 100 ($10).

Sorry- you're right. I keep getting the decimal place mixed up in the conversion.
Catalina

we just got back from tulum as well (after merida/ isla mujeres) and loved the place - yes, i would highly recommend just getting a car and getting all-inclusive, made getting into town and up and down the "hotel zone" easy, plus you have the option to visit small towns just west of there, etc - only warning to others however is a restaurant named Zamas, a pretty lively place, but my wife and i both contracted a serious case of turista there - this after traveling in out of the way places for 6 days - the restaurant amansala that you did the retreat at is great however, waiter amelio was funny and the food as you said very good and fresh -

My family is going to Akumal in two weeks and will have a car (actually we were lucky and got a small SUV from AVis at a price that seemed reasonable compared to Executive car rental). I'm very interested in going to the biosphere but was worried about driving there. I've seen some info on tours from Tulum but they seem expensive. Did you just show up at the ruins and someone offered to take you through the reserve? was it by car or boat?
Thanks

Millie -

Look here to get more info on Sian Kaan and the tours:

http://www.locogringo.com/past_spotlights/may2003.cfm

Thanks for the link. Just wondering if you had to book in advance or if anyone knows which tour is better

just a quick note on the car rental, make sure your contract says it's okay to go "off-road" as the road thru the bio-sphere will fit this definition pretty quickly - read your contract - also, check that your insurance is 'all-inclusive' meaning there is no deductible, otherwise, you may be liable up to 10% of the car's cost for dents, etc, and the rental place will hold a voucher for that amount until you return - i was under the impression that the tour places picked you up at your hotel, but the website will clear that up for you - have fun

Millie64, we visited the ruins at Muyil, which is about 1/2 hour south of Tulum. The park guard at the ticket booth asked us if we wanted to take a boat ride thru Sian Kaan for $25 each. After we agreed, he phoned 'Captain Reubin', who showed up within 20 minutes on his bicyle. We followed him in our car down a dirt road to his tiny dock on the lagoon. We had a great 2 hour tour, including snorkeling down a canal, and visiting a remote Mayan shrine - well worth the price. I know there are other more formal tours, but they are more expensive, and take most of the day.

Am headed to Tulum in a couple of weeks and am still trying to find a place to stay. Dreams Tulum has some openings -- does anyone have any idea what that place is like?

We were at Dreams when it was the Sunscape and loved it. What specifically do you want to know?

Dreams is an AI:
http://www.locogringo.com/tulum/suns...Dreams%20Tulum

thanks tootsie. I'll hang loose till we get there and follow in your footsteps. The other tours are too expensive for our pocketbook.