Things to do in Tulum

Tulum is three places under one name. There are the ruins on the cliff, the town on the highway and the hotel road along the beach. They are kilometres apart, and confusing them costs a day.

The ruins and the coast

The walled town above the sea was a port. It was still working when Spanish ships passed in the early sixteenth century. Most of the peninsula's great cities were long past their peak by then.

• The ruins. Small, walled and set above a beach, with the Castillo right on the cliff edge.
• Sian Ka'an. The reserve begins just south of the hotel road, and the tarmac ends with it.
• Muyil. A quiet site inside the reserve, with a boardwalk to the lagoons and a float down an old Maya canal.
• The cenotes. Gran Cenote and Calavera sit on the road to Cobá; Dos Ojos is north on the coast highway.

Inland from here

Everything interesting inland lies west. Cobá is forty-five kilometres away, far enough into the bush to feel unlike the coast. Punta Laguna, beyond it, is a monkey reserve run by the village.

Cobá's tall pyramid was shut to climbers for six years. It reopened in December 2025. A wooden stair now covers the old stone steps.

• Cobá. A sprawling site joined by raised stone causeways, with Nohoch Mul at the far end.
• Punta Laguna. Spider monkeys, a lagoon and zip lines, on community land past Cobá.
• The cave systems. Ox Bel Ha and Sac Actun run under this stretch and are the longest surveyed underwater caves known.
• Bird mornings. Muyil and the reserve edges, best before eight and worth a guide who knows the calls.

Practical

• Airport. Tulum's own airport opened in December 2023. Cancún is still about two hours north by road.
• The hotel road. One narrow lane serves the entire beach strip. Bicycles beat taxis, and taxis here are expensive.
• Seaweed. This coast faces open water and takes sargassum badly, from about April to October.
• Cenotes. Cash at the gate, no sunscreen in the water, and a shower before entry at most of them.
• Timing the ruins. The site opens early and has no shade at all. Coaches from Cancún land mid-morning.
• Season. December to April is the dry half. Hurricane season runs June to November.
• Cards. The beach road takes them. The town, the cenotes and the community sites often do not.
• Tipping. Ten to fifteen per cent, and something separate for guides on community land.