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Trip Report - Playa and Tulum

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Posted by Kelley on January 15, 2001 at 20:21:26:

Playa del Carmen - Tulum trip report

We just got back from our honeymoon in sunny Mexico and thought we'd share a few thoughts on the trip!

We arrived on Thursday night into Cancun on a late flight (10:30pm). I was a little worried about this until we got there. It actually turned out to be an advantage. We zoomed right through immigration without lines and got the "green light" We took a cab, which cost us about $35 to Playa del Carmen. We got a quick driving lesson on the way about left turn signals and passing! We arrived at our hotel on 5th, Mosquito Blue, around 11:30pm. We checked in with no problem, except the desk clerk spoke no English and we spoke VERY little Spanish. We got to our rooms and found it was not what we were expecting. I had reserved a pool side mini suite and this suite was on the 5th ave side (very noisy). We tried to communicate the problem with the clerk, but he didn't understand. We decided not to make a big deal about it an he assured us there would be someone who spoke English the next day at the desk, so we just went ahead and took the room, which was very nice, roomy with a palapa roof.
We decided to wander down the street to the Blue Parrot bar for our first Mexican cervasas, and ended up getting free shots of Tequila when the bartenders found out it was our honeymoon! Finally retired to our room, exhausted.
Then next morning, we slept in late and then went to Zas for breakfast. Wonderful food and service. highly recommend the eggs Mexicana and the banana pancakes. Also wonderful coffee. We made Zas our daily breakfast routine while in Playa. We spoke to the desk clerk and she moved us to our pool side suite with no problem. the room was nicely decorated, tile floors and nice clean tile showers. No complaints. One word, though, there is construction of a rather large hotel going on across the street from the Mosquito Blue, so the construction noise started quite early in the morning. We are early risers though, so it didn't bother us too much.
We wandered the shops and then headed to the beach. Ended up at the beach in front of El Faro. The beach all along the Playa del Carmen area is VERY narrow, something about the hurricane washing a lot of it away. But it is still nice, clean and white sandy. The weather was beautiful, sunny, 80's light breeze. We ate lunch at a hamburger stand, prices comparable to what you'd get in the US. GREAT quality though.
That evening we met some Internet friends at La Paprilla for drinks and nachos. Wonderful service and we were entertained by some street musicians (very good margaritas!). We wondered around 5th again and then actually went to bed early (we are honeymooners you know!)
Then next day we visited Fisherman's Village (yes we got roped into a time share tour, but we got a free transfer back to Cancun out of the deal!) We had lunch there and drank free the rest of the day. Their beach is wonderful and the pool is very pretty. Nice small resort.
We snorkeled a little of the beach there, but there is really nothing to see, not even any little fish! Unfortunately sometime during the day my husband lost his wedding ring! We replaced it with a silver one til we could get home. By a suggestion, we had dinner at Parrilla Argentina (on 6th street) and had WONDERFUL steak but HORRIBLE service. The price was right though.
I should also mention that we walked to the San Francisco market for beer and water and found everything we could ever need. Great place
Sat. we picked up our car from Executive rentals on 5th. Highly recommend! I made my reservation on the Internet, had no problems picking up or returning the car and they did not require a charge on a credit card for a guarantee. We rented a stripped down VW Bug, but it was totally enough for our needs.
Sunday we headed out early (around 7am) for Chitzen-itza. We stopped for breakfast in Tulum at Don Cafeto which was good and got gas at the Pemex there (no problems). We drove the old Coba road and saw some of the little villages on the way. Then we drove through Vallidolid during a VERY busy time (market day). We got to Chitzen Itza around 12:30, right with all the tour buses!!! We chose to see it on our own but would hire a guide if we went again. Very crowded too, since sundays are free. we climbed to the top of the main temple and the view was great. We spent about 3 hrs there. On the way back we stopped for dinner in Vallidolid at the square at Mason Marquez (sp). very good food. We got lost leaving the town! We couldn't find the road back to 185. We drove around the town so many times that a policeman finally pulled us over. Scary! He couldn't speak ANY English, so it was hopeless. Finally I just said "Tulum!!" and he pointed the right way to go.
It was getting late and we didn't make it back to Playa before dark. Driving at night on the old road was rather stressful and I definitely don't recommend it. Too many pedestrians, cars without headlights and crazy speed bumps!
We finally made it though!
I should mention that we ate a lot of pizza as snacks, there are little stands everywhere, and we especially like the little place next to Mosquito Blue on 12th. We also visited the Beer Bucket and several other little bars while there. Beer isn't extremely cheap, but still was a little cheaper than here in KY.
Monday we checked out of our hotel and left Playa for our cabana in Tulum, at Cabanas la Conchita. We traveled straight down to Tulum and decided to check on the Sian Kaan Biosphere tours at Ana y Jose before checking in. The beach road was good for about 1km, then it was pot hole central!! very slow going. Unfortunately the tours were all booked for the rest of the week, so that was out. We traveled back up the road to La Conchita. The place is beautiful! We had casita number 1, a small free standing hut right on the beach with its own patio with hammock. The room is rustic but very comfortable. modern bathroom with hot water shower and a very comfortable bed with romantic mosquito net. The windows are screened, so there really weren't any bug problems. Electricity was only available from 6pm to 10:30 pm but candles were provided. Definitely don't need your hair dryer here! SO relaxing. We spent the rest of the day on the beach. The beach area here is very quiet and semi deserted. At our particular cabanas, we were sheltered by little rock outcroppings on each side of the small complex (8 cabanas total). La conchita also includes breakfast with the price of the room and they have fresh fruit, fresh orange juice, cereal and eggs fixed however you like. There is also a small grocery and quite a few other restaurant within walking distance. We ate lunch in town and browsed the little shops. We enjoyed eating at the local taco stands. We also highly recommend eating at Piedra Escondida for great Italian food and Nohoch Tunich's restaurant isn't too bad either on the beach road. For a real experience travel down the beach road a little to a small "shack" with a sign that only says "fried fish" (the signs in Spanish, but I can't remember the word for fish right now!) You go in and pick the fresh caught fish or lobster you want out of a cooler and they fry the thing up for you right there. It comes on a plate with the head and tail all still attached, with a salad, rice and tortillas. Its very tasty!
One comment, we went to Ana y Jose's on our last night and were appalled by the service. We waited so long to order our food that we finally just paid for our drinks and left. We realize that service is sometimes slower in Mexico, but we feel we were down right ignored there. Will not return.
We also visited the ruins at Tulum and were able to see all we wanted in about an hour. we returned the next day to do some shopping in the market area. be prepared to bargain. They are rather pushy but we did get some fantastic deals on hammocks there.
One other place we visited was Grande Cenote. It's a few km up the road toward Coba. We snorkeled there and the water was unbelievably clear and the cave formations were beautiful. I would have loved to dive there, but my hubby is not certified, so we'll have to work on that for next time. It cost us about 4$ a piece (40 pesos).
The weather took a little turn the last few days we were there. It was partly cloudy and VERY windy, so the beach was uncomfortable at times. But it was just off and on. For our last night we traveled back to Cancun, since we had a very early flight to catch the next morning. We stopped in Akumal to drop off some school supplies and books that we had carried down for a local library. We met Brenda, the volunteer coordinator of the whole program, and she was delighted to have the supplies. Please let me know if you are interested in helping out in some way. We returned our car in Playa with no problem and were picked up by HOLA transfers - which was free because of the time share tour and arrived in Cancun around 5:00pm. It was Very warm in this area away from the beach. We stayed in a little hotel on Ave. Tulum downtown called Antillano. It was clean, but nothing special. The location was wonderful, though, lots of shopping, market areas and restaurant. We did some last minute souvenir shopping and actually were craving some American fast food so we had a big ole Whopper at Burger King! We caught our flight the next morning with no delays and cleared customs in Houston with no problems. Now we are back in the real COLD world in Kentucky!!
A side note: We seemed to be the only Americans in most of the places we traveled! This didn't bother us, but it does seem that the area is more dominated with European tourists. We felt right at home, though. Also, There were topless women EVERYWHERE. Not a problem for us, but I know it's a topic that comes up often. It seemed that almost all the women of all ages were topless in the Tulum area, and there were a few men and women that let it all hang out if you know what I mean! It was interesting.
It was a great trip, but there was a lot we didn't get to do! Maybe on the next trip, I'm already planning! Thanks to everyone on the boards that gave so many great recommendations and information.

Follow Ups:

Chris - email me for more info! Kelley 06:02:33 1/17/2001 (0)
Re: Trip Report - Playa and Tulum Chris 23:11:25 1/16/2001 (1)
Cabana info Kelley 11:36:33 1/16/2001 (0)
Wonderful report... sounds like you had an (r/o) Mary Jane 09:56:53 1/16/2001 (1)
Rental car Kelley 07:53:17 1/16/2001 (0)
Re: Trip Report - Playa and Tulum Kathy 07:40:13 1/16/2001 (1)
Re: Trip Report - Playa and Tulum cu 07:13:16 1/16/2001 (0)
Re: Great report! Thank for taking the time! nmsg... cindy 00:01:34 1/16/2001 (0)

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: Playa del Carmen - Tulum trip report : We just got back from our honeymoon in sunny Mexico and thought we'd share a few thoughts on the trip! : We arrived on Thursday night into Cancun on a late flight (10:30pm). I was a little worried about this until we got there. It actually turned out to be an advantage. We zoomed right through immigration without lines and got the "green light" We took a cab, which cost us about $35 to Playa del Carmen. We got a quick driving lesson on the way about left turn signals and passing! We arrived at our hotel on 5th, Mosquito Blue, around 11:30pm. We checked in with no problem, except the desk clerk spoke no English and we spoke VERY little Spanish. We got to our rooms and found it was not what we were expecting. I had reserved a pool side mini suite and this suite was on the 5th ave side (very noisy). We tried to communicate the problem with the clerk, but he didn't understand. We decided not to make a big deal about it an he assured us there would be someone who spoke English the next day at the desk, so we just went ahead and took the room, which was very nice, roomy with a palapa roof. : We decided to wander down the street to the Blue Parrot bar for our first Mexican cervasas, and ended up getting free shots of Tequila when the bartenders found out it was our honeymoon! Finally retired to our room, exhausted. : Then next morning, we slept in late and then went to Zas for breakfast. Wonderful food and service. highly recommend the eggs Mexicana and the banana pancakes. Also wonderful coffee. We made Zas our daily breakfast routine while in Playa. We spoke to the desk clerk and she moved us to our pool side suite with no problem. the room was nicely decorated, tile floors and nice clean tile showers. No complaints. One word, though, there is construction of a rather large hotel going on across the street from the Mosquito Blue, so the construction noise started quite early in the morning. We are early risers though, so it didn't bother us too much. : We wandered the shops and then headed to the beach. Ended up at the beach in front of El Faro. The beach all along the Playa del Carmen area is VERY narrow, something about the hurricane washing a lot of it away. But it is still nice, clean and white sandy. The weather was beautiful, sunny, 80's light breeze. We ate lunch at a hamburger stand, prices comparable to what you'd get in the US. GREAT quality though. : That evening we met some Internet friends at La Paprilla for drinks and nachos. Wonderful service and we were entertained by some street musicians (very good margaritas!). We wondered around 5th again and then actually went to bed early (we are honeymooners you know!) : Then next day we visited Fisherman's Village (yes we got roped into a time share tour, but we got a free transfer back to Cancun out of the deal!) We had lunch there and drank free the rest of the day. Their beach is wonderful and the pool is very pretty. Nice small resort. : We snorkeled a little of the beach there, but there is really nothing to see, not even any little fish! Unfortunately sometime during the day my husband lost his wedding ring! We replaced it with a silver one til we could get home. By a suggestion, we had dinner at Parrilla Argentina (on 6th street) and had WONDERFUL steak but HORRIBLE service. The price was right though. : I should also mention that we walked to the San Francisco market for beer and water and found everything we could ever need. Great place : Sat. we picked up our car from Executive rentals on 5th. Highly recommend! I made my reservation on the Internet, had no problems picking up or returning the car and they did not require a charge on a credit card for a guarantee. We rented a stripped down VW Bug, but it was totally enough for our needs. : Sunday we headed out early (around 7am) for Chitzen-itza. We stopped for breakfast in Tulum at Don Cafeto which was good and got gas at the Pemex there (no problems). We drove the old Coba road and saw some of the little villages on the way. Then we drove through Vallidolid during a VERY busy time (market day). We got to Chitzen Itza around 12:30, right with all the tour buses!!! We chose to see it on our own but would hire a guide if we went again. Very crowded too, since sundays are free. we climbed to the top of the main temple and the view was great. We spent about 3 hrs there. On the way back we stopped for dinner in Vallidolid at the square at Mason Marquez (sp). very good food. We got lost leaving the town! We couldn't find the road back to 185. We drove around the town so many times that a policeman finally pulled us over. Scary! He couldn't speak ANY English, so it was hopeless. Finally I just said "Tulum!!" and he pointed the right way to go. : It was getting late and we didn't make it back to Playa before dark. Driving at night on the old road was rather stressful and I definitely don't recommend it. Too many pedestrians, cars without headlights and crazy speed bumps! : We finally made it though! : I should mention that we ate a lot of pizza as snacks, there are little stands everywhere, and we especially like the little place next to Mosquito Blue on 12th. We also visited the Beer Bucket and several other little bars while there. Beer isn't extremely cheap, but still was a little cheaper than here in KY. : Monday we checked out of our hotel and left Playa for our cabana in Tulum, at Cabanas la Conchita. We traveled straight down to Tulum and decided to check on the Sian Kaan Biosphere tours at Ana y Jose before checking in. The beach road was good for about 1km, then it was pot hole central!! very slow going. Unfortunately the tours were all booked for the rest of the week, so that was out. We traveled back up the road to La Conchita. The place is beautiful! We had casita number 1, a small free standing hut right on the beach with its own patio with hammock. The room is rustic but very comfortable. modern bathroom with hot water shower and a very comfortable bed with romantic mosquito net. The windows are screened, so there really weren't any bug problems. Electricity was only available from 6pm to 10:30 pm but candles were provided. Definitely don't need your hair dryer here! SO relaxing. We spent the rest of the day on the beach. The beach area here is very quiet and semi deserted. At our particular cabanas, we were sheltered by little rock outcroppings on each side of the small complex (8 cabanas total). La conchita also includes breakfast with the price of the room and they have fresh fruit, fresh orange juice, cereal and eggs fixed however you like. There is also a small grocery and quite a few other restaurant within walking distance. We ate lunch in town and browsed the little shops. We enjoyed eating at the local taco stands. We also highly recommend eating at Piedra Escondida for great Italian food and Nohoch Tunich's restaurant isn't too bad either on the beach road. For a real experience travel down the beach road a little to a small "shack" with a sign that only says "fried fish" (the signs in Spanish, but I can't remember the word for fish right now!) You go in and pick the fresh caught fish or lobster you want out of a cooler and they fry the thing up for you right there. It comes on a plate with the head and tail all still attached, with a salad, rice and tortillas. Its very tasty! : One comment, we went to Ana y Jose's on our last night and were appalled by the service. We waited so long to order our food that we finally just paid for our drinks and left. We realize that service is sometimes slower in Mexico, but we feel we were down right ignored there. Will not return. : We also visited the ruins at Tulum and were able to see all we wanted in about an hour. we returned the next day to do some shopping in the market area. be prepared to bargain. They are rather pushy but we did get some fantastic deals on hammocks there. : One other place we visited was Grande Cenote. It's a few km up the road toward Coba. We snorkeled there and the water was unbelievably clear and the cave formations were beautiful. I would have loved to dive there, but my hubby is not certified, so we'll have to work on that for next time. It cost us about 4$ a piece (40 pesos). : The weather took a little turn the last few days we were there. It was partly cloudy and VERY windy, so the beach was uncomfortable at times. But it was just off and on. For our last night we traveled back to Cancun, since we had a very early flight to catch the next morning. We stopped in Akumal to drop off some school supplies and books that we had carried down for a local library. We met Brenda, the volunteer coordinator of the whole program, and she was delighted to have the supplies. Please let me know if you are interested in helping out in some way. We returned our car in Playa with no problem and were picked up by HOLA transfers - which was free because of the time share tour and arrived in Cancun around 5:00pm. It was Very warm in this area away from the beach. We stayed in a little hotel on Ave. Tulum downtown called Antillano. It was clean, but nothing special. The location was wonderful, though, lots of shopping, market areas and restaurant. We did some last minute souvenir shopping and actually were craving some American fast food so we had a big ole Whopper at Burger King! We caught our flight the next morning with no delays and cleared customs in Houston with no problems. Now we are back in the real COLD world in Kentucky!! : A side note: We seemed to be the only Americans in most of the places we traveled! This didn't bother us, but it does seem that the area is more dominated with European tourists. We felt right at home, though. Also, There were topless women EVERYWHERE. Not a problem for us, but I know it's a topic that comes up often. It seemed that almost all the women of all ages were topless in the Tulum area, and there were a few men and women that let it all hang out if you know what I mean! It was interesting. : It was a great trip, but there was a lot we didn't get to do! Maybe on the next trip, I'm already planning! Thanks to everyone on the boards that gave so many great recommendations and information.

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