I just got finished telling you about not trying to get dragged into partying much while in Isla Mujeres. However, my idea of partying isn’t entirely stale. In fact, despite my natural aversion to NYE, I still was tempted to go to Tulum to celebrate in a big way, Sound Tulum, which is essentially a series of mini-rave festivals at cenotes, at least that was my perception.
I bought tickets with Yaara, and hoped to meet up with other friends in Tulum if our timing worked out. In addition, during morning yoga at Poc Na (Isla Mujeres) some girls there (one of which I knew from Oaxaca, Maria) were also going there so I figured it should be great and there would be good company.
After some mild travel, short ferry and bus rides, we arrived in Tulum. I hadn’t really looked up much of Tulum. I knew it was a tourist hotspot, but not for what reasons. Turns out it’s not really my cup of tea, however, that could be largely for my budget and the timing of when I visited.
Here are some things I failed to take into consideration:
NYE is super expensive there. I think Tulum is always relatively pricey but due to the demand, prices spiked.
Remember that demand I mentioned 8 words ago? Yeah, it was crowded, full dorms and hostels, full restaurants, crowded attractions. Based off timing, the crowd also was less than interesting.
The cool touristy bit that I think people refer to is the expensive resort strip. This area has trendy and healthy cafes/restaurants/clubs, the hotels have private beach views and are designed super creatively and elegantly. This street is still getting built up at an alarming rate, Tulum may have been better even now that it will be.
I was not going to be staying in the hip area, I would be staying '“downtown”, which is a far bike ride from the beach and from the clubs. The downtown isn’t too bad but there are more bars than anything else and they are super westernized.
Ok, sorry about that. I don’t mean to complain, but this is a lesson in why you should prepare even if the plan is to go with the flow. I still had a fun time in Tulum, don’t get me wrong. It just rubbed me the wrong way a few times and cost me more than I would have liked.
There is still a lot of fun stuff to be done in Tulum and I can’t bash it completely, here’s a little list with some personal experience flair (if I can manage some this morning):
Gran Cenote: There are a lot of cenotes nearby. I made it to two so I’m clearly no expert but I did make it to the most well know one there. With bike rentals this was a easy and fun attraction, in tandem with the ruins and the beach. There is a little open area when you enter that feels a lot like a water park, if it only had one attraction. This was my first cenote, and despite the crowd, it was still a great experience. The cenote is essentially a big cave over a hole of water, this means you can swim around in the refreshing, but still too cold, water and go underneath the cave and play around. There are some small fish to be seen with snorkels but I didn’t play around with that. I was joined by the group I had met in Isla Mujeres (Max, and 3 british girls I had only met the night before I left). I’ve heard the other cenotes are much more exciting with opportunities to jump from up high into the deep water, scuba, etc, but this was a good first taste.
Ruins: The ruins themselves are alright….coming from someone who’s just seen a bunch of ruins that are incredible in other places. However, no other ruin site is as well placed as those in Tulum. The complex is on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Yeah, there’s a lot of seaweed in the ocean and it doesn’t look like it would be a fun beach to hang out at. But it’s cool to see what a old beach town could have been. That property nowadays would be a prime place for a house, so looks like tastes haven’t changed much.
Cenote Encantado: Depending on where you’re staying, this is a far way away. It’s towards the end of the club strip, past the construction but is worth it. It’s a little hidden, we had to ask a place where it was and then there are a few places that offer entrance. Some for cheap, some for exorbitant prices with comprehensive packages, etc. This cenote is huge and uncovered, it feels more like a lake to be honest. Around the lake there are a few towers which you can lounge on and jump off of. I was there with Kyle, Eliza, and Yaara for a few hours. This is a solid place to hang out and enjoy the sun and swim around.
There are some good places to eat as well; one vegetarian place on the main strip and a few local places that you can get actually cheap tacos or tortas. Phew, I was worried about some of these “typical mexican food” places that cost an arm and a leg.
Lastly, I’ll talk about my New Year’s Eve since it was a highlight of my time there, despite ending pretty anti-climactically and costing more money than I should have been spending on a long trip like this.
I was staying at a hostel that was jam packed with people, mostly Australians, on spring break or just whatever break they get for the holidays. I was in an 8 person dorm that was accessible only through another 8 person dorm, so that’s right, you guessed it, I was really in a 16 person dorm. On top of that, everyone was going out so the bathrooms and dorm rooms were swarmed with people and it was pretty chaotic. As people got ready, people started drinking, many did their drugs of choice not-so-discreetly, and others were touching up their outfits, makeup, etc. The hostel bought pizzas and everyone was enjoying the pregame. I met a kid from San Diego who shared some of his vodka with me which was nice, since I had underprepared with a few beers and hoped that would last. (You’ll see that I underestimated this night a lot). With a decent buzz, I met up with the girls I had met in Isla Mujeres where they had been eating dinner. After they finished we headed to their friend’s house or some acquaintance, I’m not really sure, where we drank and ate bbq for an hour or two (?) until a little past midnight. Eventually, maybe around 1 or 1:30, we made it to the venue, which was a hotel kind of far away that had a cenote and rainforest area where the mini-festival/rave/whatever was going to be. It was in full swing when I got there but many were still entering. The stage was in the middle (which confused me since I thought there would be more than one), decorations and lights were everywhere, as you might expect. The music leaned towards some deep house and trance music, generally it was pretty good. One problem was that the DJs were basically indistinguishable, I couldn’t tell if they switched or not over the several hours I was there, since the music didn’t change much and there were no breaks or talking really. As I’ve suggested before, it felt like people were excited there was a DJ at the drug festival, but that might be a little over the top in this case. Then at some point around 5-6ish I made my way back to the hostel with some other random taxi seekers, only to find out no one had come back in my room yet, I was one of maybe 2 people there. I guess I went pretty soft. Not too bad though, I guess the rave got shut down since it rained pretty hard and allegedly there was a shooting, I’ve never got any confirmation on the truth. Yaara had said there was an after party of sorts, where I guy had speakers in his truck and people danced there. Honestly, not sure I would have made it though, I had gotten pretty bored towards the end. Anyways, good night.
