At the end of our tour, our guide, Ishmael, bid us adieu and left us standing upon the cliffs overlooking the beach on the east and the Castillo temple on the west. We ventured about the grounds for a bit, and then considering the heat and the fact that Ishmael had educated us far beyond what we would’ve expected from a guide, we decided to depart. Tip: If you do hire a guide, we hired Ishmael from the mini desk just outside the ticket station. If we would’ve been smart, we would’ve tried to talk another random couple in to splitting the cost with us – Ishmael was worth every penny and then some!
We made our way out of the ruins and then headed south along the access road paralleling the beach. Once again, Mapchick Maps helped hatch this plan, as they indicated the road that led away fro the ruins and the beaches and resorts fronting the ocean along it. It is impossible to walk from Tulum ruins beach to the beaches farther south, as there are cliffs that drop straight into the ocean for about 1/3 km. Once walking, we soon passed through the police station, and then were looking for Zazil-Kin beach bar and cabanas, but missed it for whatever reason.
Along the road:
This road was hot in the afternoon, so be sure to pack a couple water bottles for after your trip to the ruins. About the time we thought we had gone too far, a cabbie in a driveway to the El Paraiso struck up a conversation with us, inquiring if we wanted a ride. This was about the 3rd one since we left the ruins – maybe they wanted to see if we’d had enough of the heat.
In any case, he told us that this was “Much better than the beach back up there” so we headed in to see what there was to see. The entrance:
Much to our delight, we sat down at the El Paraiso Beach Club and cooled off with some refreshments, pico and guacamole, which were the best yet (total bill $22.00!) The floor of this club is sand and the views are priceless:
Her view:
His view:
What other people saw when they looked at us:
South to North:
And, a panorama:
We changed in the bano & walked along the beach for a bit, and eventually were approached by a gentleman from the El Paraiso snorkel shack inquiring whether or not we wanted to go snorkeling out on the reef for $10.00 for the two of us, equipment included.
Snorkel shack in the background:
A good price to be sure; the only item of concern was where to leave our valuables whilst on the boat. He offered to have the nearby security guard watch our beach bags if we parked them beneath a palm tree on the beach, but, for some reason that didn’t sound like a particularly attractive option. After some discussion, we discovered that the boat had some watertight compartments into which we could cram our beach bags (remember, next time bring a knapsack!).
“When can we pick out our flippers and goggles?” I inquired. “Oh, on the boat!” was the reply. If you ever get this reply, you may want to try things on before pulling away from shore….
Approaching the shack:
Beach near the shack:
At the Leaning Palm by the shack:
Snorkel Shack with beautiful scenery:
Without time to think, the two of us were hustled aboard along with another family of 6 and we were soon headed out towards the reef in a launch piloted by a person who didn’t speak much English, which pretty much mirrored my knowledge of Spanish (Tip: Learn Spanish/Spanglish before next time).
Views from the launch:
Too bright? ☺
Once under weigh, we were encouraged by our pilot to get snorkels and masks ready and adjusted. Thanks to my father and mother, I have been blessed with a broad foundational footing – size 13 US to be precise. Flippers in this size are rare in Mayan Mexico, and on a low-budget fledgling snorkeling launch, they are even rarer. (keep in mind that I was ecstatic that it was low budget ☺) Fortunately, flippers tend to run large, so a smaller size fits a larger foot. Equally as fortunate, a chap across from me parleyed the size 8-9’s that I was lucklessly handed for the size 10-11 he was holding. This trade enabled each to secure a reasonable fit, and soon we dropped anchor and were over the side.
We saw fan coral, brain coral, blue fish and a small sea turtle right after our disposable underwater camera’s pictures were exhausted. My advice: bring extra cameras. What’s $8.00 if you lose the opportunity to take a once-in-a lifetime picture? You can always use up the rest back home in open air, removing the watertight casing if you wish.
Snorkeling at Tulum:
After about 1 hour or so we returned to the boat and with the help of the men on board, freed the anchor from a rock/coral pile beneath the waves and were headed back to shore. The wind hampered efforts to land the boat on the sand but the gent who originally talked us into the trip was on shore helping guide the boat in, stern first. These boats all get double-moored: one at the bow, usually to a heavy concrete block dropped out in the water (look for them when snorkeling) and the other at the stern, to an anchor or tree on the beach.
We disembarked and then decided to beach it for about 45 minutes before we had to begin our trip back to the bust station on 307.
Postcard poses:
Someone’s comfortable!
Looking south:
Then north:
The El Paraiso: Soft sand floor, rusty steel shutters and priceless view:
The sand was very, very fine and compact. Entry into the water is zero – extremely gradual. Snoozed ever so shortly before we awoke and had to get ready to head back. Got dressed in the bano and walked out to the access road we had walked in on, and there were several taxis ready to take us on our way. I inquired how much to take us to the ADO bus station at the Archaeological Zone (be sure to specify this as there is another one in Tulum City) and for $5.00 we were off.
The drive:
The cab – note the road construction:
Through town:
The ADO Bus Station:
Another view:
These buses were first class – note the wheel lock cables on both tires on this parked one:
Soon off towards PDC – glad to be seated again:
Along the way, there were some great evening views:
A typical roadside fenced in area – not sure if home or business:
Some 4-wheelers:
Highway construction crews:
Sirens resort:
Xel-Ha (advertised everywhere):
And, of course, the Pemex, the ever present gas stations throughout Mexico. There is only 1 – Pemex – throughout all of Mexico, so I read:
Finally, back to the Sandos. Warmly illuminated lobby at night:
In this part of the lobby you can see the Concierge desk in the foreground and the drink stand between this desk and the check-in desk in the background.
Finally back to our room and what should we find? Bath Towel Art! Very nice!
We readied and ate dinner at the Festival’s Italian Buffet – mmmmmm….
Tonight we were tired! We managed to hang out on the plaza for a bit. Here the set up chairs at night along the walkway and every night had some form of entertainment - usually singers on a stage near the lobby. The music was good and we usually camped near La Bamba, the establishment aross the plaza from the Festival buffet:
And then went to the show Tropicana:
Again, good tropical dance numbers, talented dancers but we were soooooooo tired we checked in early-ish (10:45).
Tomorrow would be a beach day of rest. Good night !