"All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down" - JG, TG, and Friends in Playa/Tulum - 2012 - Page 3

Duck · 01-19-2012

"some of the warmest beers in Playa"

c'mon Boz ! Were you NICE to Greco & Karen ??

i've never had anything but some of the "coldest" cervezas in Playa @ the DM

and they are very gracious owners as well !

The DM is one of my fav spots in Playa .... very small but, i LOVE sitting by the street and not being overcrowded like on 5th ! Kinda like the Bucket when Cap't Ron & Sharky had it !

Roll on with the TR amigo....always a good read when you do one !

btodd · 01-19-2012

Yay!! Another JG and TG et al report............looking forward to the Tulum part of the trip.

syl · 01-20-2012

love it!!and I know about Solvang

kirbyfan · 01-20-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duck

"some of the warmest beers in Playa"

c'mon Boz ! Were you NICE to Greco & Karen ??

i've never had anything but some of the "coldest" cervezas in Playa @ the DM

and they are very gracious owners as well !

The DM is one of my fav spots in Playa .... very small but, i LOVE sitting by the street and not being overcrowded like on 5th ! Kinda like the Bucket when Cap't Ron & Sharky had it !

Roll on with the TR amigo....always a good read when you do one !

Just because someone likes a place and the owners doesnt mean that they do everything perfect Duck. They had warm beers, I appreciate the feedback. It wont keep me from going there but if I order a beer and its warm I will know that thats what you get there and just order something else next round.

isomami · 01-20-2012

I'm catching up with your TR, JanuaryGuy! Was fun to meet you. Even hear you singing

Duck · 01-20-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by kirbyfan

Just because someone likes a place and the owners doesnt mean that they do everything perfect Duck. They had warm beers, I appreciate the feedback. It wont keep me from going there but if I order a beer and its warm I will know that thats what you get there and just order something else next round.

They may have just "re-stocked" that type of beer too but, the bartender shoulda told Boz it wasn't cold yet. I've had beer at the Bucket that boasts "The COLDEST BEERS" in Playa that have been p warm and i just hand it back and say : gimme a COLD one please !

I would NOT pay $$$ for a "warm" beer anywhere. I'm sure the Bozman handled the situation with dignity !

January Guy · 01-20-2012

Hopefully I can bang out day 3 this evening.

Quote:

Originally Posted by btodd

Yay!! Another JG and TG et al report............looking forward to the Tulum part of the trip.

Thanks! The Tulum part will involve fewer beer drinking pics, but will have some awesome scenic pics.

Quote:

Originally Posted by syl

love it!!and I know about Solvang

Hush, you...

Quote:

Originally Posted by isomami

I'm catching up with your TR, JanuaryGuy! Was fun to meet you. Even hear you singing

Great to meet you as well...and I know you are lying about the singing because no one could have enjoyed it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duck

They may have just "re-stocked" that type of beer too but, the bartender shoulda told Boz it wasn't cold yet. I've had beer at the Bucket that boasts "The COLDEST BEERS" in Playa that have been p warm and i just hand it back and say : gimme a COLD one please !

I would NOT pay $$$ for a "warm" beer anywhere. I'm sure the Bozman handled the situation with dignity !

You bet Duck, I just drank 'em faster!

LucyE · 01-20-2012

Looking forward to your Tulum report. So how did you like staying just 2 nights in Playa?

January Guy · 01-20-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by LucyE

Looking forward to your Tulum report. So how did you like staying just 2 nights in Playa?

We were very happy with our decision. Tulum was way different than Playa, but exactly what we needed. Next January, there is a decent chance that we would just stay the whole week in Tulum but then cab back to Playa for a couple afternoons/evenings at our favorite haunts. The beaches in Tulum are incredibly better than Playa in my opinion, especially since the disastrous beach reclamation project in Playa.

January Guy · 01-20-2012

Day 3 – Sunday

After a late night, I again slept in until about 10AM. The four of us went to my favorite breakfast spot in all of Playa: Nativo. It is located on 30th just north of Constituyentes. Everything omelets were a hit, as were the 35 peso liter-size smoothies.

After breakfast, we checked out of the Aventura Mexicana. I have done a lot of research on hotels in this price range and I would definitely stay at the Aventura Mexicana again. Clean, nice landscaping and pools, a tasty and affordable restaurant onsite, and friendly service. We caught a cab to Tulum, the cost was 500 pesos before propina. We first had the cabbie stop at the San Francisco supermarket so that we could grab some drinks and snacks.

Around 2PMish, we checked in to the Cabanas Tulum in Tulum’s hotel zone.

Here is my brief overview of Tulum

Most people reading this report know that I love Playa. However, this trip made me a big fan of Tulum and I am thus going to try to give you an overview of Tulum and tell you what to expect.

First, here is a good map of the area

Tulum’s layout is a bit more unique. The 307 highway from Playa follows the coast pretty much from Playa until right before you get to Tulum, then the highway veers inland a bit. You then pass the entrance to the ruins, which are on the beach but about ½ mile from the highway. After another mile or so, you have 2 options as it relates to Tulum:

Option 1 - You can go straight to go into Tulum pueblo, the town part of Tulum. The main part of this town part of Tulum is about ½ mile long, with shops, restaurants and bars along the main drag. This main drag is not like Playa’s 5th avenue as it allows traffic and is much wider. To me, the main drag would just be a place to go shop a bit and eat a meal, but isn’t the type of place I could hang out for a long time.

Option 2 - You can turn left and drive for about 2 miles before hitting the hotel zone, which is situated on a several mile long road. When you hit the beach, you can either go left or right. There is very little to the left outside of a couple beach clubs and the ruins. However, this short area is probably my favorite beach in the world, especially El Paraiso beach club, which I will show pics of later.

If you go right when you reach the beach, there is a small, but nice, road which runs for about 5 miles before reaching an arch and an area call Sian Ka’an. Past the arch, e.g., when you are in Sian Ka’an, the road is unpaved and full of potholes, so most folks likely would not spend much time there, if any --- but I will report tomorrow about a neat restaurant there. The 5 mile stretch (between the road that runs to Tulum pueblo and the arch) is Tulum’s main hotel zone and is largely full of beach front hotels on the beach side (go figure), and some restaurants and hotels on the inland side, but there is a lot of jungle on that side as well. There is one center area on this stretch that has a couple shops, a couple restaurants, and a mini-market. The mini-market is pricey (25 pesos for a can of beer), so you may want to do your shopping before entering Tulum. Although we did ours at San Francisco that first day, by far the better store is the brand new Chedrui, which is on the 2 mile long road that runs between the beach and Tulum Pueblo. It is not really walk-able from the hotel zone unless you are feeling really ambitious.

The benefit of the jungle area on the inland side of the Tulum beach road is that it keeps the Tulum hotel zone very secluded. If you think of the busy beaches in Playa, not only do the people who have hotels right on the beach go to the beach, but so does everyone who lives inland as well. In Tulum, there aren’t people who live inland because of the jungle, so if you have a beach area right in front of your hotel, it will pretty much just be people in your hotel using that beach.

So, just like the beach is very quiet during the day, the entire area is also pretty quiet at night. At night, the beach road is dark, only illuminated by periodic lights of restaurants and hotels, and the lights of taxis that come by every minute or two. It is so dark that you see people walking with a flashlight on this stretch.

From what I can tell, the beachfront hotels in Tulum are generally somewhat more expensive than the beachfront hotels in Playa. For example, my room was fairly basic (kind of like my room at the Aventura Mexicana in Playa) and was $175 per night before tax during high season --- I got a 10% discount by staying at least 4 nights. However, compared to a beachfront room in Playa, I truly had a very secluded beach to stare out at and enjoy.

If you can’t afford a beachfront hotel in Tulum, I don’t know that I would recommend staying in the town. The town is fairly boring and you’d have to take a 70 peso taxi ride to go to the beach every day.

So, my overall advice…if you want a gorgeous beach, quiet day and night, and are okay paying somewhat more…stay in a beach front room in Tulum… and go to Playa a couple times to get your fix. If you want anything else…stay in Playa and take a day trip to El Paraiso beach in Tulum.

Back to our trip

Free beach beds for people who stay at Cabanas Tulum. The beach is huge and there are tons of beach beds and chairs so you just put them anywhere you want.

Ruso and Cita on our own stretch of beach

JG, “Come here babe…I won’t bite.”

TG, “Yeah, but you are wearing fit-overs, so you look like a gigantic dork.”

JG, “Hug me like you mean it, babe.” TG, “What if I don’t mean it?”

JG, “Just fake it and I’ll buy you some jewelry later, babe.” I did actually buy her a couple rings later from a vendor from Haiti.

It must be Kiss-A-Dorky-Looking-Guy-With-Fit-Over’s Day

You are my wife, so I get to grab your butt, right?

We had dinner at La Zebra, as Sunday night is salsa night. However, as we were cashed from our 2 nights in Playa, we had a leisurely two hour dinner, watched a bit of salsa and then returned to the hotel by 9:30PM. I liked La Zebra - great food and fun salsa band. It was about a 20 minute walk up the beach road from Cabanas Tulum. I look forward to going back when I am not tired, so that I may enjoy watching and dancing salsa.

We ordered a coffee/cream/kahlua after dinner. This became a nightly tradition for us. Yes, we know we are getting old… I am sorry to let all my fans down.

When we got back to Cabanas Tulum, we bought a couple cocktails and a bottle of wine from the El Bistro bar (300 pesos was their cheapest, and it was just fine but not great). It was very, very windy, so we couldn’t just sit on the beach without getting eyes full of sand. So, Ruso created a fort out of the beach beds and we sat in our fort, drank wine, and enjoyed an evening of tranquility under the stars.

I procured a new camera for TG before our trip so you are going to see a lot of scenic shots. It is a Canon EOS Digital Rebel T2i w/EF-S 18-135mm
http://www.natcam.com/spec_sheet.html?catalog[name]=Canon-EOS-Digital-Rebel-T2i-w%2FEF-S-18-135mm-Digital-Cameras&catalog[product_guids][0]=98797663-9bd0-4011-bff5-46ca82a1363c

Here are some cool pics…

That’s it for today folks. Sorry to let those of you down who have come to enjoy my rowdy reports. Not one pic of a drink in the whole day! We certainly had a few, but definitely kept it in check.

stonecold · 01-20-2012

We stayed at C.T. for a week in May of 11. Great staff and can't beat the location.

Great T.R.

January Guy · 01-20-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by stonecold

We stayed at C.T. for a week in May of 11. Great staff and can't beat the location.

Great T.R.

Thanks! When we book our next trip, I am pretty sure I won't even look at any other hotels, we'll just go back to the Cabanas Tulum!

bigdogmom · 01-20-2012

Way cool pic!!!

stonecold · 01-20-2012

1st night we were there, I got to help tag a turtle that must have been 400 lbs. or larger right in front of C.T. I'm hooked on Tulum now, going back in May for 7 days then hanging in Playa for a few before heading home. Last year we spent 7 days in PDC and 7 in Tulum. The days in PDC will be fewer and fewer in the future I think.

January Guy · 01-20-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigdogmom

Way cool pic!!!

Thank you very much --- a lot more of that kind of stuff to come --- we have some incredible pics from this trip --- so keep checking back.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stonecold

1st night we were there, I got to help tag a turtle that must have been 400 lbs. or larger right in front of C.T. I'm hooked on Tulum now, going back in May for 7 days then hanging in Playa for a few before heading home. Last year we spent 7 days in PDC and 7 in Tulum. The days in PDC will be fewer and fewer in the future I think.

How did that turtle get there and/or how did you get involved in tagging it??? There wasn't a lot of action in front of CT so I am just wondering how that all came about.

I know what you mean about Playa vs. Tulum. I will say that they are COMPLETELY different experiences and I love them both --- but for where I am at right now --- Tulum with a bit of Playa thrown in is what I need. Much of that is because next January we will also travel with Ruso and Cita, so 4 people can kind of make their own party as you'll see in future posts.

If it were just TG and I, I could see us getting very cooped up in Tulum for a week.

01-20-2012	#40 (permalink)
January Guy añejo Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Twin Cities Posts: 5,900	Day 3 – Sunday After a late night, I again slept in until about 10AM. The four of us went to my favorite breakfast spot in all of Playa: Nativo. It is located on 30th just north of Constituyentes. Everything omelets were a hit, as were the 35 peso liter-size smoothies. After breakfast, we checked out of the Aventura Mexicana. I have done a lot of research on hotels in this price range and I would definitely stay at the Aventura Mexicana again. Clean, nice landscaping and pools, a tasty and affordable restaurant onsite, and friendly service. We caught a cab to Tulum, the cost was 500 pesos before propina. We first had the cabbie stop at the San Francisco supermarket so that we could grab some drinks and snacks. Around 2PMish, we checked in to the Cabanas Tulum in Tulum’s hotel zone. Here is my brief overview of Tulum Most people reading this report know that I love Playa. However, this trip made me a big fan of Tulum and I am thus going to try to give you an overview of Tulum and tell you what to expect. First, here is a good map of the area Tulum’s layout is a bit more unique. The 307 highway from Playa follows the coast pretty much from Playa until right before you get to Tulum, then the highway veers inland a bit. You then pass the entrance to the ruins, which are on the beach but about ½ mile from the highway. After another mile or so, you have 2 options as it relates to Tulum: Option 1 - You can go straight to go into Tulum pueblo, the town part of Tulum. The main part of this town part of Tulum is about ½ mile long, with shops, restaurants and bars along the main drag. This main drag is not like Playa’s 5th avenue as it allows traffic and is much wider. To me, the main drag would just be a place to go shop a bit and eat a meal, but isn’t the type of place I could hang out for a long time. Option 2 - You can turn left and drive for about 2 miles before hitting the hotel zone, which is situated on a several mile long road. When you hit the beach, you can either go left or right. There is very little to the left outside of a couple beach clubs and the ruins. However, this short area is probably my favorite beach in the world, especially El Paraiso beach club, which I will show pics of later. If you go right when you reach the beach, there is a small, but nice, road which runs for about 5 miles before reaching an arch and an area call Sian Ka’an. Past the arch, e.g., when you are in Sian Ka’an, the road is unpaved and full of potholes, so most folks likely would not spend much time there, if any --- but I will report tomorrow about a neat restaurant there. The 5 mile stretch (between the road that runs to Tulum pueblo and the arch) is Tulum’s main hotel zone and is largely full of beach front hotels on the beach side (go figure), and some restaurants and hotels on the inland side, but there is a lot of jungle on that side as well. There is one center area on this stretch that has a couple shops, a couple restaurants, and a mini-market. The mini-market is pricey (25 pesos for a can of beer), so you may want to do your shopping before entering Tulum. Although we did ours at San Francisco that first day, by far the better store is the brand new Chedrui, which is on the 2 mile long road that runs between the beach and Tulum Pueblo. It is not really walk-able from the hotel zone unless you are feeling really ambitious. The benefit of the jungle area on the inland side of the Tulum beach road is that it keeps the Tulum hotel zone very secluded. If you think of the busy beaches in Playa, not only do the people who have hotels right on the beach go to the beach, but so does everyone who lives inland as well. In Tulum, there aren’t people who live inland because of the jungle, so if you have a beach area right in front of your hotel, it will pretty much just be people in your hotel using that beach. So, just like the beach is very quiet during the day, the entire area is also pretty quiet at night. At night, the beach road is dark, only illuminated by periodic lights of restaurants and hotels, and the lights of taxis that come by every minute or two. It is so dark that you see people walking with a flashlight on this stretch. From what I can tell, the beachfront hotels in Tulum are generally somewhat more expensive than the beachfront hotels in Playa. For example, my room was fairly basic (kind of like my room at the Aventura Mexicana in Playa) and was $175 per night before tax during high season --- I got a 10% discount by staying at least 4 nights. However, compared to a beachfront room in Playa, I truly had a very secluded beach to stare out at and enjoy. If you can’t afford a beachfront hotel in Tulum, I don’t know that I would recommend staying in the town. The town is fairly boring and you’d have to take a 70 peso taxi ride to go to the beach every day. So, my overall advice…if you want a gorgeous beach, quiet day and night, and are okay paying somewhat more…stay in a beach front room in Tulum… and go to Playa a couple times to get your fix. If you want anything else…stay in Playa and take a day trip to El Paraiso beach in Tulum. Back to our trip Free beach beds for people who stay at Cabanas Tulum. The beach is huge and there are tons of beach beds and chairs so you just put them anywhere you want. Ruso and Cita on our own stretch of beach JG, “Come here babe…I won’t bite.” TG, “Yeah, but you are wearing fit-overs, so you look like a gigantic dork.” JG, “Hug me like you mean it, babe.” TG, “What if I don’t mean it?” JG, “Just fake it and I’ll buy you some jewelry later, babe.” I did actually buy her a couple rings later from a vendor from Haiti. It must be Kiss-A-Dorky-Looking-Guy-With-Fit-Over’s Day You are my wife, so I get to grab your butt, right? We had dinner at La Zebra, as Sunday night is salsa night. However, as we were cashed from our 2 nights in Playa, we had a leisurely two hour dinner, watched a bit of salsa and then returned to the hotel by 9:30PM. I liked La Zebra - great food and fun salsa band. It was about a 20 minute walk up the beach road from Cabanas Tulum. I look forward to going back when I am not tired, so that I may enjoy watching and dancing salsa. We ordered a coffee/cream/kahlua after dinner. This became a nightly tradition for us. Yes, we know we are getting old… I am sorry to let all my fans down. When we got back to Cabanas Tulum, we bought a couple cocktails and a bottle of wine from the El Bistro bar (300 pesos was their cheapest, and it was just fine but not great). It was very, very windy, so we couldn’t just sit on the beach without getting eyes full of sand. So, Ruso created a fort out of the beach beds and we sat in our fort, drank wine, and enjoyed an evening of tranquility under the stars. I procured a new camera for TG before our trip so you are going to see a lot of scenic shots. It is a Canon EOS Digital Rebel T2i w/EF-S 18-135mm http://www.natcam.com/spec_sheet.html?catalog[name]=Canon-EOS-Digital-Rebel-T2i-w%2FEF-S-18-135mm-Digital-Cameras&catalog[product_guids][0]=98797663-9bd0-4011-bff5-46ca82a1363c Here are some cool pics… That’s it for today folks. Sorry to let those of you down who have come to enjoy my rowdy reports. Not one pic of a drink in the whole day! We certainly had a few, but definitely kept it in check. __________________ JG's Blog 2011 Trip Report - "Where I Wanna Be", including JG's Guide to Playa 2012 Playa/Tulum Trip Report - "All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down" Last edited by January Guy; 01-20-2012 at 11:20 PM..

01-19-2012	#31 (permalink)
Duck añejo Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Home of the HUSKERS ! Posts: 6,055	"some of the warmest beers in Playa" c'mon Boz ! Were you NICE to Greco & Karen ?? i've never had anything but some of the "coldest" cervezas in Playa @ the DM and they are very gracious owners as well ! The DM is one of my fav spots in Playa .... very small but, i LOVE sitting by the street and not being overcrowded like on 5th ! Kinda like the Bucket when Cap't Ron & Sharky had it ! Roll on with the TR amigo....always a good read when you do one !

01-19-2012	#32 (permalink)
btodd añejo Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada Posts: 2,358	Yay!! Another JG and TG et al report............looking forward to the Tulum part of the trip.

01-20-2012	#33 (permalink)
syl añejo Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: santa ynez Posts: 7,380	love it!!and I know about Solvang

01-20-2012	#35 (permalink)
isomami life=playa Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Helsinki, Finland Posts: 947	I'm catching up with your TR, JanuaryGuy! Was fun to meet you. Even hear you singing

01-20-2012	#38 (permalink)
LucyE añejo Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Torrance, CA Posts: 7,242	Looking forward to your Tulum report. So how did you like staying just 2 nights in Playa?

01-20-2012	#41 (permalink)
stonecold life=playa Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: central mo Posts: 937	We stayed at C.T. for a week in May of 11. Great staff and can't beat the location. Great T.R.

01-20-2012	#43 (permalink)
bigdogmom beachaholic Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 466	Way cool pic!!!

01-20-2012	#44 (permalink)
stonecold life=playa Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: central mo Posts: 937	1st night we were there, I got to help tag a turtle that must have been 400 lbs. or larger right in front of C.T. I'm hooked on Tulum now, going back in May for 7 days then hanging in Playa for a few before heading home. Last year we spent 7 days in PDC and 7 in Tulum. The days in PDC will be fewer and fewer in the future I think.

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