El Ocho 2010

[Gargi]

Paraiso translates into "Paradise", and it's no exaggeration. We covered alot of ground at the Tulum Ruins and around 12:30 or so we decided to head for the gate. By then, I'm sure our driver was glad to see us and get moving again. Lots of photos coming up.....

[karona]

Love the tied died uniform... I bet the Mexicans got a kick out of most of your names sounding the same.

Thanks for posting!
Keep it coming!

[Gargi]

We ambled out through the south gate of the ruins to meet our driver. By this time everyone was hot and thirsty so we asked if he'd take us immediately to el Paraiso Bar and Beach Club. It's just a short distance south of the ruins. We were anxious to retrace our steps from 2007, and show the newbies - Gary, Carol, Scotty and Laura what a beautiful spot it is. We piled out of the van, grabbed our stuff and asked the driver to wait again for about an hour. He found it curious that we wanted to stop there since we'd made arrangements to spend the afternoon at Ziggy Beach but we couldn't resist stopping there again.



It's alot of fun to take someone to the Tulum Beach for the first time. It's like walking into a postcard.

[Gargi]

After a bathroom stop (the bathrooms are nice at el Paraiso and there's room to change clothes) we immediately hit the bar for some bebidas. Mary and the rest really liked the swing seats.



A view of the bar from the water's edge.



They've got food there too. I hear that it's good. We have yet to try it.

[Gargi]

We spent awhile relaxing and enjoying the perfect weather. It was around 1:30 pm I believe when we finished splashing in the waves (thankfully calm that day) and decided to head to our primary destination. Ziggy Beach is just a short drive south of the ruins and el Paraiso. It's great to cruise down the beach road and see the signs for all the places you read about and think of all the fun everyone's having.

A parting shot from el Paraiso.



We arrived at Cabanas Tulum just a few minutes later and received a warm greeting from the receptionist at their open air lobby area. Within a few minutes our host for the day "Martin" showed up and escorted us to the bar, restaurant and beach area.



As we'd been told when arranging the excursion at La Tortuga in Playa we were to receive 2 x 1 drinks for the afternoon and a being "guests on tour" so to speak a 25% discount off of our lunch at el Bistro.

[Goodtobehere]

Beautiful shots of el Paraiso.

[Gargi]

The staff at Cabanas Tulum was great. I'd say they fairly well pampered us for the afternoon. The property had been recently acquired by La Tortuga and there was much carefully covered up construction and renovation progress in the works. Martin gave us a brief tour of the grounds after we'd gotten our shady beach configuration in place. It was evident by then that aside from frolick in the sea time we'd better stick to intermittent sun exposure.

I think Laura and Sherry just waded a bit for starters.



Lunch was very good. I can't remember what we had. Everyone was pretty hungry by mid afternoon. Mary hit the hammock afterwards. You can see where we dined in the upper left of the photo. I think that area is now the patio areas for the deluxe beachfront rooms.

[Gargi]

If you've never set foot on the beach in Tulum, prepare to just sit there wide-eyed, with mouth hanging open gaping at the incredible beauty and colors. We've visited a bunch of caribbean locations, but I don't think anything is as impressive as Tulum.

[Gargi]

After lunch, Laura, Carol and I went in search of the public bathrooms. They were recently completed. Very impressive! I don't know when we've gotten so excited about bathrooms. This is one of the women's room stalls. I ventured into the men's room and it was just as nice.



Upon exit we ran into Martin who was running back and forth from the kitchen and he gave us a quick rundown on the construction progress and where the improvements would be located. They've got alot of interesting spaces to work with there. Here's Carol and Laura as we walk between the new room construction and whatever was being developed on the opposite side.



All of this provided the inspiration for our vow to return (keep in mind this was in May - 2010). I've been following their progress on this property since, and am very anxious to see the results. We're all really looking forward to our return and to spend a few nights here soon to get the full experience of beach life in Tulum.

[Gargi]

As the afternoon progressed we made sure to have plenty of drinks, but not so much that we couldn't squeeze in a little excursion down the beach road. One of the bar staff had answered my question about a darker spot in the sea that was easily visible from a distance up the beach. He explained that it was the inlet/outlet of a nearby cenote. I asked where it was and he said it was just a short walk south on the beach road. Several of us decided to go check it out, and several stayed behind to relax.

The cenote, was located on private property on the west side of the road maybe 5-600 feet down the road. We came to a gate with a red sun symbol painted on it and the words "Cielo Rojo" (which would be red sky I believe). I have some photos of this somewhere..which would make things more interesting. I can't seem to find them at the moment.

It was funny, as Scotty, Terry and I tried peering through the locked gate to see if there was anyone around. We were almost ready to turn around and go back when we heard a voice "hola...". The gatekeeper opened up and let us in. There we were in someone's private homestead. There were some kids, some chickens running around and other people up at the house. A variety of outbuildings and no sign of a cenote. After some broken english/spanish discussion we were told that the cenote was down a short path, so we paid something like 25 pesos each to go have a look. I wouldn't say it was a short path, but it was certainly a mini-adventure. Someone had done alot of work putting in step stones made of concrete for quite a distance through the mangrove swamp. There were a variety of birds, and we couldn't help but wonder what else might come crawling out of the reeds and undergrowth.

We made our way to a concrete patio and palapa where the cenote was located. There was a wooden ladder lashed to the edge of it, leading into the water. I stuck my toe in it and decided I'd been wet and dry enough times that day already - plus it was alot colder than the sea water. The rest went for a swim.

[Gargi]

Here's Scotty after emerging from the cenote. "Wow, there's alot of fish down there".



I just stood there scratching a few mosquito bites wondering if I should have jumped in. I wish I could find more photos.

[Gargi]

If you can find Cabanas Tulum on Google Earth, it's possible to zoom in and you can see the path to the cenote and the Patio/Palapa area next to it.

[Gargi]

After the walk back towards the gate, goodbyes and gracias to the family there we found ourselves rather scorched and parched.



How do you like my improvised head covering? I borrowed the hat from Terry and Mary. The perfect addition to the rest of my getup. I've never been much of a fashion plate.

We lounged a bit more and had another splash in the sea. We felt sorry for the driver waiting for us in the parking lot all afternoon. We had invited him to have a drink and lunch on us while he was waiting. Did he ever! Ah well, we paid our tab at the bar (and his - apparently he had a plate of lobster), and gathered our stuff up for the trek back to PDC.

I don't know what we did that evening. I think everyone was fairly well wiped out from a perfect beach day - a little sunburned and very tired. If I remember correctly, we might have taken an evening stroll down Quinta Avenida and found something to eat. That was about it for the day.

Overall, we were very happy with the convenient arrangements we'd made for the day. I think it was $75 total round-trip for the van/driver, plus tip of course. We thought that was quite a deal. The hospitality at CT was great. The next day everyone kept exclaiming what a great day that was.