Tulum Mexico is on the coast of the Yucatan Penisula. Our primary objective in going there was to see the ruins of the late (built about 1200 AD) Mayan town. But we also wanted to take full advantage of the stop to find as many other interesting things to do in the area as possible.

We originally identified two interesting snorkeling add-ons: at the Yal-Ku Lagoon and through the Dos Ojos Cenote. Unfortunately, the directions we could find on the Internet were, at best, vague. That meant we would have to take extra time finding the locations, parking our car, figuring out payments and directions with our limited Spanish.

We had almost reconciled ourselves to being able to do only one of the two add-on stops. And, since we had only our masks and snorkels, we would either have to rent fins and wetsuits for the day, or go without.

Image our relief when we happened upon a tour shop that promised to take us on a private tour, in our own car, to not only to the two places we had planned to visit, but also to one other: Turtle Bay. And, they would throw in all the gear to boot. And all this for $65 per person. (It would have cost us about $20 for parking at and admission into the two sites alone!). We jumped at the chance, and we were glad we did.

Tulum Ruins

Tulum was the last major Mayan city built and the only one thought to be still occupied when the Spanish discovered it in the early 1500s. Although the Spanish did not actually stop here, they noted in the ship’s log, that it looked like Seville from the bay, and was about the same size. (The city, in fact, is thought to have consisted of about 1,000 people inside the walls plus another 9,000 outside.)

Until the last few decaded, the reconstructed ruins, were only accessible only by sea. It consists of three primary buildings, with El Castillo being the most impressive and recognizable from the photos. Although Tulum is nowhere near as impressive as the cities of Chichen Itza and Uxmal, Tulum is memorable for its site (on a promontory overlooking the bay), it’s hieroglyphs (some of which are still visible) and the still unknown reasons that the Mayans deserted there highly advanced,still lovely cities.

 

Dos Ojos Cenote

Cenotes are bodies of underground water that have been exposed by the collapse of the limestone above the water. (The Yucatan Peninsula is actually a coral reef that tectonic forces thrust above sea level about 2 million years ago. Since it is highly porous, the peninsula is filled with underground rivers and therefore, cenotes.)

Dos Ojos is one of the largest and most impressive cenotes. Once entered, one can scuba dive or snorkel through the two caves, seeing an underground landscape filled with stalactites and stalagmites, and, most impressively, one cavern whose roof is covered with stalactites that reach down to the water, and whose roof is covered with bats.

A very fun snorkeling excursion.

Yal-Ku Bay

Speaking of fun snorkeling excursions, Yal-Ku Bay is not to be missed. You enter though a well-tended sculpture garden, with fun sculptures along a path to one of the most beautiful coves you could ever wish to see. The real fun, however, is underwater.

They don’t call it a natural aquarium for nothing! The reason for the name becomes obvious from the second you get into the water. You are surrounded by parrotfish, tangs, Sergeant major fish and dozens of other colorful species. You swim slowly through a sheltered, rock-filled lagoon that consists of passages and pools all filled with fish of all imaginable colors. And to see these fish in an eerie cove surrounded by rocks and mangrove roots hanging down into the water is downright magical.

Turtle Bay

From land, Turtle Bay is just another of the perfect, beautiful beaches that line the entire Yucatan Peninsula. Once you snorkel out to the reef, however, you find (or at least we found) lovely green turtles. The turtles are about 3-feet long and 2-feet wide. They swim leisurely through the water in search of tufts of sea grass on which to feast. The turtles, virtuously oblivious to the human intruders, go about their business at a very relaxed pace. One, however, was notably irritated by a pair of remora eels who attached themselves to the bottom of its shell and looked like a pair of green dual tailpipes coming out from behind the something less than turbo-charged-looking turtle chassis.

Tulum Hotel and Meals

We spent the night at the friendly, comfortable, albeit certainly not luxurious, Don Diego de la Silva hotel, which is located on a quiet dirt road just south of downtown Tulum. Although we could have easily walked into down for dinner, we got in late and decided to eat at the hotel’s very pretty outdoor French restaurant.

We choose well. The lobster tail with Portobello mushroom casserole, served in the lobster’s shell, was decent. While the sauce was tasty, there isn’t such that can be done with Caribbean lobster (especially after a New Year’s weekend during which we gorged on lobster thermador made with fresh Maine lobsters). This being said, the coconut milk soup with lemongrass and shrimp was delicious, as was the seafood (shrimp, scallops, mussels and calamari) in a chartreuse liqueur sauce. Overall, the meal, along with a bottle of French Chablis, was very good.

We had lunch the next day, at La Buena Veda, on Akumal beach. What a great place. A very casual, outdoor restaurant, with many of the inside seats on swings, and most of the outside seats under thatched umbrellas. And that does not count the table inside a tree house or, for those that shun tables altogether, the dozen hammocks in which one can eat, drink or just plain chill out. The food was almost as much fun as the atmosphere. Chips with guacamole, mixed seafood ceviche and a shrimp taco, washed down with a couple of Dos Equis.