This is the first edition of my new series: Okay, Now Where?
I guess, since I didn't go to any clubs, I don’t have much authority to proclaim that you shouldn’t go to them, but unless you're on a bachelorette party or a spring break-type trip, the crowds and general vibes suggest that perhaps you should skip the clubs in Tulum. That is of course, unless you love clubbing and overpriced drinks (I don’t), then by all means, club your little heart out.
Nestled between the beach and the jungle (yes, there are lots of mosquitoes) lies the town of Tulum. This Yucatán Peninsula hotspot is known for its Mayan ruins, beaches, club scene, and wellness scene. My family traveled to Tulum for a week over Christmas break. To be honest, it wasn’t my favorite town I’ve visited in Mexico. Due to a recent development boom, a lot of the area feels like a construction site, and the dirt road that runs through the hotel zone seems out of place with the massive club-restaurants. That said – I know better than to complain about sunshine, beaches, and Mexican food.
Next time you’re in or around Tulum, you must do the following things:
Biking and Cenote Tour with Bejil-Ha
Cook Mexican food with Lilly
Eat at Hartwood
Do a Biking and Cenote Tour with Bejil-Ha
This was hands down one of the best guided tours I’ve ever done in my life. Let me repeat that: this was one of the best guided tours I’ve done in my life. If you are in the Tulum area and you skip this – you are missing out.
Bejil-Ha is an ecotourism company that originally started as a community group determined to clean up their local cenotes. After seeing the state of these natural sinkholes, eight friends decided to get together and restore them. They assigned guardians to each cenote to educate visitors and locals about how the keep them clean, and then started the tour company to fund their continued conservation efforts.
Our tour guide, Einner, was incredibly welcoming and enthusiastic. He told us about his experience growing up in the town of Chemuyil, the history and folklore of the region, and the work the group is doing to preserve their local cenotes. On the tour, we visited three different cenotes – each unique in their own way. We visited Cava La Cuevita, Sutuul Ha, and Xunaan Ha. Einner told us that he learned to swim at Cava la Cuevita, and then he truly scared the crap out of me at Xunaan Ha after diving deep into the underwater tunnels. He promises he does it every day, but watching someone hold their breath for a couple of minutes in a cave underwater is horrifying no matter how often they do it.
Not only did we have an amazing time swimming and biking, but I got the overwhelming sense that this group has helped uplift their community. Through collective action they have restored the ecology of their local cenotes and drawn visitors to a small town just outside of Tulum. They even had the “local ladies” cook us lunch, which was delivered via bicycle. The food was delicious.
Side note: They also bring a photographer along with you (which I typically find unnecessary) but our photographer was super nice and made the experience more fun. We also ended up buying the photo package because when you take a picture as ridiculous as the one below, you need to cherish it forever.
I booked our tour through Airbnb Experiences, but it’s also available to book directly on their website.
We did the Water Path Tour, but there is also a cave experience available. I had un epetite panique attaque in the one cave we visited, so that tour was not for me, but it might be for you.
Cook Mexican Food with Lily
You might think – Isabelle, don’t you know how to cook? Why did you take a cooking class? The answer is that I was in charge of booking activities and restaurants for our vacation, and because my family loves being in a kitchen so much, I figured it was the perfect dinnertime activity. Guess what? I was right.
During the class in Lily’s home, we learned how to make guacamole, salsa, tortillas, carne asada, and soup. We also learned how to properly taste mezcal. The host, Lily, is meant to host a cooking show. She’s attentive and funny, but most importantly, she makes great food.
Sharing a couple of facts we learned:
Mexican food traditionally uses tomatillo for the citrus / sour flavor, because limes and lemons weren’t introduced to Mexico until the Europeans colonized it.
Guacamole literally just means to “avocado sauce” in Nahuatl.
At the end of the course, Lily offered us her phone number and told us to reach out if we ever needed anything, emphatically saying “you’re not alone in this country. I have your back.” You can book the cooking class here.
Eat at Hartwood.
This is the food version of the cenote tour because this stop is non-fucking-negotiable. This was possibly the best meal that I ate in all of 2023. Not only was the food fantastic, but the service was great, and they had chalkboard menus (which I previously stated is a tell-tale sign of a good meal to come).
Reviews from my family:
“The skirt steak is proud to be a skirt steak,” - Jim
“One of the best meals I’ve ever had,” - Spencer
“First veggie taco with flavor,” - Grace
“Everything’s great,” - Heidi
There’s really not much else to say besides that if I think it’s one of the best meals of the year, and Spencer thinks it’s one of the best meals of his life, it’s probably worth a shot. You can request a reservation on their website here.
Other Notable Mentions:
Kokoro: Very good sushi
Negro Huitlacoxe: Cute restaurant in town that served great tacos and corn ribs.
Arca: Upscale restaurant focused on seasonal items and traditional Mexican flavors. Grant Achatz apparently had some portion of his wedding here?
That’s all for now! I’m headed to France this weekend, so I’ll be back soon 👋🏻