Tulum, Mexico travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises, spa and resorts

Tulum is located on the southern edge of Mexico’s Riviera Maya. The place is unique, a strip of beach and jungle peppered with stylish haute-bohemian huts and ancient ruins overlooking the Caribbean. The may site in Tulum may have been also known by the name Zama, meaning city of Dawn.

Tulum has architecture typical of Maya sites. Among some of the more spectacular buildings at the site is the Temple of the Frescoes, that included a lower gallery and a smaller second story gallery. The archeological city of Tulum is compact and best-preserved coastal Maya sites. The modern tourism development along the Mexican Caribbean coastline has made it a popular destination for tourists. A large number of cenotes are located in the Tulum area, such as Maya Blue, Naharon, Temple of Doom, Tortuga, Vacaha, Grand Cenote, Abejas, Nohoch and cave systems.

You can cool down at the small, but sweet Grand Cenote, a freshwater cave, 20 minutes from Tulum. You can snorkel and dive in there, exploring all the usual suspects: stalagmites, stalactites and a lot of tourists just like you. Entrance fee, 600 pesos, masks, snorkels and flippers.

If you need a massage, visit Ocho Tulum, one of the newer so-called eco-resorts. It has two alluring palapas massage rooms planted just above high tide.

Ocho Tulum also offer a brand new yoga studio and vinyasa classes every morning. The town is a hot spot for yoga tourists.

How to get there: Cancun is four hours from New York City. Round-trip prices this month start at under $400. It is cheaper, and easier, to rent a car than to rely on taxis, even though most of beachfront Tulum is a walking town. Tulum is about 75 miles south of Cancun on Route 307. Be extremely aware of the speed limits: they drop precipitously at each town, and the police are vigilant. Photos: Michael Nagle