What is Tulum?
Tulum is a town on the coastline of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, located around 128 km south of Cancun and 62km south of Playa del Carmen on Mayan Riveria. Tullum has always been well known for the large amounts of cenotes popular with tourists and some cenotes that haven’t yet been discovered. Today Tulum is well known for its beaches and yoga retreats. When I first visited 11 years ago it was nowhere near as popular as it is today.
Tulum’s original name “Zamá”, translates to “place of the dawning sun”. If you happen to be on any of the popular beaches at sunrise you can see why. This also played a big part in Maya history. From the 11th to 16th century, Tulum was a major trading and religious center. Surprisingly there were never more than 1,600 inhabitants living in Tulum at a time. Considering it was mostly a religious and ceremonial center rather than a population area, it’s not surprising.
What are the Tulum ruins?
When you speak of Mayan archaeological site in Mexico, most people think of the grand pyramid of Chichen Itza or Coba. For me, Tulum is my favorite.
The ruins sit on top of a cliff and are ruins of an ancient Mayan port city. Built on the highest elevation, the city was surrounded by natural beauty in all directions. The main building is a large stone structure called El Castillo (castle), perched on a rocky cliff above the white sand beach and turquoise sea. Tullum was originally the largest bartering place and was very important. Tulum is one of the few enclosed cities built by the Mayas. With walls on three sides and the Caribbean sea on the fourth, Tulum was a fortress.
Known as ‘sunrise city’, you can imagine what it would have been like for the religious and wealthy Mayan leaders lived within the walls of the ruins. You’ll notice all the little windows on the buildings that on special days, the sun would pass through and light the room. You get a sense of going back in time as you duck down the stone passageway to enter the ruins.
The Temple of the Frescoes
One of the most spectacular buildings at the Tulum ruins is the Temple of the Frescoes. When we were there the lower gallery was being repaired. You could still see the upper story gallery that was originally used as an observatory to track the movements of the sun.
The Temple of the Frescoes, was used as an observatory for tracking the movements of the sun. On the outside of the building above the entrance, you can still see the etched figure of the Maya “diving god” or Venus deity. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the temple continued to receive offerings from the neighboring towns seeking to please the sea gods.
Pyramid El Castillo
The largest and most central building is the Castillo. Standing 25 feet tall, the Castillo was built over stages and decorated with beautiful carved serpent motifs. The small shrine sits above a natural cove in the beach that was a perfect place for trading canoes to come ashore for trading.
Etiquette at the ruins?
With over 2 million visitors a year, they have stepped up security to preserve the ruins. The tour guides ensure you are informed about the ecological impact your visit may have.
Also, it’s bad etiquette if you step on iguanas… and they are everywhere, so keep a look out! Did you notice all the iguanas in the photos?
How is the beach at the ruins?
When we first visited ‘Paradise’ beach was great, the tide was out and the beach was fun to swim and play on. When we recently visited it was full of seaweed and the tide was in, so there wasn’t really a beach to be on.
That didn’t stop my adventure girl from wanting to go down & check it out… but even she didn’t want to swim or get in the water.
Best time to visit?
Definitely the morning. It may not be fun to wake up early, but it’s worth it. The first time we visited there were far less people than our 2020 visit. In fact, there weren’t ropes marking off the ruins and you could climb and walk over them as you pleased. This was before the Justin Bieber’s 2016 incident.
Fewer people meant you didn’t have to fight to see the site or get a good photo for the ‘gram’. The site opens 8 a.m. ever day (beach opens at 9), and even by 9 a.m. there was a line-up to get in. Thankfully it wasn’t as big of a line-up as those waiting to get in when we left.
It is also important to note that if you are traveling with children there are no bathrooms inside the ruins and very little places for shade from the sun… which gets HOT! There is also no place to buy water/drinks inside, so make sure you bring. The Tulum ruins close at 5 p.m..
What else is in the area?
Near the ruins is the Parque Nacional Tulum, a coastal area with mangroves and cenotes (natural limestone sinkholes). Although we didn’t do the cenotes on our recent trip, we have before and it was definitely worth it to swim or scuba. If you are staying in the area you may want to visit the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza. Chichen Itza, is not only a huge step pyramid, but also has the ball court where Mayan sportsmen competed since the 1400s, sometimes to the death!
Is Tulum too touristy now?
You can see the growth Tulum’s has experienced over the past decade. Tulum was once a tour bus stop on the side of the road where tourists spend an afternoon at a Mayan fortress overlooking a beach. Now it is on it’s way to being as commercial as Cancun. On our recent trip the outer parking lot has been built into a huge shopping area with restaurants and even a Starbucks and Subway!
One of my favorite things of Tulum are the Mayan Pole Flyers. The dance, Danza de los Voladores (Dance of the Flyers), or Palo Volador (Pole Flying), is a ritual performed in both Mexico and Guaremala. The ceremony was believed to be used during ancient times to stop drought and is now used to keep alive and honor the tradition and rituals of the ancient Mayan culture. The dance has been named an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO to help the ritual survive and thrive in the modern world.
You can see the dance every hour at the shopping area of Tulum.
How much to get into the ruins?
Most all in-inclusive’s in the area have a good prices Tulum package. When we stayed at the Beach Palace resort, we were able to use our resort credits and only had to pay the taxes, which worked out to be around $50 U.S.. One of the best things about getting the all inclusive hotel package is that it’s no stress. The hotel provides the buses, the guide, pays for entrance fee and gets you in the ruins early. You will arrive back at your hotel around 2 p.m. You can add in a cenote swim on most packages (getting back to your hotel around 6-8 p.m.). Don’t forget to ask your hotel to make you a box lunch to take for the drive back.
If you are going on your own, bring pesos because they do not take U.S. currency. When we went, it was around $5 USD for parking and $3-4 USD (80 pesos) per entrance ticket. If you want a guide you are looking at around 600 pesos or $30 USD.
If you don’t want to walk from the parking lot to the site, there is a train for around 20 pesos or $1 USD per person.
Remember:
- Take a tour guide… they are so well informed, you will learn a lot.
- Use the washroom before you enter the Tulum ruins.
- Don’t forget water and snacks.
- Bring sunscreen… with the salty wind coming off the ocean, you won’t believe how hot it can get.
- Bring a swimsuit (and change into it before you enter the site!)
Check out these other stories about Mexico & family Resorts:
The Grand at Moon Palace, Cancun
