Without a doubt Tulum is a paradise. When you look at the pictures all you see is white sand beaches, blue water, beautiful restaurants, cool parties and happy people. And it’s all true.
However the reality of Tulum is something that all the bloggers and promoting websites seem to forget mentioning…

The Reality of the Dream

The uprising popularity of Tulum created an extreme growth of tourism over the years. This had a really devastating impact on the area.

First of all, the thing that surprised us the most was that Tulum Beach is in fact 1 long, destroyed road with beach and hotels on one side and restaurants and the jungle on the other. But this jungle/mangrove is constantly torn apart and pushed back to make space for more hotels and restaurants.

The Road

The development in this area also means that there are countless trucks driving back and forth on that uneven road. This fills the air with dust and dirt. The noises from constructions are heard everyday, and cover the songs of the birds and the sounds of the waves. The traffic is always heavy, but gets incredibly intense during the evenings when everybody goes out. Did you know that you could take 2h to drive only 2km? The only alternative is biking or walking, which can be quite dangerous in between the cars and trucks, especially at night, as there are only few lights on the road. 

The Pollution

The seaweed is a real problem on this long strip of white sand beach. Sea grass spreads dozen of meters into the sea and is washed off onto the sand. It is not sure if its caused by the global warming or pollution, probably both, but the fact is that hotels have to work very hard to keep the beaches clean in order to keep tourists coming back.

If you want to see the current state of the algea situation, this facebook group puts update very often! (in Spanish)

The Hidden Cost

And as for the last thing- Tulum is extremely expensive. Of course you can choose to stay in a cheaper hotel in Tulum City, but experiencing the Tulum Beach comes at a price of minimum 150 Euros per night for a bungalow without running water and bathroom. The dining is very highly priced as well. I summed it up by saying that people trying to escape New York, ended up bringing New York prices with them. All of this stripped the area from its authenticity. The middle part of Tulum Beach, right now feels more like a hipster area of NYC with a beach vibe, than Mexico. 

Our Conclusion

We had mixed feelings about Tulum. We spent 4 days there, and this part of our voyage was split into 2 distinct parts. The first two days, our vision of wild secluded beach-front hidden in Mexico was shattered by the vision of all those trucks, the dust and the concrete jungle of the main part of Tulum Beach. The rain was also not helping, we actually considered shortening our stay in Tulum.

Then on the 3rd day, after changing hotels, we saw Tulum from different angles and with sun light. And we finally found the magic Tulum hides within. The south and north part of Tulum beach, after the main hotel part, becomes way more wild and free spirit looking. The road empties. The green of the jungle is back, even the hotels look way less touristic and more integrated with the nature. We found yoga-by-donation places, amazing food spots, experienced the night life…

In conclusion, we think you will have such a better experience of Tulum knowing what to expect! The reality of Tulum can be upsetting. But there are a lot of different ways to experience Tulum: parties, wild life, fancy hotels, ecological ways or even shopping.. All of them can be fulfilled, with the right guiding and researches.

In the end, we ❤️ Tulum! We just hope it will be preserved.

↬ Don’t be deterred by this article, the reality of Tulum can be disappointing if you don’t know what to expect. But to be fair is a gem… that needs to be taken care of. Now go ahead a read 7 Reasons to Visit Tulum.