Tulum: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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Tulum, on the Caribbean coast of Yucatán, was a walled Maya port that was still alive when the Spanish first sailed past in 1518. Today the cliff-top ruins, the white beaches below and the jungle cenotes have made it one of the most fashionable places in Mexico, very popular with Israeli travellers; there is a Chabad house in town. In summer, sargassum seaweed can cover the beaches. Half a day; the ruins open early and close early.

A short history of Tulum

Tulum was a walled Maya port city, and its peak was between the 13th and 15th centuries, when it was a station on the maritime trade along the coast. It was built on a cliff above the sea, and its temples and the wall on three sides remain. In 1518 Juan de Grijalva's fleet sighted it, and the city was abandoned in the decades after the Spanish arrived. The modern town grew up only at the end of the 20th century.

The ten best sights in Tulum

1
Tulum town
The pueblo of taquerias and hostels
2
Tulum Ruins
The Maya walled city on the cliff; go at opening
3
El Castillo
The temple-lighthouse over the sea
4
Playa Santa Fe
A beach of fishing boats below the ruins
5
Playa Paraíso
White sand and palms
6
Cenote Calavera
Jump through a hole into the water
7
Gran Cenote
Turtles and stalactites; go early
8
Cenote Zacil-Ha
An open cenote with a zipline
9
Cenote Dos Ojos
Two eyes into the longest cave system
10
Caleta Tankah
A cenote that flows into the sea

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What is an audio walk?

Tours in Tulum →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Tulum:

Free walking tours in Tulum

The Maya city by the sea

Tulum Ruins · The city was called Zamá, dawn, because it faces the sunrise. A stone wall surrounds it on three sides, with the cliff and the sea on the fourth. The Spanish expedition of Juan de Grijalva saw it from the sea in 1518 and compared it to Seville.
El Castillo · The temple on the cliff edge, which may have served as a lighthouse: lights placed in its windows lined up with the one gap in the reef, guiding trading canoes safely to the beach below.
Playa Santa Fe · A beach just south of the ruins where fishermen pull up their boats and sell the catch, and from which boats go out to snorkel the reef, the second-longest barrier reef in the world.
Playa Paraíso · The most photographed beach of the coast, white sand under leaning palms, at the start of the road of boutique hotels that runs south to the reserve.
ADO Tulum Ruinas · In the nineteenth century, during the Caste War, the rebel Maya of Yucatán held this coast for decades as an independent state, guided by a Talking Cross; Tulum was one of their centres until the early twentieth century.
Tulum town · The pueblo on the highway, a small village thirty years ago and now a fast-growing town, where the cheap taquerias and hostels are, far from the prices of the beach road.

Cenotes

Yucatán has no rivers on the surface; its water runs underground through limestone, and where the roof has collapsed it opens in cenotes, sacred to the Maya as entrances to the underworld. A day by bicycle or car; use only biodegradable sunscreen.

Cenote Calavera · The skull cenote, named for its three holes in the rock — two eyes and a mouth — through which you jump or climb down a ladder into clear water.
Gran Cenote · A cenote of clear water under stalactites, where small turtles swim in the shallows and divers enter the caves that run beneath the whole region.
Cenote Zacil-Ha · A round open cenote like a natural swimming pool, quieter than the famous ones, with a zipline over the water.
Cenote Dos Ojos · Two eyes, two linked cenotes that lead into Sac Actun. In 2018 divers proved that the two cave systems connect, making it the longest known underwater cave in the world, over three hundred and forty kilometres long.
Caleta Tankah · A cenote beside the beach where fresh water flows out into a cove of the sea, so you can swim from one to the other and feel the change in temperature.
Akumal · Its name means place of the turtles in Maya, and green sea turtles graze on the seagrass of the bay; access is now controlled, and swimming with them requires a local guide.

Jungle cities and the reserve

Inland lie Maya cities in the jungle, and to the south the vast reserve of Sian Ka’an. A full day each; go early to beat the heat.

Cobá · A great Maya city between lakes, reached by bicycle along its sacbeob, raised white roads; one runs about a hundred kilometres to the city of Yaxuná. Its pyramid, Nohoch Mul, is about forty-two metres high.
Muyil · A small Maya site in the jungle at the edge of Sian Ka’an, from which boats cross lagoons to a canal dug by the Maya, where you float down with the current in a life jacket.
Sian Ka’an · Where the sky is born, a biosphere reserve of about five thousand square kilometres of jungle, mangrove, lagoon and reef, a World Heritage site since 1987, home to dolphins, crocodiles, manatees and hundreds of species of birds.
Xel-Há · A natural inlet where a river from the cenotes meets the sea, now an all-inclusive park for snorkelling among reef fish; expensive but easy with children.
Laguna Yal-Ku · A quieter inlet north of Akumal where fresh and salt water mix, with parrotfish and rays, and bronze sculptures along its shores.
Tulum Airport · The new airport, opened at the end of 2023, as the new Tren Maya railway began running; the line loops around the peninsula linking Cancún, Tulum, Mérida and the Maya sites.

sleepntripFree with every roomThree audio walks in every city

A guide in your headphones, stop after stop.

To the walks

Getting to Tulum and getting around

Tulum Airport · Opened in 2023, about forty minutes south
ADO Tulum Ruinas · Buses up the coast to Playa and Cancún

Cheap eats in Tulum

In Tulum the beach road is expensive and the town is not: tacos al pastor, pork shaved from a spit with pineapple; fish and shrimp tacos; ceviche of fresh fish cured in lime; and cochinita pibil from Yucatán for breakfast. In the pueblo a plate of tacos costs about two or three dollars; on the beach road it can cost ten times as much.

Tulum town · Taquerias in the pueblo
Playa Santa Fe · Fresh fish at the beach shacks
Akumal · Ceviche by the bay

Nature and day trips near Tulum

Underground rivers, cenotes, the reef and a vast reserve of jungle and lagoon.

Sian Ka’an · The reserve
Cenote Dos Ojos · The cave system
Gran Cenote · Turtles in the cenote

Things to do in Tulum with kids

With children: sea turtles, calm lagoons, a natural aquarium and bicycles in the jungle.

Xel-Há · The aquarium park
Laguna Yal-Ku · Easy snorkelling
Cobá · Bicycles to the pyramid

Museums in Tulum

Here the museums are the Maya cities themselves.

Tulum Ruins · The walled city
Cobá · The white roads
Muyil · The canal

Nightlife in Tulum

Tulum’s nights are jungle parties with electronic music on the beach road, and mezcal bars in the pueblo.

Playa Paraíso · The beach road clubs
Tulum town · Bars in the pueblo

sleepntripRoad and rail routesEvery night on the road, our hotel

Whole routes, with a room up to $80 at every stop.

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Frequently asked questions about Tulum

What is there to see in Tulum?

The top sights in Tulum are Tulum town, Tulum Ruins and El Castillo. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Tulum?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Tulum without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Tulum?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Tulum, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The Maya city by the sea.

How do you get to Tulum and get around?

The main ways are Tulum Airport and ADO Tulum Ruinas. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Tulum, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Tulum that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

Looking for a hotel in Tulum for your dates?

Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.

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