School me on Tulum | The Boneyard

School me on Tulum

August_West

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Taking my wife there for our anniversary.
Know that it was trendy as being under the radar a few years ago and now becoming a bit overrun, but the Mayan stuff seals the deal for her either way.

Anybody spend any time there?

Recs?
 

storrsroars

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Yeah I’m not worried about that.

Can't help with Tulum as never went over to that part of the country. However, two things to definitely do if you decide to rent a car which are SOP in Mexico:
- if there's any visible damage on it before you take it off the lot, take photos and email them to another phone to prove the date.
- should you get into a fender bender, don't wait for the cops. If the other driver is a Mexican, he'll want to get out of Dodge too.

As far as tourist warnings, unless the State department specifically tells you to get your ass out of the area immediately, it's pretty safe to ignore them as long as you practice normal tourist safeguards. I used to get them all the time when I lived down there.
 
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Was just in Mexico City and the surrounding areas. What an incredible city and cheap as hell. Hard to believe how underrated a city it is and felt incredibly safe. Plan on making it a yearly trip.
 

storrsroars

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Was just in Mexico City and the surrounding areas. What an incredible city and cheap as hell. Hard to believe how underrated a city it is and felt incredibly safe. Plan on making it a yearly trip.

Where did you end up staying?
 

HuskyHawk

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Have not been to Tulum. Stayed in Playa Del Carmen a few years ago and made a day trip to Coba for the Mayan stuff. More ruins at Coba I believe, but inland, not on the water.

Benefits of Playa Del Carmen: Much closer to the flight into Cancun. Pretty amazing places to stay (we were at Fairmont Mayacoba). Playa del Carmen itself is nice, great restaurants. The eco-park things nearby are awesome. We loved Xcaret. I'd suggest that even if you go to Tulum, won't be too far.
 
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I went to Tulum in late December 2014 and early January 2015. Felt perfectly safe. I take the US dept. state warnings with a grain of salt, lots of them are overblown, especially considering some cities in the states, I mean, come on...Take normal precuations and you should have no issues. Every place in the world has some kind of issue, after all. I also think it is unfair to judge a country based on issues experienced in parts of the country. Ya, Acapulco is known to be unsafe but that does not mean you should not visit Mexico. That is like saying "Detroit is unsafe, I won't visit the USA."

Also, that article gives stats for 2017 but official FBI stats for the US are not available for 2017 so I highly doubt those are official stats.

Really, I tend to love to hike and explore and do active things but mostly I just relaxed for the few days I was in Tulum, beautiful beaches. I also went to Playa del Carmen and Cozumel and some ruins and other natural beauty areas a little inland from Quintana Roo. Food is good and cheap though be very picky with street food. I mean, part of the allure of a country like this is indeed the street stalls and some of it can be awesome but some of it...eeep, stomache issues. So observe, check to make sure it is fresh food and enjoy.

I intend to visit Mexico again this summer 2018.
 
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HuskyHawk

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I went to Tulum in late December 2014 and early January 2015. Felt perfectly safe. I take the US dept. state warnings with a grain of salt, lots of them are overblown, especially considering some cities in the states, I mean, come on...Take normal precuations and you should have no issues. Every place in the world has some kind of issue, after all. I also think it is unfair to judge a country based on issues experienced in parts of the country. Ya, Acapulco is known to be unsafe but that does not mean you should not visit Mexico. That is like saying "Detroit is unsafe, I won't visit the USA."

Also, that article gives stats for 2017 but official FBI stats for the US are not available for 2017 so I highly doubt those are official stats.

Really, I tend to love to hike and explore and do active things but mostly I just relaxed for the few days I was in Tulum, beautiful beaches. I also went to Playa del Carmen and Cozumel and some ruins and other natural beauty areas a little inland from Quintana Roo. Food is good and cheap though be very picky with street food. I mean, part of the allure of a country like this is indeed the street stalls and some of it can be awesome but some of it...eeep, stomache issues. So observe, check to make sure it is fresh food and enjoy.

I intend to visit Mexico again this summer 2018.

Quintana Roo has merely a level 2 warning. "Exercise Increased Caution". Other places in Mexico have level 4. Mexico Travel Advisory

The warnings are what they are. There are reports over many years of gangs going after tourists on the major beaches near Cancun. The Cancun that tourists don’t often see: soaring murders amid a bloody drug war
Mexico's surging narco violence is intensifying at the edges of one of its biggest tourist hotspots
Playa del Carmen and Tulum tourism blew up in part because Cancun went down hill. Of course, the beach inside a resort won't have that problem. And ours provided unlimited bottled water to avoid Montezuma's revenge.

When I went to Sao Paulo Brazil some years back for work...that was eye opening. Unlike major U.S. cities where there are places you know to avoid, it's pockets of places that may be safe, in a sea of places to avoid. Kidnapping for ransom was a major issue. Our office was in a fairly good area and it was still fenced and gated with armed guards at the entrance. I rode around with the owner of our hire car company (he uses Hyundai Azeras because luxury cars are carjacked so frequently). He would point out the armored cars and places that made armored cars, dozens of such places. All the homes in the nicer areas had 10 ft. stone walls with barbed wire on top, plus motion lights, and gated driveways. My takeaway was to not go into such places blind, without an educated local guide of sorts.
 

storrsroars

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I forget, did you at one time live in the city?

Yep, quite a while ago though. Lived out of the El Presidente in Polanco for a couple months, then an apartment on Rio Ebro in Cuauhtémoc for a year, about 5 blocks from El Angel. The GM I worked with lived in Condesa so spent some time there. Lovely area.

I enjoyed it, but it was getting dicey towards the end so when I was asked to return to states to help on a project gone south, I went before my two year deal was up. Last couple of months I was there a co-worker was carjacked and raped, peso value declined by half vs dollar. Guy who probably would've won presidency assassinated.

Still consider it one of the best years of my life. Widely unappreciated food city. I gained 22 lbs down there. Also loved the people and culture - the non-criminal culture, anyway.
 

CL82

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Wow, things have changed a lot since I was down there last which was before the big Cancun boom, never mind the fall.

IIRC, Talum is nice and there are some ruins but it is mostly known as a good diving snorkeling spot. If it fits your itinerary, head to Chizen Itza. The ruins there are really striking. That was a trip out into the jungle years ago, but I understand that it is now pretty developed. I have no idea how safe the the drive there is though.

chichen-itza-castillo.jpg
 
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Quintana Roo has merely a level 2 warning. "Exercise Increased Caution". Other places in Mexico have level 4. Mexico Travel Advisory

The warnings are what they are. There are reports over many years of gangs going after tourists on the major beaches near Cancun. The Cancun that tourists don’t often see: soaring murders amid a bloody drug war
Mexico's surging narco violence is intensifying at the edges of one of its biggest tourist hotspots
Playa del Carmen and Tulum tourism blew up in part because Cancun went down hill. Of course, the beach inside a resort won't have that problem. And ours provided unlimited bottled water to avoid Montezuma's revenge.

When I went to Sao Paulo Brazil some years back for work...that was eye opening. Unlike major U.S. cities where there are places you know to avoid, it's pockets of places that may be safe, in a sea of places to avoid. Kidnapping for ransom was a major issue. Our office was in a fairly good area and it was still fenced and gated with armed guards at the entrance. I rode around with the owner of our hire car company (he uses Hyundai Azeras because luxury cars are carjacked so frequently). He would point out the armored cars and places that made armored cars, dozens of such places. All the homes in the nicer areas had 10 ft. stone walls with barbed wire on top, plus motion lights, and gated driveways. My takeaway was to not go into such places blind, without an educated local guide of sorts.
I got lost once in Bogota when I first started living there. My daily bus took a detour and I freaked out when I suddenly didn't recognize the neighborhood we were going deeper into and hopped off into ...a really nasty pocket. I had my laptop with me, from work, as well as my pay check so I hightailed it out of there, thankfully. In hindsight not the best idea but the people getting on the bus looked .... yah, so I did not want to wait it out until they turned around to start the route again and decided to take my chances outsides which was just as big of an "ooopsss"

One thing I find interesting is with all the warnings USA issues about Mexico, Mexico has never issued a single one about the USA....hmmmm...
 
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Fishy

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The State Department had a pretty good reason to issue the latest warning....a bomb went off on one of the passenger ferries from Cozumel to Playa Del Carmen.

That’s kinda not ideal.
 

August_West

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The State Department had a pretty good reason to issue the latest warning....a bomb went off on one of the passenger ferries from Cozumel to Playa Del Carmen.

That’s kinda not ideal.

Thats a bit troubling.

We are going back to that area of Mexico for our anniversary because Cozumel was one of the 3 location back on our Honeymoon (along with Ocho Rios and Key West), but we wanted to do something different and I have some friends rave about Tulum. Its pretty bohemian in spots (especially the shore road south of town Im told) so that works for us, as does the Mayan stuff my wife is obsessed with.

Im pretty stout when it comes to dealing with foreign stuff. It takes a lot to make me uncomfortable. I was stuck on the streets of Bombay for the better part one night after a cancelled flight and a full hotel that I was forced to check out of, and a maxed credit card. that was a lifetime worth of stories in 10 hours) I DROVE to Guatemala once (a long long time ago), but I would be lying if I said I havent been keeping an eye on some of this stuff since we decided to go. Im older now, and Im spending good money and kinda want the pampered experience and not have to be on full street smart alert for the trip. However on the flipside I like to explore and dont want to feel like im jailed in a (albeit) nice resort. I like the streets and local flavors of places I visit. Thats 3/4 of fun for me as laying on a beach all day I get tired of after a day.
 

CL82

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Its pretty bohemian in spots (especially the shore road south of town Im told) so that works for us, as does the Mayan stuff my wife is obsessed with.

However on the flipside I like to explore and dont want to feel like im jailed in a (albeit) nice resort.
Then definitely go to Chizen Itza. You'll give up a day on the beach but you will both enjoy it, and it is pretty cool, if you like history or "Mayan stuff." For example there is a jade jaguar idol/sacrifice alter (sort of like a Chac Mool) inside of the big pyramid. It can only be accessed by going up a long, narrow and disgustingly wet stone passageway. Back in the day, a lot of people missed it. Your wife will love it.
 
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Wow, things have changed a lot since I was down there last which was before the big Cancun boom, never mind the fall.

IIRC, Talum is nice and there are some ruins but it is mostly known as a good diving snorkeling spot. If it fits your itinerary, head to Chizen Itza. The ruins there are really striking. That was a trip out into the jungle years ago, but I understand that it is now pretty developed. I have no idea how safe the the drive there is though.

chichen-itza-castillo.jpg
You're ever near Mexico City check out Teotihuacan, a lot more impressive than Chichen Itza IMO.
 

CL82

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You're ever near Mexico City check out Teotihuacan, a lot more impressive than Chichen Itza IMO.
Will do, I've never been. Welcome back.
 
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You're ever near Mexico City check out Teotihuacan, a lot more impressive than Chichen Itza IMO.
I liked both personally. Teotihuacan had less people, at least when I visited the two, which was a huge bonus.
 

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