I no longer know what to do with myself when I’m at the beach and there are no waves to surf (the ones you see in the photo are not exactly surf-able…). Which means Tulum was kind of a weird holiday destination for me. Don’t get me wrong, the beach is gorgeous, the places along it have really good vibes, Tulum Pueblo is cute, and the natural landscape around the area is of immense beauty. Yet I came back with a certain sense of spiritual unsatisfaction. Thankfully I had some incredible food to compensate for that.

Mexican cuisine is surely beloved by many, and in Tulum it is excepcional. I do have to highlight the feast we had at Hartwood. It wasn’t easy to get a table. We tried to make a reservation in November for a table in December and they were already fully booked. But in the end, thanks to some determination and patience we did manage to get a table and had an amazing meal of ceviche, prawns, octopus and slow cooked pork, with all the delicious fire-roasted sides they had on the menu: eggplant, beet, sweet potato and carrots.

Another spot worth a visit is Posada Margherita, not so much for the food, which was good, but what really shines is the place: so picturesque and charming, you want to get lost there, pretend you’re 5 years old and play real tropical house dolls.

I had really nice coffee at a sweet coffee shop called Nehktar, a smoothie bowl at Matcha Mama, delicious tacos at Taqueria Honorio, some more nice coffee and tea at Prieto and Tulum Art Club.

The Yucatán peninsula where Tulum is located is also known for cenotes. A cenote is a natural underground water feature, where you can dive and swim. We visited two in the Tulum area, the Sac Actun and Manati cenotes, and I really recommend the former. Another half to one day trip worth your time is going to the Sian Ka’an Natural Reserve and float with the natural current on an ancient Mayan canal - another highlight of these holidays.

Overall in 6 days you can explore and enjoy a lot in Tulum. The thing I regret the most not having visited was Azulik which looks like it was taken from a magical, mystical, ancient natural reality. Maybe next time.