The Tulum hotel zone is a single road, more than ten kilometres of it, with the sea on one side and the jungle on the other. Driving it end to end at sunset, stopping wherever you feel like it, is the plan every visitor repeats. By cart it is about forty minutes without stops; with stops, it is the whole afternoon.
Where it starts and where it ends
The road begins where the town runs out, drops down to the sea and turns south. From there it is one line: boutique hotels, beach clubs, shops and stretches of jungle with nothing at all. The further south, the emptier and the better it gets.
That is the right direction to drive it: north to south in the late afternoon, with the light coming from the side.
The exact time to go
Set off an hour and a half before sunset. That gives you time to take it slowly, find a spot for the last stop and watch the sun go down without rushing. The sun sets behind you — this coast faces east — so what you get is not the disc dropping into the sea but the whole sky lighting up over the water. It is better than it sounds.
Four stops worth making
- The viewpoint by the archaeological site, at the northern end, to see the cliff from outside.
- A beach club halfway down, for a late-afternoon swim. There is a minimum spend, and at that hour it is far calmer than at midday.
- The shopping stretch, for the sort of buying that is not a supermarket run.
- The southern tip, where the road narrows and the noise disappears. That is the sunset stop.
Parking without drama
This is the only part that needs thought. In high season there are stretches without a single gap for a car; for a cart there is nearly always something. Even so: inside the bay where there is one, and never blocking a driveway — fines are not covered by any protection level.
And one warning repeated because it is the expensive one: do not take the cart onto soft sand to get closer to the shore. Being pulled out of sand is not covered.
Getting back at night
You come back along the same road, lights on, in no hurry. The area is busy until late so it is not a lonely stretch, but it is dark between hotels and there are speed bumps you will not see at night. Slowly, and without joining the federal highway.
The classic mistake: setting off at seven thinking the road takes ten minutes. It is over ten kilometres of speed bumps, bicycles and people crossing. Allow double what you would in a car.
Quick questions
How long does end to end take?
By cart, about forty minutes without stops. With stops, it is an afternoon.
Do you pay to get onto the beaches?
There are public accesses and there are beach clubs with a minimum spend. Both exist along the road.
Can it be done by bike?
It can, but it is over ten kilometres with no shade: coming back, and in the dark, it gets long.
What if it rains?
The cart is open. A twenty-minute storm leaves the seat soaked; in the wet season, check the sky before setting off.
Fitting it into the trip
This drive works as the close of any day: ruins in the morning, a cenote at midday, the beach road at sunset. It is laid out day by day in three days in Tulum by cart. If you have nothing to drive it in yet, check your dates.
