Wellness Guide To Tulum, Mexico

6 min readFeb 3, 2022

Oh Tulum… filled with yoga retreat centers, healthy + incredible [but very, very expensive] restaurants, all the healing + spiritual vibes you can ask for, high end bottle service, luxury beach clubs, high end resorts, crazy traffic jams, + “instagrammable moments” everywhere. You’ll either love or hate Tulum. I really liked it. Isaac on the other hand… hated it.

There were definitely aspects of Tulum that weren’t for me, but overall: I found my spots + soaked in the magic. Visit Tulum + decide for yourself what you think ; ).

Stay:

Typically I talked about *stay* last, but for Tulum it’s one of the most important aspects. Here’s why… Tulum is divided into two areas: the town [pueblo] + the beach [playa].

Pueblo + playa are anywhere from 3–6+ miles apart — depending on where you are going. There’s one main road running down the entire length of the beach… which is both nice, but also causes insane traffic jams especially at night.

The beach is where you will find most of the ~trendy~ spots. Everything on this list is located in the beach area… unless it’s noted! HOWEVER, the hotels [while nice] are extremely overpriced on the beach + I do not recommend staying on the beach if you in Tulum for a longer stay. *If you are only visiting Tulum for the weekend, it’s probably best to stay on the beach because you’ll be able to walk to all of the best spots.

I recommended staying in the town [pueblo] — we stayed at anAirbnb for the majority of the time, + then spent our last night at Holistika… which was amazing! Accommodations are much more affordable in pueblo, there are still amazing cafes + restaurants, + feels so much more like authentic Mexico. Taxis are everywhere, + there are also plenty of bike shops that you can rent + utilize from getting to pueblo to playa.

Coffee:

#1] Holy Deer: The one + only coffee shop you need in your life when you are in Tulum. Seriously. Get the Bulletproof Coffee! They also have really good smoothie bowls, too ; )

Cafes:

#1] Raw Love: Raw vegan restaurant. Regardless of your dietary preference, this is a must! I only went to the puebla location, but it was such a beautiful oasis + incredible food. Don’t leave without getting the avocado toast + frappachino, so good! *puebla + playa

#2] Prieto: Loved their smoothie bowls, peanut butter banana bagels, + cold brew! *puebla

#3] Los Bowls De Guadalupe: The BEST plant based bowls, period.

#4] Italdo: The BEST almond croissant I’ve ever had in my life. *pubela

#5] Burrito Amor: This was our most frequented restaurant — we went here multiple times for lunch + dinner. Incredible burritos + salads. *puebla

For Next Time: Bontanica Garden Cafe, Liquido Y Solido Tulum, Charly’s Vegan Taco’s

~Fancy Restaurants~

As mentioned, Tulum is *very* expensive — all of these restaurants are so good, but the price tag… not so much ; ). Below are my list of favorite $$$ restaurants in order of preference! We went to The Real Coconut multiple times [for breakfast + lunch… they also do a Sunday BBQ that looked amazing] + Macondo had my favorite vibes.

*Side Note: At least one of the restaurants you go to… you have to try mezcal with grasshoppers ; ). Wild’s was my fav.

For Next Time: UKAMI, Kin Toh [“famous” bird’s nest restaurant], ITZIK, Hartwood

Wellness:

#1] Explore all the yoga: Below was my yoga bucketlist — I wish I could have gone to *all* of these spots. Sanara was my fav + went multiple times.

Sanara
Nomade
Holistika, *puebla
Sonido Del Mar *puebla
Yaan
Azulik
Tribal
Alaya

#2] Participate in a cacao ceremony: You can find plenty of cacao ceremonies in Tulum — we loved the cacao ceremony we participated in at Nomade!

#3] Sweat it out in a temazcal ceremony: Another popular ceremony… this time, in a sweat lodge. I’ve done one before in Mexico + loved it. Many of the beach hotels hold temazcal ceremonies… you typically need to book a few days in advance.

#4] Sound healing at Sanara: Check out Sanara’s schedule… we went to the “Cosmic Meditation + Sound” + it was SO special.

#5] Try a new workout: The primal movement class at Nomande was SO fun, or try Tulum CrossFit in puebla.

#6] Explore alternative healing: Check out Healing Tulum for all your healing needs. I didn’t use their platform at all, but it’s such a beautiful site + worth exploring!

#7] RELAX: Get a massage or reflexology on the beach, rent a beach bed, go for a long beach walk + simply enjoy the beautiful weather. Chances are you are in Tulum to RELAX… so make sure you do so : )

Outdoor Adventures + Day Trips:

There are a lot of adventures + day trips near Tulum — but since there’s *so* much to do in Tulum, you may have a hard time leaving ; ). I was so set on doing outdoor adventures, buuut… didn’t do any of them, other than Valladolid. Reason to come back!

Bacalar the “Lagoon Of Seven Colors:” We were all set to go here, but apparently for the past few months the colors haven’t been vibrant, so the hotel we were going to stay at suggested to visit another time! If you visit Bacalar, this hotel looks amazing.
Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve
Akumal Monkey Sanctuary
Ruins
Cenotes: There are thousands of cenotes in the Yucatan Penninsula. We found our fav to be near Valladolid.
Valladolid: 100% worth visiting if you have the time. [*Check out my wellness guide to Valladolid here!]

Pro Tips:

If you are coworking, work at Digital Jungle — it’s the best!
Grocery shop at Gypsea Market [right next to Digital Jungle] — they also have a cafe we liked.
Join the Facebook Group: Expats + Locals In Tulum. This is a good space to ask any questions you have about tour, stay, etc.
Probably a good idea to bring bug spray, we got eaten up alive at one of the restaurants we went to in playa.
Be careful about parking in playa… our car got towed the first night we were in Tulum + it was a PAIN, as I’m sure you can imagine : )
Recommended stay: Long weekend… or longer!