Let’s just start with getting there. We took a rental car from Thrifty <http://www.thrifty.com.mx/> and it looked like it was going to be only $50 for the whole week. We weren’t going to get insurance since my credit card should have covered it for a rental car and it raises the price substantially, but they mentioned some sort of “minimum liability” and I got scared (mostly cause we were in a different country and I didn’t want to go to a foreign jail. Thanks very much National Geographic: Locked Up Abroad for freaking me the hell out!) so we got it. Boy, did we get it. It ended up being closer to $150.00 after all the fees. That said, it’s very simple to use the ADO buses to get around.<http://www.adogl.com.mx/en/index.htm> You can take one to Tulum from Cancun airport. You just purchase a ticket at the bus terminal and it’s all very simple. There are signs for ADO everywhere and all the attendants speak English. It’ll probably be too far of a walk from the Tulum bus station to the beach, so take a cab to your hotel and rent a bike for getting back to the city. If you want to head out to historical sites and you skipped the car, there are plenty of tours you can sign up with.
It’s easy to find “El Pollo Carbon” stands in the city centers. One half of a chicken will feed two hungry guys and comes with standard fixings to make tacos, and with a Coke each it came to $4.50 per person. We even stopped at one to get breakfast for two with coffee outside downtown Tulum, coming in at $3.50pp. You can even get the food to-go as well. They don’t sell beers though, so you’ll have to pick up a six-pack on your way back. For a complete meal with drinks, find a Loncheria or Cucina Economica to dine at. They’re still good deals ($3 for three loaded tacos, $5 for pollo enchiladas con mole) and about $3 for a medium sized margarita.
Budget some extra money for a guide at Chichen-Itza or any other historical sites you go to. We didn’t want to spend $35 per person to get a private tour for the two of us, but it would have been worth it. The other option was to wait for 4-6 more people for a total group size of 6-8 which would be about $10pp. We waited over 45 minutes before we decided to go it alone. It was still good, but it would have been great with a guide.
We stayed at Coco Tulum <www.cocotulum.com> which is just what we were looking for. Simple thatched-roof cabana view nothing to see out the window but sun, surf and sand. Paradise for only $60 per night. It does have communal bathrooms and no restaurant, but the bathrooms were very nice and never busy, and there are plenty of food options. Walking down to the beach for food you’ll pay prices you’d expect at a typical American tourist area, but at least it’s all delicious. Head to the city for deals on food and more authentic fare. There’s even a supermarket on the first big intersection from the beach road where you can stock up on coffee, fruits and veggies, and cold beers.
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