We spent a full week exploring the best cenotes in Tulum, walking ancient Mayan ruins in Tulum, eating endless tacos, lounging on the beach, and exploring nearby Bacalar. On this trip to Tulum Mexico we explored four different cenotes and three different ruin cites including the famous Chichen Itza. After spending a good amount of time here, we’re able to give you the insider tips on the best things to do in Tulum that are worth the money so you can plan and maximize your own Tulum trip! Out of all the vacation places in Mexico, we highly recommend this one! Yes, it is a bit more expensive and a bit more crowded than other places in the country, but for good reason!

We made taking this trip extremely easy with our completely built out 1 week Tulum itinerary available for instant download now! The itinerary plans every step including where to fly into, how to rent a car, where to stay, cenotes to visit, beaches to enjoy, and ruins to experience. It also includes prices for the experiences, drive times, how long to spend at each place and the route to take each day.

Tulum Vacation – Episode Transcript

3 (58s):
Welcome to this week’s episode of the Travel Squad podcast. Today, we are taking you south of the border to the Mexican hotspot of Tulum,

1 (1m 8s):
Jamal and I spent a full week escaping the winter temps and soaking up the sun. And the tropical jungle of Tulum to loom has been on our bucket list for a really long time. And we finally made it a reality when our trip to Morocco was officially canceled.

2 (1m 23s):
That sucks. That’s really sad.

3 (1m 24s):
That was bummed out about Morocco, but we had a good time and to loom enjoyed it, but Morocco’s still on that to do list for sure.

2 (1m 32s):
I’ve been to Tulum, not with you guys on this trip, but I went a couple years earlier. We were in Mexico city for our friend Nicole’s wedding and very way too early in the morning. The day after the wedding, I flew over to Ken Kuhn

3 (1m 46s):
Finger, still a little hung over weren’t you. I

2 (1m 47s):
Was still drunk, Flew into Cancun, which is the airport you’d fly into if you’re going to Tulum. And I had family that was actually living there. They moved from San Diego and were living there for a couple of years. So I was like, oh, hell yeah, I’m going to go over there. And I got to experience it for a couple of days.

3 (2m 4s):
Yeah. So to loom is like you just said, Kim, like you would fly into Cancun. It’s about an hour and a half, two hours, south of Cancun. As a matter of fact, it’s become such a tourist hotspot within the last five to seven years. I think they are building an international airport. They say it’s going to be open next year. I don’t know how that’s even possible, but they are going to be building an international airport, but it is a long, the Caribbean Gulf of Mexico area on the Riviera Maya, where they have all the ancient ruins and everything like that on the east coast of Mexico, very serene, very beautiful area of Mexico.

1 (2m 40s):
So we’re going to start off this episode as always with some tip tip tip, give

2 (2m 44s):
Me the tip

3 (2m 45s):
Tip in first,

1 (2m 46s):
First tip that we have is to rent a car, especially if you’re going to be here for a few days. It’s so nice to have your own car, to drive to all of these different destinations with interlude and around Tulum. So that would be something I recommend.

2 (2m 59s):
They do have car hire services as well. So if you don’t want to drive, you can hire a car. It’s going to be more expensive, but it’s an option.

3 (3m 7s):
The next tip is when to visit to loom. The most optimal times are going to be November through April. And the reason for it is twofold. One during the summer disgustingly hot, like I, you know, I complain about the heat disgustingly hot.

2 (3m 23s):
I was there in June. It was disgustingly hot and humid.

3 (3m 28s):
And you liked the heat and you like the pools and all that stuff. And it wasn’t enough. It was gross. So don’t go during that time because of that aspect. Second, one thing to note about this area is it is known for Sargassum. And what is that? That is when all the seaweed washes ashore to the beach and it stinks. And that happens in the summer. You definitely want to avoid that. It’s going to smell. It’s going to be gross. You don’t want to get into the water. So go November through April. And when you do it is going to be a paradise, beautiful crystal clear waters, nice white sand beaches. You’re going to have a great time. Just avoid the heat, avoid the washer shore of the seaweed.

1 (4m 7s):
Yeah, Jamal and I went in January and that was the perfect time to go. The weather was amazing. The highs were in the seventies, eighties, and I never needed a sweater. And we escaped the San Diego cold. I know you guys are probably laughing cause San Diego doesn’t get that cold. But when we came back to San Diego, I put on a sweater for the first time in a week,

3 (4m 25s):
There is the occasional downpour in that area of rain. It will clear think of it almost like Hawaii. If you’ve been to Hawaii, it’ll rain during certain times. So when it says it’s going to rain, it’s going to come down for maybe 10, 15 minutes and then clear right up, but just know that happens also, can’t avoid it.

1 (4m 42s):
Another tip is to do your research of where you want to stay into loom. Do you want to stay in the Tulum beach area, which is kind of the bougie resort area? Or do you want to stay in the town of Tulum? They have completely different vibes. So know where you want to stay into loom and make your reservations based off of the research you’ve done and the kind of trip you’re feeling

3 (5m 2s):
Next tip is to definitely know what to pack. I mean, you’re literally in a tropical jungle area in yes, beachy also, but you’re going to need a hat, sunscreen, snorkeling gear, towels, bug spray, a dry bag, collapsible cooler. We talk about it all the time. You’re going to want that. You’re going to want to bring your cervezas and tote to the beach and have all that good stuff. And even if you used Luma as a hub, go other places, collapsible cooler water shoes. Cause we’re going to talk about this and notice here pretty soon umbrella rain jacket. So you definitely need a good variety of things when you come here. So do all that research and know, but here we are telling you definitely bring those.

2 (5m 43s):
All right. So you guys recently went on this trip. I haven’t heard a lot about it. So instead of going back and forth between what I’ve done, what you’ve done, I just want you to walk me through your trip from start to beginning. Cause you guys were there for like a week, right?

3 (5m 57s):
It was a nice week long trip in that area. And really we use to loom as a hub. You know, we love to use places as a hub. We spent a lot of time there for sure did many different things in that area, but utilize it as a hub.

2 (6m 9s):
Okay, cool. So let’s go through your trip. I’ll just chime in with a few fun things that I did cause that mine was very different than yours, but what day did you take off?

1 (6m 17s):
So we actually took off Friday after work. We drove from San Diego to CBX and we entered the TJ terminal. And I think our flight was like at 1:00 AM.

2 (6m 27s):
Ooh and CVX, by the way is cross border express. It’s this cool little bridge you can pay to cross from San Diego to Tijuana and you get much better flight prices.

3 (6m 36s):
Well, not only just the bridge into Tijuana, it’s direct into the airport itself. So it’s a great American terminal for you to start flying domestically now within Mexico or to Latin America, Brittany and I live like two, three exits away from that. So really, really close, really, really convenient. And we had a red eye into Cancun that day, Friday, which was technically, I guess at that point Saturday morning.

1 (6m 60s):
All right. So the reason why we booked out of TJ was cause it was $250 cheaper per person to fly at a TJ versus San Diego. And it was a direct flight. There were no way overs or connections had we flown from San Diego to Cancun. All of the flights that we were seeing were not direct.

2 (7m 17s):
Perfect. So you flew Friday, technically Saturday. What time did you get in Saturday?

3 (7m 23s):
Yeah, we landed at 7:00 AM. Another reason Brittany didn’t mention that we also chose that route beyond the money saving and the convenience of direct flight is we’re still traveling in the day and age of COVID. Do you still have entry requirements to fly back into the United States? That entry requirement is a negative COVID test. You know what? They don’t have negative COVID test requirements for land crossing. So we avoided having to find a place to take a test in Mexico to fly back into the United States because we were flying into Tijuana and crossing via land. At which point you don’t need the test, but rest assured for most of you, people who do not live here along the border and have that convenience that we do every place at every corner that we were at into loom or can Kuhn had rapid COVID tests to take at a very reasonable price for you to have to fly back.

3 (8m 15s):
So we were concerned about that. We didn’t know that until we were there and saw it, but they are there for you guys.

1 (8m 20s):
You know, I know this sounds really, really terrible, but during January that’s when a huge surge hit the U S again in terms of COVID and most of my employees got COVID and I was convinced that I was going to get COVID and I was like, I’m going to end up with COVID in Mexico. And I didn’t want to get stuck.

2 (8m 38s):
There is a lot of research around building up your immunity through exposing yourself to a lot of foods, having a pet in home that brings things from the outside, keeping your windows open, that builds up your immunity. So I am convinced that travel actually directly supports your immune system, which is why the three of us have not gotten COVID

3 (9m 0s):
Fingers crossed. Let’s keep it that way. We’re going to rock it hard, but let’s get into day one Saturday, like we said, we landed in Ken Kuhn around 7:00 AM. So if this episode inspires you to go to Tulum and you go in a year or two, you may be able to have that direct flight, but for now you for sure have to fly into Cancun. From there, we rented a car that we already had reservations for the rental car location that we chose was not at the airport. They had a shuttle come pick us up and take us to the place. And we booked our rental car from rental cars.com. And I would recommend doing that for your international booking,

2 (9m 38s):
Even though it wasn’t at the airport,

1 (9m 40s):
You know, there didn’t seem to be a lot. I feel like a lot of places would take you on a shuttle regardless.

3 (9m 46s):
Okay. There was a few places in the airport where they had concierge stands for certain major rental car companies like Hertz enterprise, stuff like that. But I think that was just to talk to somebody. You still had to really leave the airport to go get your car. But our vendor that we use, which was like American rental cars, wasn’t at the airport. So they had a shuttle come pick us up. One thing and tip, I want to give to you guys about that is in Mexico. They definitely do require that you have insurance just like here in the United States. Now the main insurance that you have is liability insurance. When you rent a rental car, the liability insurance automatically comes that’s in case you God forbid hurt or hit somebody, right?

3 (10m 30s):
However, most rental car companies do require you to purchase insurance on the vehicle itself. They will state it expressly. Like I don’t care if you have other insurance or a credit card that actually covers it does this or that you need to buy the rental car insurance. So just be prepared for that.

2 (10m 49s):
So you can’t show them the credit card insurance coverage.

3 (10m 52s):
Well, for certain companies, you can’t, and a lot of the big name companies that we are aware of here in the United States, like Hertz enterprise, they say on their website, like you have to buy it. I don’t care. One of the reasons why we went through American rental cars is they said that they would actually accept your credit card insurance as primary coverage. But you actually had to print out a letter that was provided by your credit card that actually showed that you had coverage. I did that. And I’m going to not lie to you guys here. I know they were hustling us and telling us like, oh, like even though we had this, we had to put down a very minimal the deposit or something like that. And they were saying, oh, well we can’t run this through. It’s not taking minimal

1 (11m 33s):
Deposit 8,000.

3 (11m 34s):
Oh yeah. Well, yeah, you’re right. Sorry. It was $8,000 deposit that they were going to put as a hold on our credit card. The minimal deposit was the deposit. When we finally actually had to purchase the insurance because they were acting like they couldn’t put the hold on our card. But the moment that we bought the, the moment that we had, the moment that we bought the, they still put a hold on the card for much less. And then they were like, oh, this whole is taking. But I even called my credit card company. They even got on the loan with, on the line with visa and visa is like, no, no, we’re not doing it. The credit card company. So I know they hustled us, but it’s like at that point, what am I supposed to do? So they forced our hand and made us buy it.

3 (12m 14s):
So point being of that long story and side tangent is be prepared to just buy the rental car coverage.

1 (12m 22s):
And as I was talking about earlier, do your research on where you want to stay. We actually decided to stay in an Airbnb because we were going to be there for a week. And so we stayed at an Airbnb in a condo complex and it was amazing. They were staffed with a front desk. Someone showed us to our unit. They told us about the complex and we were even able to check in early

3 (12m 40s):
Awesome ass pool, too. Awesome ass pool.

1 (12m 43s):
Yeah. The pool was shaped in the shape of an O. So the middle was carved out and you could look down onto the first floor. Where

2 (12m 50s):
Did you get that iconic picture from above?

1 (12m 52s):
You know, I was trying to, but we, we didn’t get that shot cause you’d have to, actually one person would have to be in the pool and then you’d have to run down to the first floor

3 (13m 2s):
And need your camera. Wouldn’t be good. You would have to have like a photo stick thing to hang it out to really get it. But basically the pool looks down to the first floor and the pool is on the fourth floor, but the bottom level is truly like a beautiful, like atrium with plants and trees growing in there, a beautiful boardwalk plank that goes over fountain and some water. So it was a really pretty scenic shot. Like when we showed you the photos, you were like, oh man, I wish I was staying here. So it was a really nice place. And quite honestly, I’m just going to tell you this, but I mean, you know, from your listenings, if you’ve been a listener for a long time, Brittany and I’s like travel style, like yeah. Sometimes we like to bougie it up, but bougie and party sometimes goes together.

3 (13m 43s):
And in the resort area of Tulum, that’s where it’s like really, really, you know, expensive. And it wasn’t even like a price issue. It’s just not our scene. So we stayed more in the city center and not the resort area, but even in the city center areas, they’re building a lot of these Airbnbs that are a lot nicer. And I think it’s really conducive versus being out in the resort area because it’s so crowded and just, they didn’t build it very well. If you want me to be completely honest with you, that’s my opinion, at least.

1 (14m 11s):
But because we had a red eye flight, we were pretty tired. So we checked in, we took a quick nap and then we spent the rest of the day just lounging at the pool and just really soaking up the sun, getting to know our area. We were staying in, in a part of town that was starting to be built. And so they had some good taco shops and tuckerias down the street. So we went and got tacos later and we got some really good video tacos and CAISO tacos.

3 (14m 36s):
Yeah. And even though we weren’t in the resort area, do keep in mind, you know, there’s the true city center of Taloon classic, like true Mexico. But also before you get into the resort area, clearly a lot of tourists come here, it’s built up. So we had those things very readily close also.

2 (14m 54s):
So that’s Saturday sounds like a travel and a chill day. Amazing pool for it. Sunday. I know you didn’t chill by the pool.

3 (15m 2s):
We did not. But before we get into Sunday, the last thing I want to say, because I did a lot, a lot of research on this, a lot of people are always timid about driving and Mexico. I’m fine with it, close to the border here, but this was my first time like driving truly like in the heart of Mexico, like deep and everything like that, whatever research it is that you do, I’m going to tell you this, the roads are very safe. They are well paved. They are beautiful highways. So anywhere from Cancun to Taloon is safe anywhere from Taloon further south, which we’re going to talk about a little bit later, also very safe, also very well paved. So do your research, get your comfort online, but I am here to attest to you. Very, very nice, awesome roads out there.

2 (15m 41s):
It’s a good point to bring up. The other thing I commonly hear from people that don’t know a lot about Mexico is the fear that you can get pulled over and the cops will ask you for money. What’s your experience there? Did you see any of that? What would you say to reassure someone who has that fear?

3 (15m 57s):
I would say we’ve been to Mexico many times in many different places and I had never, ever had that ever occurred to us. If it was to occur. Anything that I’ve read online is don’t argue and just pay it. Because if you want to be a smart ass gringo and talk back to them, they’re going to take you to jail and it’s going to create more problems for you, but I can attest to you never happened. And the military and police checkpoints you see on the road are for your safety, not for you to be hustled,

2 (16m 23s):
Great point. And I would agree. I’ve never heard of anybody getting pulled over and the cops forcing them to pay. I have heard of people into loom and can Coon people. I know very personally who were urinating in public areas, you’re out drinking. It is a big party area. The cops pull up. They are like, what the hell are you doing? 20 bucks. You’re out of their pay and get the hell out of there or just don’t do it at that time.

3 (16m 45s):
And that’s the people asking for it too, by doing something technically illegal. Right. But yeah, in general, nobody’s there hustling you

1 (16m 52s):
But day two, Kim you’re right. We didn’t stay by the pool. We didn’t chill. We hit the ground running and we went to the Toluca Mayan ruins. And these are the famous ruins. The Tulum area is known for they’re right on the water. They’re on these elevated cliffs above the ocean. I think they’re about 200 feet above the ocean. And they’re so scenic. It’s super beautiful. And it doesn’t cost a lot to get in. It’s only 85 pesos to inter, which is the equivalent of like $4 and change.

3 (17m 21s):
Yeah, because 20 pesos is equivalent to $1. So realistically like $4 and 25 cents per person to get in, to see some ancient Mayan ruins. And this area of Mexico is called Kosta Maya. There’s tons of Mayan ruins in the area, not just into loom north, south inland, et cetera. And we’re going to touch upon that later cause we went to many, many different ruins on this trip. So I mean, we did this first and foremost going to those ruins, like Brittany said, not very expensive. We spend approximately two hours there. The ruins, quite honestly, aren’t as impressive as other ruins in the

2 (17m 59s):
Area. They’re not the same thing when I went

3 (18m 2s):
There not, but what makes it is the fact that it’s on a sea cliff overlooking the ocean. So it is an experience worth seeing, but are they the best ruins you’ll ever see in your life? No.

2 (18m 11s):
And there are several ruins and they get deeper and deeper into the jungle. So the closer it is to the ocean, they are the most worn, torn and damaged, not as preserved because it has the easiest access to people. The farther you get back into the jungle, the more preserved and bear they are.

1 (18m 27s):
Yeah. And probably the reason why the ones on the coast are more damaged that sea salt in the air, the wind on the coast, it was damage it. But also the, these ruins were built because to loom was a big trade area specifically for like obsidian and a whole bunch of people from central America. And other parts of Mexico came here and they actually built this area too, to protect it from pirates, which I didn’t know originally. And then I learned that when we were there, which was pretty interesting.

2 (18m 57s):
How did you learn it? Did you do a tour? Did you read it?

1 (19m 0s):
I want to say I read it somewhere. And I was like, okay. Cause we didn’t do a tour here. And the reason why we didn’t do a tour here was because we were saving, doing a tour for teaching pizza, which we’ll get into later in the episode. But Jamal’s right. You know, these ruins are very scenic, but yet they’re not the most impressive ruin. So Kim, your juices probably weren’t flowing at a hundred percent.

2 (19m 20s):
Juices were a little like underwhelmed. Oh,

3 (19m 23s):
That’s sad for you because

2 (19m 25s):
The juices were still there though.

3 (19m 27s):
Yeah, it was, it was moderate. It wasn’t like high level, right?

2 (19m 30s):
Yeah. It was like a summertime waterfall. Not a spring one.

3 (19m 34s):
It’s slightly moist. But some tips like when you’re here definitely wear lightweight, cool, comfortable clothing. I mean, even in January, it’s hot. It’s humid. Slightly. Not like terribly, but you definitely don’t want to wear stuff. That’s going to make you warm. You know, you’re by the beach, be comfortable about it. Don’t

1 (19m 54s):
Want swamp

3 (19m 54s):
Ass. You don’t want swamp ass to,

2 (19m 56s):
I gave you an idea. I wore Jean shorts and I couldn’t even peel them off my skin. Oh my

3 (20m 2s):
God.

1 (20m 3s):
June.

3 (20m 4s):
Yeah. Yeah. And again, going back to the original tips that we gave, like, seriously, don’t go during summer. Like you will do yourself a disservice by going here during the summer. On top of that last final few tips about the Mayan ruins here in Tulum is to go around opening or an opening. It’s not going to be as crowded. So you’re going to enjoy it a lot more to yourself and only buy tickets from the ticket booth. Don’t trust anybody out on the streets trying to sell you anything or do this or that only buy tickets from the ticket book.

1 (20m 36s):
Another tip I’m going to add too, is there are two different places where you can park. There’s an actual parking area where you can pay to park to go visit the Tulum ruins. We didn’t park there. We actually were accidentally, but awesomely mapped to park on the same street as the beach. And so we parked there and walked to the ruins, which would be the same distance from walking to the parking lot. And then when we’re done touring the ruins, we were able to go straight to the beach.

3 (21m 4s):
Yeah, it was really cool because, you know, I thought for sure we were in the wrong spot. Cause it wasn’t like the parking lot and everything you read online will say that there’s a parking lot. It costs as much to park. So that main touristy area that I mentioned that have all the hotels and resorts that aren’t part of like the true, like real downtown, that stretch area leads into the national park here where these ruins are, but it’s free parking along the way because it’s public beach access right there. So you can actually park along that stretch of road for free go to the ruins when you’re done, finish off at the beach. And that is exactly what we did. We went to Playa Paraiso if I’m saying that correctly.

1 (21m 44s):
And you know, we mentioned earlier that we packed a collapsible cooler and it came in clutch. We packed it with beers and snacks. And so right after the ruins, we headed to the beach, we packed our Turkish towels, laid them out, got a prime spot on the sand and it was perfect.

3 (22m 2s):
I love Mexico. You don’t know why because drinking on the beach and they don’t care. If you don’t bring the collapse, rule, cooler, rest assured vendors are going to be out there selling you beers for relatively inexpensive. Right. And you know, these people are private vendors negotiate the price and I’ll tell you why, because we bought mangoes, which Brittany Love covered with the chili 50 pesos. We went back to the beach another day on this trip. Somebody tried to tell me 150 deep, was it a hundred, a hundred, 150 pesos? I don’t remember. I was like, no way. Yeah, I did. I was like solo cincuenta, my friend. And then he was like, okay, okay. So negotiate the prices. But only if there seemed to be ridiculous,

2 (22m 43s):
I heard it here first don’t pay more than 50 pesos for the Mingo.

3 (22m 46s):
Correct.

1 (22m 48s):
We bought a coconut for 80 pesos. So worth it for one, the coconut water is amazing. But to the pictures you get when you’re hanging up in your bathing suit in the water, Kim knows all about that.

2 (22m 60s):
Yeah. I’m very happy to hear that you guys did

3 (23m 2s):
Got to do it for the gram. So the regular Coco Locos here with just straight coconut and cold, it’s about 80 pesos. You could pay equivalent to $10 for fresh coconuts and coconut water. And then we’ll spike it with the alcohol of your choosing for about 10 bucks on the beach. I mean, that was really our day. In a nutshell, we explored the Tulum ruins, went to the beach. We were stayed at an Airbnb. So we did some grocery shopping. Cause we always wanted to have like breakfast and a few things maybe to take for lunch on the days that we weren’t in town. And I will say this, we didn’t touch upon this earlier. This is the first time I’ve been to Mexico and felt like I paid way too much money for a lot of things.

3 (23m 42s):
Like it is expensive. And the reason why it’s expensive out is because they know that there’s a lot of tourists. So things are not inexpensive. And I was like blown away, eating out there every day will definitely add up. And it’s something that you definitely shouldn’t do. Like even local spots are expensive.

2 (24m 1s):
Okay. Question tacos. You can get a taco around TJ for a dollar, maybe $2 on the high end into loom. How does that compare

3 (24m 11s):
Street tacos? Like if you want to call them like authentic ones, maybe about two to two 50 a starting price and they only get higher from that. You go to a place that’s not like a local taco Maria, but not like a fancy place either. Then they start getting a lot more expensive, like Brittany and I did breakfast one place at one restaurant that had like really good reviews as someplace great to eat. And we paid like what, 25, $30 for breakfast for two entrees. And that is expense. I mean, that is expensive for Mexico, especially compared to what we’re used to here at the border or even in Mexico city for that matter. So definitely, you know, keep that in mind, expensive place to visit food wise.

3 (24m 53s):
Now average is American prices, but for Mexico expensive,

2 (24m 56s):
It’s very hyped up and it’s very popular with the cool crowd of Americans and they know that they cater to that.

3 (25m 5s):
Yeah. Lots of Europeans and lots of Russians out there too. It’s a really big hotspot for European

2 (25m 10s):
Canadians as well. Yeah.

1 (25m 11s):
Yeah. Actually, when we were laying out at the pool at our Airbnb, we heard some like Canadians and

3 (25m 17s):
Aussies came across some Canadians,

1 (25m 20s):
But day three was Monday and day three was probably my favorite day and favorite excursion that we did this entire trip. And we went to the ruins and there about 20 minutes south of toluene and this place really had it all. It had a ruins and then it also had a jungle boardwalk. And then at the end, you hop on a boat and you go across the lagoon and then you do like a little float down a river. So this was the must do of Tulum. And if anyone’s going to Tulum, I would say this would be number one on my list.

3 (25m 55s):
This might be my favorite day. Maybe my other favorite day was Chichi NEETs I still really can’t decide, but things to do close to Tulum. And like Brittany said, 20 minutes, this is a must the ruins again, bigger than the Tulum ruins themselves. Are they the most impressive I’ve ever seen ever? No. Is this actually more in the jungle? Yes. So it gives it like a cool little vibe. We even saw a monkeys out here, Kim monkeys in the jungle. And then like Brittany said, you know, you are in the jungle, but you are close to the ocean and all of these like beautiful estuaries, fresh and salt water. So we took that boardwalk out to that area, had to walk a little bit more into the jungle.

3 (26m 38s):
Then we took a boat ride out and did what she said. We’re, we’re just chilling at the, what would you call that? Like a canal? Was it right?

1 (26m 46s):
So there’s two larger lagoons and they’ve made these canals to connect them. They’re man-made canals to connect them and they use them for trade. And I think once you get to the larger lagoon, they’ve made some more canals for trade. And so they had docked at like a little boardwalk area and they said, okay, we’re going to talk here. You’re going to get out. And they literally have you take off your life jacket, put it on through your legs instead of through your arms and then you buckle it. And so it’s like a big adult diaper.

3 (27m 15s):
That’s what they called it. They called the life jacket

1 (27m 17s):
Diaper. And then you jump in and then you just like float down the canal and the current just kind of like takes you, but it’s like a very slow, gentle, lazy river almost.

3 (27m 27s):
It was so cool. So, I mean, I know we kind of jumped to that, but just a little bit more about the Memorial pyramids as far as they know and can tell. I mean, this is one of the earliest Mayan settlements. They found artifacts that date back as far back as 350 BC, the main pyramid structure that you’re going to see is called El Castillo, the castle it’s about 57 feet tall. And like I said, you know, truly not the most impressive of ruins are still cool, but the whole atmosphere of where it is, makes it a lot more exciting than what I felt at the Tulum ruins. I felt like I was honestly at Disneyland about to get on Indiana Jones. Like it had that little jungly vibe and everything to it, but the lagoon area that we did, I mean, that was the most impressive.

3 (28m 11s):
So to see the ruins and go in there, it’s about 65 pesos. Then when you’re done at the ruins, you have to go on that little boardwalk that we talked about. It’s a boardwalk plank because you’re in the jungle, it’s kind of swampy and you know, lots of other stuff. So they charge you 50 pesos for that per person, not necessarily terrible. And then it was what a thousand pesos per person for the boat tour on the big, big lagoons until it takes you to the spot where you have the canals and utilize it like a lazy river, but you’re out in the jungle out there, crystal clear waters, fish, swimming with you. You want to snorkel and everything so fun. Like this was honestly like truly, truly my favorite day or again, I can’t really tell if it was cheetah Nita, but this was the highlight of Tulum area.

3 (28m 55s):
Specifically for me,

1 (28m 56s):
What was really funny is I had put it in Google maps and sometimes Google will tell you, like, if a place is busier than normal and it said this place was busier than the normal. I was like, oh Jamal, we need to get there like as quick to opening as possible. And we get there. We’re literally like the only ones there enjoying the ruins. And then when we got to the boat, we were the only ones that got on the boat. So it was like we had a private tour of the entire day, which was fantastic. And I had done some research before we went about taking a tour to this area originally. And we were looking at like Viator and some other companies and they were quoting about 170 to $5 per person. We ended up paying like $55 per person.

3 (29m 33s):
Yeah. I was going to say, no, I don’t do the Viator tours. I mean, if you rent a car, drive yourself, it’s going to be cheaper. If you didn’t rent a car, catch a it’s only 20 minutes south of Tulum, make the cab, wait there for you. It’s not going to be as expensive. And you can do this for so much cheaper. Like literally do not do like any vide or tour like that. Yeah. It was outrageously expensive

1 (29m 55s):
Because I was looking at like several different tours. Like when we got to Cheech and pizza and everything was close to like $200 per person. And I was like, well, if we run a car and we do it ourself, are we going to save a lot of money? And yes, the answer is you’re going to save a ton of money. So do that.

3 (30m 10s):
Yeah, because before we were going to rent a car, like you said, we were really thinking about, all right, well, are we just going to book tours every day from Tulum? And that added up like exponentially and fast compared to like renting the cars and paying out of pocket. So if you’re comfortable driving and you should be, as I’m telling you, these roads are fine, you’re safe. Nobody’s hustling you. That is the way to go versus purchasing them through companies.

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1 (31m 46s):
So on our way back from going back to Taloon, there were two days that are actually right across the street from each other that we decided that we were going to go visit. And so their cenote, they crystal and Escondido.

3 (31m 59s):
Yeah. And before we get too deep into this, I mean, I said, this area of Mexico is famous for the Mayan ruins. It’s also famous for the and if you don’t know what are, they are natural water holes that are created out of limestone. Some of them look like little ponds, some of them more like collapsed caves and truly are caves where they’re like big, deep swimming holes. And there are so many like literally hundreds in this area of Mexico, tons all around Tulu. So we went to Sono, tase crystal and Escondido. On these days

2 (32m 32s):
In this area, there’s actually a massive underground river system that they’re still exploring and mapping today. It’s humongous. And that’s where those snow days come from.

3 (32m 41s):
Oh yeah. Well, speaking of them doing mapping when we were at the cenote days, they have explorers and snorkel gear that are going. Because even though

2 (32m 51s):
Yeah,

3 (32m 51s):
Because like I said, just Google snow days, you’re going to see a wide variety of them. And they’re

2 (32m 57s):
Beautiful.

3 (32m 57s):
They’re beautiful. A lot of the cooler ones are the ones that are truly like sunken holes and like caves, but some of them, they are sunk in, but the water level is so high that you just can’t really tell them. They look like ponds, but nonetheless, they are caves. So people like have to actually swim deep and are in snorkel gear and doing all this and mapping it so very popular in the area. If you’re going to come to Tulum in this region of Mexico, you need to go to a Sonota.

1 (33m 23s):
So it was about 300 pesos per person to visit both and the right across the street from each other. So first we went to a cenote, they crystal, and this is a open cenote. They, so it does look like a big pond, but there is a very large wooden platform. That’s probably like 20 feet above the water that you can climb up and then jump off into the pond or the thin. And we did see people snorkeling and they said they were seeing turtles and fish, and this one’s more of a laid back. So note the area. So there is picnic tables and it just had like a more laid back vibe to it.

3 (33m 54s):
Yeah. And I want to say a couple of things here. One bring either snorkel gear or goggles because the water is usually clear and you’re going to be seen fish and wildlife under there, let alone caves for that matter and the structures that they have in there. So you’re definitely gonna want that too. You know, I hate cold water. I pussy foot around and getting cold water. It was hard for me to get into these Sonos days. Cause it was really, really cold. So do keep that in mind, they’re all really, really cold. So maybe if you happen to come in the summer, it’ll be nice and refreshing for you. But my last and most important tip is, I don’t know what’s going on. Anything that you look at online that talks about reviews or prices of any of the snow taste are wrong.

3 (34m 35s):
All of them are wrong, whatever they say, triple, if not quadruple the price. I don’t know what’s happened in the last like year and a half, two years other than COVID. But I can’t imagine that’s like the only reason why they raised the prices, but every Sonota that we looked at, we saw price went there and it was easily triple that price. It’s the last time people have done reviews or updated

2 (34m 55s):
All, if it’s anything like the airport, maybe it’s a manufactured review to make you think it costs something and then you get there and it actually cost something else.

3 (35m 6s):
You know what probably, and I’ll tell you what, when we get to it, The Best Cenotes we went to was the cheapest one. Also like all of these, we’ll say like 5,000 pesos and all of them were like 300. And so, I mean, if you add up, like, I think Brittany and I, for one of them paid 25 bucks per person to go in, like, that’s crazy. And if you’re going to do a lot of the ones in the area that definitely adds up.

1 (35m 27s):
So then after we were at cenote, they crystal, we went across the street to Sanofi Escondido. And this Sonata is for a more adventure swimmer because there is like more of a cave on one of the back ends. And so we did see scuba divers going down. It’s so interesting. Cause they tie a line around the ladder that gets you into the snow thick and they go explore those caves pretty deep. And so they follow that line back out. So that was really cool to see. And there was some rope swings. So you can swing in on the rock ledges and jump into the Sonos. So this one looks like more like a very long kind of river. So we swam across it a few times and then I got out in the middle cause no one was really in the middle areas are kind of on one side or the other.

1 (36m 11s):
And I just floated for a bit of time, which was really, really nice and relaxing.

3 (36m 15s):
They’re very scenic. I mean, just waterholes in the jungle. I mean, how can you really go wrong about that? So, I mean, that was our day exploring and doing all that stuff. And then day four, the next day was dedicated specifically to exploring more of the snow trees in the area. I mean, we went to crystal and Escondido, but a lot of these cenotes are on private land. So they’re owned by independent people. So these were two sonatas, but owned by the same person. So you just crossed from one to the other. So here day four, we spent specifically go into different ones and specifically ones that were rated highest and the best in the area.

1 (36m 54s):
Yeah. So a few things about the snow days, you’re not supposed to wear sunscreen into them because you want to preserve the wildlife and the ecosystem of the Sonata. And most Sanofi’s will require you to shower before you get in. And some of them even require you to rinse your hair, cut your hair wet so that you can even get into the snow day. Some stuff that they specifically require life jackets, where you can only get in if you have a life jacket. So that was very interesting as well.

2 (37m 19s):
When I was there, I went to one called dos, oh, hosts. It was absolutely gorgeous. Had the whole cave vibe. You can swim in a whole like, oh, circle around

3 (37m 27s):
Oh, hosts was on our list, but you didn’t make

2 (37m 30s):
It. So that one they don’t require. Well, when I went, they didn’t require the shower, hair, washing type of situation.

1 (37m 36s):
Really. So I feel like that may have changed since you’ve gone and we’ve gotten, maybe

2 (37m 39s):
It’s a COVID thing

1 (37m 40s):
Because every Sanofi we went into was like, no, you have to shower. Like that was something you, you, pretty much you had to do even into some of the smaller ones. But we mentioned earlier, there’s like the cave, snow days, the semi-open ones. And then the open ones. Do you guys know? Which is the older cenote. They, the closed cave note. They are the more open they

2 (38m 1s):
Say the close cave.

1 (38m 3s):
It’s actually the open Sanofi’s these, the older ones

2 (38m 6s):
Because it’s been broken down.

1 (38m 7s):
Yeah.

2 (38m 9s):
And how old,

1 (38m 10s):
You know, I don’t know how old specifically, but I do know that they are older

3 (38m 16s):
Yeah. So on this day and here comes the Sonata that we told you cost 25 bucks, a person 500 pesos per person equals 25 was grants and notes. Now, like I said, there’s lots of them that are in the area, but the area could be large, you know, several miles up to like 5,000 miles away. Like literally hundreds of them. But this grand Sonota is so close to central Tulum that it makes it very, very popular. And when I got there, I thought to myself, oh my gosh, like 50 bucks total for me at Brittany, I feel like I’m getting robbed. Like I know the same Mexico prices. And then I walked inside and then I realized like, oh, I realized why they’re charging this for me. And then I wasn’t upset anymore.

3 (38m 57s):
They have a nice area with grass that they’ve created for you to lounge. And that’s actually, you know, in the sun and then you look down and you see the cenote and you’re just like, oh my God, look at these natural caves. I’m seeing turtles swimming. All right here, they have all these decks laid out that they’ve built up for stairs to enter. And then you get in and then you just really see how cool these caves are. Because the two Sonos we did before, like I said, we’re almost kind of like little lakes or ponds. This one was the one that actually had cave walls up high. We saw stalagmites stalactites, the water’s crystal clear. We had our snorkel gear, fish fit. Yeah, this was so, so awesome. I loved Grant’s Sonata. Like honestly I will say if you’re going to do one in Tulum area, do grants in Otay, pay the price and do it.

1 (39m 42s):
Yeah. And there are actually two sets of stairs with these wooden boardwalks and they connect through like a, another Sanofi, like a cave that you can swim through. But the scenery there was just so amazing and there are parts of it. It wasn’t super crowded. So there were times that we were in a cave area by ourself, or we were in the back area where there was that second stair area in boardwalk. We had that area to ourselves for like 10, 15 minutes, at least. So it was spacious enough and there was definitely people around, but we also felt like we had it privately to

3 (40m 15s):
Yeah. Like, honestly, this was going to be the one that I recommend to do for sure. In central Tulum area is grants and . So we spent a good bit of time here. One of the other ones that we saw that we wanted to go ahead and do was going to be Sonota Calavera. But I think I jumped a little bit ahead because now I’m thinking of something, they actually have lockers to rent at grand. Sonota very inexpensive to do. So put your phone, put your stuff in there and just bite the bullet and pay. What was it like 50 pesos to rent a locker and do it. So they have that at least here, but Sonota Calavera also came up highly recommended for the area. Was it The Best Cenotes that we went to know?

3 (40m 57s):
Was it a truly, a deep snow tail? Like watering hole? Yes. You had to take a ladder down into it or you could jump straight into it. It’s like literally an open hole into the Cape and your water.

2 (41m 7s):
I’m looking at pictures on Google and I see a swing. Was there the swing there

3 (41m 11s):
Was there.

2 (41m 12s):
Did you go on it? I

1 (41m 13s):
Did.

3 (41m 13s):
Yeah. But you could only get on the swing when you’re in the water. So to get in the water, either have to jump or take that ladder that you see,

1 (41m 20s):
We jumped in and then we took the ladder out. I don’t think I took the ladder down at all. Ladder was super steep. So it was, to me, it was like easier to jump in. When we actually got to send out the Calavera, they said, you know, there’s 30 people here are you with that? We’re like 30 people. That’s nothing. So we went and it’s a cool vibe. Like they had hammocks that you could lay out in. If you’re like, want to lay out for a bit, they had like their beach chairs and then they have kind of everyone around the cenote. They, and taking turns, jumping in, it looks small. Like I know you came here looking at pictures, it looks like a very small opening. Once you actually jump in, you can see how big the cave actually is. And while you’re walking on the top of that, you’re walking all over the cave and this cave has a ton of bats inside.

1 (42m 6s):
It was actually really interesting and really cool to swim around the cave and just like, look up and see all of the bats.

3 (42m 12s):
Yeah. So there’s that big, giant hole that we’re talking about. If you’re walking on the surface and are in the , there’s smaller holes that you could potentially even jump into. If you want it to that create like little openings, we didn’t end up doing that, but Brittany is right. Once you are in there, the cave just opens up. You see how far back it goes? The stalagmites you’re so close to the bats that are just nesting right there. It’s actually really, really cool to see. Maybe it’ll freak some people out, but I will say this, this is not a good Sonota to go to for snorkeling because it is rather dark in there. So you can’t really see too much for snorkeling aspect wise, but nature wise. And the coolness of it, I would say is really unique.

3 (42m 55s):
And I don’t think we’ve mentioned this. It’s about 250 pesos per person. So like 1250.

1 (43m 0s):
Well, we were on this trip. I actually posted a story to the squad’s Instagram and it was a photo of Jamal lounging and a hammock. And I was like, you guys, I do let Jamal rest every once in a while. And this is where it was Sanofi Calavera.

2 (43m 13s):
You got one moment of rest and the whole trip, no

3 (43m 16s):
Only one moment around. And there were more that were on our list to do in the area. But quite honestly, like at least for us, other people will be different. Like I can only do so many, like .

2 (43m 28s):
Yeah,

3 (43m 30s):
Absolutely.

1 (43m 31s):
So my tip for doing some note days in to loom is to definitely bring more cash than you think you need, because most of the Senate, these only accept cash and they’ve gone up in price from what you’ve seen online. And then if you want to rent lockers, or if you, some of them have like food in the area, if you want any of that, like you’re going to pay. So it make sure you’re bringing more money than you anticipate. So day five of our trip, we actually went out of Tulum cause we thought we used to Luma as a hub. And we went to Bacalar

2 (43m 59s):
Bacalar we’ve heard a lot about this from Zayna. She really hyped it up.

3 (44m 3s):
She really hyped it up and we enjoyed our time. We’re going to get into it a little bit later. I don’t know if we went on an off day or what was going on, but so what is Bacalar Bacalar is about two hours south of Tulum. It is close to the big city of shut to mall, which is right on the border with Belize. So you’re not too far from another country when you’re here and Bacalar, and Bacalar is famous for its crystal clear blue water lagoons. They say there’s seven different shades of blue when Brittany and I were there, we counted five. Maybe our eyes aren’t too sharp to see the other two or more,

2 (44m 41s):
Both wear glasses. Were you wearing that?

3 (44m 43s):
I was wearing my prescription sunglasses. And so I don’t know if that affected the ability to see the other shades, but let me tell you something. It is beautiful out here. They call this area, the Mexican mal leaves. They actually build hotels and resorts that are over the water itself. And it kind of gives you that nice relaxation vibe. It is a lot more mellow than to loom to loom up until about like five, seven years ago was a sleepy kind of town. People discovered it coming further and further south from Cancun. And I promise you in about five years, Bacalar is going to be at the same level as Tulum with people coming further and further south.

3 (45m 23s):
So we definitely enjoyed our time here. They have an old fortress. They actually used to protect this area from pirates that used to come and invade the area. So you can really see that, but the activities is to enjoy the lagoon and everything like that. And it’s a nice little sleepy town,

1 (45m 41s):
You know, we got there first thing in the morning. And then we realized when we got there, like no one’s out. Yeah, it is that sleepy town Schmalz talking about. And also one thing to note as well is we thought the whole lake would be open, but a lot of it is privately owned. And so there’s only a few private areas on the lake that you can go to. We ended up finding one area that was like a public area. You had to pay an entrance to get in. It was like 40 pesos to person, not much at all. And it took us a while to find this place, but they had like a seating area, cabana seating area that you could sit out. We had brought in our cooler and our snacks and all of that. And then you could get into the water and they had a ladder to get into the water. And then they had these decks in the middle of the lagoon that you could walk or swim out to.

1 (46m 25s):
And we brought our dry bags with our towels in them. So we went out there, laid out and just like read and lounged on the deck, over the water. Well, that’s nice.

3 (46m 35s):
It was really nice. So I think where I say, I don’t want to say we were led astray. Like this area is very, very beautiful. If you were to stay in one of those resorts, that’s over the water like they do in the mouthy is, I mean, you’re going to have a really good time, but this is a lagoon and it’s fresh water. So the ocean is not too far off. So in terms of like the water, it’s beautiful, it’s crystal clear, but in terms of sea life, I mean, it’s a lagoon. It’s not as prevalent as you would find like ocean life or you know, other types of sea life. So take that with a grain of salt. Also we read online that one of the biggest things to do is to just rent a boat. They have so many vendors out there where you could rent a boat. They’ll take you out for an hour up to five, depending on what you want to do and just take you all around the lagoon.

3 (47m 20s):
It’s very, very large. You could jump in and do some swimming. I don’t know if they’re closed on Wednesdays. Cause we went on Wednesdays. We could not find any fucking place that was boat tours. So we had to go to that one beach resort area that Brittany had mentioned where we just went in. It was like 50 pesos, a person. We had a table and we’re just out there and it was still really, really nice. So I would say like we did research and I felt like a lot, but definitely do a little bit more. I don’t know what happened to like even later on in the day, I didn’t see anybody out on the water on a boat.

1 (47m 52s):
No, we didn’t see anyone on a boat. We saw like one couple on the kayak and that was who is on the water. So I think it was hyped up for me. Like, I’ll be completely honest. I felt like Bacalar was hyped up in terms of what I had heard before, but I did really enjoy what we did there. And it was a nice relaxing day in the middle of the week.

3 (48m 10s):
So day six was the day that I was really excited about Kim. If you were moist with the Tulu ruins, this one would have been a downpour over here at Chichen NITSA. No,

2 (48m 21s):
I really want to go

3 (48m 22s):
There. Cheech. Anita is one of the new seven wonders of the world. It is the eighth, one of the new seven wonders, you know, there’s the old ancient seven wonders. Like the pyramids of Egypt are one of them. I think the Colossus of Rhodes of the hanging gardens of Babylon, they don’t exist anymore, but we know that they existed. So there’s the ancient seven wonders. This is new. So even though they’re old, they’re not ancient antiquity timeline old in terms of humans. So one of the new seven wonders of the world, a UNESCO heritage site, and a two hour drive from Tulum in a different state to Luma’s in the Mexican state of container, Ru this is in the state of Yucatan and there is a time change.

3 (49m 4s):
We learn this. There is a time change of one hour going into Yucatan.

1 (49m 8s):
Yeah. So one tip that I read was to get up early and beat the crowds we actually got there, right. At opening, thanks to the time change. We thought we were to get there an hour after it opened, but they’re an hour behind to loom. And so we got there right when it opened and there was still a pretty large line to get in. When I did my research, I read, you know, if there’s a place that you rent a guide and hire one Cheech, Anita would be the place. And so while we were standing in line, a guide came up to us, he was like, what’d you guys like to do a tour with me today? He’s like, you get to bypass the line. And we’re like, okay, cool. And we’re like, how much is the two work? I think it was the equivalent of about 50, $55 us. And so we’re like, okay, cool.

1 (49m 48s):
So we bypass the entire line, paid for the tour and went right in with him. And he was amazing. He was like, okay, we’re going to be in this area, go ahead and go all around each and pizza and take all of the pictures you want. And then when you’re done, meet me over here and we’ll learn about the history of it.

3 (50m 6s):
And it says the complex, he said go all around the major pyramid because this is the pristine and most famous of the Mayan ruins in this area, Cheech and pizza. And so when we said it’s one of the new seven wonders of the world, all of teacher needs is not that pyramid itself is one of the new seven wonders. So since we were there so early, he said, Hey, we’re going to hold up on the tour. You’re not going to get an opportunity like this probably ever, where nobody is in front of the pyramid, you could get really good photos. So I highly recommend getting there early, just so you can beat the crowds and get those photos. But the tour was absolutely amazing. So much history. You know, they don’t have any signs really up to tell you what it is that you’re looking at when you’re there.

3 (50m 50s):
You’re going to see it. You’re going to be impressed, but you’re not going to know anything about it. So I would highly, highly recommend getting one of the guided tours. They all have badges that they are certified tour guides at vendors in the area. And we actually got really lucky. You know, they told us how much it was going to be for the tour, but that doesn’t include your tickets in. Somehow when we bought the tour, they forgot to charge us for our tickets. So we got a fucking double fuck moment right there and didn’t pay for our tickets to get in. So what we paid for the tour would have been equivalent for both of our tickets. So we saved a little bit of money that way.

1 (51m 25s):
He had an iPad that he was carrying around and he was showing us pictures of what is actually inside of the pyramid. Did you know what you see on the outside is like the third pyramid that they’ve built? Oh no, I didn’t. And it’s actually built on top of a . And so that was very interesting too. They say that you can’t enter the cenote, they from Cheech. And Eatsa what they think happened because this was a sacred spot that they did sacrifices. They think that one of the surroundings and notice if you go under water will lead to the cenote. They under Cheech and pizza, but everyone who privately owns that land doesn’t want them to map that out because then they would be losing their income because they’re probably using that to note they for leisure, right?

3 (52m 8s):
Because if it gets found that that Sonata leads to Cheech and Eatsa all the scientists and archeologists, and everybody’s going to come there and they’re afraid that they’re going to lose their livelihood in a sense. So they recently found out that there was a second pyramid under there that they had built. So they thought there was two. Then more recently they found out, oh shit, there’s actually a third one. And they were able to do it with like x-ray imaging and all sorts of different things. And that is the one that covers the cenotes. But basically when non-native people to Mexico discovered Cheecha NITSA, they said, oh my gosh, look at this. We’re going to clear the area. And with the rubble that had fallen off, they rebuilt two sides of the pyramid, but they weren’t able to rebuild the other two because villagers that lived in the area had already previously like taken that stone and pretty much built their homes and other things with that.

3 (53m 4s):
So when you’re there all the good images that you see, if you Google Chinita show the rebuilt side that they did, and then the other two sides aren’t redone. So it’s crazy to see that difference between the two of them, but Chichi needs a is also very famous. Cause what was it at the summer solstice? Or is it the, which solstice is it? I

1 (53m 23s):
Think it’s the summer solstice

3 (53m 24s):
And the summer, the sun lines up perfectly to create a shadow that the steps that go to the top of the pyramid create like a serpent shape. Like it’s famous. Like, so they’re talking when you do the tour, all about the mathematics that went behind building here and what the Mayans did and how they were able to figure all this stuff out. And my mind was just blown there, Kim. And I even said this to Brittany. I said, Kim would have loved this place.

1 (53m 50s):
Yeah. There’s even a Mayan ball court where they would play a sport. And then we even learned that the winning captain of the team, because they won and you know, it was considered to be such a gift to be sacrificed that if you won this game, the losing captain would kill the winning team leader as a sacrifice. And it would be like an honor to be sacrificed and killed

3 (54m 12s):
There. So you could die as wild.

1 (54m 15s):
Yeah. I mean just completely different culture. We learned so much about the history. And so glad that we got the guide because like Jamal said earlier, there are no signs anywhere. You can’t find this information unless you’re with a guy that’s telling you the story, our guide was Mayan. So that was very interesting to hear his perspective of things.

3 (54m 33s):
And then after Chichi Nita, we went to , how do you say it, Brittany? You say it. And I feel like, I can’t say it correctly.

1 (54m 41s):
I’ve been calling it

3 (54m 43s):
Soy con it’s spelled S U Y T U N. And this is the one that I mentioned earlier was the least expensive. And the frickin coolest one that we actually came across, it is one of the most Instagramable sun notice in the Yucatan peninsula. And if Instagram ain’t your thing and you ain’t doing it for the gram and you just want to actually go, you’re still going to enjoy the spot. Like, honestly, this was the snow day to go to

2 (55m 10s):
The picture looks really cool. It’s like a platform that you walk out onto and get married on it.

3 (55m 17s):
This is a very deep Sonota. So, I mean, it has

2 (55m 20s):
To be manmade.

1 (55m 21s):
Yeah. The platform.

3 (55m 23s):
Yeah. The platform is man-made. So basically, you know, you’re at regular ground level and then you take stairs down into the cave and it’s a normal cave was stalagmites stalactites. And it has its natural opening, but it’s a very small opening. So during certain times of the year, and at the right times of the day, the sun shines right through an on there, but it’s a big, nice swimming pool area. And they built a manmade little walkway area where you can go out and stand in the center and have the sun just beam on you. Like, honestly, Google this it’s impressive. And this was the least expensive one. And I enjoyed this the most, but the water is freezing, freezing.

1 (56m 3s):
Yeah. So there are times of the year, depending on like how much rain has been in the area where the platform isn’t covered in water. And so you could stand on it, you know, with shoes and, and all of that, when we went, the platform was covered in water, up to about our shin, but it still had great photos, like perfect opportunity. They do limit how long you stay on the platform to take the photos. It’s like limited to one minute per person, but everyone wants to wait and get the IgE pose. Of course, if you want to swim in this snow day, the AIG required to wear a life jacket. And there are these beautiful black fish that are swimming right next to you.

3 (56m 39s):
They’re like little baby catfish. They almost have like the whiskers and stuff. And catfish, inherently are ugly fish. But these ones were like cute little looking black catfish. I mean, it w it was really cool, but I do like how they limited you to the one minute they actually had somebody. If you went longer than a minute, he would blow a whistle at you telling you to get your ass off of that. So other people can take it. But if you are actually there and swimming in the , I’m going to throw out something, I’m going to call out these fuckers, who just hang out behind the platform while you’re taking your photo. Like people would come and not even in the switch of person to person, like kind of pass to the other side, like people are there just chilling in front of the platform.

3 (57m 21s):
And it’s like, it ruins your shot of that solo shot. There is plenty of space on either side for you to linger and lounge and swim without photo bombing somebody. So if you’re listening to this, like, I’m just saying like, do not photo bomb somebody and standing there, because when it came time to take Brittany’s photo, some asshole just decided, yeah, I’m going to lounge right here in LA lollygagging around like a douchey. And so it ruined her original photos. We had to re wait in line. Luckily it wasn’t too crowded. And we got him, but don’t be that person.

2 (57m 49s):
And also just get an app to remove them from your picture.

3 (57m 52s):
That’s true. But you know, you still want to know that it’s pure and we ended up getting it. So this one was a really cool, and I highly recommend the Sonata and you should for sure do it if you go to .

1 (58m 3s):
So I’m going to call Jamal out for a moment, because this is one of the snow days where you have to shower before you get in. And there was a woman’s locker room and a shower area. So we changed, put on our bathing suits and in the women’s locker room, I showered and just got what there. And I guess they didn’t have that in the men’s room. And so there are showers outside too. And Jamal was like, I don’t really want to shower. So he tried to pull it off that he showered on the inside and a guide came up to him and was like, no, you need a shower. You need a shower. And he

2 (58m 35s):
Dirty,

3 (58m 37s):
Well, I didn’t even know if I was going to get in. Brittany wanted to go in more so for the photo and not to swim in the waters, like cold, I didn’t want to get wet. So yeah, I, I tried to pull a fast one and they were able to see right through it. So, you know, they really do make sure that you actually shower in that situation.

1 (58m 54s):
That was pretty funny. It’s almost like I don’t want to show her, you know, you know, Jamal,

3 (58m 58s):
But this one was only 150 pesos. And like I said, the cheapest, I mean, this came to like $7 and 50 cents per person compared to other places that were like 300 or 500 that we mentioned. I mean, this one was a bargain and this one was the best one. But on our way back to, to Lu, we stopped in via Dolid, which is a major city in Yucatan. It is a colonial Spanish town. So when you go through there, it almost has a little bit of European vibe. So you don’t feel like you’re really in Mexico, the buildings are a classic Spanish colonial. It almost had that vibe, like when we were in Quito, Kim, you know, with certain aspects of the building. So that was really cool. And they’re famous for its food scene that they have right there.

3 (59m 41s):
So no tase in the area. And clearly it’s gaining popularity due to its proximity to Cheech Anita. So if you’re going to be driving out to Cheech, Anita, yourself, highly recommend stopping in via duel that check out the food scene, as well as the classic colonial Spanish architecture.

1 (59m 57s):
So day seven was one of our chill days. We woke up and it was literally pouring outside. Like you could hear the rain come down and we’re like, oh my God, is it raining outside? It sounded super stormy. But then, you know, 10 minutes later, it clears up and sunny sky. So we’re like, okay, let’s get out in the town. And we had gone a few times to get coffee at a chili Kelly’s place, actually. And we really wanted to go back to the town. Cause every vacation we go on, we try to find a Christmas ornament to put on our Christmas tree every year. And we hadn’t found one yet. So we went and done that. And this is the day Jamal had his famous freakout. I was

2 (1h 0m 37s):
Waiting for this

3 (1h 0m 38s):
On the last day. It’s almost like when we were in Mexico city and my phone got Jack from me on the last day here is when the freakout arose, but this one was a justifiable one. Not going to lie my fault. I hit a vehicle. Yeah. Well, we had parked to go walk and trying to find that ornament. Maybe we’re going to go back to that chili keyless place to get the cafe, that oil, which was delicious. I mean, who doesn’t want like cinnamon flavored coffee? I mean, it’s pristine. It’s great. I mean, I love it. So that was the game plan. And then, you know, I mean, I guess anywhere this could happen, but Mexico be Mexico, you know, people just double park and vendors that have trucks or trying to drop stuff off on narrow streets.

3 (1h 1m 18s):
And so I was kind of like trapped by a delivery truck on a one-way road trying to get out. And I was concerned with the car that was parked on the other side of the one way road. And so I just was worried about hitting that car that I didn’t pay attention to the proximity of me to the park truck that was in front of me into my side. And then I ended up scraping the rental car. And so that kind of like put a little damper in my day

2 (1h 1m 47s):
For sure. Big scrape, a small screen.

3 (1h 1m 49s):
Oh, I mean, it went from the driver’s side door to the passenger door. I mean, it was a good one. It was had some, had some deep longevity to it. Yeah. Yeah.

1 (1h 1m 59s):
You could hear

2 (1h 1m 60s):
It kept going.

3 (1h 2m 1s):
Well, I, at that point it’s like, am I going to back up and then scratch it on the other way? Yeah. I, I kept going. It was what it was at that point

2 (1h 2m 10s):
In

3 (1h 2m 10s):
Time. And you know what, luckily they forced me to buy the car insurance. Huh.

1 (1h 2m 15s):
But one thing to know is if you read the car insurance contract, a lot of the time, it will say, if you leave the scene, it voids your insurance

3 (1h 2m 24s):
Without reporting it

1 (1h 2m 25s):
Without reporting it. And so you have to report it like where it happened. And we were supposed to go to the beach after this and Jamal pulled his famous, I just want to go home. Brittany

2 (1h 2m 35s):
Freaking out.

3 (1h 2m 35s):
Well home was the Airbnb, but no. Then we got to the beach, got on the water and enjoyed it, had some more beer on the beach with our portable collapsible cooler. I mean the day got a little bit better for us at that end of time. But yeah, I mean, who wants to damage a rental car? So yeah, that ruined my day and I had a little bit of freak out, but

1 (1h 2m 54s):
Little bit of

3 (1h 2m 54s):
Effort, I pulled it together and I enjoyed the rest of the day. We enjoyed the beach. We found that ornament, mind you. And we enjoyed dinner the final night out at a place called Las margaritas had some margaritas. I had chili Rhianna’s it was delicious.

2 (1h 3m 11s):
I was like,

3 (1h 3m 11s):
Yeah, this was the first time. Like, instead of just getting tacos, which by the way, taco scene down there is not like the Baja California taco scene. Maybe pass on it. I’m just going to throw that out there. But traditional other Mexican food, pretty good. Enjoyed the chili. Rhianna’s what did you have, Brittany? I forgot. I think

1 (1h 3m 26s):
I had the flout does, which were really good.

2 (1h 3m 29s):
I was in my trip to Idaho and Montana recently I was in the airport waiting to come home and this guy was on his phone. He’s obviously had some issues. He was trying to get home and he was complaining about how he had to pay blah, blah, blah. He was like, I just want to go home. And I thought of you right away, Jamal.

3 (1h 3m 49s):
It’s a, it’s a natural sentiment to have. And I’m glad to see that I’m not feeling one of the worlds that has it when it goes wrong.

2 (1h 3m 54s):
Is whining guys that have,

3 (1h 3m 56s):
It’s the adult way of crying for your mommy without asking for your mommy, I think is what it is. I just want to go home. But yeah, that’s wrapped up to loom for us quite honestly, you know, the next day we woke up just, it was a travel day to Cancun when we landed there, we really didn’t explore it. So we drove around. Ken Kuhn was really nice. We went to the resort area and just kind of went down and looked at the beach and everything like that, but just pretty much hung out at the airport.

1 (1h 4m 21s):
I will say that the beaches in Cancun did look better than the beaches until loom. So Jamal and I are interested in going back to Cancoon maybe trying an all-inclusive for a few day. Hell yeah.

3 (1h 4m 33s):
Three

2 (1h 4m 33s):
Days. Can’t believe I’ve never done.

3 (1h 4m 34s):
I mean, I really enjoyed what I saw in Cancun and you know, I know we touched upon this, but I guess we really didn’t talk about it. Like the resort area of Tulum, like Taloon became popular so fast that I don’t think they put a lot of thought into how they built it. Like it’s on this one little narrow road, it’s a shitty paved road. Everything’s crowded. It doesn’t really have space for pedestrians. A lot of those resort areas, if you’re not even staying at the resort, they don’t even let you go in it. You can’t access the beaches from there. And then you go to Cancun. So these beautiful, lovely, paved roads with Palm trees lining it and beautiful beaches and beautiful resort.

3 (1h 5m 15s):
So I mean, I love to loom and I’m not going to sit here and say it wasn’t nice, but again, what is the done up touristy area? Isn’t cool as other areas of Toluca and let alone Cancun. So I’m ready to go back and actually experience that.

2 (1h 5m 29s):
And the whole drive from Ken Kuhn to Tulum is roughly two hours. There’s a lot of places in between there’s Playa Del Carmen, which is really nice as well. And when I was there, I stayed at a little offshoot community called I think it was like playas Aventura or something like that. And there’s this whole dolphin experience there. I got to like swim with dolphins and also really nice gated community. Oh,

3 (1h 5m 52s):
I mean, there’s lots of places along and that’s why I’m saying like pretty soon Bacalar is going to be on that list everywhere down from Cancun to Billy’s is going to be lined up in a touristy area in that area pretty soon within the next 10 years, that is for certain and last little tidbit, we almost missed our flight. They told us it was going to be delayed. Brittany and I are sitting in the lounge in the lounge. They didn’t actually have any of the boards up or announcements. Actually. They didn’t have a board up, but the board was wrong that said our flight time and whatever intuition or inkling Brittany had, she just ended up Googling it and oh, they were boarding. So by the time we got to the gate, it was final boarding call and we were literally the last ones on the planet. Almost missed it. And I would’ve been so pissed.

2 (1h 6m 33s):
You definitely would have had to.

3 (1h 6m 34s):
I would have been so fricking pissed so bigger, but we made it home. Yay. And let me tell you something to loom and using as a hub and exploring that area. Super, super fun, but the resort area, isn’t as impressive as what you see, like for those Instagram shots. If you do a lot of the other stuff, I think you’re going to enjoy it a lot more, but that’s my own personal preference.

2 (1h 6m 56s):
So we have a couple of questions of the week. First question here, you guys spent seven days. Our question here is asking how many days do you actually need into loom?

1 (1h 7m 12s):
I really think it depends on what you want to do. I think five would be a good Mount. I was happy with the seven, but we don’t usually relax a lot on vacation. And so we did have a day or two where we did rest a little bit more than we normally do. And that was really, really nice. Yeah.

3 (1h 7m 29s):
Yeah. I would definitely say the same, especially if you’re going to use it as a hub, you want to spend a full day. I mean, you’re going to spend a full day going to cheat needs. It’s literally a full day to go to Bacalar even though it’s close in terms of drive wise time, but you know, the amount of time you want to spend there. So if you want to explore to loom the Sunoco taze other stuff, I would definitely agree with that five to seven day timeframe.

2 (1h 7m 50s):
And then my question, how much should you budget for a five day trip?

1 (1h 7m 55s):
Ooh, that’s a really good question. I want to say we probably spent for everything around three grand. That’s including our rental car, our Airbnb for the week, our flights, all of our excursions and our food. Okay.

3 (1h 8m 12s):
Yeah. And like I said, food-wise is going to definitely be expensive to eat out in that area. So if you’re staying at an Airbnb, definitely go to some of the grocery stores there and purchase some food and make stuff for yourself. I mean, we made breakfast every day and then with what we had and brought for lunch, they were sometimes like linear situation. So we manage quite well. But if you were to want to eat out everyday and do stuff, definitely budget more, it’s a lot more expensive than you think.

1 (1h 8m 36s):
And that was for two people. So just one person would be like 1500, I’d say. Okay.

2 (1h 8m 41s):
Yeah, it’s definitely on the higher end from Mexico.

1 (1h 8m 44s):
Yeah, definitely on the higher end for Mexico by, you know, we really enjoyed what we did and it was a good substitute for not being able to go to Morocco and Duluth has been on our list for a while now. So I’m glad we were able to enjoy this vacation. Okay.

2 (1h 8m 58s):
I’m glad you had fun. You guys, I’m sorry. Your trip was canceled, but sounds like you made up for it with this one.

3 (1h 9m 4s):
Absolutely.