Tulum was the perfect place to bring in my mom’s 50th birthday with family and friends. Whether you are looking for relaxation away from home, celebrating, or simply interested in visiting this town in Mexico.
I created a Google Maps Saved List of all the places we visited and mentioned in this blog post.
A couple of months ago, I had the idea of celebrating my mom’s BIG 50 in Mexico. She did not have any plans and felt discouraged due to the early stages of brainstorming plans for her birthday was at the height of the pandemic. I convinced her after suggesting we explore an Airbnb rental home to create an intimate and safe setting to celebrate. More details on the stay here.
Getting To Tulum
First stop, Cancun. This trip consisted of 6 women, including myself. Three of the ladies flew into Cancun from New York and the remaining 3 departed from North Carolina.
There is no COVID restrictions, health tests, or quarantines preventing you from entering Mexico however, you must complete a simple health questionnaire and fill out an Official Entry Immigration Form (keep this form as you will need it to enter and exit the country, if you lose this form you will pay $35 and fill in the information once again). I suggest you fill these out online here to avoid wasting time in the airport.
We stayed in Cancun for one night at the Hotel NH Cancun Airport. The hotel is in a developing area so there were no paved sidewalks or restaurants within walking distance. You will need to arrange a taxi service through the hotel to get out and see the town, which we did.
Later on that night, we experienced a tour of Mexico over water. 10/10 recommend visiting Xoximilco theme park to experience traditional Mexican stories, food, drinks, and music.
Arranging Transportation
Day 2 in Mexico, we arranged transportation to take us to our stay in Tulum. Transportation is a huge priority when traveling in groups. Fortunately enough, the Airbnb rental provided concierge services and fulfilled our transportation needs
Where ever we decided to go, a text was sent to our van driver with the time and location via WhatsApp and we’d pay the roundtrip fee. The van option is a safe and reliable option when traveling in groups but can be costly. Depending on your party size, you may prefer to save and take the local taxis.
Our Stay
You can either go the resort way or take the Airbnb route. With a group of 6 ladies, we decided to get a rental home for more of an intimate experience. One of the reasons I highly recommend staying in this Airbnb is the privacy and services.
The home comes with free cleaning services every day (be nice and tip) and concierge services to ensure your stay is worthwhile. We requested anything from spa services to food delivery services.
Among the many luxurious of this home like the beautiful pool, an at-home chef service is also available. We opted for the chef service to celebrate my mom’s birthday. To coordinate the chef services, you will speak to your host after booking this stay, the host will then send over a breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drink menu to make your selections before arriving. All food services are paid directly to the chef upon cooking.
Here’s the exact link for this Airbnbstay.
Beach Clubs
Taboo
Go here to experience lunch or dinner on the beach and make your reservations days before arriving. We had reservations for 7:15 and were seated within minutes of the reservation. I mentioned the celebrations of my mom’s birthday and they came out singing with sparklers and dessert.
This restaurant specializes in seafood with a Mediterranean twist. I tried their King Crab legs and lamb burger. Entertainment was very engaging, they had live musicians playing violins and welcomed people to join in on the fun by standing on their chairs and clapping.
Gitano TULUM
While Gitano’s beach is less welcoming than Taboo’s because of the seaweed, the privacy and vibes are unmatched. If you are looking for a beach with very few people, beach beds, good food, and drinks, visit Gitano.
This beach however requires a minimum consumption. In other words, you must spend a certain amount of money to reserve a seating area and consume food and drinks. In our case, we reserved the gypsy lounge which has a minimum consumption of 6,000 pesos – 300USD. To sit in the gypsy lounge, we had to meet the minimum of 300 dollars in food and drinks, which was easily accomplished with our group of 6.
COVID Tests
If you want to return back home, you must take a Covid test and receive negative results within 72 hours of leaving. I highly recommend getting tested the day before you leave. We took a stroll downtown Tulum, did some shopping a got tested in one of their mobile testing centers.
The Antigen test was $35 US and the process was really simple. They send over your results via email within and 1 hr since it’s rapid testing. At the airport, on the day of departure, you will have to show your negative test results at check-in.
Thanks for stopping by.
Love,
Chelsea
This trip to Mexico was beyond my expectation. The food was delicious and the island is worth seeing. I appreciate my daughters idea and would forever be grateful for the experience and the memories created.