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The Hotel Zone in Tulum

It was kind of a surprise, and not a really pleasant one: Riding the Hotel Zone in Tulum. The hotel strip has a fuzzy way of being eco-friendly, with resorts and beach clubs with names like Tantra, Chica Dek, Mistico, and is impressively expensive, and closes off the shoreline entirely. The road is a disgrace of potholes and missing pedestrian areas, and way too small for that amount of traffic and people.

I filmed both back and forth, ending in a huge traffic jam at the end of the day at the entrance. I do understand from the newspapers that the city is planning new access ways, but in my opinion, they better make the road safer by adding lanes, repairing pavement, and creating parking space.

Anyway, see for yourself, and enjoy the fact that you will be staying there, the beach is gorgeous, and your hotel or resort will be luxurious, claiming to be Eco friendly because they all thrive in driftwood furniture and have incense at the entrance and free yoga mats. Okay, I admit that sounded sarcastic. I guess that the laid-back atmosphere is just not for me.

Tulum has built up a negative reputation during the COVID regulations in Quintana Roo, about not obeying the rules of social distancing, facemasks, and hand sanitizer, and its COVID numbers skyrocket compared to the neighboring tourist areas, as I visited Tulum I could see why. Nobody seems to care about anything.

Let’s say that Tulum is not for everybody

Tulum moves between the extremes: you either love glamping or super expensive Eco-friendly resorts or you pretend to be part of the crowd staying in a hostel downtown and mingle with the rich and famous in the Hotel Zone on a daily base sending photo’s home of a life that is not yours.

And there are those that walk around all smelly and dirty, smoking Marihuana all day, relaxing, and partying.

And then there is everything in between that needs a vegan sandwich and a yoga mat.

But they all love the lifestyle and they all love to party, and there does not seem to be much enforcement from the government or local authorities to keep it all safe and sound.

So if you are ready to party, do it “Eco-Friendly” and want to ignore COVID, visit Tulum!! 

Here’s the video of riding the hotel zone, it has an amazing sea view at the beginning! Really worth watching. For the rest, it is ehm….typical??

 

 

 

*Disclaimer: This video was made before the Sargasso season and therefor the little beach you see, is clean and the ocean turquoise. Art the moment Tulum beaches look nothing like this and there is this overall smell of rotten egss from rotting Sargasso.  (Read: Sargasso 2021 in Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Riviera Maya)