You can ask for anything in the Riviera Maya
And it turned out that the world did not end on December 21, 2012. And there they were, the brains of the world's leading fashion and advertising companies, to celebrate it their way, in their favorite destination: Tulum. The Mayans never actually said that the planet would explode into little pieces. nor that the jaws of a terrible monster would swallow the globe in one bite.
Rather, what they predicted (which appears on stela 6 of Tortuguero in Tabasco and whose date is also repeated on stela 1 of Cobá), was that after that date a new cycle would begin in which we would all have a more respectful ecological awareness. , a deeper spiritual life and a closer contact with nature; ergo: that the world would be much happier.
It may be that this Mayan mystique can be breathed, touched, felt or infected by shaking hands with the lady who sells bread, but the truth is that, at least in Tulum, it seems that the prediction makes a lot of sense. Things of a destination or pure trend, for some years now Tulum has become a kind of spiritual retreat: Eden in a chic version of the haute boheme yogis from the United States . Amanda Hearst, socialite and heiress to a media empire, Nicola Formichetti, stylist and head of the Lady Gaga phenomenon, and designers such as Linda Fargo of Bergdorf Goodman, Naeem Khan or Michael Carl, as well as the editors or flagship firms of magazines such as Vanity Fair or Vogue America are some of those who do not spare their Christmas vacation here. They have replaced the sophistication of St. Barts, Miami or the Hamptons for the simplicity of that small town in which you can get everywhere on foot and the dress code allows you to relax –or not– to those who in their day to day (and night to night) have the mirror as their best friend.
You come to Tulum to relax
They come to Tulum to retire, to meditate, to try alternative and natural therapies such as those offered in the most fashionable center, the Amansala Eco chic resort, to receive massages with Mayan rituals and to wrap themselves in mud, as is done in the Coqui Coqui boutique hotel & spa (Carretera Tulum Boca Paila Km 7.5) and, of course, to sleep in eco-chic lodges, those with palapa roofs, mosquito nets as a canopy and views of the beach , like Ocho Tulum or Casa Violeta , where Sean Penn or Susan Sarandon have already done it.
Its simplicity makes them feel more comfortable, freer, it returns their feet to the ground and lifts their souls to the heavens. They get around by bicycle, live in relative anonymity... and are a few hours' flight from New York or Los Angeles, which also allows for spontaneous escapes. Cancun airport (130 km) is the gateway to Tulum and the most touristic area of Mexico: the he well-known Riviera Maya, which has as many admirers (those who know it well) as detractors (those who do not see beyond a bracelet that opens all doors) .
The ruins of Chichen Itza
Being purists, the Riviera Maya does not properly begin in this artificial city created in the 70s, but about 40 kilometers further south, in Puerto Morelos; and encompasses more than 120 kilometers of coastline to Punta Allen. Its success is explicit in its name: Riviera Maya, which shoot with a single bullet its two great attractions: some manual Caribbean beaches (in fact the state of Quintana Roo, to which it belongs, is the only Mexican state in the Caribbean) and l he pre-Columbian archaeological sites who settled on the coastline and in its surroundings, mainly Tulum and Cobá, and 277 km away, Chichén Itzá.
Although these two veins could already be enough as a letter of introduction to a first-class tourist destination, the Riviera Maya offer is only just beginning with them. Everything in the world of ideas that may strike the fancy of the most capricious traveler has a correspondence in the world of things: from a game of golf, a swim in a cenote or a day of diving with tropical fish, even a spa inside a stone 'igloo' (a temazcal), or from a walk through a nature reserve to some dancing at a full moon party, to the rhythm of the music of the best DJs in New York or Berlin. It is enough to choose a good base of operations (which one is better than Tulum?) and from there (but beware, "without any rush", as they would say here) let us be infected by its ohm and travel along the coast following our own impulse.... ( and almost always highway 307, which runs parallel to it, preferably in a rental car ) .
A swim in a cenote?
The only thing necessary is to have an attitude as ambivalent as the suitcase itself, so that alternating the fins with the heel never surprise us with the changed step . Puerto Morelos is an old fishing village that little by little is seeing how its life is changing around its main square, where something is always happening. Although it is not yet a focus of mass tourism, it is receiving more and more visitors and new cafes and hotels are opening, ranging from simple pensions to boutique hotels. Those who have always had it as a reference have been divers, due to its proximity to some of the best reefs in the area (with permission from the island of Cozumel and the areas of Xel-Há or Akumal, south of Playa del Carmen) **, which can be reached by boat in a quarter of an hour.
The same way it started too Carmen beach , about 30 kilometers south of Puerto Morelos. its population in the last twenty years it has multiplied exponentially like almost no other in the world . It is the heart of the Riviera Maya, where everyone meets to go out to dinner, to do the shopping, or where the excursions to the island of Cozumel or to the theme parks depart. That there are also; because not everything is as natural and authentic as Tulum in the Riviera Maya. But, if it is true that Xcaret does not lack that point of imposture of North American heritage, it is also true that everything that can be found inside is interesting and educational.
Playa del Carmen is also full of restaurants and clothing stores, art and nightclubs, such as Coco Bongo or La Santanera. To find the best party you have to go to the (fantastic) beaches north of the city, in places like Mamita, forerunner of beach bars by the sea. This dizzying growth has given rise to many skids, there is no denying it. , but in general it is a nice and fun place that even Mexicans like. Although many cannot avoid the melancholy when remembering the first time they came. In a few years, when we return to Tulum, will we feel the same? Your destiny is not set in stone. It is in the air.
The Sian Ka'an Ecological Reserve