Tulum: the sexiest destination in the Caribbean
Paco de Lucia He used to say that what he liked the most was being “lying in the hammock” in his refuge on the Yucatan coast. He lived in Playa del Carmen until that, affected by the tourist expansion of the Riviera Maya, he ceased to be that little fishing village with only two stores. The guitarist, who wanted to be relaxed and calm, then moved further south, to a spectacular semi-hidden beach near the Mayan ruins of Tulum. According to him he said, he spent the whole year on tour counting down the days until he returned to dive and fish at his home in Mexico , to get rid of everything in your decompression hammock.
I am now on that lonely beach, eating in a tiny big hotel with a name as descriptive as it is suggestive: ** To Heaven **. Its owners, Andrés, father, and Andrew, son, arrived 13 years ago, looking, like their neighbor Paco, for exactly what I have before my eyes: a beach with soft sand like flour and lush vegetation . “You have to come back between May and September, when there are turtles and we swim with them,” Andrew invites me. The hotel has four rooms and four villas, and the restaurant is only open by reservation and only for those who are customers or friends (thank you!) . Mediterranean recipes are not lacking on chef Francisco Paco Morales' menu . Instead, I preferred the snapper with red sesame. The sea is so crystal clear that you can see fish almost without having to get into the water. The breeze makes me shiver with pleasure and I force myself to chew more slowly to freeze this moment of glory that I never want to end.
The pool of one of the romantic villas of the Al Cielo hotel
This transparent sea, the mother jungle, the healing contact with nature, the tranquility... and, in recent times, the development of an exciting gastronomic scene is what has made Tulum one of the booming destinations among fashion people and the good children of Brazil and South America to disconnect and recharge the batteries. Designers, editors, foodies, Cameron Diaz, Jared Leto, Lady Gaga's stylist... and stressed urbanites from half the world, especially those in New York, just five hours away.
“Tulum has its own state of mind” Jack assures me, Jacopo Ravagnan, co-founder with his childhood friend, model Francesca Bonato, of Hacienda Montaecristo , an ethical fashion firm that recovers the quality of traditional Mexican fabrics. "His energy is very powerful," he continues. "When you're bad, it knocks you down, but when you're good, it lifts you up to the afterlife." **Hacienda Montaecristo is part of the Coqui Coqui hotel **, the most chic hotel on the beach, owned by Francesca and her husband Nicolas Malleville, also a model, who have two other exclusive little hotels in the nearby colonial city of Valladolid and in the ruins of Coba, and an extraordinary brand of perfumes and aromas from Yucatan that they sell in their beach boutique.
Ribs in green shrimp sauce with mole from El Tábano restaurant.
In the 90s, long before Demi Moore came to heal her broken heart at Amansala Chica's Bikini Camp, Tulum was one of those paradises only enjoyed by those who were willing, even delighted, to sleep under the stars in a hammock between two palm trees. As expected, the existence of such an idyllic place in which to swim with turtles and discover cenotes and Mayan ruins in the jungle, ceased to be a secret and dreamers from half the world began to arrive who abandoned their promising careers in the city. to set up small businesses with a different mentality.
The Zamas hotel was one of the first, back in 1993. Susan, from San Francisco, came on vacation and stayed here. It's famous for its Huevos Rancheros at its restaurant with a view, its food festivals, and concerts by the sea. The cabins on the beach and the casual atmosphere continue to be the usual model for accommodation in Tulum, but now the new hotels open with a pillow menu on four-poster beds and with a renowned chef or even with a private cevichero. Also with shacks to make shots of temazcal . But the mystique and energy of Tulum has always been part of its claim. Yoga retreats, quartz therapies to balance the chakras, reiki. .. The offer of natural therapies is so wide that it is logical that one, confused, ends up ordering another margarita at the bar. At the new and exclusive Yaan Wellness, run by Dr. Bobby Klein, one of the first to use acupuncture in the US, all therapies begin with a swim in the healing waters of the cenote , purified by osmosis and ultraviolet.
A bike, a beach dress and a hat, everything you need to be happy in Tulum.
"The new Goa" is defined by Vogue Italia, while Forbes magazine encourages you to invest before it's too late. Land prices have doubled in just two years but they are still low compared to other destinations frequented by billionaires, such as Ibiza, St. Barths or Miami. But make no mistake, this is not a place for crazy parties or shopping at the mall. Tulum is more in the style of getting up early than staying up late . At least for now, and the stores are small shacks that, yes, sell the designer dresses and bikinis that are raging in the Hamptons. Although here the dress code, if there is one, is to have good legs to show them off and to ride a bike everywhere. The body asks to get up with the sun and do a little yoga before eating fruit for breakfast that burst with tropical flavor in your mouth.
Tulum, the wall, was actually called Zama, the gate at dawn. It gives its name to the archaeological zone, the town and a stretch of road parallel to the beach, the last five kilometers before entering the reserve of the Sian Kaan biosphere , which is where the action takes place.
Unless you are interested in the dusty places that evolved from a gas station at a crossroads to a "city" (it already has 30,000 inhabitants), Tulum town is not very attractive at first sight, but it hides the bar you will want to go to every night , All Saints ; a delicious hotel, ** Don Diego de la Selva **, where you can experience the magic of the honey of the Mayan bees, the goddesses of the region – the spa and the restaurant are the result of the Melipona Maya Foundation, sponsored by the Nobel laureate Rigoberta Menchú–; and several restaurants that rival the beach's culinary scene. cetli is a must . Her chef, Claudia Pérez Rivas, 'the Frida Kalho of the kitchen', some call her, makes a legendary 100% handmade black mole.
Table served at the Luv Tulum hotel
For its part, the hotel zone of Tulum has two avenues: the beach, where the hotels are, and the highway, with a single lane and two directions. Camouflaged among the vegetation, there are small shops and “al fresco” restaurants where, at sunset, the candles are lit. It's easy to get your bearings: there, where there's always a line out the door, is **Hartwood**, one of the most interesting restaurants in the world , according to Bon Appetit magazine, among others. In Hartwood you can't make reservations (an unequivocal sign of metropolitan prestige) and it only serves dinner, so the only option is to arrive early, at 6 pm, and dine at gringo time. The architect is Eric Werner, a chef from Brooklyn who has spent ten years of happiness working with vegetables that he did not know and trying new flavors. His formula is very simple: a grill and an oven, both wood-fired, and the freshest ingredients. Everything is organic, even the firewood, which they make themselves, like the compost from the garden. The gastronomic experience is worthy of a Michelin star, but in flip flops and in the jungle.
Directly across from Hartwood is **Mr. Blackbird**, a sand-floored shop where Veronika sells own and other designs, jewels of stones, silver and gold and unique accessories ; and, next door, the Saharan caravan of Hacienda Montaescrito, the ** Casa Jaguar ** restaurant and Josa Tulum dresses, sexy for the beach and elegant for the night. A little further on are the bikinis of Alfonsine and the sea and, in the other direction, lolita lolita, where Tanya, a young woman from Guadalajara, sells oils, creams and beauty potions that she makes according to her grandmother's recipe.
Veronica, the owner of the beach boutique Mr. Blackbird
Limited to the space left between the mangrove swamp, a natural barrier against hurricanes, and the sea, under which it is still forming the second largest barrier reef in the world , everyone is aware that Tulum is a fragile ecosystem. There is no electricity or drinking water, which is brought in by truck, and although it is rumored that the road will be made for pedestrians and bicycles, no one is sure.
In House of the Waves they work only with solar panels and enjoy electricity 24 hours. They collect rainwater, water by hand and have their own cenote. Jimmy Greenfield, its owner, is one of those New Yorkers who left his other life behind to unleash your eco-fantasies at this five-bedroom hotel . It was built as a private house by an environmental architect who knew what he was doing, so it's cool in the summer, warm in the winter, and if there are hurricanes, the windows open and the wind blows through without destroying anything. The furniture was made by local artisans and they only work with who they know and trust , like Fabián, with whom they go on excursions to the reef. Or with the chefs from Hartwood and Cetli, with whom he organizes highly sought-after organic cooking workshops twice a year.
The beach of the old city of Tulum is one of the most admired in the world.
It is advisable to go to the archaeological zone very early in the morning to avoid the tourist buses that arrive from Playa del Carmen and Cancún. They are not the largest ruins, nor the most imposing. In fact, its dimensions are rather modest, but s e are in a perfect enclave, presiding over a strip of rugged coastline facing a sea of impossible hues. Tulum was a prosperous Mayan commercial center, the only important one on the coast, between the year 1100 and the Spanish conquest, and today what remains in its walled city are the ruins of its ceremonial temples and palaces. Visitors' footprints form mysterious Mayan hieroglyphics in the sand paths that run between the complex's 60 buildings. at the foot of Castle , the most outstanding temple, a postcard beach opens that usually tops the lists of the most beautiful on the planet . It is accessed by stairs and bathing is still allowed, at the risk of appearing in photos that will be sent halfway around the world.
Although Tulum takes the fame, there are other important archaeological sites in the area. 40 minutes away is Coba , with a pyramidal temple 42 m high. And closer, in the Sian Ka'an nature reserve, are the remains of the city of Muyil (temples together), which although more humble, s and visit almost alone . In addition, the reserve, one of the largest on the continent, protects the last area of virgin nature on the Mexican Caribbean coast. Sian Ka'an ("where the sky begins", in the Mayan language) covers 100 km of beach and more than 5,000 km2 containing nine different ecosystems, including mangroves, estuaries, reefs, fresh and salt water lagoons, savannah... In Sian Ka'an live anteaters, ocelots, pumas, crocodiles, howler monkeys, tapirs, unique birds and almost a thousand humans . Half of the latter live in Punta Allen, where the Tulum highway ends –it takes three hours to travel 50 km–, considered the second best place in the world for sport fishing.
The best tacos are those of Eufemia, on the beach
Beyond the overwhelming nature of Sian Ka'an, what is interesting about this reserve is the conservation and sustainable development project behind it, a task carried out by the NGO Amigos de Sian Ka'an, and the fact that the Mayan community itself is the host. The excursions are carried out by Community Tours Sian Ka'an, a local sustainable tourism initiative that has received several awards . “In 1998, twelve years after the reserve was declared, the community asked the director for a boat to take the tourists around, as we saw outside companies do,” explains Alberto Cen Caamal, my guide, who was involved from the beginning. "The director agreed," he continues, "if we formed a cooperative." “What is a cooperative?” he remembers him asking people, as he bursts out laughing. Thus began a long process, sometimes surrealistic, in which different companies and organizations taught them how to design brochures and how to recycle.
At the same time, they learned Spanish (and English) and how to use binoculars. Alberto, apart from distinguishing the songs of almost all the birds in the reserve -and there are 350 species —, is a renowned cabinetmaker and, like a good Mayan, an expert beekeeper. "We have more than 13 species of bees... and 334 types of butterflies." With it, any piece of landscape acquires a new dimension. The cooperative offers different excursion packages that include jungle walks, bird watching, kayaking through the mangroves, refreshing dives in mangroves and cenotes ... Although there are other companies that take tourists to Punta Allen to see dolphins, about 50-70 jeeps a day, Community Tours Sian Kaan they are the only ones who access this area of the reserve. “ No more than 40 people a day, in high season” Alberto assures me. “ growth destroys nature ”. The Mayans know this very well.
Some "rules" to be happy on the beach.
At the cooperative's headquarters they also have a small museum and a butterfly farm that they plan to fill with medicinal plants. To bring the butterflies they had to ask for infinite permits, "from the body that regulates wild animals and the gods of the jungle," he tells me with a smile. In the mangroves, the Maya built an elaborate system of canals interspersed with small temples . The plan is to jump into the water and let yourself be carried away by the subtle current. As relaxing as a four-hand massage. As I dry myself on the grass next to an old Mayan customs post, I try to isolate the sound of the reeds from the rest of the natural music that surrounds me. I couldn't be more comfortable. And I think of the hippies who slept on the beach, I think of the Mayans, “the smartest of all”, and I think of Paco de Lucía, at ease, “lying in the hammock”.
* This report is published in the October 88 issue of the Condé Nast Traveler magazine and is available in its digital version to enjoy on your preferred device.
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On the kilometric beach of Tulum there is a lot of space to read in solitude