How To Get Around Tulum, Mexico (All The Options)
Planning A Trip To Tulum, Mexico And Wondering How To Get Around Here, And What Options Are The Safest?
I’ve visited the Riviera Maya area in Mexico a couple of times, most recently the coastal town of Tulum, and although I’ve used all the different modes of transportation here and everything’s turned out ok, this area isn’t the easiest to get around for a few reasons, but here are all the transportation options and a few thoughts I have on each of them.
🚗 How To Get Around Tulum, Mexico
⭐️ Overall, These Are A Few Of The Best Options To Get Around Tulum:
- 😌 Most Stress-Free Option – Guided Tours are best for a hassle-free trip
- 🚐 Best Option For Getting To Tulum – Private Transport is the nicest and safest way to get around Tulum, especailly from the Cancun airport
- 🚲 Good Around Town Option – Renting Bicycles is a popular way to get around here
- 🚕 Most Widely Available Option – although they’re not always nice, safe, or cheap, taxis are the most widely available form of transportation
Car Rental
Most recommend renting a car when visiting this area of the Riviera Maya (since it’s far from the airport), and my family took the advice of one of those recommendations and rented a car for our trip to Tulum, but after going through the experience, I would not recommend it.
I agree it can be more convenient to rent a car here so you can go where you want when you want, but because of road conditions, car qualities, police targeting, rental company overcharges, and gas station scams, I don’t think it’s worth it.
➡️ Wondering Whether Or Not You Should Stay In An Airbnb In Tulum? here is a guide with some personal experiences I’ve had here with Airbnb and some alternatives you might want to consider
Private Transportation
Especially from the airport in Cancun, I think one of the safest and best options for getting to Tulum is getting private transportation.
The moment you walk out the airport doors, it’s very chaotic and drivers are yelling at you and grabbing at you to use their service, so having a legitimate driver holding a sign with your name is much better.
Guided Tours
I know they can sometimes be cheesy and pretty touristy, but guided tours are just the best, easiest, and most stress-free way to get around Tulum and get to other destinations in the area.
They usually include multiple stops, are pretty reasonably priced, and keep you from having to deal with directions, driving with these road conditions, or parking.
➡️ Need help deciding what to take with you to Tulum? To be prepared for the weather, activities, and rugged terrain, here are some suggestions on what to pack for Tulum
Taxi/Uber
Uber is generally the safer option in Mexico when it’s available, but Uber and taxi drivers have had some serious issues in this part of Mexico, so even Uber is not always super safe in this Cancun area.
Although Uber technically “exists” in Tulum (at least on their website), there really aren’t Uber drivers in Tulum so you might be able to get here from Cancun, but you likely won’t find any rides leaving out of Tulum.
Taxis aren’t usually very safe in Mexico but sometimes they’re necessary, so if you have to use one, make sure you get an official certified taxi and don’t hail any off the street.
Walking/Biking
Tulum is not a very walkable area, unless you’re staying in town and walk around town or staying on the beach and want to walk around the beach zone, but one of the more popular ways to get around here is by renting bicycles.
But beware that no matter what time you visit Tulum, it’s hot and humid, and rain is pretty common at certain times of year so riding bikes might not be super enjoyable.
🏝️ How To Get From Tulum To Other Locations
Tulum is actually a little closer to the famous site of Chichen Itza, so this is a great place to stay to visit this interesting historical site. If you are renting a car here you can drive yourself, but I think the easiest option is to go on a guided tour (here’s a review of a Chichen Itza tour my family did last time in Tulum).
From Tulum, you can also visit other nearby destinations, but again, I think guided tours are the easiest way to take some of these day trips.
🔁 Sum Up: How To Get Around Tulum, Mexico
Although there are quite a few different options for getting to and around Tulum, Mexico, and many often recommend renting your own car to drive yourself, after using all of these options myself, I don’t think renting a car is a great idea (for a number of reasons) and I personally prefer the more stress-free options of private transfers or even guided tours.
