Tulum · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
Tulum splits in two — a cheap grid of a town and an expensive beach road four kilometres away.
Sleep in Tulum Pueblo
Every affordable dorm sits in the pueblo, on and behind Avenida Tulum. A hired bike closes the gap to the beach in twenty minutes.
What a day costs
Reckon 700–1,200 pesos, roughly $40–70: a dorm bed 300–500, tacos and a comida corrida 150–300, bike hire and colectivos the rest.
Colectivos and a bike
White colectivo vans run the 307 north and south for well under 100 pesos, stopping at the cenote turn-offs. A day bike beats one beach taxi.
Free by day
Playa Pescadores and the public end of Playa Ruinas cost nothing, and the pueblo's evening food stalls around Parque Dos Aguas are the cheapest dinner.
Batey, Centauro Sur
A sugarcane-juice mezcal bar in the pueblo with live son cubano most nights; the default place solo travellers end up after the first day.