Tulum Mexico first hand reports?

apctjb · Since 19 Aug 2007 438 Posts Obsessed

Wife is heading down to Tulum Mexico in March for a Yoga retreat and thinking of tagging along for some kiting.

Any first hand reports of what to expect in terms of wind, waves, places to stay, things to avoid, etc?

What size kites to bring for March?

Thanks

Gman · Since 11 Feb 2006 4911 Posts Portland Unstrapped

march is good - bring all your kites - blew 25 to 30 last time we where there - time before 8 to 12 with a few 9m days

lots to do if no wind - which yoga spot?

apctjb · Since 19 Aug 2007 438 Posts Obsessed

Wind sounds good. I believe the retreat is at Maya Tulum.

Is there just one kite beach or can you kite anywhere along that stretch of coast?

brass · Since 15 Jul 2006 152 Posts Stoked

Not exactly sure about March but May is big kite weather (at least it was in 2010).

Lot's of places to stay on the beach but they are more expensive than in town. We stayed at the Hotel Ulios Nah very close to the big supermarket in town. Had a kitchen, had affiliation with a beach club right next to the "kite beach" which was handy, clean, not super quite because it was near the road but it didn't affect us.

Avoid nothing, Tulum is very safe, at least we felt very safe. Particularly don't avoid eating dinner in town. It's much cheaper. There is one place (forgot name) all the way south on the left where they spoke no english; you walk in and they parade you past the stove and show you the 6 dishes that are on for the evening, you point (si no hablas espanol) and chow down for $5.

I found tulum.info very helpful for finding good eats and there are a lot of reviews for accommodations.

Hit up the cenotes for sure and salsa dancing at the Zebra on Sunday is super fun and the band is really really good.

Windance Crew · Since 18 Apr 2008 473 Posts Hood River Kite Shop Obsessed

I went in March 2 years ago and got pretty skunked. Light wind, onshore, kinda boring kiting.

Cool place though, inland snorkeling in theses cave-pools called Cenotes.

Call Marco at Extreme, he's a cool guy and been here to the Gorge (but got skunked haha!)

farnorthstar · Since 16 Jun 2009 20 Posts Portland

Tulum is beautiful but kiting is about 2 days of the week. If it is blowing, get on your board and GO because it won't last. Had a rocking 6am to 9am session and an afternoon OK session. The rest of the week laid on the beach, snorkeled, checked out the ruins. The greatest thing ever is to take a personal guided tour of the sanctuary and check out the crocs and manatees. Awesome. Bring a 12 and a 9 or just use gear at the kite school since it is quite a haul for two days.

Kari

Chong · Since 21 Oct 2009 27 Posts LA/FL/MX

like many places; if you get it -- it's great, if you don't you get boned.
Tulum is beautiful, you will love with it.

tulum flyboy · Since 03 Oct 2010 3 Posts Kook

March can be a great month. Weather is warming and seems to have a nice mixture of windy and dead calm days. I'm not a boarder at this point. Flyfishing is my passion, but I have to admit that the last few trips down I have been intrigued watching the boarders tearing it up. I've seen some epic locations while fishing the Sian Kaan. Have a great time and drop me a line if you need info.

DMac · Since 14 Jun 2009 143 Posts Stoked

took my family to Tulum 2 years ago. stayed in a delux rented house ON THE BEACH south of all of the hotel/yoga places, just north of the enterence to the national park. brought my 2 & 1 year old children. The best family beach vacation ever. Rode my 9,11,13 revs on different days, and took a couple of field trips south and north to kite different venues (beach in front of a fishing hotel to the south which included manatees and crocodiles; point break to the north about 40 min drive). Beach is fantastic white sand and very kid friendly. food is safe and accessable. town is close for shopping. On no wind days there is more than enough exploring including Mayan ruins of Tulum & Coba, numerous Cenotes (fresh water sink holes filled with tropical fish and great snorkeling & diving) in the jungle, and for the more civilized folks or those with older kids who want some easy adventure 2 "marine parks" which include dolphin swimming, zip lines and swim up bars.
Can't say enough about the place - beautiful, reasonably priced considering it is world-class, and none of the ridiculous Cancun "Carlos & Charlies" crowd.
I'd say it's worth the extra money to stay at the beach and not in town, but it does cost more. Strongly recommend NOT staying at the in-town rental house called "Stone Tree, Little Ceynote" which is owned by an American woman who double booked it while we were there and was very unfriendly and uncooperative regarding fixing her mistake.
DMac