Local Attractions
Quicklinks:
Restaurants (environs) / Restaurants (Tulum) / Cenotes / Water-Adventure Parks / Tulum / Beaches / Sian Kan / Swimming w/ Sharks / Scuba Diving / Archaeological Sites / Other Sites
Restaurants (environs) / Restaurants (Tulum) / Cenotes / Water-Adventure Parks / Tulum / Beaches / Sian Kan / Swimming w/ Sharks / Scuba Diving / Archaeological Sites / Other Sites
Restaurants in the environs:
- The nearest is a few doors down the beach towards the north… the Sahara Café. Just Google the name for details. Good but fairly pricey. - Chamico’s is down at the very southern end of the road at the back of the house. It is basically a ramshackle shack with no electricity or running water. I do not recommend it. The whole setup is unsanitary and the food is not that wonderful. - Oscar y Lalo’s is just across the main highway from the point at which the side road joins the highway. Good eating…. not exorbitant. Just Google the name for guest opinions. They can also arrange visits to different points of interest, such as archeological sites and theme parks. - There are several fairly decent restaurants in the town of Akumal (going north on the highway, on the beach side of the road), just a short drive away. One very tasty place... called the Bakery just inside the gate at Turtle Bay. |
In town:
- Don Cafeto's for the best coffee in the area and a special green drink called chayagra... great Mexican breakfasts.. - La Nave...for lunches, light fare, crepes and pizza, Mexican style etc. - El Camelo..a new very popular fish restaurant on the south end of town... everything totally fresh. - Cetli...a high end, extraordinary restaurant with an alta cocina cook from Mexico City named Claudia...expensive but unforgettable. On the beach road: There is also a strip of restaurants on the beach road...all seem well-attended and picturesque, especially Zama's with lots of live music. |
Cenotes:
The area is full of beautiful cenotes like these...
Water/Adventure Parks: (all can be seen on Google) - The nearest is Hidden Worlds, just a short way north on the highway. Includes a cenote. - Not far north on the highway is famous XEL HA. - Just a short way beyond Xel Ha is the town of Akumal. Drive to the very end of the road through the town to the Yal Ku lagoon. Very good snorkeling. - Just before you reach Playa del Carmen (going north) is Xcaret, the biggest and most expensive adventure park. - Tres Rios is good fun... Includes horseback riding. - Sian Kan Biosphere Reserve: Interesting tour (get details on Google). |
Hidden Worlds
Hidden Worlds is a fun adventure park just a very short way down the highway going north. Check it out online.
Xcaret
Xcaret, just south of Playa del Carmen (a
half hour drive from Yamulkan) is the largest and best known adventure park on
the Riviera Maya, and has so many adventures you will never cover them all in
one day. These pictures show only part of it.
Xel Ha
Xel Ha is five minutes from Casa Yamulkan
on the highway going north, and is a marvelous water park with its own cool
river flowing a couple of kilometers through the jungle, absolutely brimming
with all kinds of amazing fish swimming in totally transparent water, all the
way to the sea (in the distance).
Click to open:
Tulúm: the nearest town – 8 kms distant
Other beaches:
Tulúm: Lovely wide beaches
Akumal: Nice beaches
Soliman: You will probably find that you prefer the Soliman beach to any other.
Biosphere reserve: SianKan
Sian Kan is a biosphere reserve. There are tours you can take. Virginia at
Oscar and Lalo’s can probably arrange that for you. It’s not very far south of
Tulum. IT has two huge lagoons with
sandy bottoms, which gives the water a magical aquamarine color, fringed by
mangrove all around… silent and timeless.
No sign of humanity anywhere.
Swimming with whale sharks!
Another very exciting and practically
unique thing to do is hire a boat like the one below to take you out to a place
north of Isla Mujeres (a two hour boat ride from Cancun) where the huge whale
sharks congregate. Only a certain number of these boats are allowed out in that
area, so as not to annoy the whale sharks, which are simply breathtaking in
size and beauty. Since they are vegetarian, you can swim right along beside
them for the experience of a lifetime!!!!
Scuba diving in the nearby cenote
A cenote is a place where an underground
river surfaces, and there are many not far from Casa Yamulkan. One of the
closest is the cenote across the lane from Casa Cenote, very close to the beach
in Tankah 3. This particular one is very
large, the water is crystal clear and it has a variety of fish. Very inviting!
Archeological sites:
The two easiest to reach, and two of the most interesting of all are:
Tulúm: Vast, beautiful and fascinating. The turnoff is on the left about a kilometer before you reach the town of Tulum,
going south on the main highway.
Coba: Quite different from Tulum, in a forest, very large and mysterious… worth the drive… about an hour.
The turnoff is on the right about a kilometer before you reach the town of Tulum.
Google these two places for details. The people at Oscar and Lalo’s can arrange a tour for you, which usually includes both sites.