Playa Paraíso
White sand right below the ruins, regularly ranked among Mexico's finest beaches.
Duration
2 hrs – 4 hrs
Best time
Early morning
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
Playa Paraíso is the beach at the foot of the ruins' cliff, with El Castillo visible from the sand. It is the one place on the coast where you swim in front of a Maya site.
The strip of sand is narrower than it was: the coast is losing ground and the hotels have laid rock armour. The sargassum, brown weed that washes up in mass, mostly arrives between April and October and changes the look of the beach entirely from one week to the next.
Getting there
On the coast road, immediately south of the ruins. Bicycle from Tulum village, twenty minutes, or colectivo.
What to bring
- Swimsuit
Rules on site
Sargassum washes up mostly from April to October and can cover the beach for weeks: check the current state. The beach clubs charge for access or set a minimum spend; the public sand is between them.
Other places in Tulum
Tulum RuinsThe only Maya city built facing the sea, on a cliff above a turquoise beach.
- Gran CenoteA collapsed cave filled with clear fresh water, with turtles below and bats overhead.
- CobáA Maya city in the jungle, with white stone causeways running for miles.
Sian Ka'an Biosphere ReserveSix thousand square kilometres of protected mangrove and lagoon, where you float down Maya-cut canals.