Two Tulums: the town and the beach
Tulum splits into two areas that look nothing alike. The town sits on highway 307, with a regular street grid, supermarkets, pharmacies, markets and a huge supply of apartments, hostels and restaurants at mainland prices. The hotel zone, by contrast, is a narrow road beside the sea lined with beach hotels and another scale of prices; getting out there costs more and has its own page.
It is worth knowing which of the two is your destination before booking, because the fare is not the same and neither is the drop off point. If your accommodation confirmation mentions Avenida Tulum, Avenida Coba, La Veleta or Aldea Zama, you are in the town and this is your page. If it mentions the Tulum to Boca Paila road or the coastal strip, your transfer is the hotel zone one.
The 307 and night arrivals
The trip runs along federal highway 307, the same road that comes down from Cancun through Puerto Morelos, Playa del Carmen and Akumal, and enters Tulum as the main avenue of the town. It is a long run compared with the Cancun destinations, so the vehicle carries your group alone with no stops to pick anyone else up, and the tolls and taxes along the way are already inside the price you saw when booking.
A good share of the flights serving Tulum land in the late afternoon or at night, and then the 307 is driven in the dark. We track your flight with the number you give us, so the driver is waiting inside the terminal even if you land late, and the wait is not charged. We also operate from Tulum Airport, in case your flight arrives there instead of in Cancun.
Long stays, shopping and the return
Long apartment stays are common in the town, and with them comes one very frequent request: a shopping stop before arriving. It can be done, and asking for it when you book works better than improvising on the road, because the driver plans for it. The same goes for bulky luggage: boards, folding bikes or diving gear all fit if you tell us, because with that detail we assign a vehicle of the right size.
For the way back, a round trip saves you from depending on whatever is available on departure day, which in Tulum varies a lot with the season. We agree the pickup time from your flight and the driver comes to the address you gave us. If your place is on an inner street in La Veleta or Aldea Zama, add a visible landmark when booking: not every street there is signposted.
