where the ocean and jungle meet | tulum

I admit that when I'm researching a new travel destination, one of the first steps I take is to type, "must do (x place)" into Google. Then I type in, "must see," "must eat," "must try," and any other variation I can come up with in that moment. Judging by the number of results for each search, it's how a lot of people start plan their travels. When we have a limited amount of time in a new place, it's human nature to want to experience the best of the best of the best. Unfortunately, a lot of those results lead us to what's typical, overdone, touristed, and easy.

So I make a list of the top 5-10 results I find, research those more in-depth and knock out all the ones that don't make my cut. That research usually takes me to smaller online forums and blogs that contain the real gems of wherever I'm headed. On average, I probably spend 15-20 hours researching before every trip I take.

I arrive wherever I'm going with a folder filled with my travel documents, hotel information, car rental if it's applicable, and all the other essentials, along with a list of my "must sees" and "must dos." I like to think my research is solid, but even then, at the end of every trip, I've crossed out half my list and traded the other half in for what I found while I was there. And then I get to tell you about that list.

Cenotes - must see, must do

Cenotes are natural watering holes, created from a collapse of limestone bedrock. Limestone is usually exposed, and it's green and sometimes jagged and sometimes smooth, and it's beautiful, and it's perfect.The cenotes are often in caves. A famous, much-touristed network of cenotes is Dos Ojos, between Playa Del Carmen and Tulum. It's a popular area for divers, as you can see incredible marine life and get into nooks and crannies that you can't while swimming.

Zan's and my first cenote experience was in a cave near the Mayan ruins of Coba. Thirty feet above the water, climbing down steep, winding stairs, we could see the very bottom of the pool. Small fish darted around. Limestone stagtites and stalagmites decorated the interior. We saw a bat dart from one alcove to another. Every 10 feet down the climb was a ledge off of which you could jump. Zander and I both jumped from 30 feet. 

A few days later we swam in the cenote where the ocean and jungle meet. We learned about a beach that I honestly, readers, won't even name, it's so special and barely touched. But if you go to Tulum, email me, and I'm sure I'll spill the beans. This beach is all white sand and famous for snorkeling and for seeing sea turtles lay their eggs and make their way back to the waters during the right season. The path to the beach, and to the nearby cenote, is a 1/2 mile dirt road, and the entrance fee is a voluntary donation and your John Hancock in a visitors log.

From the beach, the only guide to the cenote is a wooden sign, the stake stuck deep into the sand with an arrow pointing from the beach into the jungle. We showered outdoors before the trail head, as any sunblock, product, dirt, or chemicals on your body can harm the ecosystem of the pristine pools, and trekked further into the jungle, the sounds of waves crashing the only reminder that the ocean is only a stone's throw away.

Swimming in a cenote is the most refreshing experience I've ever had. I wanted to immerse my head and arms and whole body and come up for air over and over just to feel the coolness and fresh air mixed together one more time. I felt like a Mermaid, and an explorer at once.

I've never seen or experienced anything like cenotes while traveling, and for good reason - they're only found in that part of the world. 

Tulum Ruins - must see, must do

If you Google, "Tulum," you'll see a thousand of the same images, taken from every angle: Mayan ruins sitting atop a hill, with the turquoise Caribbean ocean lapping at the ancient rock. That image alone has put Tulum on the map. It's so breathtaking, it's hard to exercise self-restraint and not immediately book a ticket.

So you'd think we visited these ruins the second we stepped off the bus in the city. But we're not normal. We're weird. And so we did it last. We waited until after we'd seen the famed Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza and scaled the perilous temple of the ruin Mayan temple of Coba, In truth, I didn't expect much; I expected the Tulum ruins to be overrated, especially after what we'd seen.

I was so wrong, and the Tulum ruins blew me away and brought tears to my eyes and lit up my face and my heart. The Tulum Ruins are the smallest of the three sets we saw. There's a cracked wall around the old city that stops short of the beach, because the elevation and the ocean - well, what imposters and enemies could challenge that?

The ruins themselves are spread out. It's a small area, but I could walk around it for days. The sun shines brightest here, stays in your eyes and paints your skin. It's crowded; you should get here before 8:00am to beat the tour buses. But not a single one of the too many tourists can diminish this place.

The real magic is the ocean. There is a private beach below the ruins; you have to be a patron to use it. Swimming while looking up at towering, strong, defensive ruins is an experience I can never replicate anywhere else in the world. There's a reason that one image is so iconic of Tulum - you can't take your eyes off of it.