The Best Mexico Beach Trip Planner || The Best Way To Explore Playa Del Carmen, Tulum and Cenotes

In October I went to Mexico. I didn’t go to Mexico with Drew, or with my mom or with Veenie (is that a thing, can I take a Mexican vacation with my dog?? I need to look into that). I went to Mexico with my pal Susie. Now, before this trip, Susie and I hadn’t really hung out outside of blogger or media events, we’d always been in a group setting.

Her blog name is SUSIE DRINKS THOUGH.
I mean, I feel like that immediately lets me know she’s my kinda gal.

Susie and I had always gotten along. We would constantly ask the question, “Why don’t we hang out more often????” Still though, we hadn’t really hung out. One day, Susie goes - do you have a media kit, I think we should go to Mexico.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.” - me.

I haven’t been one of those bloggers who has been blessed with the gift of constant travel. Perhaps if I did this full time, but I just don’t have the time to dedicate to seeking out travel collaborations.

This is where Susie comes in.
(Side note: find you a “Susie")

Susie is so well connected in the blogging, social media and travel sphere that she connected with an amazing woman named Devin. Devin is better known as The Beach Planner. Devin's services extend from Playa Del Carmen all the way to Tulum and everything in between.

If there’s one thing I’m terrible at, it’s planning a trip. I’ll spend about 12 minutes on Pinterest, maybe 8 - 10 minutes on costco.com looking at their deals and then I give up. Planning our honeymoon was easily the most overwhelming experience.

Do you do all-inclusive? 
Why are these hotels so expensive?
Why are a few that look great so INEXPENSIVE? 

These are questions I find myself asking, pictures are usually so vague for beach vacations - it’s generally some model on a beach in a bikini. Yes, she’s lovely but how are y’alls fish tacos? Is there a swim up bar (this is oddly important to me), do I get a beautiful view, are the rooms magnificent, are there big balconies overlooking perfectly sparkling water?

None of this information ever seems to come from websites for Mexico beach hotels.

This is where Devin comes in. She’s an expert, she LIVES THERE!

She’ll be the first one to tell you to ditch the all-inclusive destination. When you’re at an all-inclusive, you feel like you can’t leave the property because you wont’ be getting your money’s worth. Devin would tell you that’s all wrong!

The culture - and I mean the culture outside the tourist traps - is where the fun is. Beers are cheap, people are friendly and from my experience the music is way better. Is it just me or do resort pools only seem to play rap from the early 00’s???

I’m not here to knock all-inclusives - I’m sure my days of visiting an all-inclusive resort are not over, I drink a lot - but I want you to know there are beach planning options out there that won’t cost you a dime.

WAIT - DID YOU HEAR THAT? THAT’S RIGHT, DEVIN’S SERVICES COST YOU NOTHING! 

Her services are paid for by the resort!! I honestly did not know I could access something and someone so powerful without having to pay for it.

SO………

AWAY SUSIE AND I WENT TO MEXICO! All of which was planed by The Beach Planner, Devin.

First stop - Playa Del Carmen for a couple of nights.

Wait, back up, first Susie and I did fireball shots at DFW Airport, I feel like that is important information, no?

PLAYA DEL CARMEN

We stayed at a great hotel that offered breakfast with your room. The breakfast had lots of fresh fruit - and of course some great Mexican brunch options like Chilaquiles  Big fan of eating nachos for breakfast, but that's just me!

They also had an amazing rooftop pool. We actually didn't use the pool at this hotel, because we "Beach club hopped". As someone who works at a hotel whose pool is very much only intended for hotel guests, it blew my mind to find that many of the hotels allowed the public to come enjoy their beach and pool access as long as they were eating and drinking.

This also could have been because we had Devin, she had contacts at every hotel/resort beach and pool club we went to. We were welcomed with open arms.

Here were a few stops Devin took us on our day of hopping.
Want to know the exact details of where we went - you gotta message Devin!
(Psssst.... see what I did there, it's called marketing :P LOLS!)

That night, we showered up and went to dinner in town at an amazing spot called Piola! The bartenders sent us over cocktails to try and we filled our bellies with delicious seafood! Highly recommend adding this restaurant to your Playa Del Carmen list. 

Again, told y'all Devin would get you to experience the actual culture, not just the tourist spots! 

The next morning before heading out for Tulum, I walked the streets of Playa Del Carmen a bit. It's a town filled with colorful street art - you guys should know by now that's the way to my heart!!

After our breakfast at the hotel, we loaded up on the road to Tulum!
The road to Tulum was paved with Cenotes. If you don't know, a Cenote is a sinkhole that has formed naturally from a collapse of bedrock, resulting in exposed groundwater.

Devin handled all of the transportation for us with our amazing driver, Cesar from Memo Tours and Adventures! He won me over immediately when he picked us up from the airport and had cold Coronas waiting. Thank you, sir. Yes, I will have one of those. 

CENOTES

The Cenotes were so majestic and beautiful. Another plus is by using Devin (and Cesar) we had the best recommendation for the most secluded (Read also, not crowded) cenotes that tourists wouldn't be able to find easily just from searching the internet.

We stopped at two different cenotes and did a little snorkeling!

One more stop for some of the best ceviche and fresh fish EVER, before landing in Tulum for two more nights of fun!

TULUM
Where do I begin with Tulum. How about some pictures because I'd never in my life seen a place so beautiful. When I think Mexico, I think more about Cabo and Cancun (and spring break) with people blowing whistles and shoving shots down your throat. And Vicki and Tamra from Real Housewives dancing on bars.

Now, I do love shots. But there is WAY more beauty in Mexico that will make your jaw drop.
Just take a look...

The first night we stayed at an absolutely breathtaking IKAL bungalow in the heart of the jungle. This would be a great spot for a secluded getaway or even for a big bachelor or bachelorette party. We had our own private pool and it was far from the hustle and bustle of the resort areas.

 

The next night we stayed in town, where we could walk to a bunch of bars and beach clubs.
Again, much like Playa, Tulum allowed you to visit many beach clubs, regardless of if you were staying there!

We loved a hotel called Nomad where we watched the sunset and had a delicious margarita. Honestly though, every resort on the beach we went to looked like this. I'm not joking, each place outdid the next.

We rode some bikes we rented for a couple of hours and visited Pablo Escobar's old mansion which is now a hotel called Casa Malca! GOALS. I mean, good lawwwwd.

We also rode the bikes to the complete opposite side of the resort area and hit up a hotel called Azulik. I'm not sure what Azulik stands for (other than too expensive for Sarah's blood) but it was a mesmerizing jungle tree house that I wanted to live in forever and ever. Or maybe for just one night, CB- we both need to get rich so we can stay here!!!

Another place I for sure want to call out was a restaurant called Gitano.
This was the most aesthetically pleasing restaurant and the meal was just as divine.

It was just so pretty, that we went back during to see the space in daylight. I'm glad we did, it was completely different but certainly just as sultry.

I know I've probably shown you more than enough to convince you to
CONTACT THE BEACH PLANNER RIGHT MEOW....

.... but in the event you need more persuading, here are a few more snaps that I think will do the trick.

I can't thank Devin enough for putting together such a magical long weekend for me and Susie. You guys, this is a no brainer to contact The Beach Planner for your next trip. She can help you plan an amazing honeymoon, a bomb bachelorette party that you'll never forget, or just a great getaway to help you forget the real world.

Her services are all free to you, they're paid for by the hotels as long as your lodging is booked through Devin. Take the guess work and stress out of planning your next trip and let a local expert do it! Easy peasy.

CONTACT THE BEACH PLANNER HERE!

Thank you so much to The Beach Planner for hosting us for a long weekend in Mexico, my thoughts and opinions are my own!