1.87/5
687 reviews
Photo by Spencer Watson via Unsplash

Cost of Living in Tulum

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beach

seaweed

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expensive

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Tulum is a mix of stunning beaches, great food, and lively nightlife, but it comes at a high price. The town consists of three main areas: the hotel zone, central Tulum, and the archaeological ruins. The hotel zone is beautiful but expensive, often catering primarily to American tourists. Tulum Pueblo offers more affordable food and accommodations but is noisy, crowded, and heavily commercialized.

Many digital nomads visit Tulum, but the internet is unreliable in several areas, and coworking spaces are limited. Short-term rentals are decent, with $50 per night securing a solid 1BR apartment with amenities. However, taxis are notoriously overpriced, and traffic can be frustrating. Renting a scooter is recommended for getting around efficiently.

The beaches can be breathtaking, but seaweed is an issue, especially in summer. Activities like cenote diving, archaeological sites, and jungle adventures make it an exciting place. Those seeking a laid-back or party-filled atmosphere will find plenty of options, but for long-term stays, Playa del Carmen may be a more livable alternative.

Overall, Tulum is an appealing destination if you’re prepared for high prices and tourist crowds. It's great for a short visit, but the combination of costs, unreliable infrastructure, and environmental concerns might make long-term stays less ideal.

AI-generated summary of reviews

Just spent three nights here. Tulum is a triangle: the ruins, the zona hotelera, and Tulum Pueblo. Zona Hotelera is expensive and far from services. Tulum Pueblo is ugly, noisy, and full of development. A boom town where everyone seems out to fleece the gringo. It's also an ecological disaster. Watch the Dark Side of Tulum. And think twice before swimming in some of the local cenotes: they're full of E Coli.
The public beach in winter was nice. But this is a shitty place to work from, unless you want to drop a lot of money, and even then, it's a party atmosphere.

1 year ago

Seaweed - Summer is seaweed season and it stinks which ruins the awesome beaches. Town center is very hip and trendy now and prices are going up. My tip, winter is best, the weather in summer is scorching. Oh, and find a place with AC, you'll need it

2 years ago

Stayed for 5 days in Tulum in March 2023, here are a few things to consider.

-The Pros are: there a ton of very solid accommodations for ~$50 per night on a short term basis (1BR apartment, pool, etc.). You can get it down even further with a longer term commitment. It feels like there is a growing nomad community, but it's more of NYC/LA types than down to earth vagabonds. There are a bunch of great restaurants that cater to the health conscious and gyms to check out. There are some very posh NYC/LA type bars and clubs with good DJs if that's your thing.

-The Cons: the taxis are THE MOST EXPENSIVE IN THE WORLD-they banded together to chase out all competition (no Uber) and each ride is $15-$40. You have to get a scooter or other mode of transportation in order to get around comfortably unless you live right in the middle of everything. The people that go to Tulum are heavily into Drugs and Alcohol (a plus for some but not for me) and very superficial. The beaches are difficult to get to and are often swamped with seaweed. It feels dangerous from a traffic perspective trying to get around (horrible roads and crazy drivers). Overall, it is expensive for Mexico and most prices are comparable to the US.

-Overall, Tulum is great for some people but wasn't a fit for me long term. Although many settle there as nomads, I'd personally only go back on a short term basis to stay at Tulum Beach if I was in a party mode. If you want a LA/NYC feel in Mexico and are into partying/drugs/alcohol, Tulum could be a good fit for you

2 years ago

Been there for a day as a day-trip from Cancun. It has some serious Canggu vibes, not gonna lie. Is a great spot to hang out for a couple of days, enjoy some parties and nice food. However you should bring some money as everything is tailored towards American tourists.
Pros:
- many food options
- nice, chill vibe
- obviously greata weather
- nice beaches
- great archaelogical zone

Cons:
- traffic is bad
- super expensive
- touristy

3 years ago

Everything is for American tourists. Prices are sometimes even higher than in the US. Beach is beautiful, there's nothing to do downtown. Cenotes, archaeological zone are cool, worth a visit. Covid is like it doesn't exist. Internet was cool in Selina. Cool to stay for a couple of nights of chilling, but not for living.

3 years ago

This place is a lot of fun, has beautiful beaches, and gives easy access to amazing cavern diving. That said I wouldn't recommend it, overall. You have two parts, centro and hotel zone. Hotel zone is essentially as if Bali existed in the US, but inexplicably is somehow in Mexico. Roughly 3-4x the price of Bali and the rest of Mexico, almost no real mexican food (the best reason to go to Mexico) in the hotel zone, a bunch of beach hipsters (Tuluminati), relatively terrible internet (some 10Mbps+ spots tho), and "eco" branding everywhere yet power provided by huge, loud generators. Tulum centro actually has some solid restaurants and gives you a bit of the nature vibe mixed in with a small mexican town, but unfortunately no beach. If you're looking for a month or longer stay in the mexican caribbean, Playa del Carmen is the far more livable city and it's only like 45mins by car, so you can still do the nature stuff very easily without having to deal with actual Tulum.

4 years ago

Coming from Bali, Tulum is probably 7 years behind. Wifi and cell signal isn't great everywhere. Not many co-working spaces. Similar prices to what you would find in USA. Covid restrictions don't really exisit.

4 years ago

Tulum is loaded with cenotes for exploring and cooling off, beautiful and unique! Find local Maya and listen to their dialect. Learn a few words in Maya, they love to share it! The only beachfront Mayan Ruins are here! Iguanas galore and photo opps! Get a guide, it's worth the history lesson, wear your suit under clothes for a refreshing swim afterwards. Most hotels offer beach clubs, low cost or cost of lunch/drinks, plus they have free wi-fi. Happy hours 2/1 with live music and the recently opened museum are diverse options. In town, restaurants abound and the food is a gastronomic delight! Local taco stops are the best value for a full stomach , happy tastebuds and a light wallet. Fresh sugar cane squeezed by a hank-cranked press offers a variety of Mojitos with live variety shows and music! Other night life, that I love, is watching sea turtles lay their eggs! Fun activities near by are: numerous parks with zip-lines, animal sanctuaries, cultural shows, snorkeling, scuba diving, fishing..... I would describe Tulum as bohemian / hippie/ ish, more relaxed than resorts. It has changed quickly in the last few years to accommodate not only the backpacker but the upscale tourist as well. It's a small but growing community with friendly people and a safe environment.

7 years ago

Most of the cafes do not have aircons, so during summer time you won't be able to work here comfortably. Better rent a place or use one of the coworking spaces listed here (didn't check them myself yet).

Make sure to check the seaweed situation in Tulum before coming here. Seaweed is covering all of the shore in the moment :( ruined my beach experience for the whole trip.

Check Central Park condo residence. It's kind of pricey, but has good internet connection, restaurant, gym.. everything you'll need to stay productive and still enjoying your time here.

I wouldn't trust 4sq ratings for restaurants and other venues. Better ask locals.

7 years ago

✅ Many food options

✅ Nice, chill vibe

✅ Great weather

✅ Nice beaches

✅ Great archaeological sites

✅ Good accommodations for ~$50 per night

✅ Growing nomad community

✅ Good restaurants for health-conscious people

✅ Good gyms and nightlife

✅ Fast internet

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Warm now

✅ Warm all year round

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to make friends

✅ Easy to do business

✅ Roads are pretty safe

✅ Democratic

✅ Very safe for women

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

✅ (Medical) marijuana MAY be legal, unenforced or decriminalized (always double check this)

❌ Very expensive

❌ Touristy

❌ Traffic is bad

❌ Internet can be unreliable

❌ Seaweed ruins the beaches in summer

❌ Few proper coworking spaces

❌ Taxis are extremely overpriced

❌ Difficult beach access

❌ Town center is noisy, crowded, and overpriced

❌ Ecological concerns (pollution, water contamination)

❌ Freedom of speech is weak

❌ Not very safe

❌ Very sweaty and humid now

❌ Nomads.com members really didn't like going here

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Quality of education is low

❌ Hospitals are bad

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Not family friendly

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Feels

79 26°
warm

81 27°
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82 28°
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84 29°
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88 31°
hot

84 29°
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79 26°
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81 27°
warm

Real

79 26°
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81 27°
warm

82 28°
very warm

84 29°
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86 30°
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84 29°
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79 26°
warm

81 27°
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Humidity

nice
43%

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42%

nice
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46%

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Most common

☔️ Rain

Rain

rainy
55mm

dry
32mm

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37mm

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34mm

rainy
99mm

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194mm

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84mm

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59mm

Cloud

pockets
37%

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43%

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Sun

avoid sun
6 UVI

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8 UVI

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9 UVI

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10 UVI

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9 UVI

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8 UVI

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9 UVI

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7 UVI

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6 UVI

Remote workers

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1,911 people

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1,300 people

1,083 people

1,433 people

1,650 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Not all nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Based on Tulum's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

	Senior Data Engineer @ Soda Data
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	Engineer JT @ Gorilla Logic
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	Full Stack Developer @ Incyte Studios
	AI Engineer India @ Weights & Biases
	DevOps Engineer II @ Tala
	DevOps Engineer @ Hawk
	Marketing Lead @ Flow Foundation
	Frontend Web Developer @ Wing Assistant
	Senior DevOps Engineer @ FetLife

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✈️49min

$1,819 / mo

4 Mbps

Playa del Carmen

Mexico

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 32° 90° 28° 82°

🚕2h

$2,554 / mo

🌇 Also went here272 people

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Not all nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	1.87/5 (Rank #1275) 687 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍4 liked it 👎6 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $2,338 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 12Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Good
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Hot: 29°C85°F (feels 34°C93°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	🥵 Sweaty: 78%
👌 Safety	Okay
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Bad
🤝 Lack of racism*	Okay
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Great
💰 Income level*	Very low: $704 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Okay
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Good
📶 Free WiFi in city	Bad
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Bad
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Bad
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Okay
👩 Female friendly	Good
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly	Great
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Latin America
🚩 Country	Mexico
🗓️ Average trip length	10 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	12 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌦 29°C 85°F + 🥵 Sweaty (78%) = feels 34°C 93°F
🔌 Power	115V 60Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 100 MXN in USD	USD 4.94
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	MXN 10,000 = USD 494
💸 Tipping	No
💳 Cashless	💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners)
☕️ Best coffee place	Cielito Querido Café
🏪 Best 24/7 coffee place	Cowork Tulum
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	👍11% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	21,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$8,444 / year
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 73% 👱‍♀️ 27%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Linio
🏠 Apartment listings	VivaNuncios
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Aero Mexico
🏥 Best hospital	Akumal Medical Center

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$2,338 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$1,423 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$2,371 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$677 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$1,892 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$2,618 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$490 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$89 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$86 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$106 / month
🍛 Dinner	$6
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$2
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
👩‍🏫 International school	$3,411 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$5 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$4 / trip