Tulum: the Good and the Bad

Good:  People and Amazing memories.  I met amazing women at Dear Alyne's retreat, and several of us stayed in town for an extra week.  We had more time to bond, sightsee, and enjoy the beach.  The women feel like kindred spirits - we are all so different, and yet so similar.  I'll save another post for them.  Tulum has beaches, jungles, and cenotes (fresh water sinkholes).  In our week after the retreat, we continued to talk about the same topics, and we took time to relax and have fun together.  Tulum has some great restaurants and beach clubs.  We snorkeled, rented scooters, and spent time together eating delicious food.

​Bad:  Seaweed, Covid, Crowds.  Under normal circumstances, I understand the water is turquoise and the beaches are beautiful.  However, seaweed was taking over.  It covered the beaches and it made the water brown.  I hear this happens this time of year, but this year was the worst.  I also hear some people think this is permanent due to climate change.  It makes me think, yet again, how I can do my part to help the earth.  I feel guilt, but I am still traveling and consuming more things, food, and power than I need to.  Mexico decided to open during the pandemic because a large part of its economy depends on tourism, so it is attracting crowd - especially from the United States.
Tulum is a major tourist hotspot, and many tourists are not following Covid recommendations - not wearing masks or distancing.  There are many crowded bars and restaurants, and I believe that the locals are not enforcing Covid rules because they want the business and they are probably tired of dealing with mouthy tourists (probably mostly Americans).  Due to these conditions, Covid rates are quite high in coastal tourist spots.