Tulum Warnings Or Dangers

My girlfriend was dosed with drugs in her drink here in December 2009 - at 6pm! I DO NOT SAY THIS LIGHTLY. We went for a sunset drink and a snack after a day exploring the area; and left after two margaritas. No more than 15 minutes later while driving back to Playa, she started experiencing extreme intoxication, nausea, then a very very long night of hallucinating, fear and paranoia. I know the difference between drunk and tripping, and as good as the margaritas were, two won't even get you drunk. This was a very difficult, very painful long night. This ruined not only our last night, but the entire Christmas vacation, and after 11 years of coming to Playa and Tulum, it's destroyed the idea of ever coming back to the area, or possibly even Mexico. The Cancunization of the entire coast is rampant.

If you need any more evidence of problems in the area: Tulum, Dec 2009, "12th Journalist Gunned Down In Mexico This Year"

This was the email response from the owners after contacting them three times: "We take all customer communications seriously and have taken time to consider the matter you brought to our attention thoroughly. We discussed this matter with the appropriate authorities and our management team. All parties agreed that without any evidence, we can do nothing in response" Somehow I find it extremely unlikely they went to the Mexican Police and told them one of their waiters has been accused of drugging a customer.

Unfortunately we have experienced a few attempts at short changing in Tulum.

The first time was at a money exchange booth next to the post office. We changed 100€ and got a few 200 peso bills plus a huge pile of 50 peso bills. It should have come to 1,800 pesos. We counted it ourselves to check, and it was 100 pesos short.
The guy "realized" his mistake and gave us the missing 100 pesos.
The second time was at the gas station quite close to the exchange booth. We filled up for 300 pesos and gave the man a 200 plus two 50 peso bills. He pointed at the meter (we had given him the correct amount) and before we noticed it, the 200 peso bill in his hand had magically changed into a 20 peso. I've seen this trick before, it's a conjurer's trick to switch the bills round really fast.
I just said "bromas" and drove off.

Keep in mind that Tulum is a jungle out there and chances are you may run into a bit of the wildlife. I'm personally scared to death of spiders and the one's I've seen in this area had me frozen with fear. Them sucker's are bigger than my hand and hairy too boot. To be honest I have only seen five of them in my three visits to the area but if your afraid of spiders its something to be aware of, specifically if your staying in one of the more rustic beach cabana's. I had one rather hair raising experience of sitting on the toilet in the open air shared bath facilities of my cabana and having the misfortune to look up at the thatched roof and was greeted with the sight of a massive tarantula playing peek a boo. The mosquito's are the real thing to watch out for. They are insatiable in their quest to suck you dry and leave you scratching at yourself like you were a leper. Bring lots of Deet Mosquito spray and lather yourself with it. Also bring anti-itch cream as no matter what precautions you take you will get bit here and there so be prepared!

I was on vacation in Tulum with my husband and kids ages 3 & 9 Feb 2008. We have been to Tulum before and have felt very safe. The night before our departure 3 armed Mexican men climbed up to the 2nd story balcony of our rental house, robbed us at gunpoint, locked my 3 yr old daughter in the bathroom and tied up my husband and me while my 9 yr old slept through it all. Took all valuable, non-traceable items and the rental car. I speak fluent spanish, so things went as smoothly as possible.
TIPS: lock your doors, scope out your place for unsecure areas. Report all crimes to the authorities and take the time to make a formal statement. The Consulate office (American is in Playa del Carmen) can send a local translator to facilitate communication, the Judicial Police contacted them for us, and while I did not need the translation services, they have been helpful as liasons.

Many of the resorts around Tulum, mainly the more rustic ones and bungalows - have salty water coming out of the tap. Not that you'd drink it even if it was fresh, but just be ready for it. It feels quite strange, especially in the shower, and on long hair. I used extra conditioner to help.

A wedding party staying at this hotel was robbed in 20 rooms of over $100,000 on Oct. 27, 07. Thieves were able to access all the safes in the rooms. Reports to the hotel management were met with hostility and threats. Local and Federal investigators were of no assistance. See the article in the Fort Bend Herald web site for November 1 for details. DO NOT GO To THIS HOTEL UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!!!

Watch what you touch. We were warned not to touch the trees at Coba as some of them are poisonous. Our guide explained what would happen and let me tell you it was not pleasant!

Some updated info from VT'er Zahirah:
"The "poisonous" trees are called che chen, and the nasty rash can only be healed by a mush made of the bark of a chakah tree, which is always found near a che chen, a good thing!"

This area of the Yucatan Peninsula was hit pretty hard by Hurricane Emily last year, and most hotels have recovered to some extent. You may want to make sure that the hotel you are staying in does not have ongoing construction. Also, much of the vegetation such as palm trees has been uprooted. They have been replanted, but are young trees and smaller. Beach erosion, always a problem in this area, was terrible, and most beaches have only just started to re-open in the past few months. You may have a pipe running the length of the beach. Also, if you plan on traveling to Cozumel for snorkeling and scuba, the reefs have been damaged too. From what I've heard from friends, the snorkeling won't recover for some years, although if you're going to scuba, you can go deeper and still see plant and marine life.