MikeW and Bonny Trip Report - Tulum

[MikeW]

This is a copy of our trip report from the PlayInfo web site. This is a trip we took to PDC and Tulum March 20, 2005 - March 28, 2005. On March 24, we moved from PDC to Tulum, Cabanas Copal. This was day 5 of our trip.

Day 5 – Thursday, March 24

As I said before check-in was no problem at Cobanas Copal. A young man took our bags and walked us down a candle lit path to our cabana with the ocean view. The cabana was set back about 30 feet from the drop off to the beach. He unlocked the door, and handed me the key and padlock, to the door. Set our luggage on the chair, and lit a match, nope, lit another match, nope, lit another match, nope, damn matches were damp, so he left to get more matches. It was quite windy and the ocean breeze was blowing through the cabana, I fired up a flash light and looked around. The young man returned and was able to light the candles and the candles in the bathroom.

Description of a Seaview King Cabana.
Tiny room with sticks for walls, thatched roof, a window with screens above and below the window, door made of pieces of wood with a padlock, tiny table, 2 chairs and a huge bed with mosquito netting. Up 3 small steps, watch your head, to a very small sink, small shower with a chonch shell for a shower head, and a toilet (please don’t flush the paper). The shower water is brackish, and they say comes from a local cenote. You can hear anything going on outside, so I assume anyone outside can probably hear anything going on inside, except for the noise of the ocean and wind.

http://playadelcarmeninfo.com/media/data/500/692679_Cabanas_Copal-med.jpg

The cabana is very small, with just enough room to walk around the bed, basically no place to put your luggage, luckily we packed very light. There are a few pegs on the walls to hang some clothes as well as a couple hangers and a shelf. Along with the screens to help with the breeze, there are large gaps between the sticks that are used for the walls of the cabana, and the gaps all around the door to keep a steady breeze or wind going through the cabana. Actually this isn’t a problem for us, other than it kept blowing out our candles.

I had read on different web sites to get an ocean view cabana so you had a constant breeze, and there are less bugs there compared to the jungle side cabanas. We also opted for the upgrade so we did not have to use the communal bathroom and shower, and had a cement instead of sand floor.

We changed into dryer clothes, nothing was going to stay dry being this close to the water, after our day at Chichen Itza and headed to the Cabanas Copal restaurant. I had some kind of light pasta, that was real good, and only about $6.50 and Bonny wasn’t hungry after that huge lunch in Vallodolid and ordered flan that was excellent. We also each had a couple of Top Shelf margaritas that weren’t bad. A family sat down at another table, and the mother slapped her leg, pulled out this huge can of bug spray and sprayed it on her legs. Actually I didn’t see or feel any mosquitoes. We finished and walked out to the beach bar, which was not open, and sat for awhile enjoying the tranquility and gail force winds. We retired to our cabana, crawled into bed, and tried to figure out how to get the mosquito netting all the way around the bed. The bed was actually very comfortable and not hard like the other beds. Other than the sand in the bed, which there was no way of stopping, it was very comfortable. We found that the mosquito netting did a marvelous job of keeping out the breeze, so I opened it up. There was no way a mosquito was gonna get us with the wind that was blowing through the cabana. Slept well with the noise of the waves in the background.

[Gale in KY]

Hey Mike, great report! In our cabana,(#15) between the room and the bathroom, on each side of the step up, there was a small alcove with a shelf that was a great place for suitcases and backpacks. In the bathroom, there was a floor to ceiling rack that was good to hang wet clothing and towels on..and since it was in a window that faced the toilet, hanging something there was mandatory for privacy.

When I see pictures of the cabanas others stayed in, I guess we were lucky..you couldn't see daylight between the sticks that made up the walls..and we didn't notice others talking etc as they walked by, another good thing.

I loved that pasta dish you are talking about, had it for lunch a couple of days in a row, mixed it with their fresh salsa that they served as an appetizer with every meal..after the first day, our waiter brought us a huge bowl of the stuff rather than just that little serving boat they brought it in the first day, guess that way, he didn't have to keep bringing us more! It really gave the pasta a wonderful flavor, Yummy!

On a gross note...lol..today, two months after our trip, I finally lost the tonail that I destroyed by continual stubbing on the rocks in the pathways..lethal to one after 2 or 3 margarita's..I never fell, but, I sure did stumble a time or two..lol! Guess I should have worn steel toed booths. Now that would have been a site, I could have blended in well with the little military guys who were patrolling the beach!

We too, pulled back the netting to enjoy the stiff breeze, heck, a couple of nights I would call it gale force winds..hard to believe that netting can block that much air...having never seen a bug, we decided to be cool would be better than bite protected, after that, we were glad to have the blanket they provided. You are so right, any mosquito unlucky enough to find it's self in the line of that breeze would soon find it's self several miles inland..no way they could hold in that kind of wind!

[MikeW]

Hey Mike, great report! In our cabana,(#15) between the room and the bathroom, on each side of the step up, there was a small alcove with a shelf that was a great place for suitcases and backpacks. In the bathroom, there was a floor to ceiling rack that was good to hang wet clothing and towels on..and since it was in a window that faced the toilet, hanging something there was mandatory for privacy.

On a gross note...lol..today, two months after our trip, I finally lost the tonail that I destroyed by continual stubbing on the rocks in the pathways..lethal to one after 2 or 3 margarita's..I never fell, but, I sure did stumble a time or two..lol! Guess I should have worn steel toed booths. Now that would have been a site, I could have blended in well with the little military guys who were patrolling the beach!

When we got there that shelf was pretty wet, I think it rained earlier in the day, and the blanket on the shelf was wet as well.

The blanket didn't matter, I ended sleeping on top of the sheets. The one sheet they had was pretty thick, Bonny slept under the sheet.

I was pretty careful with those rocks in the path, but the rocks in the ocean finally got me the last time I went in the water.

[MikeW]

Friday – March 25

Preface – Why we chose Cabanas Copal
Things Bonny will like
Romantic
Many vegetarian meals
Temezcal Sweat Lodge
Massages
Mayan Bathes
Chamber of flotation
Body Wraps
Environment Friendly EcoLodge
No Electricity

Things Mike will like
Cheap
Clothing Optional – WooHoo, where do I sign?

Before breakfast we went for a walk on the beach north of Copal, past Papaya Playa and Tribal Village up to a rocky area where someone had stacked rocks on top of each other. The shapes looked like rock people, in that there was a body and head, but no arms, legs, etc. Very ethereal looking. Lost count at about 22 of them. On the way back, the beach at Copal was starting to get crowded with tanned bare butts, and tanned other things.

Had breakfast at Copal. I ordered the Müesli (they call it oatmeal)—cream and yogurt with the Müesli mixed in with some oats and a whole sliced banana on top. Bonny ordered the Copal Desayuno. This consisted of scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, served with guacamole, black beans, fried potato and a cheese/spinach spread on toast. This was quite enough to hold us both over until dinner. After breakfast I headed down the road to a small store across from Zamas to get another hat and water. Yup, I lost another hat, this time I think I left it in the tour van. In case anyone found it on the van, it’s yours.

While I was at the store getting water, Bonny went to book a massage. All the healing/therapeutic massages were booked, so she ordered the ‘Relaxing’ massage. Her massage was not until 1PM, so in the meantime we sat on the beach and vegged. At 1PM Bonny went for her massage,tIt was the best one she had ever had, in or out of the states for a very reasonable $66.00 USD. She had Arturo, and FYI, he speaks perfect English-lived in California (not far from where Bonny once lived) for a long time. She almost fell asleep 3x during the massage, but forced herself to stay awake because she paid good money for it and wanted to be awake to enjoy it.

We just hung out at the beach all day long-and people watched. People watching at Copal can be quite interesting. There are the bare-ass-naked, been doing it their whole lives, people. There are the sans tops, been doing it for awhile people. There are the bare-ass-naked, this is the first time, and how come the ones that have been doing all their lives are in much better shape people. There are the bare-ass-naked, how come there is no hair on their bodies males. There are the bare-ass-naked, I’ll do it honey if you do it honey, if they have enough drinks, no-tanned ass :moon: couples. There are the completely embarrassed, what kind of resort is this, people. There are the beach bar gawkers, staring down at the beach, taking pictures.

We met Daniel the ‘Naked Rastafarian’-he makes palm frond hats on the beach. He just walked right up and started talking to us. The birds on top of the hats he makes are very cool and detailed.

Late in the afternoon we then took a walk up the road and through Diamante (checking it out), then turned around and walked past Copal, and on to Zamas for dinner. When we got there, it was packed. BTW, beware the green salsa-it was very hot, but very tasty. Our food came about 40 minutes later than the two Margaritas. It was obviously cooked to order. I ordered the shrimp spaghetti, and Bonny ordered what she thought was a fish with salsa. A whole deep fried fish (she thinks it was a very large perch) that hung over all sides of the large platter was flamboyantly presented. Since it was already cooked, and it looked mighty good, she didn’t protest. She says she felt a strong, strange, staring, burning feeling in her head, and glanced over to the empty chair next to her, only to see a very well fed calico staring her down. The cat had very nice manners. Bonny gave her a pectoral fin, with some meat attached, and she consumed the whole thing in 3 seconds. Knowing she couldn’t finish the entire fish, Bonny shared her meal with her newfound fair-weather kitty-friend. My shrimp spaghetti, was okay, not great.

After the meal, we walked back to Copal. Walking on that road at night is a bit scary. We had our flashlight, and would turn it on as cars slithered by. At Copal we sat at the bar swings to escape the wandering ‘musicians.’ Had 2 or 3 margaritas. While we were at the bar, another couple sat down next to us and made small talk to us for a short time, but then woman giggled a bit and said something to her husband, and they didn’t talk to us the rest of the evening. Maybe she recognized my face and connected it with the hairy white ass she saw on the beach earlier in the day. When we were done at the bar, I ordered 2 Coronas to go. We walked down to the beach and sat on beach chairs, enjoying the ocean, the moon, clouds, stars, romantic setting, and the Coronas.

[roni]

MikeW,

Your trip report is entertaining, informative, funny and an enjoyable read. You get an A+!!

Thank you for writing it up and posting it.

[sctx]

cheap and clothing optional..... what a guy !!!!

[MikeW]

Day 6 – Saturday March 26

The alarm went off at 7:00 o’clock exactly. Not the usual alarm clock, but the pinging of metal hitting a metal pipe, and some scraping noises—the water heater for the showers had gone out (probably due to the wind, or corrosion, or old age, or whatever). The water heater was located outside of our cabana about 3 feet from our heads. I got up and went for a walk-to get more water and to explore a little. Then both of us went to the beach. After about an hour or so, we went up to have breakfast. I got the ‘usual’, Meusli, and Bonny got the fresh fruit (mango, pineapple, papaya, cantaloupe and watermelon) with yogurt and granola.

Left this part out of revision 1: The morning was fairly overcast, and a bit cool kind of. After breakfast we went for a walk south and walked along the beach south of Zamas for awhile.

http://playadelcarmeninfo.com/media/data/500/692677_Tulum_South_of_Zamas_Bonny-med.jpg

Hung around there for a little bit, then headed back up towards Copal stopping for a couple of gallons of water at the small store. By the time we got back to Copal the sun was streaming through.

Went back to the beach for some sunning, swimming, reading, and drinking beer. After ordering beers one at a time, I noticed another couple ordering a bucket of beer, so I did the same the next time the waiter came by. We basically did nothing most of the day, it was wonderful and relaxing. About 4PM, we went for our 10,000 step walk. We headed up the beach road to El Paraiso beach club where a big old party was going on, loud music, lots of people, stage, everything we didn’t want, so we turned around and headed back to Copal (about 15K steps that day).

We had dinner at Copal that night, I got the coconut shrimp with rice and Bonny ordered the grilled nopal (very large cactus leaf) on rice-both were truly superb. Tried the Hornito margarita, but it wasn’t as good as the Jose Cuervo trade. After dinner we layed on one of the outdoor hanging beds near the beach for a half hour or so, then headed back to our cabana. Went to bed early-Bonny had too much sun and was running a low grade fever.

[MikeW]

Day 7 - Easter Sunday

Alarm clock at 7am again! Ting, ting, ting; water heater on the fritz again. Who was getting up this damn early, and required hot water?

Breakfast at Copal with a different chef. Not the same quality or quantity of food. Same orders-I ordered my usual, and got a large bowl of yogurt with sliced banana and some granola sprinkled on top. Bonny ordered the Copal Desayuno and had some type of dyed red fishy fish (not salmon) substituted for the salmon (I guess they thought she wouldn’t know the difference-she is blonde). After breakfast we took a short walk up the beach to the flat rock with the tide pools and watched the Gobi and zebra stripers swim around.

Despite my sarcasm about Cabanas Copal, we really enjoyed it. It is fairly laid back, the clientele are quiet and pretty much keep to themselves, the exact opposite of PDC where it is party time for the most part. Copal is for couples, both straight and gay. Families with children seem to stick out a bit here. No television, music (except for the restaurant), no electricity, no lights, etc. We really needed this relaxing vacation, as Bonny gets ready for the home stretch run with the defense of her dissertation at the end of April. Copal fit the bill for us.

Today was check out day at Cabanas Copal and head back to PDC. We decide to check out at 11:45 and extend our stay until 3pm, before heading back to PDC for one last day until our flight home. We decide the price of a taxi from Copal to PDC is worth it for 3 extra hours of lazing around doing nothing on the beach at Copal. I checked out just before noon. They held our “luggage” at reception, gave me 2 more towels I could use, and made arrangements for a taxi to pick us up at 3PM.

Laid out on the beach and watched a new flock of tourists fry. Note to first-timers—reapply sunscreen after swimming (even if it says ‘waterproof’). At about 2:30 we reluctantly picked up our things at the beach, and headed for the communal showers.

Taxi pulled up at exactly 3pm and the ride took exactly 1 hour from Copal to PDC. Note: Taxis seem to have seat belts, but not seat belt buckles. The taxi driver was very nice, even though he spoke little English, and decided to put in a CD for us. If you have music preferences, bring your own CD. We got the New Age, spaced out musica (deep relaxation –hypnosis stuff), probably because we came from Copal, and as we all know, everyone that goes there likes that kind of musica…

[Nelms]

Really enjoyed your trip report. Two quesitons:

1. How was the beach at Copal for swimming? Were there a lot of rocks in the water, so you would need water shoes?

2. How were the beds in the cabana? some in Mexico are quite hard.

Thanks!

[MikeW]

Really enjoyed your trip report. Two quesitons:

1. How was the beach at Copal for swimming? Were there a lot of rocks in the water, so you would need water shoes?

2. How were the beds in the cabana? some in Mexico are quite hard.

Thanks!
The beach was okay. At the time we were there the beach was kind of skinny. Yeah, lot's of rocks in the water, in some places, depending on where the waves were breaking. For the most part I would swim even in the shallower water out to the sandy area, then stand. The beach looked nicer just north 100 meters. It was windy while we were there, I was able to ride a few waves, but for the most part they would fizzle out and then break late.

The beds were very nice, nothing like the hotels we stayed at in PDC where they were very hard.

[Gale in KY]

When we were there in Jan:
The beach is rocky at both ends, rocky outcroppings, which really just serve to keep the beach a bit more private, as well as scenic..I like the rocks..lol! I did stumble on a few rocks in the water, but, I don't think water shoes are necessary, we didn't use them at all. The bed was very comfortable, wish mine at home was that comfortable. The waves were strong a couple of days, but, I am told that is normal for Jan., and it didn't deter anyone from water activity, several people were swimming and snorkeling, even saw one guy kiteboarding. The beach at the ruins was red-flagged because of rough surf conditions, but it didn't seem nearly as rough at Copal as it did at the ruins.

[barbj050]

mike thanks for the report....atleast this board is seeing some activity...cant wait for my tulum trip...

[MikeW]

mike thanks for the report....atleast this board is seeing some activity...cant wait for my tulum trip...
Thanks go to Roni, for pushing it.

[MikeW]

When we were there in Jan:
The beach is rocky at both ends, rocky outcroppings, which really just serve to keep the beach a bit more private, as well as scenic..I like the rocks..lol! I did stumble on a few rocks in the water, but, I don't think water shoes are necessary, we didn't use them at all. The bed was very comfortable, wish mine at home was that comfortable. The waves were strong a couple of days, but, I am told that is normal for Jan., and it didn't deter anyone from water activity, several people were swimming and snorkeling, even saw one guy kiteboarding. The beach at the ruins was red-flagged because of rough surf conditions, but it didn't seem nearly as rough at Copal as it did at the ruins.
Yours is a better description of the beach than mine. I didn't think I would need water shoes, personally I don't like them, but the last time out I hit the side of my foot pretty hard on a rock. Maybe I had too many beers by then, and I wasn't paying close enough attention to what I was doing.

[Gale in KY]

Well, I already told ya about my toes suffering the rocks that were hiding in the pathways around the cabanas..lol..course, after spending the evening swinging on the bar stool swings at the restaurant bar, and enjoying the spirits that Enrique was serving me, I was probably not too steady on my feet..lol! If you like Coconut, don't miss the "cocoloco"..it was awesome! The Carribbeean Sunrise wasn't too bad either. Just be sure to watch for those pesky rocks that will catch you and send you stumbling.

[bobbij]

Great report! We love Copal and I do have a funny story that I posted in the playa site....here goes! :D This was funny. We hop all over when we go down...staying at different places, and on our way down to Punta Allen, we checked into Cabanas Copal. It was about dark when we arrived, my two boys 10 and 12 and my hubby and I.
We all go to bed in our very cozy cabana, I think it was #1, and in front of our cabana is a trail down to the beach, as we were waking up the next morning, 12 year old shouts, oh how gross ! theres a NAKED DUDE in front of our window ! There was of coarse a very well indowed young man coming up from the beach! I had no idea Copal was clothing optional.
We have been going to this area for years so they are used to naked boobies
but not snake sized penis! It was halarious! I jokinly asked my hubby,
"honey are you going to take your shorts off?" he got a look of horror on his face and say " NO WAY did you see the size of that guy!
We all had a good laugh!

[MikeW]

Great report! We love Copal and I do have a funny story that I posted in the playa site....here goes! :D This was funny. We hop all over when we go down...staying at different places, and on our way down to Punta Allen, we checked into Cabanas Copal. It was about dark when we arrived, my two boys 10 and 12 and my hubby and I.
We all go to bed in our very cozy cabana, I think it was #1, and in front of our cabana is a trail down to the beach, as we were waking up the next morning, 12 year old shouts, oh how gross ! theres a NAKED DUDE in front of our window ! There was of coarse a very well indowed young man coming up from the beach! I had no idea Copal was clothing optional.
We have been going to this area for years so they are used to naked boobies
but not snake sized penis! It was halarious! I jokinly asked my hubby,
"honey are you going to take your shorts off?" he got a look of horror on his face and say " NO WAY did you see the size of that guy!
We all had a good laugh!
I had read your post before we went. It was hilarious.

Your post made me think of a comedy skit I see on TV about 6 months ago. I can't remember the name of the show. Basically 4 good ole boys sitting on a wood deck in a backyard, drinking beers. They were all comparing their decks. One guy talking about how girls like to sit on his big deck. Another complaining no one likes his small deck. So someone suggested he trim the bushes around his small deck so it looked bigger.

[roni]

Thanks go to Roni, for pushing it.

Shoot, I just posted a few pics and a two year old trip report. Thanks James for doing it and MikeW and Gale and everyone else for posting stuff.

We have momentum, but don't know if we are at critical mass yet :).

[Gale in KY]

No thanks due here, Roni, if not for you guys, I would not be able to post pictures..haha.