As promised, I am splitting up all the details of my Tulum Bachelorette Party Itinerary into a separate guide because I mean it when I say the word detailed.
If you read my already detailed Tulum Bachelorette Party Itinerary, you would know that I left out some important tips and tricks that the bride / MOH (whoever is planning the shin-dig).
If you are a type-A traveler like myself, you will leave this guide with every question answered and about ready to book a flight to Las Vegas to give me a big thank you hug!!
Planning a bachelorette party can be super stressful, especially when you have never been to the destination before. I hope this guide answers all your questions and gives you tons of help! As always, if you have any extra questions that this guide didn’t answer for you.. don’t hesitate to comment below so I can help! 🙂
CLICK HERE TO READ MY FULL TULUM BACHELORETTE PARTY ITINERARY!
There’s a chance this free guide contains affiliate links. I might make a small commission if you make a purchase through one of these links (at no extra cost to you) that goes towards little Rosie’s dog treats!
Overview
Where We Stayed & Pros / Cons of the best areas
How to Get Around (The WhatsApp of our Private Driver)
Matching Outfit Ideas
Decor Items & Goodie Bag “Must-Have’s”
Safety Tips for a Girls Trip to Mexico
Pesos or USD?
Tips on Handling Payments for a Big Group
Where We Stayed
This was a part that was a bit stressful to plan, because I ended up choosing a brand new area of Tulum that has never been mentioned on any travel guides. I had no idea what to expect about this area and took a little bit of a leap of faith!
There are three main areas to stay in Tulum: Tulum Beach, Tulum Town, and the new area of Aldea Zama.
Let me give you the main area’s pros / cons, and you can decide from there what area would work best for you!
Tulum Beach
This is a bustling area where all the action is! This is where you will find the cute beach bars, fun restaurant / night clubs, and art installations. If you want to be walking distance to where all the action is, this is it!
Now for the downsides… Most of the Tulum Beach hotels and Airbnb’s do not have air conditioning. Keep that in mind if you are traveling in the warmer months (which, it’s tropical there so that is pretty much year round). This area is also FAR more expensive with very minimal Airbnb options. For big groups / bachelorette parties, I think it’s crucial to have an Airbnb versus individual hotel rooms because you want a place to hang out with each other!
Also, the restaurants and bars along Tulum beach are super expensive! Drinks are like USA prices around $10-$20 a pop and if you buy bottles at a beach club its hundreds of dollars. Real estate down there is trendy and expensive, so plan to pay the price.
If you are traveling with a smaller group and want to hang out on the beach a lot, then I think the beach would be the best choice!
Tulum Town
Tulum Town is roughly a 30 minute drive from the beach (there’s always some traffic), so it will be quite the treck to get back and forth every day. It’s too far to bike ride, so driving is the only option!
The good part about Tulum town is there are tons of local restaurant options, the prices are insanely cheap, and there are tons of affordable Airbnb MANSIONS. Think rooftop pools, penthouses for only a few hundred a night, private chef options, gated neighborhoods, etc.
For a bachelorette party where you know you will be doing a lot of fun, touristy things on the beach.. Tulum town is a bit too far. It’s a long process to get back and forth and the taxis will definitely add up! If you plan to do a lot of site seeing to Cenotes & ruins and want to hang out at a nice house, this would be the best option.
Aldea Zama
This is the area I chose and I 1000% recommend!
Aldea Zama is a new and upcoming area in Tulum that is directly between Tulum town and the beach. It kind of has the best of both worlds.. Low priced / locals restaurants within walking distance, only a 20 min bike ride to the beach**, 15 minute taxi ride to the beach, nice and affordable Airbnb options, & so much more!
**I planned a bike riding day to the beach one of the days and just keep in mind that there is no shade and it is HOT and HUMID. You are literally dripping sweat by the time you get to the beach bars and once you get onto the beach area, there is not safe sidewalk to bike on. Just keep that in mind!
How to Get Around – Our Private Driver!!
I couldn’t wait to recommend this to my readers!!
Since we had such a large group (12 girls), we would’ve had to track down two large taxis every time we wanted to go anywhere. Plus, transfers to / from the airport, we did an adventure day to Cenotes, grocery store runs, etc. It would’ve been such a hassle each day!
I found the most angelic, private driver in all of Tulum! We booked him for our entire trip at just a flat rate per day. They charged my group $250 per day, for up to 12 hours of driving. Whenever you call him for your first pick up, he starts the 12 hour timer for the day.
He had an air conditioned, 15 passenger van and took us literally anywhere we wanted. It was nice not to have to worry about drunk girls getting into random taxis at night and have a familiar face waiting for us after our excursions. He was a godsend!!
Just message Dan The Driver on WhatsApp and request our driver, Gitzel!
+52 984 135 7860
If you don’t want to do the private driver route, you can just get individual taxis. They are everywhere, but you will need to barter a price every time BEFORE they take you somewhere. They are also have tour companies that provide airport transfers and take you to Cenotes.
To me, it was easiest to have just one driver to coordinate with & it gives sort of a luxury feel to the trip to have one, trusting driver for your group.
Matching Outfit Ideas
I didn’t go too crazy with matching outfits because I wanted my girls to have the freedom to wear what they wanted! I knew this trip was expensive and there was going to be many photos taken, so I wanted to let them pick out things they would love & didn’t feel obligated to buy too many clothes.
Here are the few things that I did…
I did one night where everyone wore white and I wore a bright color like Hot Pink! It turned out SO cute and I feel like was fairly original. I didn’t want to wear white the entire time because I don’t love myself in white, so this was a really fun idea!
Another thing we did was for the boat, I had everyone where a black bathing suit with captain hats and I wore white! I figured everyone at least already has a black bathing suit, and if they had to shop for a new one, black ones are super easy to come by. It turned out SO cute!
My maid of honor also got my an adorable “Booty Veil” for the boat day, which I am not kidding boats were stopping in their tracks to say how adorable it was! Here is the link to the one my MOH got me.
Here are the captain hats I bought for my girls and here is the captain hat I bought for myself that says “bride” on it!
For the Full Moon Party, I wore a crochet white dress from Beginning Boutique and everyone else wore beachy / boho dresses of whatever color they wanted.
Click here to shop this adorable dress!
A Few “Must Pack” Items & Decoration Ideas
- Boob Tape
- Double Sided Tape for Clothes
- Band-Aids for Blisters!!
- Booty Veil for the Boat
- Flabongo
- See the jungle party decorations & balloon kit we used below!
Even though my girls absolutely KILLED it with the decorations, I felt sooo bad that they had to decorate the Airbnb after that long of a travel day. Plus, they had to lug all those decorations all the way to Tulum!
If the thought of that makes you want to cry.. I have a solution for you! I found a concierge company in Tulum called ToDoTulum that does grocery stocking, decorating, goodie bag preparation, airport transfers, club reservations… literarily everything you could ever dream of.
They actually helped me find the Yacht Company I went with and were there to help me with any random questions I had. They are local to Tulum are truly the sweetest group of girls. Click here to check them out!
Goodie Bag Must Haves
- These Burlap Beach Bags – My sister was crafty and put everyone’s name on it! If you don’t have someone in your group like that, you can buy them made like this on Etsy!
- These cute Turkish Beach Towels (which came in handy for the Cenote day & the Yacht day)
- Stadium Cups from Target
- We filled the Stadium cups with Pepto chewables, Liquid IV, Reef Safe SunBum Sunblock (reef safe is a must for Cenotes & the ocean), and water bottles! I got the travel sized Sunbum sunscreens from Target!
- Captain Hats if you are doing a boat day!
Safety Tips for a Girls Trip to Mexico
Boring!! Ya ya, I know.
I never like to scare anyone about traveling, because I always feel like the news makes places seem 10x scarier than they really are by showcasing only the worst parts of the country. BUT, I do think that when you are traveling with a big group of girls who are most likely drinking.. you should always keep in mind some safety tips!
1. Make an announcement right when you get there to have everyone pick a buddy or two!
Right when we got there and we were about to go out for our first dinner, I had my maid of honor make a quick announcement to set the tone for the trip! We told everyone to pick a buddy (or two) and make sure you keep an eye on them throughout the trip. If they get too drunk, have to go to the bathroom, or need another drink… make sure you stick with them!
2. Never let anyone go to the bathroom by themselves.
When your friend asks you if you have to pee, say yes even if you don’t! At every restaurant, there were guys hanging around near the bathroom entrances trying to sell drugs.
3. Be VERY careful buying drugs in bars or clubs, especially in Mexico
People have been dying left and right by doing drugs (even in the USA) that have been laced with Fethanyl. Even the smallest pinch can be so toxic that it can kill you instantly. I am not kidding when I say I care about each one of you who reads this, please be careful!!
4. Temporarily share I-Phone locations
Have everyone temporarily share I-phone locations throughout the trip just in case someone gets lost or their phone get’s stolen. Plus, if some girls want to leave the bar early and take a taxi home, you will want to make sure they get home okay.
Do I need Pesos or is USD okay?
From what I read online, everyone said that you must bring Pesos for Tulum, but after I got there.. that is not what I would agree with! I think Tulum has gotten extremely popular in the past 5-10 years, and tourism has skyrocketed! Like any touristy area in Mexico, USD are widely accepted!
I do believe that you get a slightly better exchange rate when paying in Pesos, because all prices are listed in Pesos. When you pay in USD, they are using the exchange rate that the restaurant posted for that day. Keep in mind, this exchange rate is likely a bit worse than one you would get at your local bank.
If you are going to less touristy areas or visiting a lot of the Cenotes, you will want to bring some pesos with you. Many of the Cenotes still only accept pesos, especially the snack bars!
How to handle payments with a big group
Handling payments and splitting everything gets not only confusing, but very awkward with a big group! We tried to keep everything as fair and simple as possible.
Everything that was a fixed expense (for example, Cenote entrance fees, tips for the driver & excursions, entrance tickets to parties / clubs, etc.) I had my girls pay in advance on a payment plan. I was then responsible for pulling out the necessary money and making the payments when we got there. This brought down their expenses during the trip a lot and made it far more stress-free!
For all restaurants, bars, and grocery trips, we dedicated one girl in the group to putting everything on her card. That way it was easiest to keep track of all the bills and people could just send money to one person instead of some money to one girl, some money to another, and so forth.
TIP: Don’t forget to include tip for your drivers, tour guides, etc. in everyone’s payment! You can’t expect everyone to split up a cash tip when they’re drinking and having fun!
Okay, that’s a wrap! I started this guide thinking it would be short and sweet, but that’s never the case, ha! I can’t help but share with you all the details I can think of, because who doesn’t love know all the specifics when they are travel planning?!
I hope you found this guide too useful and have the best time in Tulum! If you have any questions that I haven’t answered already, don’t hesitate to comment below so I can help. 🙂
If you haven’t already read it already, you can read my EPIC Tulum Bachelorette Party Itinerary here!!
Looking for more Bachelorette Party Destinations? Here are some I think you would love:
- Bachelorette Party in Nashville, TN!
- Bachelorette Party in Las Vegas!
- Bachelorette Party in San Diego!
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5 comments
[…] where we stayed, how to get around (the WhatsApp of our private driver), and decoration ideas.. CLICK HERE! […]
This is a good and perfect tips.thanks!
So interesting, and so jealous!
This was so helpful, thank you!!! If you don’t mind me asking – roughly how much did you end up spending per person for everything?? Trying to get a budget together 🙂
It was around $700 for tours, driver, some dinners, and accommodations! Flights and extra drinks / food was extra!