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Tulum & the Riviera Maya

Mexico · Caribbean · northern hemisphere

SwimmingLakes & CoastlineCity & Culture

Tulum & the Riviera Maya is at its best for lakes & coastline in December to April. Good but not prime in May and November. Crowds peak in January and bottom out in October.

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Swimming
89
90
91
91
66
47
53
51
31
37
68
89
Lakes & Coastline
90
92
91
88
65
40
47
40
37
39
69
89
City & Culture
92
92
88
67
19
13
20
15
9
42
67
88
Crowds

Swipe the table sideways for the rest of the year.

primegoodpossibleoff-seasoncrowds, on this place’s own scale

The short version

Sargassum is the variable nobody mentions in the brochures — seaweed washes onto this coast most heavily from May to August and can linger into November, and it can turn a postcard beach into a clean-up operation. February to April is both the driest stretch and the clearest water

When not to come

Mid-August to mid-October for storms, and April into November if the beach itself is the point — that is sargassum season and it varies wildly The cenotes are unaffected by sargassum.

Busiest

Christmas and New Year, US spring break in March, Easter week, and July

With children

Cenotes are the great equaliser here — freshwater, calm, shaded, and endlessly interesting to children. The beach road is long, hot and has poor pavements.

Where to stay

The Tulum beach road is the expensive strip and has no beach access of its own if you are not staying on it. Tulum Pueblo is a fraction of the price with the cenotes closer.

What can go wrong

Hurricane season

Peak September and October.Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct

Wet season

Afternoon downpours most days from May. Mornings are usually clear.May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct

Sargassum

Seaweed washes onto this coast most heavily from April to August and varies wildly year to year. It can turn a postcard beach into a clean-up operation. The cenotes are unaffected.Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug

Kept out of the score on purpose. Averaging a rare catastrophe into a monthly number would tell you something false; the warning is the honest form.

Dates that matter

  • Sargassum season (Apr–Nov), heaviest May–Aug and unpredictable
  • Hurricane season (1 Jun–30 Nov), highest risk mid-Aug to mid-Oct; sargassum April to October
  • Day of the Dead (1–2 Nov)

Crowds, month by month

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0 is this destination’s own quietest month and 100 its busiest. The scale never compares one destination to another. Source: Wikipedia — Tulum

See everything else at its best in Feb

Elsewhere in Caribbean

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