Bus or reasonable shuttle options from Cancun to Tulum

Hi,

Does anybody know of a name of a bus company that can take us from the hotel zone in Cancun all the way to Tulum? There are two women who need to get over there and we're trying not to rent a car. We rented a shuttle from the airport to Cancun and it was very reasonable however the drive to Tulum is much further. We need the car for couple of days and then need to drive it back to the airport. Any words of advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Juli

Why don't you book a private driver for the day?

indyjuli said:

Hi,

Does anybody know of a name of a bus company that can take us from the hotel zone in Cancun all the way to Tulum? There are two women who need to get over there and we're trying not to rent a car. We rented a shuttle from the airport to Cancun and it was very reasonable however the drive to Tulum is much further. We need the car for couple of days and then need to drive it back to the airport. Any words of advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Juli

Click to expand...

It may be further but highway 307 is a beautiful road. Easy driving.

Why not just take a tour? There's several companies offering this as one day outing. I don't remember any names of the companies off-hand, but you'll find several once you're in Cancun.

[Advertising deleted]

Extend your car rental. Done.

It's such a shame so many people are afraid to drive here. Been doing it for 23+ years and have not had a single issue. Obey the law as you do at home and you'll have no problems. Simple.

You can take the ADO bus from downtown Cancun to Tulum. First class, reserved seats, very comfortable. It does not go thru the Hotel Zone so you have to get downtown to the bus station, you can take the R -1 bus from the hotel, or get a taxi..also, there are really 2 Tulums, the bus will drop you at the Tulum ruins or the little town of Tulum, which is a few more miles down the road. Just tell the bus driver which place you want to visit.

alfie said:

You can take the ADO bus from downtown Cancun to Tulum. First class, reserved seats, very comfortable. It does not go thru the Hotel Zone so you have to get downtown to the bus station, you can take the R -1 bus from the hotel, or get a taxi..also, there are really 2 Tulums, the bus will drop you at the Tulum ruins or the little town of Tulum, which is a few more miles down the road. Just tell the bus driver which place you want to visit.

Click to expand...

Another vote for ADO bus. We have been taking that bus from Cancun to Playa Del Carmen for day visits for the last 10 years. No problem ever. They run frequently, very inexpensive and safe. We plan to take the ADO bus to Merida for an overnight visit sometime soon.

Another vote for ADO Bus. See this post from the Caribbean forum for our day trip to Tulum.

alfie said:

You can take the ADO bus from downtown Cancun to Tulum. First class, reserved seats, very comfortable. It does not go thru the Hotel Zone so you have to get downtown to the bus station, you can take the R -1 bus from the hotel, or get a taxi..also, there are really 2 Tulums, the bus will drop you at the Tulum ruins or the little town of Tulum, which is a few more miles down the road. Just tell the bus driver which place you want to visit.

Click to expand...

When you buy your ticket on the ADO Bus to Tulum, you buy the ticket for either the archaeological zone or the town of Tulum. I am sure if you buy the wrong one, getting dropped off at the other wouldn't be a problem. I think the price was the same. Though I don't know if all of the buses going to the town of Tulum also always stop at the archaeological zone.

Except for the corrupt police and being in an accident has different consequences.

Phydeaux said:

Extend your car rental. Done.

It's such a shame so many people are afraid to drive here. Been doing it for 23+ years and have not had a single issue. Obey the law as you do at home and you'll have no problems. Simple.

Click to expand...

am1 said:

Except for the corrupt police and being in an accident has different consequences.

Click to expand...

Don't involve yourself with the police, and don't get into an accident.

There are many thousands of people that rent and drive this area annually without ever having a problem. And, you never hear from them. Unfortunately, some people get a kick out of propagating the negative things they heard 3r or 5th hand.

Phydeaux said:

Don't involve yourself with the police, and don't get into an accident.

There are many thousands of people that rent and drive this area annually without ever having a problem. And, you never hear from them. Unfortunately, some people get a kick out of propagating the negative things they heard 3r or 5th hand.

Click to expand...

We rented and drove to playa Del Carmen from Cancun last year.
Would do it again.
Car was so cheap that paying the local car Hire insurance premiums. Except LDW on the amex was totally worthwhile.

Suggestion if you choose to use a tour company

The bus is by far the cheapest way to get from Cancun to Tulum, but someone suggested looking into a tour as an alternative - a bit more expensive but you get there quicker (it was well over hour or more by bus, much quicker if you go direct without a lot of stops and delays). We started using a tour company and arranged to have them pick us up (as was suggested above). There are a number of them, including site arranged tours from most resorts.

We've been using Edventures for the last four years, they are located just outside Tulum (walking distance) and we have had some amazing experiences with them. I can't recommend them highly enough - we keep going back to them every year or so when we visit the area.

Three years ago we had them pick us up in Cancun, and deliver us for a tour of Tulum. We did tack on a number of other "adventures" as long as we were in the area (swimming in cenotes, snorkeling with sea turtles, snorkeling in a private lagoon, etc.), but it's all a-al-carte, so you pick what you want to do. You might check into what they charge if a tour is of interest.

We did have a group of seven, so not sure if there would be a different outcome if only a few people, but for us it worked great and we had a much more full day than just driving down and visited for a few hours.

We've used them three times to arrange tours and have been extremely happy - they're probably the oldest adventure tour group in the area. If interested look on-line for their site and list of adventures.

If not doing a tour I would hire a local guide before entering Tulum - our guide made it much more interesting as he explained the meaning of the structures, the Mayan culture, etc.

Lars