I like traveling to Mexico. In the last year, I went to Playa del Carmen and to Secrets Impression Moxche. Unfortunately, depending on your location or destination, it can be cumbersome and time consuming (and frankly, annoying) to travel to and from Cancun Airport. What’s more, airport transfers from Cancun Airport to just about anywhere cost well, mucho dineros.
Felipe Carrillo Puerto Airport aka Tulum Airport (TQO) opened a little over a year ago, hopefully as a closer and more user friendly airport, for travel to and from Tulum and it’s neighboring areas.
I recently went to Tulum, to Secrets Tulum Resort & Beach Club (5 nights) and to a Mr. and Mrs. Smith hotel, Tiki Tiki Tulum (2 nights). I arrived and departed from Tulum Airport, so I thought I’d share a review of the airport and also a discussion of transportation to and from the airport.
The popular US airlines, American, United, Delta and Jet Blue, all fly to Tulum Airport. I flew American Airlines. Customs and immigration was unremarkable.
Tulum Airport is brand new and still sparkling. There are sufficient fast-food eateries and stores.
There is a duty free store, in case you didn’t drink enough tequila or mezcal while you were in Mexico. The selection and prices were okay, but not fabulous. I noticed another store selling very high end spirits for the agave connoisseurs amongst us. A section of the duty free store also sold cosmetics and toiletries, but it wasn’t very exciting.
Like the Cancun Airport, you can stock up on various prescription meds (without a prescription) at the Tulum Airport.
Of course you want to know if there’s a lounge at the airport. Well, there is a sign for a VIP Lounge, but I couldn’t find an actual lounge. The answer is that it is still under construction. I believe it will be a Priority Pass lounge. Someday.
Plane spotting, Mexican style…
Transportation to and from Tulum airport includes taxis, private shuttles and the ADO public bus. There are no Ubers in Tulum.
There are various private airport transfer companies. In my opinion, they’re all insanely expensive. For example, the company recommended by Secrets Resort is Amstar, which charges around $250 for round trip transport from the airport to the hotel (or $450 if you want to be chauffeured in a Cadillac Escalade).
Renting a car for a week is probably a cheaper option.
In the past, I’ve taken public transportation via ADO Bus from Cancun Airport to Playa del Carmen. I like public transportation as long as it is safe and not a big hassle.
I researched whether ADO Bus offers service from Tulum Airport to Tulum Centro and learned that they do. The bus ride takes about 45 minutes – it is totally fine and much cheaper than the private transfers.
A one-way bus ticket costs $220 MXN pesos or $11.50 USD. You can book tickets here: ADO WEBSITE.
From Tulum Centro we took a taxi to the hotel. It was all pretty easy and painless.
For the return trip from Tulum Centro to Tulum Airport, I found the Tulum bus depot to be rather hectic and disorganized. I still recommend the service, but, if you go that route, try to buy tickets on line and arrive at the depot a little early. Or splurge and take a taxi.
A New York frequent flyer who elegantly combines her passions for worldwide travel, running a gazillion marathons all over the globe and staying fit ... without sacrificing her fancy for good wine and food.
Nice review. One note: It’s illegal to bring back prescription-level medicine from Mexico unless you hold a valid prescription from a doctor in the US or Mexico. The chances of getting caught are low but it does happen and can be a pretty big criminal spot on your record, especially if you’ve stocked up and have a lot of it and don’t have a prescription for it.
excellent point. Thanks.
Thanks for this! Great write up. One of the reasons we haven’t been to the Tulum area is because of having to fly through CUN – just had no desire to do so.
I knew AA started flying there last year, but didn’t know it was a brand new airport.
thank you so much for reading my post. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
I see that they opened a Burger King and a Starbucks but still not the lounge since I was at Tulum Airport — and yes: getting a photograph of the front of the airport with a clear view of the sign is virtually impossible to do.
I can answer the question definitively about renting a car: I rented a car from Avis for four days for a total of $140.38 in United States dollars; and the gasoline cost me a grand total of $17.82 in United States dollars.
Perhaps I was simply lucky; but I had absolutely no problems with renting a car at the airport and driving to, from, and within Tulum Centro: no price gouging on gasoline; no corrupt law enforcement officers bothered me; and no insanely wacky drivers with whom to contend. The rental experience was rather easy and uneventful.
Both articles pertaining to my experience can be found at The Gate With Brian Cohen.
Interestingly, I did not know about the ADO bus option…
Thanks Brian for sharing the additional information.
Thanks for the info. After having seen my favorite EDM artists perform sets in Tulum, I decided to take the plunge & booked a trip to Tulum for the second week in June. The information you provided about the airport experience & transportation is very helpful.