Visiting Tulum During the COVID-19 Pandemic

(an update as of November 2021)

We get lots of questions these days about what it’s like visiting Tulum in the time of COVID so I thought I’d finally take a little time to break it all down and create a bit of a resource guide for folks traveling to the area.

When COVID first hit in early 2020, Tulum was hit quite hard from an economic standpoint. As a community that relies so heavily on tourism, when travel bans started coming down and people were concerned about lockdowns and businesses were told to shut down…. shit got very real very fast. And, for a little while, Tulum was basically a ghost town (like most places in early 2020, right?).

Then…. when remote working became more and more normal and things started slowly but surely opening back up… Tulum became THE HOT SPOT for people to come and pass their COVID time. I mean, why not? If you have to be “locked down” somewhere… Tulum is surely the place to do it. You’ve got sunshine, beautiful beaches, pools, good food… it’s certainly a better option than being stuck inside in a New York City Apartment. Nowadays, the most common way people are traveling to Tulum is by the month rather than just for a quick weekend. But with that brings a few new challenges or details to consider when planning your trip.

What is open right now in Tulum?

Tulum is definitely back open for business!!!

Early on in the pandemic, Mexico adopted a color-coded system for what activities were permitted by state.

Red was basically a total lockdown, telling residents and visitors not to go out unless it was totally essential. Many businesses are not permitted to operate at this level and things are really at the height of COVID lockdowns when a state is in the Red.

Orange meant if you can, please stay home. Business start to be allowed to operate but at limited capacity (often meaning restaurants can be open but can’t allow in restaurant seating, etc.).

Yellow signified that they were resuming limited activities but with precaution (Now things are starting to look a little more like normal, woohooooo!) and…

Green meant you can resume normal activities but with precaution. (Green is really that things are open for business, restrictions do exist but they are pretty simple and limited.)

*There are more details that go into it and “rules” for business activities that are and are not permitted at each color but that’s the basic gist of it for us residents and travelers.*

Each state updates their “status” every two weeks and you can check the status of Quintana Roo (the state that Tulum is located in) right here.

Are there any travel restrictions for U.S. Citizens traveling to Mexico right now?

Yes but they’re really quite manageable. The most notable one is the requirement for a negative COVID test prior to flying back to the states. Since things do change, best thing is to send you right to the Embassy website so you can get the most up to date information. (You can also get up to date information on requirements directly from your airline.)

Here is the link to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico.

How and where do I get a COVID test to travel back to the U.S. or Canada?

Speaking of those famous COVID tests to get you back on the plane to the U.S. … people are always worried about finding a testing site once they arrive in Tulum and let me just reassure you…. you will not have any problem at all finding a testing site! Once this requirement was put in place, mobile testing sites started popping up alllll over the place and at much more reasonable prices than the original tests only offered by the local hospital. Now you can drive down towards the beach and pass 20+ testing sites, nice and easy. So, just pick one, stop in for a quick test and you’ll be good to go for your flight in no-time!