Lucy Slight spent a week eating tacos, swimming and soaking up the sights of Mexico’s boho destination.

When you base your travel destination around the fact that it’s a popular celebrity hotspot, slash hipsters’ paradise, you may feel there’s no need to do much more research beyond that. At least, that’s how I approached my recent trip to Tulum, Mexico. If it’s good enough for Cara Delevingne and Jade Jagger, it’s got to be good enough for me, right?

Imagine my surprise to find that Tulum, with its pristine Caribbean white sandy beaches, is a stone’s throw from the Jungle Maya, home to blue crabs, armadillos, toucans, ant eaters and the endangered jaguar. At its heart, Tulum is a bohemian paradise. While it has become a popular tourist destination, it’s yet to fall prey to high-rise mega hotels and fast-food chains.

Located an easy 90-minute drive south of Cancun along the Riviera Maya, Tulum was once the reserve of backpackers and hippies and is now a magnet for Manhattanites looking beyond their typical resort-style destinations for somewhere a bit more Zen.

My boyfriend and I stayed at the beachside resort of Ana y José in the Tulum hotel zone. A main road runs between the beach and jungle, neatly dividing the two. At the beach you’ll find hotels and resorts – from the honeymoon-friendly and five-star to what our hotel concierge called “more Tulum” digs, where power is available only until midnight, and there’s no air conditioning or Wi-Fi. Tulum is off the power grid, so this style of accommodation is common.

On the jungle side you’ll find restaurants powered by generators, palm leaves fanning the sky in lieu of a ceiling. When dusk falls the natural canopy is lit by candle light and softly glowing bulbs strung between branches. Small boutiques – some designer, such as the one-size-fits-all dress store Josa Tulum, and some touting local wares – are dotted along the tree-lined road.

We traveled in low season, at the end of September, and while we felt like we were the only people in Tulum, there was still a buzz about the place. Red and white taxis zip back and forth along the road, tooting to get your attention, hotel staff and locals offer up friendly “holas” as you walk by. Pelicans that migrate from Canada for the winter months spend their days diving into the aqua blue shallows of the shoreline to catch fish and there’s no place better to watch them hunt than a cabana or a beachside taco stand while you sip $3 Coronas and devour deliciously cheap tacos.

There are plenty of eateries to satisfy travellers in pursuit of the ultimate taco. Gitano was the busiest restaurant we encountered during our stay and, as we sat in the dimly lit jungle courtyard listening to a live sitar duo, we ate a meal of potatoes and chorizo with fried egg, and fish and mushroom tacos, and still found room for a dessert of guava cheesecake. Casa Jaguar is nearby and the night we were there we dined by candlelight. With the generator down, the chef worked away in darkness, yet still managed to produce deliciously juicy tuna tostadas and conserva de camaron (shrimp ceviche). Thank goodness for wood-fired ovens! Mateo’s Mexican Grill claims to have the best fish tacos in the world – fresh-caught fish on small corn tortillas with dipping bowls of mango and tamarind sauce. Go while it’s still light and take your Mezcal mango mojito upstairs to the sunset lounge – two rickety levels above the restaurant – and take in the expansive views of the Jungle Maya that spreads out as far as the eye can see.

Sanara Resort is a must-visit (or must-stay if the budget allows) for yoga retreaters and wellness warriors. The Real Coconut restaurant, with its deck overlooking the crystal clear Caribbean ocean, offers a dairy, gluten,
refined-sugar and mostly grain-free menu with an extensive selection of vegan options. And if you’re following a cleanse or detox program while staying at the resort, the onsite nutritionist and chef will create a customised menu for you.

Our best food find of the trip became our lunch spot three days in a row – La Eufemia is a beachside taco stand just five minutes stroll from Sanara. The wooden hut has hand-painted chairs depicting the faces of music icons – Biggie, Jim Morrison, Tina Turner et al – and the sound system pumps out a playlist to match. The tacos were the best we had during our five-day stay – big, juicy pieces of battered shrimp and fish, succulent mushrooms and flavour-rich beef and pork served with a selection of sauces. A quick conversion from pesos to New Zealand dollars revealed they were only $2.50 a pop. While it’s closed during low season, Hartwood is on the hit list of serious foodies who queue for famously fresh, locally sourced food that’s prepared by knife and flame – with solar power and sustainability in mind, it’s elegantly primal.

The jungle of the Yucatan Peninsula is home to a network of sink holes, or Cenotes, which the indigenous Mayans believed were the path to the underworld. With colourful freshwater fish, turtles, bats, birds, stalactites and stalagmites, these sites are a popular attraction. Hire snorkeling or dive gear and explore at your leisure.

The Tulum Ruins is one of Mexico’s most popular archaeological sites. The well-preserved fortified Mayan coastal village and port, which became known for its turquoise and jade trade, were built in the late 13th century. Its remarkable surrounds consist of stone outcroppings, lush rolling green plains and scores of sunbathing iguanas.

For a quiet, albeit humid, holiday, September in Tulum has its pluses: no queues at restaurants, no battling it out for a cabana with other hotel guests, and it’s the perfect Instagram backdrop.

TULUM TRAVEL TIPS

Cash is king
Make sure you have plenty of pesos, the local currency. While many places take US dollars, inflated exchange rates can up your spending by around 30%.

Tipping
Be prepared to tip 10% in restaurants and pass a few pesos to the waiter who brings the margaritas to your cabana.

Mozzies
Insect repellent is just as important here as sunscreen. The humidity and proximity to the jungle mean mosquitoes and sand flies are rife.

Taxis
You’ll never have a problem getting a taxi, but make sure you negotiate your fare before you get in as they don’t run meters and you can easily get stung.

Photos: Getty Images and Supplied