febrero 28, 2021

2021 Tulum Vegan Guide.

TULUM VEGAN GUIDE

by FLORENTINE

IN THIS GUIDE.

1.Tulum magic town

2.Tulum vegan town

3.Daily life in Tulum

4.Eating in the town

5.The way to the beach

6.Tulum Beach

7.Markets and stores

8.Tulum vegan friendly. Coffee shops and coworking.

9.Tulum Vegan Stories. Love and freedom.

10.Florentine Project. Vegan life.

TULUM VEGAN GUIDE

First edition. February 2021.

©Proyecto Florentine

1.Tulum magic town

Tulum town. Photo by Proyecto Florentine

Tulum is today a base for digital nomads, independent travelers, cooks, yogis, tuluminatis, designers, writers, experimenters of alternative lifestyles, entrepreneurs, spirituals, creatives, vegans and vegetarians.

Tulum is a magical town but also some touristy, with alternative shops, the jungle that defies bulldozers every morning, the noise of car engines, birds that sing at dawn, dirt streets and holes, the sea without seaweed, traffic queues, the sand always soft, parties and ponchos, cenotes, sea turtles that make their way between the lounge chairs and manage to reach the ocean – the most powerful energy in Tulum and perhaps in the universe. I ride my bicycle through Tulum and every day, I find magic.

Tulum is the heart of the Riviera Maya, small and powerful. A compass that shows new paths and many possible routes.

Tulum has grown exponentially in the recent years. The original town – now the center – stretches out onto the beach with the hotel zone heading towards the Sian Kaan biosphere and the public beaches in the area of the Mayan ruins. Also, towards the jungle through Aldea Zama and La Veleta, condominiums mixed with eco houses and blue birds.

How to get to Tulum? It is easy. The question is, how to leave Tulum?

Dawn on the way to Sian Kaan. Photo by Proyecto Florentine.

.TULUM IS A PLACE WHERE I ALWAYS WANT TO GO BACK.

2.Tulum vegan town

Tulum has been home to a great vegan and vegetarian scene for years and like everything here, it is presented at its full expression.

Every year I redraw the vegan map of Tulum, in constant transformation. Restaurants that open, others that move, a town that is increasingly vegan friendly. To the first sites oriented to plant-based and healthy food, more and more choices for vegan Mexican food are added, stores with alternatives for all budgets and lifestyles, festivals and markets. Places with totally vegan menus that are not even presented as such, that is the reach of this lifestyle today. Also, in traditional taquerías or pizzerias, it is common to read “vegan” on their blackboards in the street and to listen, on the beach, to street vendors offering vegan alternatives.

In January 2021, I found in Tulum more than 10 vegan and plant-based spaces, at least 7 vegetarian / vegan restaurants and many more with vegan options.

3. Daily life in Tulum

If you stay a season in Tulum, it is simple and pleasant to maintain a vegan life here. You will find a variety of restaurants and vegan food places; places with vegan friendly menus with clearly identified options. But in addition – although many Mexican dishes have meat – strongly ingrained in the local culture – many natural and popular ingredients are here a blessing for traveling vegan, even if you don’t have a great kitchen. Papayas, avocados, lemons, tortillas, beans, bananas, tomatoes, mangoes, cocoa, coffee, coconut water in abundance.

As for cosmetics and cruelty-free and eco-friendly products, there are options in stores and small markets. There is also a whole new world of vegan delivery that grew during 2020, going through lockdowns and new ways of eating, with alternatives like hamburgers, breads, popsicles, pastas and more.

In addition to 100 percent vegan stores and markets, major supermarkets and grocery stores offer products such as tofu, non-dairy milks, seeds and agave syrup, even plant-based cheese and burgers. In new coffee shops, it is now normal to find coconut or almond milk.

4. Eating in the town

In Tulum there is food on the go and space for romantic dinners, talks with friends or solo lunches. Everything is welcome.

Vegan tacos at El Bajón are an accessible and delicious alternative. Jackfruit, mushrooms or soy with sauces and lemon in small corn tortillas, refillable fruit water, apple pie for dessert. Suculenta, diagonally in this vegan corner, serves tamales with mole, rajas and other varieties, always hot and wrapped in a banana leaf. Recently, they also added tacos and special dishes on Sundays. These are alternatives to eat 100% vegan Mexican food, in a relaxed way and with local prices.

Vegan tamales. Photo by Suculenta

Also at downtown, Co.conamor, a classic and sustainable veggie space with years in Tulum and more and more vegan options; a patio that is the headquarters of workshops and a meeting place for community and travelers. Variety of dishes such as bowls, hamburgers, juices, kombucha, brownies; friendly prices, good vibes and a sustainable store.

Raw Love, with its plant based food and smoothies, moved in front of the bus station and has a garden in the background. Matcha Mama, plant based and zero waste, is the place to eat a bowl of acai or drink coconut water directly from the fruit. Aguacate Limón reopened in town, for afternoons and dinners, with Mexican vegan food.

Asian bowl. Photo by Co.conamor

Laylo is a vegan lounge with an enjoyable sidewalk with small tables, and there are always traditional vegetarian options in town such as La Hoja Verde, that added new plates such as vegan ceviche or El Vegetariano.

Vivo restaurant opened its doors in 2020 with a vegetarian and vegan menu. It is a large outdoor space, with the kitchen in sight and all built with local materials. Tierra, vegan with vegetarian options, is further away and in the jungle, inside the yoga center Holistika at La Veleta, an area that grows in a bohemian and chic direction. Vegan Mexican dishes such as tofu scramble for breakfast, tacos, tomato soup with coconut milk and green juices.

Plant based burger. Photo by Laylo Vegan Lounge.

TULUM TOWN / coordinates

Aguacate Limón 📍Calle Polar Pte. y Alfa Norte, Centro Vegan

Co.conamor 📍Calle Polar Pte. y Alfa Norte, Centro. Vegetarian/Vegan

El Bajón Vegano📍Calle Sol esq. Orion Sur, Centro. Vegan

El Vegetariano 📍 Calle Sol Oriente y Centauro Sur, Centro. Vegetarian/Vegan

La Hoja Verde 📍Av. Tulum y Calle Beta Sur, Centro. Vegetarian/Vegan

Laylo Vegan Lounge📍Calle Andrómeda Oriente y Av. Satélite, Centro. Vegan

Matcha Mama 📍Calle Andrómeda Oriente y Centauro Sur, Centro. Vegan

Raw Love 📍Av. Tulum y Júpiter Sur, Centro.Vegan

Suculenta 📍Calle Orion Sur esquina Sol, Centro. Vegan

Tierra 📍Centro Holistika, La Veleta. Vegetarian/Vegan

Vivo 📍Av. Tulum y Calle Libra Sur, Centro. Vegetarian/Vegan

Vivo veg restaurant. Photo by Pluton | Tulu m

5.The way to the beach / Aldea Zama

Well, there are special places on the way from town to the beach (or when returning). Liefs is a food truck with friendly and conscious food, including a chocolate banana bread and jackfruit burgers. Sitting there is an experience and its creators are including more and more vegetables from their own garden.

Inside Aldea Zama, The Pitted Date has super complete sandwiches with vegan “egg”, croissants, pastries and juices, as well as a sister restaurant in Playa del Carmen. Recently, Matcha Mama added a new space in Aldea Zama, with bowls, smoothies and coconut waters.

Liefs, on the way to the beach. Photo by Liefs.

ALDEA ZAMA/ coordinates

Liefs 📍Av. Coba 107, close to the entrance to Aldea Zama. Vegan

Matcha Mama 📍Calle Itzama, Mza. 12, Aldea Zama Vegan

The Pitted Date 📍Paseo Zama, Mza. 26, Aldea Zama.Vegan

6. Tulum Beach

Matcha Mama Tulum. Photo by Matcha Mama

Gone are the days of pioneers Charly’s Vegan Tacos (only open in Miami today) and Restaurare (closed long before Charly’s). But the vegan and vegan friendly movement continues and grows in this area as well, presenting very interesting alternatives but also international prices.

De Perlas y Cocos is a brand new vegan restaurant with vegetarian options and prices close to those of the town’s restaurants, with alternatives in tacos, juices and hamburgers, in a garden that precedes a cenote, right in front of the Ahau. Inside Ahau, Raw Love keeps its timeless style with wooden tables between the trees, raw dishes and also, a new palapa facing the sea, with juices and smoothies.Matcha Mama also has its palapa in this area, on the side of the road that faces the jungle, with coconut waters and bowls.

Bowl yucateca. Foto: Los Bowls de Guadalupe

The Bowls de Guadalupe is at the entrance to Nest, on the way to Sian Kaan and there it is worth trying Yucatecan bowls with chaya (Mayan spinach), banana, avocado and sauces.

The I Scream Bar is a classic at the beach area, changing along with the times, now a drink bar with vegan ice creams.

TULUM BEACH/ coordinates

De Perlas y Cocos 📍Carretera Tulum-Boca Paila, km.7.5, Beach Area. Vegetarian/Vegan

I Scream Bar 📍Carretera Tulum-Boca Paila, km. 7.5, Beach Area.Vegan

Los Bowls de Guadalupe 📍Carretera Tulum-Boca Paila, km. 9.5, Beach Area. Vegetarian/Vegan

Matcha Mama 📍Carretera Tulum-Boca Paila, km. 8, Beach Area.Vegan

Raw Love 📍Carretera Tulum-Boca Paila, km. 7.5 (en Ahau), Beach Area. Vegan

Tulum. Photo by Proyecto Florentine.

7. Markets and stores

This year I found new markets, mostly integrated by local producers. Some are held outdoors, on Saturday or Sunday mornings in Palma Central, which also works as a gastronomic patio at evenings, with food trucks that offer vegan alternatives in their menus of Asian food or Venezuelan arepas. Mercado Eco Verde has the spirit of Slow Food Mexico and among its producers, there are several that offer vegan alternatives in hummus, breads, chocolates and organic vegetables.

Also, there are specialized stores. Clorofila is a small store in town – look for it behind its dark glasses – where you can find chestnut or peanut cheeses and chili hummus to take home or for a picnic on the beach.Mercado Vegano Tulum is at the most vegan corner of town, in front of Naturalmente, which also has small-scale options for food and products. Co.conamor has its own sustainable store independent of the restaurant. In La Veleta, Gypsea Market has a variety of premium vegan local and international products, from superfoods to tofu, body creams and soaps. And on the beach, Sirena Morena from Cancún just opened a cute little shop behind Happy Eyes, where you can find everything from kombucha to vegan condoms.

MARKETS AND STORES / coordinates

Clorofila 📍Calle Andrómeda Oriente y Orion Sur, Downtown. Vegan

Co.conamor 📍Calle Polar Pte. y Alfa Norte, Centro. Vegetarian/Vegan

Gypsea Market📍Av. Quinta Sur esquina Carretera Chetumal-Cancún, La Veleta. Vegan options

Mercado Vegano 📍Calle Orion Sur y Sol Oriente, Downtown. Vegan

Naturalmente 📍Calle Orion Sur esquina Sol Oriente, Downtown. Vegetarian/Vegan

Palma Central📍Av. Kukulkan esquina Polar Poniente, Palma Central. Vegetarian/Vegan

Sirena Morena 📍Carretera Tulum-Boca Paila km.3.5, Beach Area. Vegetarian/Vegan

8.Tulum vegan friendly. Coffee shops and coworking.

Botánica Garden Café is a cafe in a beautiful garden. Last fall, they added vegan alternatives to their menu like a coconut and passion fruit dessert, hummus and avocado toast. All their coffees can be ordered with vegetable milks and it is a quiet space for coworking.

Líquido y Sólido also launched a new menu, with vegan alternatives such as pita with activated charcoal and vegetables and its unmissable colored juices, in a space full of energy and green. A few meters away, Burrito Amor continues with a single vegan alternative, but is one that is complete and delicious; a vegan burrito that you can also order with a gluten-free coconut tortilla.

On the beach and already in another price range, Nu Tulum offers very elaborated food with vegan options for dinner such as mushroom socarrat and roasted cauliflower, in a jungle environment, Posada Margherita has veganizable homemade pastas (ask for them, they are not on the menu) and tables on the sand, facing the sea and already in the area of the Tulum Archaeological Park, the beautiful Mezzanine is the place for Thai food and ocean views. La Zebra has vegan burritos and powerful juices for breakfast, facing the sea.

More and more, cafes and restaurants in town are hosting vegan evenings with guest chefs.

There are also juice bars, ice creams, cafes. Coworking spaces that add vegan options to their menu, such as Digital Jungle. The vegan life multiplies as I continue to cycle through Tulum in the search of new stories.

Vegan pita at Líquido y Sólido. Photo by Proyecto Florentine.

TULUM VEGAN FRIENDLY / my coordinates

Botánica Garden Café 📍Calle Andrómeda Oriente y Libra Sur, Downtown. Vegan options

Burrito Amor 📍Av. Tulum y Calle Luna Norte, Downtown.Vegan options

Líquido y Sólido 📍Av. Tulum y Av. Kukulcán, Downtown.Vegan options

9.Tulum Vegan Stories.

These times in Tulum, I walked and cycled through town. I met people who live as they dream and act as they think; I heard stories of transformation, journeys, projects, life changes, moves. Brave stories, about bringing dreams into action, changing the world one meal at a time, one day at a time, knowing that life is today and that there is always tomorrow.

Stories of love and freedom. Vegan life stories.

I began collecting and writing these stories in Tulum Vegan Stories, that I publish every week in Proyecto Florentine.

Tulum 2021. Photo by Proyecto Florentine

If you want to receive the stories, subscribe to Florentine.
And if you didn’t tell me your story yet, write to me tam@proyectoflorentine.com.
Follow the stories at Tulum Vegan Stories.

10.Proyecto Florentine

FLORENTINE is a vegan life project by Tam Apter.