http://www.papayaplaya.com/

I went to Tulum in 2004 or 5—with my dad. We traveled most of the Yucatan by then and felt we needed to plant our asses on some beach. After driving up and down the rugged coast we came upon Playa Papaya—a cabana resort for lovers—lovers of good food and drink, sand in your room and hammocks on the beach. Music seemed to be playing through loud-speakers most of the day and loose hippie folks played guitars and hackie sack all day long. The place seemed to have room availability readily—we went in November—maybe it's more crowded other times (I'm going in Dec, 06 and a room for 2 of us is costing $300 USD for 5 days). You pay a deposit and then pay your final bill for food and room once you leave—which is really hard to do once you've planted roots. There is a great little center peice bar and restaurant area where they serve all the standard mexican foods as well as a few american/european favorites. Thatched roofs and stick cabanas abound in this prestine hippie resort. Parking is avaialable, but renting a bike to get around is the way to go. Many hours on the beach (reading Garcia Marquez and getting a mean polish tan) and pleasent nights of sleep (aside form one night when some dude puked by our cabana) I fell in love with this place forever. There are a lot of other cabana type set ups along the coast in Tulum, but this one had that simple, free flowing vibe without a twist (like a yoga colony or raw food detox plantation).

As I stared at the little crab footprints on the sand floor of my Cabana I soaked in the smell of sea and sun slithering through the cracks of the thatched roof and twig walls—I gotta come back here again.

Tulum ruins are close by and also the Coba ruins. There are really great sea food shacks near by and many fun walks and things to get into without feeling like your in Florida—or God forbid Cancun:( Mexico is very alive here and hope it stays that way...

Me and my wife and kid will be heading there this winter and new year. We plan to sleep... And repeat what we did last time with perhaps the addition of a boat ride to snorkel and a night show at Coba ruins.