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Tulum in 2026: coastal occupancy fell to 30 per cent, the beach fee got rolled back, and the sargassum arrived early
By RuinMyTrip Editorial
Tulum is the clearest example anywhere of a destination pricing itself out of its own market, and 2025 and 2026 are the years the numbers stopped being deniable. Hotel occupancy in the coastal zone fell to 49.2 per cent in September 2025 against 66.7 per cent in the same month of 2024, a drop of 17.5 percentage points. Over the summer, coastal occupancy hit 30 per cent and the town centre reached just 15 per cent. M…
What nearly ruins it: The bill. Average nightly hotel rates hit about 450 dollars in 2025, up 25 per cent from 2023, while coastal occupancy fell to 49.2 per cent in September 2025 from 66.7 per cent a…
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Written by RuinMyTrip Editorial from published research and official sources, not from a personal trip. It is not a traveler review and is never counted in the community rating. How we research.
Practical tips
Editorial- Ignore the 415 peso figure you will find in older articles. Since 17 July 2026 entry to Parque del Jaguar is free for national visitors, and the Tulum archaeological zone costs 80 pesos for Mexican nationals and 265 pesos for foreign visitors.
- Check a live sargassum report for your exact dates. More than 2,450 tonnes were cleared from Tulum's beaches in 2026 and the Navy removed 39,500 tonnes across Quintana Roo, with the season arriving early and forecast to break records.
- Ask the beach club's minimum consumption before you sit down. Most require 500 to 800 pesos per person, so a free lounger is not free, and public beach access points exist if you only want the water.
- Do not take a taxi for a short hop without agreeing the fare first. Short rides in Tulum can cost 25 dollars; bikes and colectivos cover the same distances for a fraction of it.
- Negotiate the room rate. Coastal occupancy ran at 30 per cent in the summer and 49.2 per cent in September 2025, and hotels asking 450-dollar averages into a half-empty market will move on price for direct bookings and longer stays.
- Confirm your flight route still exists. Delta is cutting Minneapolis and Detroit nonstops to Tulum and American, Delta, JetBlue and United are all trimming winter capacity; Atlanta, Houston, Miami and Dallas remain solid, or fly into Cancun and take the Tren Maya.
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