The drive from Merida to the Coast is a mere 3 hours on a two-lane highway, one paid and the other free. Much more fun to drive on the “libre” where fresh fruit palapas and the odd 2-room hotel dot the way. Pass through Valledolid and Coba – all possible overnights for the aficionado – and arrive in Tulum. And Tulum is special, reminding me of Bali’s Kuta or Seminyak coast – jungly, faintly hippy, relaxed and stylish in spots.