What's the weather like in Tulum in November?
Good, and improving week by week. November is the month the coast switches seasons: the rainy season runs May to November and the dry season starts in November and holds through March, with temperatures moving between 24 and 28 degrees.
In practice that means warm days, humidity starting to drop and the occasional short downpour, almost always in the afternoon and almost always over in half an hour. It is not the constant rain people picture when they read "rainy season."
What November has that December doesn't
This is the part that surprises people. In November you already have the winter weather, but you don't yet have winter: fewer people on the sand, a table available whenever you feel like dinner, cenotes with room in them at mid-morning.
From 21 December our deposit and cancellation conditions move into a different season band, so booking before that date also means different rules. The exact terms by rate type are in our FAQs, and they're worth reading before you choose between a refundable and a non-refundable rate.
How the month feels, week by week
First week. The quietest of the month and one of the quietest of the year. It overlaps with Janal Pixán, the Maya Day of the Dead observance, which is lived differently here on the peninsula than in central Mexico. If your trip lands here, don't skip it.
Weeks two and three. The sweet spot. Settled weather, an empty beach midweek, still shoulder-season pricing. When people ask us when to come, we point at these two weeks.
Last week. Thanksgiving arrives and with it the first push of visitors from the States. It isn't December, but you notice it: busier restaurants along the beach road, more people at the ruins.
The sea and the sargassum
Sargassum arrives in waves and doesn't behave the same every year, so nobody honest can promise you a perfect beach on an exact date. What can be said is that the hottest months tend to concentrate the problem, and November sits on the other side of the calendar, heading into the dry season.
If the state of the water decides your trip, write to us a few days before and we'll tell you how the beach is waking up. That information is only useful fresh.
What you can do in November that you can't in August
August heat pushes everything toward water and shade. November opens the day back up:
- The ruins at mid-morning stop being a punishment. In summer there's no shade up there and by ten it's already too much.
- Riding the beach road at any hour, not only at dawn.
- Cenotes without a queue. The cenotes are close, 15 to 25 minutes out, and midweek in November you'll find them nearly empty.
- Long dinners outdoors, the kind September rain keeps interrupting.
What to pack
Summer clothes, same as the rest of the year, plus two things people forget: a light layer for the evening, because November does cool off once the sun drops, and a thin rain shell or a sweatshirt for the afternoon downpour that can arrive without warning.
And cash in pesos for the street. You don't need it at the hotel, we're a cashless property and take Visa, Mastercard and American Express, but colectivos, taxis and cenote entries all run on paper money.
Should you book ahead?
Yes, even out of high season. We're small on purpose, and enough people have worked out by now that November is the best month with the fewest people in it. The middle two weeks fill first.
One more thing: daily continental breakfast is included with your stay, with house granola, Greek yogurt, pastries, seasonal fruit, coffee and juice. In November you can eat it outside without sweating, which is rather the point of the month.
The beach is waiting, and in November it waits with fewer people on it.