Playa Paraiso

Located in the Yucatan Peninsula, Playa Paraiso – also called Paradise Beach – is a popular and beautiful beach with white sand. This beach is located in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo and it is a part of a national park named Tulum National Park.  Lonely Planet listed this beach as one of the seven best beaches in Tulum and one of the 16 best beaches in Mexico.  In addition, Conde Nast Traveller also listed this beach as one of Mexico’s best beaches, and it is also a favorite of Randall Kaplan, the world’s foremost beach expert who is known as Mr. Beach.

Playa Paraiso Tulum has many amenities including lifeguards, restrooms, beach volleyball courts, and changing rooms.  In addition, there are beach clubs nearby that offer rental facilities for sun beds, beach umbrellas, and beach chairs – the beach clubs here charge anywhere between 100 to 500 Mexican Pesos or between $4 and $24.  One of the most popular beach clubs here is the Playa Paraiso Beach Club.

Playa Paraiso offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, fishing, swimming, boating, surfing, kitesurfing, snorkeling, scuba diving, volleyball, windsurfing, bodyboarding, bodysurfing, jet-skiing, paddleboarding, water-skiing, parasailing, wakeboarding, kayaking, surf-skiing, canoeing, and wildlife watching. 

This beach is ideal for beginner swimmers, paddleboarders, and surfers because the water here usually offers manageable waves.  If you plan to surf here, please visit from October through April because the water here offers good surfing waves during this time.  In addition, snorkelers and scuba divers also visit here to explore the vibrant marine landscape and biodiversity. mIf you plan to swim, kayak, snorkel, or scuba dive here, we recommend being careful because the water here can have unpredictable rip currents and dangerous waves.  In addition, the water here is also known to have a lot of smelly seaweed, especially between May and October.  

If you want to explore other beautiful beaches near Playa Paraiso, you can also visit Playa Del Carmen, Playa Ruinas, and Playa las Palmas.

Playa Paraiso Tulum Mexico does not offer wheelchair access to visitors with disabilities, so please plan accordingly.

Getting to Playa Paraiso is easy – this beach is easily accessible from the nearby community of Tulum and it is also easily accessible from the nearby Mexican Federal Highway 307, which is also called Carretera Federal 307. 

Please note that you need to pay an entrance fee of 60 Mexican Pesos/$3 at an entrance booth near the beach.  Once you pay the fee, you can drive on the access road leading to the beach.  There are free street parking spaces and multiple small free parking lots near the beach – once you park at the Playa Paraiso parking spaces, you can easily walk to the beach.

We recommend visiting this beach early between December and April because the parking spaces near the beach can get filled up quickly.

A study conducted by the British travel agency CV Villas revealed that Playa Paraiso and the surrounding beaches have some of the whitest sands in the world.

There are many attractions near Playa Paraiso Quintana Roo.  The Tulum Ruins are one of the most visited Mexican archeological sites and they contain the remnants of a late 13th century Mayan settlement – some of the main structures at this archeological site include the Templo del Dios de Viento (which is the most photographed structure here), Templo de las Pinturas, and Templo del Dios Descendente.  There are also multiple beaches near it including Playa Ruinas and El Castillo Beach.  Museo de la Cultura Maya Park is a museum that showcases artifacts and exhibitions related to Mayan history and culture – in addition, it also has a courtyard displaying modern artworks.  Parque Dos Aguas is a small recreational park that offers many fun amenities including a playground, grassy recreational areas, walking paths, a gazebo, and a basketball court – it also hosts fun events including local markets and the Day of the Dead celebrations.  Cenote Calavera is a cenote or a natural sinkhole within a cave that is a popular scuba diving and snorkeling site – this cenote offers interesting rock formations and it is connected to an underground cave system.  The cenote's name – Calavera – means “skull” in Spanish because the roof of the cave here has three holes, which makes it resemble a skull.  If you are looking for another attraction near the beach, Gran Cenote is actually a group of cenotes that has interesting geological formations including caverns, stalagmites, stalactites, and rock columns – Gran Cenote also offers many fun activities including scuba diving, snorkeling, and swimming and you can see many kinds of fish here, along with sea turtles and alligators.

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Playa Paraiso within a 20-minute-drive.  El Paraiso Tulum Restaurant offers an amazing combination of Mexican and International cuisine including tacos, pasta, Thai-style salad, and sashimi.  Kin Toh By Azulik is an upscale restaurant that serves excellent Mayan-inspired avant-garde Mexican dishes including duck-and-beet mole, beef filet, and Maine lobster.  Onyx Tulum Restaurant Bar offers a variety of excellent Internationally-inspired dishes including salads, pasta, rice dishes, burgers, and ceviches, along with a variety of refreshing cocktails.  El Capitan Tulum has a tropical-inspired decor and it offers many delicious dishes including ceviche, tacos, fish filet, pozole, quesadillas, and aguachile.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby restaurant, Taqueria La Chiapaneca is a taqueria that is known for serving excellent tacos, along with a variety of other dishes including empanadas, soups, quesadilla, and tostadas.

If you are looking for a hotel near Playa Paraiso, there are many great options nearby.  The 5-Star Mezzanine, an SLH Hotel has beautiful thatched-roof buildings and it offers many amenities including a pool, a restaurant, access to a spa, and a bar.  The 4-Star Papaya Playa Project is another upscale hotel with Tropical-inspired decor that offers many amenities including a spa, a pool, a restaurant, and a bar.  Another great upscale hotel is the 4-Star Playa Esperanza Tulum that also offers accommodation in thatched-roof cabanas and it also offers many amenities including a bar, a nearby restaurant, and outdoor sitting areas.  A more affordable hotel is the 3-Star Pocna Tulum Hotel, Beach Club & Restaurant that offers many amenities including multiple restaurants, a pool, a spa, a private beach area with sun loungers and beach umbrellas.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby hotel, the 3-Star IKAL Tulum Hotel offers many amenities including a restaurant and a pool - it also offers fun activities for kids and it also has a Buddhist stupa.