Tulum, Mexico: We found our Paradise. (days 4-7)

After a hectic few days arriving in Cancun, getting enough cash to subsist for a few days, finding lodging in Playa del Carmen, and diving, we headed south on the ADO in search of a place where we felt at home. We were hoping to find somewhere to camp on the beach, but Tulum town, where the bus dropped us off, is quite far from the beach. We found an ad for a cheap hostel near the Tulum Ruins (which we haven´t seen yet) so we took a cab there and dumped our heavy backpack. We made a system where we keep the camping supplies and clothes in the big bag and then carry all of our valuables with us wherever we go, so we took all of our cameras, ereaders, DS-es chargers, et cetera on two free bikes from our hostel. We went in search of a rumoured Subway (Jim´s favorite fast food). We missed it on the first pass and instead rode past the ruins and down onto the beach road which is lined with hotels.
On the way we saw a few cool critters such as a lovely iguana basking in the sunbaked road:

We spent the night at Hostel Los Lobos and the next day headed towards the beach. We had scoped out a few place the day before, and chose Papaya Playa because they allowed camping on the beach, and because it was right next to Cabanas Copal which was our first choice but didn´t allow camping and was all booked up. It had a pretty nice vibe and we were very happy to get down to the beach. One of the big draws of Tulum for us was that it was supposedly a nude beach and, as we discovered over the summer, we love swimming naked! It´s very liberating and refreshing. So once we set up our tent, we dove right in.
While swimming was heavenly, it turns out camping on the sand is not very comfortable (and very sandy.) After a few hours of swimming and deliberating, we decided to rent a cabana for the night. It was definitely worth the extra $16 to have a comfy bed, complete with mosquito net, that we didn´t have to share with our luggage. The added peace of mind that comes with a lock on the door helped, too. At this point we are out of cash again so we are going back to Playa del Carmen to wait for our PIN so we can spend a carefree week or so on the beach in Tulum.
Enjoy some of these pictures from Papaya Playa!