Editing Tulum (section)

==Tourism==
[[File:Playa_de_Tulum_(México).jpg|thumb|One of the Tulum beaches]]
[[File:Caribbean near Tulum.jpg|thumb|This beach at Tulum is protected for [[nest]]ing [[sea turtles]].]]
[[File:Autre_partie_des_Ruines_de_Tulum.jpg|thumb|left|Part of the ruins of Tulum]]
Tulum archaeological site is relatively compact compared with many other Maya sites in the vicinity, and is one of the best-preserved coastal Maya sites. Its proximity to the modern tourism developments along the Mexican Caribbean coastline and its short distance from [[Cancún]] and the surrounding "[[Riviera Maya]]" has made it a popular Maya tourist site in the Yucatán Península. Daily tour buses bring a constant stream of visitors to the site. The Tulum ruins are the third most-visited archeological site in Mexico, after [[Teotihuacan]] and [[Chichen Itza]], receiving over 2.2 million visitors in 2017.<ref name="visitors">{{cite web |url=http://www.estadisticas.inah.gob.mx/ |title=Estadística de Visitantes |language=es |publisher=[[INAH]] |access-date=25 March 2018}}</ref>

A large number of cenotes are located in the Tulum area such as Maya Blue, Naharon, Temple of Doom, Tortuga, Vacaha, Grand Cenote, Abejas, Nohoch Kiin, Calavera,and Zacil-Ha.

Tulum has some of the best beaches in Mexico. Most popular beaches in Tulum are Playa Paraiso, Playa Ruinas, Playa Akumal, Papaya Playa and more. [[CV Villas]] researchers named Tulum beaches with the whitest sand, 1.4 points off the whitest shade from over 200 beaches worldwide.<ref>{{cite news |last1= Neath|first1= Amelia |title=World’s whitest sand can be found on these beaches – with Mexico and Greece in top spots|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/greece-mexico-worlds-whitest-sand-beach-b2602907.html |accessdate=September 4, 2024 |work= [[The Independent]]|date=August 28, 2024}}</ref>

The tourist destination is now divided into six main areas: the archeological site, the ''Pueblo'' (or town), the ''Zona Hotelera'' (or hotel zone along the seafront), ''Aldea Zama'' (south of Pueblo), ''La Veleta'' (south-west of Pueblo), and the biosphere reserve of [[Sian Ka'an]].

The impact of tourism on Tulum is a subject of growing controversy.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gooderidge|first=Jack|url=https://mexiconewsdaily.com/opinion/what-happened-to-tulum/|title = What happened to Tulum? How the 'anti-Cancún' lost its ethereal luster|date = 24 February 2020|website=Mexico News Daily|access-date=9 August 2022}}</ref>  Director Rachel Appel filmed a documentary entitled "The Dark Side of Tulum" in 2018 as an [[expose (journalism)|exposé]] of the environmental impacts of the local tourist industry.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/thebeammagazine/the-dark-side-of-tulum-bcb4c8ad7543|title=The Dark Side of Tulum|last=Voge|first=Cady|publisher=The Beam Magazine|issue=6|date=10 August 2018|access-date=9 August 2022}}</ref>