Tulum, Mexico has been on my list to visit and when I saw there was a food photography retreat for four days in Tulum I hopped on the opportunity. I flew into Cancun and shuttled down with two other women who were in the retreat group and arrived at Papaya Playa Project. After we got settled in we all ate tacos and talked in anticipation of the next day!
The next morning, several of us woke up and went to yoga at 6 am. Once we got to the spot we were going to do yoga, it was gorgeous! The patio opened up to the ocean which allowed for a nice breeze to cool us off during the workout AND we watched the sunrise as we did our sun salutations. I know I wasn’t expecting that view, but well worth the early morning rise!
The resort was a bike ride into town and thats exactly what we did after yoga and breakfast. Twelve women biking in a line down the road into town to check out the best food spots. (The amount of spicy margaritas and guacamole consumed was appropriate because “when in Mexico”.)
The first stop on our bike crawl was The Real Coconut.
The Real Coconut is a gluten free restaurant that has something for anyone and not to mention it is right on the beach! (I’m not gluten free, but the food was DELICIOUS and beautiful). The tortillas are made out of a mix of coconut and tapioca flour and we had the pleasure of photographing them being made. We ordered our food, learned how to style a tablescape, took some awesome pictures, and then ate it all!
Once we finished our plates, we took a short bike ride to our next destination which was Matcha Mama.
A few matcha drinks were ordered along with coconut water (served in a coconut of course) and smoothies. This little matcha making shack has adorable swings along the porch/bar area for a long enough break from the sun.
Once we got our fill of coconut water and matcha, we headed over to Nomade for a late lunch and margaritas on the beach before we broke off to swim or explore. Nomade is a beautiful resort where you can walk over to and eat or swim (at a fee), so we decided to eat and go back to Papaya Playa to swim at our beautiful resort.
While I was biking back to the resort, I took my time and did a little shopping. There are a ton of shops, bars, and restaurants along the main road if you want a drink or snack while your shopping. After finding some cute souvenirs, I got back to Papaya Playa and went swimming until we all reconvened for dinner on the beach. The tablescape was gorgeous and fit the location perfectly!
The next day was more relaxed and discussed styling, composition, social media, and any other questions/topics we had. We also styled a smoothie bowl which was a ton of fun, but sadly the majority of ours melted before we took any pictures. Once we were done with our smoothie bowls, we all departed and did our thing until our final dinner. I went swimming because I wanted to soak up as much sun and sea before heading back to cold Baltimore in February.
We all got dressed and looked cute for our last dinner and walked next door to Habitas. Let me tell you! The food was AMAZING!!! They definitely saved the best for last and we were all greeted with a welcome Aperol Spritz. I wasn’t able to get too many pictures since it was dark, but we had a feast. Just to name a few, the dishes consisted of carrot hummus with naan, roasted cauliflower with romesco sauce, burrata, steak with more of that yummy romesco, and ended it off with a sticky date cake.
I flew back home the following day, but this Food Photography Retreat in Tulum was a fun experience. I would recommend taking that chance and do whatever makes you happy!
The Ladle Bearer 