Many of the road signs (X-1, X-2, etc.) are gone at Xpu-Ha (p. 151), making it a lot harder to find the hotels described. The road for Villas del Caribe runs along the north wall of the Copacabana resort, and Bonanza Xpu-Ha is immediately south of the signed road for Xpu-Ha Beach Club.
In Tulum, the tourist info office on the road to the beach (p. 154) is now shut.
The Tulum bus station (p. 154) has been moved across the street and a little to the north, so recalibrate directions accordingly (for the Weary Traveler, for instance, turn right outside the station).
Colectivos (p. 160) are now scattered around the center of town–some for Playa leave from in front of the HSBC bank.
There’s also a town bus that runs out to the beaches, though I couldn’t find out a schedule. Look for it on Avenida Tulum. Taxis to the closest beach hotels run about M$40 now, and about M$90 to the hotels on southern end of the beach road.
Speaking of the beach road (p. 154), it’s now paved all the way down to the entrance to Sian Ka’an, which is a great improvement, especially for people worried about their rental cars.
Past the Sian Ka’an entrance, however, the road to Punta Allen (p. 165) is still absolutely terrible, despite a lot of work having been done on it. If it has rained at all before your visit, expect the road to be filled with vast, very deep puddles–Jeeps and other high-clearance vehicles routinely get stuck.
The alternate route to Punta Allen–the road to Playon, followed by a boat–is also in bad shape now, apparently, and the road is no longer even marked on the highway (p. 165).
So your best bet is a colectivo–either from Felipe Carrillo Puerto, as mentioned in the book–or the one that now runs from Tulum every day, at 2pm (p. 165). Look for it near the new taxi syndicate office in Tulum, which is on the west side of the street. If you ask the taxi drivers about it, though, they may try to convince you it doesn’t run, and that you’ll have to hire one of them.
In Punta Allen, the grocery truck (p. 166) now comes on Wednesday and Saturday, and it might not turn up till after dark if the road is bad. The small road down to the lighthouse is also quite wrecked, as it was never cleaned up after Hurricane Wilma.
