After that really long day driving ATVs through the jungle and having drinks at night, we decided to take it easy the next day.
Elena never tried out snorkeling in her life, so it was the perfect day to drive to one of my favorite beaches and try it out + of course chill and relax in the sun.
That morning we slept a bit longer, had some Mexican breakfast at our Airbnb and then took a shower. We grapped our swimming suits, snorkel equipment and water, and jumped in the car to drive to Akumal.
Akumal = turtle in Maya, is one of my favorite beaches at the Riviera Maya. It is located just between Playa del Carmen and Tulum. - About 30-40 minutes away from Playa del Carmen (by car).
The easiest way to get there if you don't have a car is taking the Colectivo at 2nd street between 15th and 20th avenue. It costs 40 MXN one way to get there.
I just love that place. Of course, as many places at the Riviera, it used to be way less touristy and therefore more beautiful. But still it is a very special and beautiful place to chill out and see something.
The city became a lot bigger over the past few years and many nature lovers and artists moved here to settle down. So it is no surprise that already entering the city, there is a lot of beautiful streetart on the walls.
I just love how they paint about nature, indigenous roots and political issues. Street Art is really important and special to the people here and all over Latin America I would say.
To get to the beach, we drove towards Akumal village and then crossed that very bridge. From there it is about 500m to arrive at the parking lot.
Right next to it you can find an OXXO in case you need some snacks or water still. Along the street you see people trying to sell you tours.
When I first went to Akumal in 2011, it was still a secret place, with only one restaurant and no tours available. The restaurant is still there, but many things changed.
Before, after parking the car you could go right towards the beach.
Now there are a lot of parking lots, souvenir shops, a supermarket and even a few hotels.
They've built a fence around the beach, so they can control the entry and you even have to pay for it. Depending on if you want to go snorkeling and see some turtles or just go to relax at the beach you pay a different amount and get a bracelet.
This has good and bad sides. Before, a lot of people would go by themselves to see the turtles and hurt them, stressed them or touched them.
Therefore the locals in Akumal decided to restrict the entrance and only allow people to snorkel with a guide that can check on the turtles and make sure everybody behaves.
I remember that for some time they even closed the complete beach because the turtles were sick.
So now it is way better for the environment and guides are needed, which provides well paid work for the locals.
After paying the entrance we entered the beach and walked a bit further to find a nice spot below a palm tree. There we had a nice view towards the crystal clear caribbean water and enough shadow to not get burned.
We put on some sunscreen and made ourselves comfortable. This was just the perfect spot to relax.
As the name, and the info I just gave you already tells, this beach is famous because of their turtles.
The town was actually founded in 1958 by a scuba diver named Pablo Bush Romero. Now he is the owner of one of the hotels at the beach.
For me it is one of my favorite beaches with really clear water and white sand. You just have to get there early if you want to escape from the tourists. - Because of the entrance fee it was way less crowded than before though.
We were still tired because of the adventerous day we had before, so we slept and relaxed for a while.
At some point we were really hot and decided to refresh ourselves in the water.
There are a few people offering tours to snorkel or scuba dive at the reef or to go fishing. It is even possible to rent snorkel equipment and life vests right at the beach or you just bring your own.
We were not in the mood for a tour though, so we decided to snorkel without guide. I noticed they were way less strict than before and nobody was really watching if you go and snorkel yourself.
This was great news, because Elena had never snorkeled before in her life. It was the perfect place and time for her first try!
We went in the water and tried it out for a few meters and then came back. She was still very scared and of course as the equipment was new to her she had to get used to it first.
So I gave her a break and went by myself to see some fish and turtles. I was suprised how many there are! As people didn't take care of the environment before, there used to be less marine life as well.
Even the sea weed had grown a lot!
Entering the water from the beach I just had to swim like 20 - 30 meters and already spotted some fish and even rays.
Swimming a bit further I saw the first turtle of the day. There were so many really! And they looked so healthy and peaceful! I was really happy and glad to see that!
One guide giving a tour to others saw me swimming there, but he saw that I behaved and let me go on.
Behaving means:
You can snorkel around and watch them, but it is of course not allowed to come too close, dive down, touch it or stay too long.
So I just swam by the turtle and went on. After only 5 minutes I saw two more of them. - Really big ones actually!!
And on my way back I saw 5 more. I decided that it was time to go back to the beach and get Elena, so she can see them as well! I was so happy that they are in such good condition!
She was really scared to be in the open water, with that many fish and the possibility of meeting a shark. - Even if I told her, that sharks are at the reef and not at the beach.
So I took her hand and slowly we went towards the turtles.
I was so occupied with keeping her calm that I almost didn't see the next one. But Elena did! She pointed at it with her finger, panicked and turned around haha.
So I talked to her, and she said: There it is! It is beautiful, but huge! - We saw it so let's go back! :D
I swam a bit further around it and took some pics. It even came up to take some air!! Really awesome!
While I was swimming around the turtle, Elena stayed behind and even tried to turn around. But on her way she saw a big baracuda, so she stopped and waited for me.
I saw her panicking a bit, so I went back, took her hand and brought her back to the beach. She was even shaking a little bit, but really happy about the little adventure and the beautiful turtle we had just seen.
Knowing that now she was safe at the beach, I went one more time back into the water and enjoyed the view.
It is incredible how big and beautiful these turtles are.
In total I saw about 15 of them in only 30-40 minutes of snorkeling.
Once I was back at the beach, we enjoyed the warm weather and the view for a little bit longer and then decided to go back.
The plan was to visit Akumal Monkey Sanctuary, but it was already closed and not really what I thought it was, as I found out later checking their website. It seems more like a zoo, then a sanctuary.. so not really what I like to let my money at.
We decided to drive back to Playa del Carmen instead and meet up with some friends at the hostal to have a nice finish of the day.
Akumal is just a really nice place to relax, with options for little and much more adventure if wanted ;)
Of course you also get to see the video, since we brought our Go Pro! Enjoy!
Cheers,
Liz