Guide to Akumal and Surrounding Areas

Akumal is a beach community, not a city. That's what makes it different from Cozumel and Playa Del Carmen which are large, crowded cities. Playa Del Carmen, is the fastest growing city in all of Mexico. It is growing at a 28% rate each year. Akumal is different in that the population (mostly tourists) is spread out along the coast. Akumal, even when it is sold out, doesn't appear crowded.

Akumal has been tastefully developed. There are no large hotels in Akumal. Half Moon Bay, where La Iguana condos are located, consists of single-family homes & condos. The distance from one end of the bay to the other is about 1/2 mile. The place is never crowded. There are 5 excellent restaurants right in Akumal & others in nearby communities.

Recommended area restaurants are Hemingway's, Que Onda, Lol Ha, Turtle Bay, and La Lunita. We do not recommend La Buena Vida.

The neat thing about snorkeling is that you never know what you will encounter the next time you get in the water. In Half Moon Bay you'll see large schools of fish, large barracuda, a nurse shark, octopi, southern sting rays, sea turtles , giant parrot fish, squid, giant grouper, queen angel, french angel, queen trigger, moray eels, lobster etc. etc. You can snorkel at a different beach every day.

There are loads of gorgeous, deserted beaches along this coast. You can take a resort dive class from one of the 2 dive companies on Akumal Bay. The reefs are beautiful. These dive shops also offer cave diving & classes. Mike Madden in Puerto Aventuras is world famous for his mapping of the underground cave system in this area.

Make a trip to Merida. Merida is a wonderful colonial city loaded with cultural activities ... especially on the weekend. Sunday is a special day, the Hacienda has dubbed it "Domingo En Merida" They close off the downtown area to traffic. Cultural events take place in the downtown area, most are free. From Merida you can take a trip to Celestun (1+ hour) and visit the National Park. There are boats for hire that take you out onto the back bay to show you the thousands of flamingos that reside there. In addition to the flamingos there are white & brown pelicans, roseate spoonbills, ibis, egrets, at least 3 different kinds of herons (we even saw the rare tiger heron), cormorants, black stilt, frigates, osprey and many others. It was a truly awesome experience seeing all those birds. Watching the flamingos fly in formation & come in for a landing was quite a sight. The best time to visit the birds is early in the morning or at about 4pm.

You can also drive down to Punta Allen located on the fringe of the Sian Ka'an Biosphere. There you can have a boat ride onto the back bay & visit a wonderful bird island refuge. There are tours of the biosphere offered by a group called Friends of Sian Ka'an. Sian Ka'an in Mayan means "birth of the sky". In these bays , scattered keys provide nesting sites for thousands of water birds such as the roseate spoonbill, woodstork, magnificent frigatebird, and boat-billed heron. The rare jabiru stork, nest in the reserve, and the beaches are nesting grounds for four species of endagered sea turtles. The reserve serves as habitat for wild cats such as jaguar, ocelot, margay, jaguarund and cougar, two species of crocodiles, howler and spider monkeys, tapir and west indian manatee among other species, as well as forest birds such as the ocellated turkey and great curassow. Plant diversity is high with approximately 1,200 species found in the reserve.

Xcalak is another wonderful nature getaway located about 4 hours south of Akumal. The land here is very close to virgin & the wildlife is awesome. Xcalak is on the Mexico/Belize border.

Definitely visit Coba. This is a mystical city in the jungle. Climbing the pyramids & looking over the land was an experience you'll never forget. Go early in the morning ... they open at 8am. The stillness of the jungle early in the morning is almost spiritual.

Things To Do:

• Snorkeling in Half Moon Bay & Yal Ku Lagoon. When it is hot, this is the perfect thing to do. The fish are great.
• A trip to Coba or other Mayan ruins. These mayan ruins are about 40 minutes from Akumal. Go early in the morning if the weather is hot. This once great Mayan city is in the jungle.
• The beach at Tankah about 15 minutes south of Akumal. There is a sign on the highway that marks where you turn off. Bring a bathing suit & a towel and take a dip in the cenote across the road ... the water is very refreshing. Eat at Casa Cenote, a wonderful palapa restaurant on the beach.
• Drive into Playa Del Carmen in the late afternoon for shopping in their upscale shops.
• The beaches of Tulum are very nice. Tulum is about 15-20 minutes south of Akumal. The beaches are clothing optional so you'll find some people with bathing suit and some without.
• Visit Akumal Bay. The beach here is so nice. The water is flat & great for swimming. The snorkeling is OK but not as nice as Yal Ku & Half Moon Bay. The beach is nicer though. There are 2 dive companies on Akumal Bay. If you are interested in the resort course, you can discuss it with them. Diving in August should be fabulous. Usually the water is very flat.
• If you want to visit another gorgeous beach visit Xpu-ha. You may never see a beach as nice as the one at Xpu-ha.
• Xcaret is like a "Mayan Disneyland", definitely worth a visit.
• Cenotes are fantastic. There are many in the jungles around Akumal. There is a very nice one called Grand Cenote. It is on the road to Coba. To reach this cenote go south until you reach the cross road that says Coba. You turn right here and drive about a half mile down the road. You will see a fence on the right with a small sign that says Grand Cenote . A Mayan family lives here and will charge you a few dollars to get in. The cenote is really interesting. You can swim into a cave. The water is very refreshing. If you like the cenotes ask the people you meet in Akumal for their favorite cenote & how to get there. Finding cenotes can be a real experience. There is another fascinating excursion you can take to a cenote. A company called Dos Ojos sells excursions into the jungle to a cenote. They drive you for about 20 minutes on the back of a truck into the jungle to a Mayan village. There is a great cenote there. The guide goes swimming with you into the cenote caves. He takes an underwater light to show you the formations in the cenotes caves. This is a fascinating excursion for the adventurous. Dos Ojos is on the right side of the main highway #307 on the road to Tulum (South). Look for the sign. The cost is about $25 per person if you want to snorkel. Diving is also available. The ride into the jungle in the truck is quite bumpy.