The Charming Beach Town of Akumal, Mexico
Akumal is a small beach town nestled between the popular tourist destinations of Playa Del Carmen and Tulum along the Riviera Maya on Mexico‘s Caribbean coast. While I have been to this region of Mexico several times, I never thought to stop in Akumal until my most recent trip. After asking locals for snorkeling recommendations, I was consistently told that I could never expect to see as many sea turtles as I would in a matter of breaststrokes from the shore of Akumal.
When I arrived at the beach, my “common sense” told me that it wasn’t really possible. The beach was littered with sunbathers emerging out of the hotels that line the coast, and the waters were packed with small fishing boats and snorkelers. How could turtles be casually hanging around all this activity? I gave it the benefit of the doubt and took the plunge.
I swam as far away from shore as was safe and saw nothing but an infinite field of kelp and felt disappointment. I decided to turn back. Then, all of the sudden, I saw three turtles feeding! It was incredible and as I kept snorkeling around I came across at least a dozen more. Completely unfazed by human presence, I swam alongside one for several minutes that had two remora fish attached to it. I even saw a sting ray and a fairly large barracuda.
I’m told the turtles tend to stick to the northern section of the beach and you really don’t have to swim out too far to encounter them. I later learned that Akumal means “place of the turtle” in the Mayan language.
Sea Turtle with Remora in Akumal, Mexico
Photo credit: Marisa Marchitelli
Related: Xcaret Water Park, Playa del Carmen, Mexico; Hotel Tropical CasaBlanca, Playa del Carmen.
- If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
- Share
- Prev/Next
6 Responses
What a perfect capture! I love Tulum. All of the Yukatan for that matter. Where did you stay?
[...] Related posts:- Turtle Weddings at the Marquis Los Cabos Resort, Mexico Snorkeling With Turtles in Mexico [...]
[...] Related posts:- Turtle Weddings at the Marquis Los Cabos Resort, Mexico Snorkeling With Turtles in Mexico [...]
[...] small oceanfront town of Tulum, Mexico is perhaps most famous for its beaches, and none more so than El Paraiso Beach. The first [...]
[...] Akumal, Mexico: The author of this blog post shares his experience with the sea turtles of Akumal. [...]
I brought my small family to enjoy this historic setting in an attempt to avoid the tourist crowds to the north. We stayed at Las Villas Akumal (www.lasvillasakumal.com) in a fabulous two-bedroom villa with a spacious balcony overlooking the ocean. We had all the amenities of a top class hotel with the comfort and atmosphere of a private residence on the beach, and all at a very excellent rate. Every day we watched tiny sea turtles hatch on the beach and return to the ocean-the word Akumal actually means “place of the turtle” in Mayan. When we snorkeled in the nearby bay we were met by a host of giant sea turtles, beautiful sea coral as well as thousands of colorful fish. As our snorkeling session was ending we came upon a pile of submerged ancient cannons and anchors only a hundred yards off shore. No need for scuba gear here as the relics were only about 15 ft below the surface and we were easily able to snorkel down to inspect these treasures from another era.