The Perfect Day Trip to Akumal Beach
Have you ever wanted to see sea turtles in their natural habitat? Then you have to come to Akumal Beach.
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What is so Special About Akumal Beach?
If you are visiting the Yucatan Peninsula and you are staying either in Playa del Carmen or Tulum, you might have heard about Akumal Beach. What is Akumal famous for? It’s the turtles. Yes, you have heard correctly. Directly from the beach in Akumal you can go snorkelling with green sea turtles. But it is not just the turtles that attract visitors to Akumal. Akumal beach is an absolute beauty and invites you to the perfect relaxing day trip at one of the most famous beaches at the Riviera Maya.
The name Akumal means Place of the Turtles, as ‘Ak’ is the Maya word for turtle and ‘Umal’ is the Maya word for place. The reason why there are so many sea turtles is the abundance of seagrass which serves as food for the turtles. The coastal town of Akumal with its little over 1300 inhabitants became overrun by tourists because of the turtles. To prevent damage to the natural ecosystem and to protect the turtles, access to the beach has been restricted and only a limited number of people are allowed to snorkel with the turtles per day. In this guide, we provide you with all the information needed to make this beach an unforgettable experience for you.
How to Get to Akumal Beach
The costal town of Akumal is located about 38 km south of Playa del Carmen and about 33 km north of Tulum. This means that from either Tulum or Playa del Carmen it will take you about 30-40 minutes to get to Akumal. There are several possible ways to get to Akumal Beach from Playa del Carmen and Tulum. The most common ones are listed in the following:
Get a Rental Car
You can rent a car for the time that you are staying in Playa del Carmen. This will give you the option to discover the surrounding area. From Playa del Carmen, head south on the 307 highway. Once you reach Akumal, head to Tusk Akumal – Parque National where you will find a parking lot where you can park your car.
Get a Taxi
If you don’t have a car, you can get a taxi from either Tulum or Playa del Carmen to Akumal. Make sure to agree on the fare beforehand to avoid paying too much for your taxi to Akumal.
Use the Colectivo
This is the budget option and also our preferred method to get to Akumal. The Colectivos are white minivans that run regularly between Cancún and Tulum. You basically just have to wave them down when you see one driving past you on the road. The one way trip from Playa del Carmen will cost you about $45 Pesos and from Tulum $35 Pesos. If you don’t want to flag them down you can go to the Colectivo station.
The Colectivo station of Playa del Carmen is located here:
The Colectivo station of Tulum is located here:
What to Expect at Akumal
First of all, try to get there as early as possible in the morning, as you have the greatest chance of seeing the turtles and you will definitely be able to join a tour before too many tourists have done the tour for the day.
From the main road at Akumal, cross the road over the yellow bridge to get to the seafront. From there, follow the road down towards Tusk Akumal – Parque National. As the entrance to the beach is restricted, you have to go to the little round building where you can buy your tickets.
The entrance fee to Akumal beach is at the moment of writing this blog $120 Pesos per person. This will give you access to the beach as well as amazing facilities like toilets and showers. For a deposit of $200 Pesos, you can even get access to lockers to store your valuables.
When you get through to the beach you will find several guides that will offer tours to snorkel with the turtles. You can try your luck by going snorkelling by yourself in the non-restricted parts of the beach, but to be almost guaranteed to see the turtles you have to join a tour to get into the restricted part of the beach, where the turtles feast on the seagrass.
The tour itself costs $500 Pesos per person but with a bit of bargaining, we were able to get the tour for $400 Pesos per person.
As soon as you have decided on a tour you will get a life-vest, a snorkel and some goggles. Once prepared, the guide will introduce some basic rules when snorkelling with the turtles and we definitely recommend that you follow these rules:
How to Behave at Akumal Beach?
- Don’t use sunscreen. The turtles come here to eat. Any kind of lotion or sunscreen will be washed off in the water and be eaten by the turtles which will harm them. Wear a rashguard instead and have a shower before you go into the water.
- Don’t touch the turtles. Give the turtles there space that they need. If you are in the water you don’t want to be touched by anything that you don’t know either.
- Stay horizontal in the water. You will receive a life-jacket to prevent, that you step on the seagrass on which the turtles feed. This would damage the ecosystem of this area. It is also in your best interest to stay horizontal as you don’t want to stir up sand to decrease your vision to see these magnificent animals. don’t chase the turtles. Furthermore, there are string-rays in this area, which is another good reason to stay away from the ground!
- And lastly, listen to what your guide is telling you.
We hope that with this guide you will have an incredible experience at Akumal Beach and that you will see plenty of turtles. If you want to read about our personal experience at Akumal beach check out our travel diary entry of Akumal Beach!
