Playa Akumal — Attraction in Quintana Roo

When you arrive at this beach, there are certain things to be aware of.

It's important to note that inside the beach is separated into two zones. There is a free zone where you can swim; however, it is very small, and the water is shallow. Then, there is the zone where the turtles are. It's no longer allowed to snorkel with the turtles unless you have a guide. The guide provides you with a mandatory life jacket and snorkelling equipment.

Firstly, when you drive there, there are people suggesting a snorkelling tour, but they will charge you more. At first, we were a bit confused as we thought it was the main entrance where we had to pay the fee, but no, it's people suggesting paid tours.

You can politely decline and continue to find a parking spot. I've read somewhere that you might find a free parking spot, but we didn't find any. You will encounter the first paid parking spot for 100 pesos. Keep going forward as there is another paid parking lot for 100 pesos, but at least it's nearby the entrance to the park/beach.

When you try to go to the entrance, there are people approaching you (again). It's not worth going on a tour with them. They charge you 600 pesos, and then you also have to pay the entrance fee, which is 120 pesos. What you should do is find a tour guide inside the beach. Apparently, there are two options: the American office, which charges 720 pesos, and the local guide, which charges a total of 600 pesos, but this price includes the entrance fee! You might negotiate the amount. For us, we paid 540 pesos per person. Then, you enter and wait a bit until they form a group of people; we were 8. Then you do the tour for approximately 40 minutes, and you get to see turtles & stingrays. We went there only for snorkeling, and once we were done, we left. It's a nice experience but very touristy and crowded and I'm not certain whether it's ethically to swim with turtles there ( as there are so many people).

They explained to us that three years ago, the entrance was free, but people were touching the turtles, so they changed it! However, I believe they should maybe increase the entrance fee and decrease the number of visitors (have a maximum number) to protect the turtles. Also, it should be better organized as there are so many guides approaching you proposing different prices.

In any case, be aware that it's quite confusing, but once you're there, if you follow the steps, you...

I swam with the turtles here.

Go early. I went in low season (early September 2023) and arrived before they even open. The car path to Akumal Beach is chained off with a guy guarding it. You should say that you're doing a tour with the Akumal Dive Centre (the Akumal Dive Shop is a different place). THEN you can drive in and access the parking lot that's right next to the beach.

Akumal Dive Centre opens at 8am. Keep that in mind for your travel time.

If you want to go for a tour to swim with the sea turtles, Akumal Dive Centre sells them for 700 MXN. You get a locker rental, life jacket, snorkel gear, and then they take you on a one-minute boat ride out with a guide for a small group of people.

During the tour, you can't take anything with you - leave everything in the locker, and the key to the locker you'll hang right by the central desk. No sunscreen of any kind allowed so buy a rash guard / sun shirt.

However, you can also just swim out to see the turtles for FREE without paying for anything once you know what you're doing. You can simply go to the end of the line of boats on the beach, use the anchor chains to move up and you'll come across white buoys that demarcate the area that you're allowed to swim up to WITHOUT a life jacket. I have done this after the tour and still found a couple of sea turtles that swam in past the border.

If you go over the white buoys, you're required to have a life jacket. The dive centre rents them out for less price than a tour. Then all you have to do is see where the people are bobbing in the sea together - most likely they're looking at a turtle. Just go swim up to that area.

Otherwise if you go later in the day, especially in high season, other tourists will have kicked up the sand and drastically lower visibility of the turtles.

When you get hungry, I recommend going to eat at La Buena Vida or La Lunita - about 5 minutes drive up the road into Bahia De La Media Luna...

The worst experience so far my boyfriend and I have had in Tulum so far. The beach is unsafe you would think with 100 people trying to sell you a snorkle package one would warn you that there is fire coral in the water. We swam where we were allowed to they only give you a small section to swim in if you are just there for the beach which was a waste of money. While I was swimming I was unaware that I touched fire coral my hand was in excruciating pain yet there was no lifeguard to be found. Turns out there is only ONE who is responsible for everyone on the beach this is extremely unsafe. He didn't even know how to treat my hand he wiped it off with a dry cloth and told me to lay down it was a joke. Our server was shocked at how he handled the situation as well. With all of the money the beach makes for tours you'd think they would hire properly trained guards and more than one. If possible find another beach to visit like Playa Paraiso we have been going there just for the beach and the beach clubs offered free parking, restrooms, showers, and beds as long as you ordered something off of the menu. Entering Playa Akumal you are immediately attacked by locals trying to sell you a snorkling experience and each one claims to have the best price. It is overwhelming and gets old quickly almost making you feel forced to buy something you aren't interested in. If you don't pay to snorkle they treat you bad and make you pay to park, enter the beach, use the restrooms, also pay to sit in the shade per chair lol. It is sad the beach is beautiful but I would never suggest it to anyone and will...