So yesterday we finally got to check out the beach at Akumal. Though the weather the past few days hasn’t been the warmest (okay, so plus 26 is definitely better than -26 and with the humidity it still feels like 32 however), the wind has been pretty calm lately. We heard that Akumal has a nice reef just offshore and that it broke the waves up but we still didn’t want to risk going out all the way there and not getting a chance to snorkel.

To our shame, we’ve been here over a month and the only time we’ve strapped the mask and snorkel on was in the pool as we were teaching Cole how to do it. I could hardly stand to look at myself anymore, the shame of not having snorkeled was too great. Fine, it wasn’t too great but I did feel we owed it ourselves to get out and see what the underwater world had to offer. I also suppose that I should have done a bit of snorkeling in Cozumel instead of bitching about the taxi mafia but I’m not even sure we brought our snorkeling equipment that day.

We headed out before 10 and were a little nervous about the wind. We were also a little nervous because though we’ve had a dozen people telling us how to get there we never bothered listening that closely to how they actually reached the beach. You see Akumal is a little like Tulum in that the town is actually off the beach a ways. When the collectivo drops you off you’re pretty much on the side of the highway next to a very large overpass.

You have two options at this point, follow the ramp into town and grab a taxi to the beach or climb the pedestrian walkway and head towards the beach. We weren’t sure which way was best seeing that it looked like a fair walk into town and the pedestrian bridge was 2 flights of stairs higher than either of us felt like walking. We opted to cross the bridge solely on the fact that we knew the water was that direction. It seemed ridiculous to walk in the opposite direction really.

After climbing the stairs and crossing over we headed in the direction of the beach. We had read that it was 2 kilometers to the beach and when we got to the other road we were a little disconcerted to find neither a taxi nor a soul in sight. We could have turned around and walked into town but we figured there would be a taxi along sooner or later.

There was a nicely paved pathway meandering in the direction we thought we should go so we followed that. Thankfully there was a little shade here and there along the walk because though the temperature wasn’t ridiculous, the sun felt like someone had turned the dial up to incinerate. Poor Micki was baking and Jordan refused to walk or let me carry her. Needless to say the second we stumbled across a little grocery shop we stopped to pick up some drinks and bask in the AC for a minute or two.

After we set out again we were a little stumped on where to go. There weren’t any signs around and it looked like a giant wall loomed in front of us. Basically between the wall and the security guy at the gate it made us think that we had taken a wrong turn somewhere. Since there was only one road in or out of the area we knew that something wasn’t adding up.

Thankfully we found a huge map to guide our way. The only problem with that was we had no idea where in the hell we were on that it. I guess you can say that whoever drew it was exercising their creative license. Based purely on the fact that the road ran smack through that gate we barreled on ahead. As soon as we did we realized that the beach was right there. Not only that but there were signs all over for the restaurants and shops we had read about.

As we walked onto the beach proper there were two things that instantly struck me. One was that there was like zero waves and the second that this was an excellent place to take your kids. The bay itself was smaller than I expected but it was still a decent enough size considering all the people mucking about. The beach also had half decent sand and the water seemed very clear. The only downside to the whole place was there wasn’t a lot of lounge chairs to be had. Well, there weren’t any to be honest but we did manage to find a cozy spot under a few coconut trees to set up camp. Once we had staked our plot we grabbed the kids and headed to the restaurant to grab some lunch.

We had heard that the Lolha restaurant was pretty good. It was however also almost twice the price that we had read about. Not to be undone we plowed ahead and ordered some grub. I had a bacon cheeseburger and a big plate of fries. I haven’t had a lot of chances to have that since we got here. It seems we eat Mexican or Italian most of the time so it was a real treat for me.

I also got a chance to wash it down with a Corona. Corona is my favorite beer but it seems out here it’s hard to come by and I usually have to make do with Sol which I find is just a cheap ripoff. The food was pretty tasty but I realized my mistake as we walked back to our towels.

I was just itching to get out in the water and go snorkeling but I had just eaten a monster burger and was stuffed. Luckily, half the people were wearing flippers and I didn’t look too out of place waddling back to our spot. After a few minutes of watching the crowds venture out into the bay I couldn’t resist any longer. I kissed Micki and the kids goodbye (we were each going to have a turn since someone had to watch the kids) and jumped in.

The water was glorious. I have to say I’ve snorkeled in a lot of different places over the years and yesterday was the first day I truly wished I had some flippers. Micki and I decided years ago that flippers were just too cumbersome to carry around with us everywhere. We still believe it (especially now that we have the kids stuff as well) but that didn’t stop me from wishing I had some that day.

The reason Akumal is such a good snorkeling spot is hands down because of the turtles. There’s sea grass everywhere in the bay and to a turtle that has to be good eating. We had read about where to see what in the bay but it wasn’t too hard to figure out where the only turtle was that day. There were at least a dozen people surrounding it the majority of the time. If the turtle decided to join a rock band and dye his head purple I believe he’d still have the same amount of groupies. True, seeing a wild sea turtle only a few feet from you is a definite cool thing however people come on, give the thing some breathing room.

When I finally reached it I was a little winded and glad to be able to relax for a few moments. It was a lot smaller than the previous ones I’ve seen and to be honest I have no idea what kind it was. I suppose I could go look it up but I’d rather just finish this sea tale.

So there I was (along with 6 or 7 other people) floating along the water watching a young sea turtle chomping away while trying not to bump into anyone. One fellow kept going down to take pictures and every time his camera made a loud clicking noise it scared the turtle away. Now those with fins could easily keep up but I was barefoot (of course) and it was a bit of work. Especially with that big burger sitting in there.

I was preparing to take my leave when I witnessed what I found hugely comical. There were only 5 or 6 of us at that point and one happened to be a couple. I was starting to turn away when the girl started frantically gesturing to her boyfriend. I thought either she had seen something cool or something had happened right then that I missed.

As I looked closer I could see her trying to tell him something. He was waving her off but she was persistent. He finally relented and next thing I knew she was swimming down to the turtle bare chested. He swam down as well and took her picture next to the turtle. The funniest thing is I swear the turtle looked at her and shook his head in disgust. If the turtle could talk I’m sure he would have said “Damn humans, can’t you see I’m eating here?” I literally laughed so hard I got water into my mask.

I saw a big group of people heading towards us so I decided to explore the rest of the bay. To the north I finally found some corral and colorful fish (up to that point I had only seen the occasional one here or there). After swimming around a bit I headed back inland. I stopped for half a minute to watch the sea turtle again (there were 18 people circling it) and swam to shore. I have to say that going in took a lot longer than going out.

Micki and the kids were playing in the shallows (it was the first time they could play in and out of the water without us worrying about them falling in the waves). Micki decided she would hold off snorkeling until the next time (we’re totally going back) and we enjoyed playing with the kids.

Cole and Jordan got a treat when I grabbed the half eaten hot dog bun that Cole had at lunch and fed the fish. Cole got so brave he would actually hold the pieces while the fish nibbled. There were dozens around us by the time we were done. The majority of them followed me around for the next 20 minutes hoping I had more.

The clouds looked like they were rolling in so we decided to call it a day. We had had a good time and plan on returning again soon.

We also had a good chuckle as we walked out of the gates and noticed a group of guys trying to make sense of the same large map we had previously found. There were 4 of them and each wanted to go in a different direction. We told them to just walk through the gate and they were there. It felt nice to give someone directions for a change.

We then walked the half kilometer back to the collectivo stand. No way was it 2 kilometers as they say however walking in it sure felt like it. We had a nice ride home though and got to relax for the rest of the night.

With that I’ll leave you with this thought. Never flash a turtle when there are a half dozen witnesses with cameras. I would imagine there’ll be a few funny Facebook postings in the next few days. Have fun!

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To those who haven’t yet been to this area, a cenote is basically a large (or small) freshwater hole composed primarily of limestone and fossilized coral. They essentially get created when the water level drops and the rooftop caves in revealing a pool of crystal clear water. Because these pools are often connected to extensive underground rivers they’ve become very popular with cave divers like diving Cenote Dos Ojos. Some of the deepest can go down to 200 feet while others can lead to miles of underground caves. As luck would have it, the Yucatan Peninsula has some of the nicest ones in the world and we thought we’d check one out.

After getting the kids prepped and ready and making sure the sky was still clear we headed out. We had heard that the cheapest way to get there was to take a taxi to the collectivo depot (a small van that basically acts like a mini bus that has a specific destination but you can literally get off and on anywhere along it’s route). Micki and I knew that the cenote we were headed for was relatively close so I had asked the taxi driver how much to get there. He grabbed a chart and pointed to the price. It was around $20 US. Not wanting to spend so much I told him no too expensive and that we just wanted to be dropped at the collectivo lot.

I think my Spanish was especially bad that morning because next thing I knew we were outside of the city and heading to the cenote. We had not even gotten close to the collectivo stand. Micki was nice enough to point this out to me but we had already driven so far (we weren’t 100% sure where the collectivos met to begin with) that we decided to just pay to take the taxi all the way there. $20 wasn’t so bad after dealing with the Taxi Mafia on Cozumel considering the distance we were going.

About 20 minutes later the taxi had pulled over in front of a big cenote sign. I think it was either Cenote Azul or Cenote El Edén (they’re all close to each other). It wasn’t the right one but I did get to try out my Spanish again as a local tout tried selling me on going to that one instead. Basically it was 3 cenotes for the price of 1. It was actually a good deal but we had researched and decided on Cenote Crystalline (also known as Cenote Cristalino). It’s one of the best in the area and gets great reviews. So on we drove (it was only a minute farther to be honest) and arrived at our cenote. There was a big billboard at the side of the road and a little shack selling tickets and simple snacks. It cost us 100 Pesos (40 for us, 20 for Cole and Jordan was free) which is about about $8 US.

As we followed a little rock and gravel path all the way down to the main attraction we were a little excited. It’s not everyday you get to see a natural wonder a minute off the highway in a foreign land. When we got there we were a little surprised. It didn’t look like much compared to the ads. It was a small pool with a fair bit of leaves and stuff floating on the top. It looked interesting but none of us had the urge to just jump in. Luckily, that was only a small part of it and as we followed the boardwalk it opened up into another larger area. The main pool was much larger and was both leaf free and crystal clear. The water was also deceptively deeper than it looked.

I think the biggest shock we had was that the place was empty. There were two Brazilian women (I’m pretty sure they were speaking Portuguese)  and another couple checking out the cave pools. The two women were interesting because one was incredibly pregnant and the other was taking tons of pictures of her in different outfits. It looked more like a photo shoot than anything else. Anyway, we had heard the place was very popular and were expecting it to be more crowded than it was. The two women left soon after we got there and we basically had the place to ourselves almost the entire time.

One of the neatest things about the pools is that they are teaming with fish. Some are actually quite colorful and you wouldn’t expect that in a fresh water pool. As we sat down along the edge and put our feet in, a dozen of the 3 inch ones started nibbling on our toes. We had read about that and I didn’t mind the tickling feeling that much. Micki and the kids couldn’t get used to it though so they made sure to keep their feet moving all the time. The fish wouldn’t bother you if you stayed in motion.

After throwing on our swimgear and hanging by the edge for an hour I finally jumped in. The pools were a little cool (though warmer than our swimming pool) so Micki and I were a little hesitant to jump in at first. Once I was in the water it was gorgeous and I got Cole to throw me my snorkelling gear. After swimming a few laps of the main area I got out and let Micki have a turn. She basically jumped in and then got out. No matter how much coaxing I tried I couldn’t get either of the kids in with me. Jordan was a little overtired and Cole was enjoying dropping pebbles into the water and watching the fish go after it thinking it was food.

When people finally started showing up we decided to call it a day. As Micki and the kids changed I went for a longer snorkel starting in the cave and arriving into the main pool. The cave was quite different to snorkel in and to be honest was a little intimidating. It gets dark in there! I found it much easier to swim from the cave out to the light than the other way around mind you. I think if the place had a bunch of people hanging out it wouldn’t have been bad but when you’re alone your mind starts to wonder what exactly is hiding under that ledge or in that dark spot in the corner.

When we got to the main entrance we stopped for a quick snack at the little shack and then crossed the road to hail down a collectivo. We had no idea how to do that but as we stood on the median one came flying by, slammed on it’s brakes and then backed up to pick us up. We didn’t even have to flag it down. We had a nice little ride back (Jordan fell asleep again) and it only cost us 50 pesos (about $4 US) to the terminal. The van passed only 10 blocks from our place and we could have jumped out then but we wanted to see exactly where the terminal was for our next excursion. We then grabbed a $2 taxi to our place since Jordan was sleeping and Cole looked like he was about to fall asleep any minute. We all had a nice little siesta when we got back and enjoyed a quiet night in with the kids.

As a side note, we’re thinking we might end up staying in Playa for the holidays so if anyone is heading out here let us know and we’ll meet you for Christmas drinks. Next on our must do while here list is probably going to be snorkelling with the turtles in Akumal. We have some friends coming out for the week later today and they’re staying in that area so we might end up doing that sooner than later. We’ll put out a post as soon as we do. Hope you all have a great weekend!