Trip To Akumal to See the Turtles

We woke up early to a pretty crappy day (thanks Tropical Storm Harvey)…rain and dark clouds so we decided to go to Akumal, Mexico to see the turtles.   Bad weather can´t really ruin snorkeling, can it?

After breakfast, we went to the main street in Tulum to wait for the Colectivo.  Mexico really does transportation right.  Within about 30 seconds, the air conditioned van pulled up and we jumped in.  You can just flag these down anywhere on their route…in this area, they run from Tulum to Playa Del Carmen.  

20 minutes and $25 pesos later, we hopped out along the highway at Akumal.  It was a 5 minute walk to the beach and the day seemed to be turning nicer.

If you don´t have snorkel equipment, rent it from the first little palapa that you see near the parking lot.  They charge $100 pesos as opposed to the $200 pesos once you get to the beach.  If you are not a strong swimmer, you can also get a guided tour.  A boat will drop you off in the deeper water.  If you feel confident, just swim out there…it takes less than 10 minutes with your flippers.

Like Playa Del Carmen, the beach is slightly rocky and there are dive and snorkeling boats all along the shore.  With darkening clouds looming, we got right into the water.

The easiest way to find the turtles is by looking for the groups of snorkelers.  There are lots.

The ones we saw seemed more interested in doing underwater pictures near the turtle than actually looking at it.  The turtle was very cool.  With about a 3 foot shell.  It had two remora fish sucked to its side…but it was too busy nibbling sea grass to care.

It looked a lot like this…but I won´t pretend I took this picture because I don´t know how to get Fred Wobus´s name off it.

We swam off to find the next turtle and were about 20 minutes from shore when the sky turned black and the waves really kicked up…we started to swim like crazy.  Damn I wish I was in better shape.  Luckily, the little lifeguard was on shore (hopefully) keeping an eye out for us.

We had a few beers at a few bars, wandered around to all the cute art and craft stores.  Took a walk on the rocks and headed back to the bus.

I didn´t promise you excitement…only the Scoop.  Let´s hope tomorrow is a better day.  Now I´m headed off for some Mexican food and a margarita.  The food in this town is ridiculously good.  

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