Akumal: snorkelling with sea turtles near Tulum

Akumal is a small bay town on Highway 307, about 26 km up the coast from Tulum, and the main reason people go is to snorkel with sea turtles. The bay is part of a federal species refuge created in 2016 for green, loggerhead and hawksbill turtles. In 2026 you snorkel the turtle area with a certified guide, in a group of no more than six, and keep your distance from the animals.

The Akumal turtle refuge

On 7 March 2016 Mexico’s environment ministry published an agreement in the Diario Oficial creating the Bahía de Akumal refuge. It covers 1,653 hectares of sea off the municipalities of Solidaridad and Tulum and protects three turtle species:

• green turtle (Chelonia mydas)
• loggerhead (Caretta caretta)
• hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata)

It also protects the seagrass the turtles graze on, three species of it, plus corals. CONANP, Mexico’s protected areas agency, administers the refuge, which runs for about 11 km of coast from Xcacel-Xcacelito through Akumal Bay and Half Moon Bay to Yal-Kú.

The decree’s own reasoning is that heavy visitor numbers in small, well-defined parts of the bay were damaging the habitat. That is why the rules below exist.

Akumal snorkelling rules in 2026

Rule	Source
Certified guide required in the turtle area	Riviera Maya News, March 2026
Up to six people per guide	Riviera Maya News, March 2026
Visitor numbers regulated	Riviera Maya News, March 2026
Stay inside the bay	Centro Ecológico Akumal (CEA)
Keep at least 3 m from turtles	CEA
No more than 2 minutes with any one turtle	CEA (Riviera Maya News says 2 to 3 minutes)
Do not touch, chase or dive down	CEA
Do not stand on the reef or kick up sand	CEA
Sun shirt or biodegradable sunscreen	CEA
Life jacket advised; tour groups may require one	CEA

Checked October 2026. CEA’s guidelines were last updated in February 2021.

The two sources disagree on one point. CEA’s FAQ, written in 2021, said hiring a guide was optional for independent snorkellers. Riviera Maya News reported in March 2026 that certified guides must accompany visitors. Go with the newer report and book a guide.

Centro Ecológico Akumal is a local conservation group. It does not run snorkel tours, and it warns that some guides falsely claim to work for it. CEA certifies some guides through a course authorised by Mexico’s tourism ministry, and those guides carry official ID cards. Ask to see one.

CEA also advises staying at least 30 m from the reef break and learning the beach warning flags. Boats use channels in the bay, which is one reason it asks snorkellers not to dive down.

How to visit

Our top pick is a 1.5-hour guided snorkel that meets in Akumal and includes entry to the Tsuuk Akumal area plus GoPro photos. It is rated 4.6 from 422 reviews. Because a guide and park entry are included, there is little to arrange yourself.

The other two tours on this page are full days from the coast that add Akumal to the Tulum ruins and a cenote swim:

• From Riviera Maya: Tulum, Cenote and Akumal Turtle Swim: ruins, lunch and a swim at Cenote Mariposa, then turtles. Pickup in Playa del Carmen; entry fees extra. Rated 4.6 from 341.
• From Cancún: Tulum and Akumal Cenote and Turtle Swim: the same idea from Cancún, with the cenote at Canamayte Eco Park. Rated 4.5 from 381.

We have not printed beach entry prices. Private access points around the bay have charged their own fees, and we found no current official figure.

When to go

The refuge and its rules apply all year, so the season decides the water and the weather rather than access. WeatherSpark’s climate averages for nearby Tulum put the sea at about 26°C in February and 29°C from June to October. The dry season runs roughly from early November to late May.

Sargassum, the floating brown seaweed, is the main thing that spoils a beach day along this coast. It usually arrives between April and October and is heaviest from June to August. The University of South Florida’s January 2026 outlook expected another major year of seaweed on the Mexican Caribbean coast. Check our Tulum sargassum guide before you go, and keep a cenote in reserve.

Getting to Akumal from Tulum

Akumal is on Highway 307, the coast road between Tulum and Playa del Carmen.

• By car: head north on 307 past Tankah, Casa Cenote and Dos Ojos.
• By colectivo: the shared vans between Playa del Carmen and Tulum run along 307 and can drop you along the way. The full Playa to Tulum fare was MXN 60 in 2026, according to the Tulum Times.
• By taxi: Tulum has no official 2026 taxi tariff, so agree the fare in pesos before you leave.

Our getting around Tulum guide compares the options.

Cenotes near Akumal

Akumal sits in the middle of the best-known cenote stretch on the coast. Pair the turtles with one of these:

Cenote	Where	Good for
Cenote Dos Ojos	About 11 km south of Akumal	Cavern snorkelling and diving
Sac Actun	Near Dos Ojos	Guided cavern swim
Casa Tortuga	Between Dos Ojos and Tulum	Several cenotes on one ticket
Casa Cenote	Tankah, north of Tulum	Mangrove channel by the sea
Cenote Azul and Cenote Cristalino	Near Xpu-Ha, about 10 km north of Akumal	Open cenotes

The Tulum cenote map shows them all along Highway 307.

Staying in Akumal

Akumal is also a place to stay, between Tulum and Playa del Carmen. Hotel Akumal Caribe describes itself as Akumal’s first resort and beach club and is family-run. It is about 11 km from Dos Ojos and 23 km from Gran Cenote. Our where to stay in Tulum guide compares Akumal with Tulum town and the hotel zone.

For the beaches closer to Tulum, see the Tulum beaches guide. For more day trips, see things to do in Tulum and the full tours page.