Trip Report for Akumal, Mexico 7-31-05 to 8-7-05
This is long but I hope it is useful!
-Post Hurricane Emily Trip-
Non-Diving Information-
We booked a flight from New Orleans directly to Cancun through Vacation Express for a very good price. Everything was on time and we had a very easy check-in (the flight was on TransMeridian Airlines). We would definitely use this method again. Easy Way Rental Car was waiting for us at the Cancun airport and transferred us to their office about 5 minutes away to get set up with our car. We rented a VW Pointer station wagon and it fit the 3 of us and all of our luggage ...7 bags total! A/C didnt work the greatest but everything else was in good condition and it got us through the week with no problems. We booked a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo #6 at Luna Azul on Half Moon Bay in Akumal through locogringo.com . Once again, the A/C wasnt the greatest, but we were satisfied with the condo. Unfortunately, a transformer blew out during our stay and we were without power for 28 hours and then once power came back on it was only for lights (no A/C) for yet another day. It was so hot (and we are from Louisiana), so we complained to the manager and he moved us next door for the night to Playa Caribe condo #7. We did like this condo much more on the inside, but its $45 more a night than Luna Azul. What we liked more about Luna Azul was the view from the balcony and it had a larger section of beach. But the A/C in Playa Caribe was GREAT after sweating like crazy for two days! Akumal took a direct hit from Hurricane Emily. Aesthetically, it is very damaged. ALL of the landscaping is gone or damaged and the jungle looks like a bulldozer came through it. Most palapas were damaged and some windows were blown out. So, it doesnt have the cute tropical village look right now, but structurally all of the buildings seem to have held up very well.
Food-
We had better experiences in Tulum but a few places are worth a visit in Akumal. Turtle Bay Bakery for breakfast was very good (the key lime pie is exceptional). We enjoyed the atmosphere at La Buena Vida for drinks and the salsa and guacamole were good. The chicken fajitas were also good. For a casual dinner we liked Lol-Ha, especially since my teenaged stepson was actually able to find something he liked! They have a selection of Mexican food but also hamburgers, hot dogs and the like. Our Favorite places were Pizzeria Leos in Chemuyil
(between Akumal and Tulum), Don Cafetos in Tulum, and a little place for lunch in Tulum in the Hotel Bistro. Cueva Del Pescador in Akumal was o.k., and we didnt care for La Lunita. We also tried Don Karontes in Tulum and didnt care for our entrees but the Lime soup was delicious. For breakfast we ate in the condo to save a little money and time except for one day at Turtle Bay. We stopped at Chedraui in Playa del Carmen and picked up the essentials.
Other Tips-
*One side note is that the turtles were obviously not affected by the hurricane. We saw tons of turtles in the water directly out from Luna Azul. The first night we were there we got to see baby turtles hatching out of a nest on the beach. What an awesome experience. The last night we were there a turtle laid eggs right in front of the condo. Also, snorkeling in Half Moon Bay is great in the outer northern part. Great place to see juvenile fish. Yal-ku was not that good and the reef just out of the lagoon sustained major damage. There are fish in Yal-ku and its very safe and shallow so it might be good for kids. But, I would stay in the Half Moon and Akumal Bay area if you really want to see a variety.
*Before we left we got maps at cancunmap.com for the Mayan Riviera and they proved to be extremely helpful and filled with information.
*We visited Coba and Tulum and enjoyed both. If you are in to bike riding, you can rent bikes for $2.50 US and it is fun to see the Coba ruins that way.
*DO NOT LEAVE HOME WITHOUT DEET! The Mosquitoes are evil! I didnt leave the room at night without it and also applied at the ruins.
*If you are looking for a good beach club I would recommend El Paraiso in Tulum. Beautiful wide sandy beach, palapas, banos, and a beach bar with beach service. They also serve food. Didnt have any but it looked and smelled good. It was 25 pesos for a lounge chair. There were a lot of Europeans and some were topless if this sort of thing bothers you (it doesnt us). It wasnt crowded at all and a great place for swimming.
*ATMs in Akumal and Puerto Aventuras were unreliable. Tulum and Playa del Carmen are the best bet.
Diving-
On to the important stuff. We have been to Cozumel a couple of times and wanted to try something new so we looked in to Cenote diving. Due to the recommendations on this board we booked 4 days of diving with Dennis Weeks (Diablo Divers).
Day 1-
The first day we did reef dives out of Puerto Aventuras. Dennis set us up to dive with Aquanauts and we thought they had a good operation (Dennis came along too). We had two good dives, saw a turtle, a huge hogfish (we thought it was cool), trumpet fish, and the usual tropical variety. We noticed some damage to the reef on the first dive but then on the second dive not much damage at all. I think it will bounce back quickly. Aquanauts did say that they are seeing more and more fish coming back each day. Current was little to none and vis was around 60-70 ft. We have done better reef dives, but the boat crew made it a lot of fun, and it was a great way to do some check out dives before the Cenotes. We would definitely dive with Aquanauts again.
Day 2-
Finally we are off to the Cenotes. Dennis picked us up and the first dive was at the Ponderosa (Garden of Eden). This is a fantastic introduction to cenote diving and a good place to get used to an overhead environment and get your bouyancy under control. Dennis is great about giving you tips to help with this and taking things very slow. We never felt rushed and was able to really concentrate on improving our skills. With just over 25 dives, this was great! Also, my stepson was able to get a lot of practice because he hasnt done as much diving as me. The second dive was Taj Mahal. Here there are more formations and light. Vis was limited to your light only and the water was about 75 deg. which was refreshing. Our minds were blown at the end of the day and we couldnt even imagine that it was only going to get better!
Day 3-
We did two dives at Dos Ojos. All I can say is that it was surreal. Tons of formations and it was breathtaking. There were only 4 of us (Dennis, me, my husband and step-son) so we didnt have to worry about anyone else. We saw very few other people on our dives as well. After the day before of practice, we were really getting the hang of things and thoroughly enjoying ourselves. On the second dive we surfaced in Bat Cave. That was very cool. Then we continued on with the rest of the dive. This was a blast. Once again, we thought that this was as good as it could get. We were wrong again.
--That night we did a night dive back out at the reef with Aquanauts. Great dive! Saw squid, lobster, octopus, brittle stars, scorpion fish, file clams, crabs etc.
Day 4-
Dove Grand cenote and another cenote we cant remember the name of. Even more formations and huge columns and big open rooms with tons of stalactites. It really gave you a sense of how old this place is and how insignificant you are in the universe. I wont get all philosophical, but it was just so beautiful. You have to see it to believe it.
Overall, we thought the diving was incredible. :sunny Dennis was a fantastic guide, and even helped when we had equipment problems, from a bad hose to a free-flowing octopus and everything in between. We are glad we researched on this board and found him because he made the trip. This is my first trip report and I felt that the level of service and the outstanding diving with Diablo Divers warranted passing the information on to fellow divers. If anyone has questions about Akumal or the diving feel free to PM me.
This is long but I hope it is useful!
-Post Hurricane Emily Trip-
Non-Diving Information-
We booked a flight from New Orleans directly to Cancun through Vacation Express for a very good price. Everything was on time and we had a very easy check-in (the flight was on TransMeridian Airlines). We would definitely use this method again. Easy Way Rental Car was waiting for us at the Cancun airport and transferred us to their office about 5 minutes away to get set up with our car. We rented a VW Pointer station wagon and it fit the 3 of us and all of our luggage ...7 bags total! A/C didnt work the greatest but everything else was in good condition and it got us through the week with no problems. We booked a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo #6 at Luna Azul on Half Moon Bay in Akumal through locogringo.com . Once again, the A/C wasnt the greatest, but we were satisfied with the condo. Unfortunately, a transformer blew out during our stay and we were without power for 28 hours and then once power came back on it was only for lights (no A/C) for yet another day. It was so hot (and we are from Louisiana), so we complained to the manager and he moved us next door for the night to Playa Caribe condo #7. We did like this condo much more on the inside, but its $45 more a night than Luna Azul. What we liked more about Luna Azul was the view from the balcony and it had a larger section of beach. But the A/C in Playa Caribe was GREAT after sweating like crazy for two days! Akumal took a direct hit from Hurricane Emily. Aesthetically, it is very damaged. ALL of the landscaping is gone or damaged and the jungle looks like a bulldozer came through it. Most palapas were damaged and some windows were blown out. So, it doesnt have the cute tropical village look right now, but structurally all of the buildings seem to have held up very well.
Food-
We had better experiences in Tulum but a few places are worth a visit in Akumal. Turtle Bay Bakery for breakfast was very good (the key lime pie is exceptional). We enjoyed the atmosphere at La Buena Vida for drinks and the salsa and guacamole were good. The chicken fajitas were also good. For a casual dinner we liked Lol-Ha, especially since my teenaged stepson was actually able to find something he liked! They have a selection of Mexican food but also hamburgers, hot dogs and the like. Our Favorite places were Pizzeria Leos in Chemuyil
(between Akumal and Tulum), Don Cafetos in Tulum, and a little place for lunch in Tulum in the Hotel Bistro. Cueva Del Pescador in Akumal was o.k., and we didnt care for La Lunita. We also tried Don Karontes in Tulum and didnt care for our entrees but the Lime soup was delicious. For breakfast we ate in the condo to save a little money and time except for one day at Turtle Bay. We stopped at Chedraui in Playa del Carmen and picked up the essentials. Other Tips-
*One side note is that the turtles were obviously not affected by the hurricane. We saw tons of turtles in the water directly out from Luna Azul. The first night we were there we got to see baby turtles hatching out of a nest on the beach. What an awesome experience. The last night we were there a turtle laid eggs right in front of the condo. Also, snorkeling in Half Moon Bay is great in the outer northern part. Great place to see juvenile fish. Yal-ku was not that good and the reef just out of the lagoon sustained major damage. There are fish in Yal-ku and its very safe and shallow so it might be good for kids. But, I would stay in the Half Moon and Akumal Bay area if you really want to see a variety.
*Before we left we got maps at cancunmap.com for the Mayan Riviera and they proved to be extremely helpful and filled with information.
*We visited Coba and Tulum and enjoyed both. If you are in to bike riding, you can rent bikes for $2.50 US and it is fun to see the Coba ruins that way.
*DO NOT LEAVE HOME WITHOUT DEET! The Mosquitoes are evil! I didnt leave the room at night without it and also applied at the ruins.
*If you are looking for a good beach club I would recommend El Paraiso in Tulum. Beautiful wide sandy beach, palapas, banos, and a beach bar with beach service. They also serve food. Didnt have any but it looked and smelled good. It was 25 pesos for a lounge chair. There were a lot of Europeans and some were topless if this sort of thing bothers you (it doesnt us). It wasnt crowded at all and a great place for swimming.
*ATMs in Akumal and Puerto Aventuras were unreliable. Tulum and Playa del Carmen are the best bet.
Diving-
On to the important stuff. We have been to Cozumel a couple of times and wanted to try something new so we looked in to Cenote diving. Due to the recommendations on this board we booked 4 days of diving with Dennis Weeks (Diablo Divers).
Day 1-
The first day we did reef dives out of Puerto Aventuras. Dennis set us up to dive with Aquanauts and we thought they had a good operation (Dennis came along too). We had two good dives, saw a turtle, a huge hogfish (we thought it was cool), trumpet fish, and the usual tropical variety. We noticed some damage to the reef on the first dive but then on the second dive not much damage at all. I think it will bounce back quickly. Aquanauts did say that they are seeing more and more fish coming back each day. Current was little to none and vis was around 60-70 ft. We have done better reef dives, but the boat crew made it a lot of fun, and it was a great way to do some check out dives before the Cenotes. We would definitely dive with Aquanauts again.
Day 2-
Finally we are off to the Cenotes. Dennis picked us up and the first dive was at the Ponderosa (Garden of Eden). This is a fantastic introduction to cenote diving and a good place to get used to an overhead environment and get your bouyancy under control. Dennis is great about giving you tips to help with this and taking things very slow. We never felt rushed and was able to really concentrate on improving our skills. With just over 25 dives, this was great! Also, my stepson was able to get a lot of practice because he hasnt done as much diving as me. The second dive was Taj Mahal. Here there are more formations and light. Vis was limited to your light only and the water was about 75 deg. which was refreshing. Our minds were blown at the end of the day and we couldnt even imagine that it was only going to get better!
Day 3-
We did two dives at Dos Ojos. All I can say is that it was surreal. Tons of formations and it was breathtaking. There were only 4 of us (Dennis, me, my husband and step-son) so we didnt have to worry about anyone else. We saw very few other people on our dives as well. After the day before of practice, we were really getting the hang of things and thoroughly enjoying ourselves. On the second dive we surfaced in Bat Cave. That was very cool. Then we continued on with the rest of the dive. This was a blast. Once again, we thought that this was as good as it could get. We were wrong again.
--That night we did a night dive back out at the reef with Aquanauts. Great dive! Saw squid, lobster, octopus, brittle stars, scorpion fish, file clams, crabs etc.
Day 4-
Dove Grand cenote and another cenote we cant remember the name of. Even more formations and huge columns and big open rooms with tons of stalactites. It really gave you a sense of how old this place is and how insignificant you are in the universe. I wont get all philosophical, but it was just so beautiful. You have to see it to believe it.
Overall, we thought the diving was incredible. :sunny Dennis was a fantastic guide, and even helped when we had equipment problems, from a bad hose to a free-flowing octopus and everything in between. We are glad we researched on this board and found him because he made the trip. This is my first trip report and I felt that the level of service and the outstanding diving with Diablo Divers warranted passing the information on to fellow divers. If anyone has questions about Akumal or the diving feel free to PM me.
