Dive/Vacation site like Xcalac or Akumal

[scubawife]

We're staying in one of the condos from Nov 27 to Dec 11. Maybe we'll see you there? This is our third trip south of Cancun (twice to Xcalac) and haven't done a cenote yet, so I guess it's high time. I'll try to get on in for sure this time.

Thanks!

Ted

Nope, I'll just miss you. We'll be coming over from Coz at some point in the day on the 11th. We're in Coz and Akumal a couple times a year each. In December we do a week in each. Love it. Cozumel diving is more advanced and the island is a fun, busy place. Then we head to Akumal for nice easy relaxed ocean diving, a couple days of cenotes and just total relaxation. It's the perfect trip right before the holidays season and another NY winter.

BTW, if you're staying in Unit C, feel free to leave any leftover cervesas in the fridge!

 

[CO_SKI_MANIAC]

Just got back from Akumal. Man was it tough to leave. Vista Del Mar is fantastic! The diving was amazing through Akumal Dive Adventures, Jose was our guide and he did great. The viz and scenery were amazing. Even at 95 ft everything was crisp. you can definitely see the damage the hurricane did, but it sure didnt hurt the aqautic life. tons of rays, turtles, and a few eels. If you have snorklers in your group, have them head out to the northern point, it was amazing even for snorkling. as for resturaunts, La Buena Vida was great, La Lunita was great food in a romatic atmosphere and for breakfast there is a little counter next to the "Super Chomak". also drove to Koba to check out the ruins, about a 45 min drive, alot of construction on the road there, but if you like to see ruins, very cool to see. also if you do drive, watch out for the scam at the gas stations. make sure to hand them every bill in pesos that you owe..if you hand them say 300 pesos, they switch froma 100 to a 50 and say you owe them more...we got scammed 25 bucks...but thats the only place to look out, other then that....i need to go back!!! hope this helps out anyone going down...

 

[paperdesk]

Hey thanks for the great review and helpful info! I can't wait to get down there!

Ted

 

[love2godeep]

Well, Xcalak will be hard to beat, but I'm looking forward to this adventure in Akumal. Yup, I'm one of the "family members" in Ted's group.

Thanks, guys, for the tips!

 

[Mapache]

Hi Ted,
I will suggest for you Tulum area (specially Papaya Playa) it is a Hotel on the beach, where the people that is not diving with you will find a very nice spot for viewing new borned tourtles going to the sea. It is 45 minutes driving distance to where ever you want, aside of several Dive Shops in the area.
Regards
Mario Pacheco Reynaud

 

[paperdesk]

Just a follow up: We stayed at Vista Del Mar, and also found it to be great! We had a three bedroom condo overlooking the ocean. Diving and snorkeling were great, and it was really nice to be close enough to Playa and cancun to go there if we wanted to.

For a group of just divers I think I'd still go down to Xcalac as the diving was a little better, and snorkeling quite a bit better. However if you like to do other things besides diving, Akumal has the advantage of being centrally located, with many nearby attractions, and still not be overly crowded like Playa or Cancun. If you Like turtles, Akumal is for you! You're almost guaranteed to see turtles on every dive, and can even occasionally see them surfacing from the condo deck!

Also, we don't EVER expect to have this happen again, but we did get to swim with a whale shark on the way back from one of the Akumal dives! Awsome and thrilling experience! I snapped a couple pictures but they don't do it justice. I'll try to post them later though.

Ted
Xcalac still had better diving and snorkeling in my opinion, but that doesn' mean Akumal was bad! It was great, and I would likely stay in Akumal again rather than make the long treck to Xcalac and be so far from civilization.

 

[scubawife]

Just a follow up: We stayed at Vista Del Mar, and also found it to be great! We had a three bedroom condo overlooking the ocean. Diving and snorkeling were great, and it was really nice to be close enough to Playa and cancun to go there if we wanted to.

For a group of just divers I think I'd still go down to Xcalac as the diving was a little better, and snorkeling quite a bit better. However if you like to do other things besides diving, Akumal has the advantage of being centrally located, with many nearby attractions, and still not be overly crowded like Playa or Cancun. If you Like turtles, Akumal is for you! You're almost guaranteed to see turtles on every dive, and can even occasionally see them surfacing from the condo deck!

Also, we don't EVER expect to have this happen again, but we did get to swim with a whale shark on the way back from one of the Akumal dives! Awsome and thrilling experience! I snapped a couple pictures but they don't do it justice. I'll try to post them later though.

Ted
Xcalac still had better diving and snorkeling in my opinion, but that doesn' mean Akumal was bad! It was great, and I would likely stay in Akumal again rather than make the long treck to Xcalac and be so far from civilization.

Every Dec we spend a week in Coz and a week in Akumal. We always stay at Vista del Mar Norte and dive with Akumal Dive Adventures. Love them both.

Our first dive in Akumal on the 12th we were joined by the baby whaleshark for about 3 min just as we descended. My husband was shooting HD video with a wide angle lense so we got some nice footage. A very cool experience and a complete fluke to ever see one in the Akumal area. The other two dives that day we had a school of 20+ reef squid and a pair of mating stingrays. A very National Geographic day!

Unfortunately, due to about 2 wks of rainy crappy weather the viz was the worst we've ever seen in Akumal at anytime of the year. By midweek we were diving in green murk instead of the usual clear blue.

 

[ben@scorpiodivers.com]

xcalak is remarkable diving, but i hear you loud and clear on the isolation, i live in cancun and have dived pretty much the whole coast of the riveria maya, if you want white sandy beaches, unpopulated area my choice would be mahaual, its the newest hot spot in the costa maya, handling around 5 cruise ships a week so there are things to do, the divings nice too, reefs as close a 5mins to 45mins depending on depth/experince etc.... snorkeling, right from the beach.
the dite site `chimney` is awesome, corals are pristine, good marine life and a couple of reasonable operators, maybe rent a car to and travel to punta allen, around 45mins south of tulum, last december i dived there saw around 200 groupers spawning, wow!
good luckand have a great time