Swimming With Sea Turtles In Akumal, Mexico. Full Review and Guide

Swimming with sea turtles in Akumal is a once in a lifetime travel experience, and one that everyone should try if they’re visiting the Riviera Maya. In fact, if I could repeat just one of our experiences during our time in Mexico, it would be swimming with the sea turtles in Akumal.

This is a water-based experience that is suitable for families with kids of almost all ages, though I recommend that your kids are able to swim independently before you take them into the open water. It’s worth noting, however, that everyone taking part will wear a floatation device, minimising the risk factor for weaker swimmers.

Interested in swimming with sea turtles in Akumal with your own family? Here’s everything you need to know:

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Booking A Tour To Swim With Turtles

You can book your turtle snorkelling tour in advance, via your tour operator, or you can book when you arrive. Some tours will collect you from your hotel and drive you to Akumal beach, while others will require that you make your own way to the beach to meet your group.

We like to DIY for budgetary reasons, so we took a taxi to the beach independently. This saved us a lot of money, as our hotel was close to Akumal Beach, and taxi travel was very affordable. This only works if you’re staying close to the beach though!

It is possible to book tours with the vendors on the beach when you arrrive (at a cost of around 400 pesos per person) but be warned that these on the day slots aren’t always available, particularly during peak season when many tourists book tours in advance.

If you’re staying a little further away from Akumal, such as in Playa del Carmen or Cancun, then booking a tour is the best way to visit Akumal beach. These help you to maximise you day in the Akumal area, combining several of the area’s best activities into one trip.

We use Klook for all of our tours in Mexico (and worldwide) and we couldn’t recommend these more for their cost, convenience, and the sheer abundance of activities they cover. You can book in your local currency, with no ticket downloads or hassle.

👉 Check out this Akumal Ocean and Cenote tour with Klook
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Swimming With Sea Turtles in Akumal – Our Experience

We booked onto a small group tour (there were supposed to be 6 of us with one guide according to the listing) but there was a misunderstanding, and after a short wait it was discovered that our group had left without us.

Frustrating? A little! But as a result, they sent me my own guide and I had a one on one tour, which was probably the best thing that could have happened.

If we went again, I would pay extra for a one on one tour, because the guide didn’t have to slow down to match the pace of the group. We were able to go apart from the other larger tour groups, see things at my pace (and I have a fast swimming/snorkelling pace) and even go into the deeper water to look for bigger mammals.

If you’re visiting Akumal specifically to see the sea turtles, then my advice would be to swim in the smallest group sizes possible.

My guide was amazing. He made sure I saw as much sealife as possible, and did so without attracting the attention of the other groups. As a result, it felt like I had the whole ocean (and the turtles) to myself, even though this is an incredibly popular tourist attraction and there were a lot of other groups in the water.

We saw several turtles, several shoals of fish, and went as far out as the coral reef which was a beautiful attraction in its own right.

NOTE: If you want to see the sea turtles in Akumal, then don’t try to do so without a guide! There are clearly designated areas on the beach here where you can and can’t swim, and most of the areas are only accessible if you are with a guide. This is for the protection of the animals.

Entering Akumal Beach

Even if you don’t want to swim with the turtles, Akumal is a beautiful beach and one that is well worth visiting.

It’s a natural, white sand beach with beautiful turquoise waters and a dedicated swimming area. You also won’t find any vendors, touts, or other distractions here, making it as close to paradise as possible.

Akumal Beach is not a free beach. You can’t enter the beach without paying an admission charge, which is 120 pesos per person. You can’t pre-book this, you pay in cash on arrival.

The admission charge covers entry and use of the facilities: namely toilets and changing rooms. There are a couple of small cafes and a beach bar you can access that’s attached to one of the hotels on the beach front.

The water was the clearest blue and an amazing place for paddling and spotting small fish. Even if you don’t book a turtle tour, you might get lucky and see a turtle. The boys saw a small turtle in the shallows whilst they were playing in the ocean here.

Final Thoughts and Further Reading

Our snorkel tour lasted just over an hour, and then we spent another hour and a half on the beach here, building sandcastles and splashing in the shallows, before jumping in a taxi back to our hotel.

We would have stayed for longer, but there were no umbrellas to hire and no shade, so we couldn’t spend the heat of the day here in mid-May, it was just too hot! If you’d like to spend longer on the beach, perhaps consider bringing your own beach shade with you, especially if you’re visiting with younger children.

Still planning your trip to the Riviera Maya? Check out these additional resources:
👉 The Complete Guide To Xel-Ha, Riviera Maya, With Kids
👉 My 5 Top Tips For Visiting Chichen Itza, Mexico With Kids (Learn From Our Mistakes!)
👉 Visiting The Hubiku Cenote, Riviera Maya, Mexico. What You Need To Know!
👉Riviera Maya Trip With Kids? Family Travel Tips, Hotels, and Excursions

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