Akumal Bay & Dos Ojos cenote

We got up at 7am and jumped in one of the collectivo minivans that run regularly from Tulum to Playa del Carmen, mainly for locals. At 30P each, I think they likely overcharged us but it's still a bargain and far cheaper than taxis. They dropped us off on the exit road and we walked the 5 minutes to Akumal Bay.

I was worried it would also be ruined by seaweed and be a disappointment compared to our last visit but it was as beautiful as ever. There is a ton of seaweed, but they work hard to clean out the rubbish and the water is still very clear and blue and there's no bad smell.

As soon as we arrived on the nice and empty beach a tour guide pounced on us and told us we had to hire life jackets to be allowed to swim in the marked bay (new since our last visit). We refused and Anna went in first and swam around the boats instead, which was a little risky with some moving about. As she came out the lifeguard came and told her to swim in the marked bay and the life jacket rule was nonsense. By this point I'd also seen some locals go in without them on (the tour boys don't try it on with the locals funnily enough).

Whilst I lay in the cool morning sun, Anna went back in and saw some turtles and stingrays. Then I went in for an hour and saw about 9 turtles, some rays and some pufferfish. The water was lovely and clear. Anna went back in and saw a small eagle ray which let her follow it for ages (sadly she’d forgotten the camera that time!).

The beach soon filled up with people and lots of tour groups came and went - none stayed very long. Why you'd choose to swim in a huge group and surround the poor creatures rather than get a 1-on-1 experience where you won't disturb them is beyond me. Several times a lazy tour guide would see me with a turtle and yell at the top of his lungs and a swarm of splashing lifejackets would appear. But mostly I managed to avoid them and as the day went on it didn't get much busier - the tour groups were well spread out.

By 11am we were starving and went to Turtle Bay bakery and shared a cinnamon roll and coffee / pecan cake. Anna filled up on coffee whilst I downed some cool iced tea. Afterwards, we both went back in but the visibility wasn't as good and more seaweed had moved in.

Just after 2pm we walked back to the highway and got a collectivo to Dos Ojos cenote (20P), which was about 1km from the hotel we stayed in last time (we had no idea this treasure was there then or that there were so many cenotes nearby). We paid our 200P fee and were then told it was a 2.5km walk away! Hot and mozzy-bitten by the time we arrived, we jumped straight into the first of 2 pools. One is a lighter pool, the other is darker but they are quite similar. Both are big pools within caves with stalagmites and stalactites and huge pieces of rocks under the water as if there’s been an earthquake. And some bats. And a few small fish. The freezing freshwater is crystal clear and absolutely magical where shards of sunlight hit it. The cave system is huge and we saw only a small part of it. You can venture into it further with a guide and flashlights, or you can dive through some of the caves.

By 4:30pm we were done and started the walk back. Thankfully, a lovely guy in a pick-up yelled at us to get in the back and gave us a very bouncy ride to the entrance. There, we got a collectivo back to Tulum (25P).

Starving after our ton of exercise and fuelled only by cheetos, we headed straight for dinner. We went to a tiny place we'd seen by the bike shop that gave us soup, falafel and a Jamaica (hibiscus) tea for 70P. It was all amazing! Then she gave us 2 skeleton biscuits for 15P each which her friend had made - we were very excited as we'd failed to find these elsewhere. We then headed for our final ice creams before heading back for an early night.

Sadly we haven't seen much in the way of public celebrations or parades for Day of the Dead. Everybody we ask says they don't have a clue if / when / where any celebrations are being held. There are some parties but it's more for Halloween and we can only assume that any DOTD celebrations are more private affairs.Read more