Geez, should have preveiwed! doen=down, cora=coral Thanks.

Half Moon Bay has a quiet, white sand beach that's good for snorkeling, not great for swimming. The bottom is covered with rocks, seaweed, sea urchins, etc. There are a few restuarants fairly close by. We've stayed here several times at the Vista del Mar.
Akumal Bay is good for swimming and snorkeling. The bottom is mostly white sand with little patches of seaweed. It is very popular with snorkel bus tours so it gets a bit crowded by the Lol Ha restaurant. There is a wide white sand beach and several good restaurants on or near he beach. I think the only accomodations here are Casitas, Akumal Carribe, and the Akumal Beach resort.
Jade Bay is smaller, and somewhat rocky with some spots you can swim. It is a very quiet area, with some condos along the beach.
You can easily walk, drive or bike between Half Moon Bay and Akumal Bay. They are connected a quiet little pot holed road and are probably a mile apart. Jade Bay can be walked to along the beach from Akumal Bay in about 20 minutes, but to drive to it, you need to go back out on the highway.
Locogringo.com has aerial photos of the whole area.

Here is a link to the aerial maps, use the double arrows >> to move around. I'd probably want a car for Jade Bay, some of that walk might be ironshore, so you need good shoes.

http://www.locogringo.com/maps/tour/122b-t.html

There is also Cannon House on Akumal Bay, which you can book all or part of it, think it has pool privileges with Hotel Akumal Caribe.

Thanks. Akumal Bay looks great but no condos. Half Moon looks good condo wise, but beach looks "iffy" as far as lots of coral and rock. Jade Bay looks better beach wise and good condos. I understand Akumal and Jade Bay are a mile/20 minute walk, how much further would walking to Half Moon be? Or is that better to drive from Jade to Half Moon? Thank you so much for your help. Also, I am under the impression that food and beverage will be a bit cheaper here than in other parts of the Carribean, true or false? Grand Cayman and Turks and Caicos I know to expect most items to be 30% more than in the US, I would think Mexico would be less expensive than U.S. ??

Las Casitas are condos on Akumal Bay - very nice spot. The walk from Akumal Bay to Half Moon Bay is about 20 minutes along the road. I don't believe it's possible along the beach - lots of rock outcroppings between the two bays. Walking from Jade Bay to Half Moon Bay would be quite a trek - half along the beach, half along the road - probably close to an hour. In general, restaurant prices are slightly less than the USA. A fish dinner in a nice restaurant will run just under $20. Casual places like the Loncheria will set you back about $6 for a plate of Mexican food. Beers are usually quite resonable, wine about the same as the US.

Look at Vista Del Mar condos. They are on Half Moon Bay and have a sandy beach but the water entry can be a little rocky.

Use the link that jamie99 provided to look closely at the beaches and I'd aim for Akumal Bay or Half Moon Bay (the end nearer Akumal Bay is less rocky)

Hi,
Prices vary. Last trip a mini-lobster dinner at Cueva del Pescador set me back 200 pesos plus whatever their killer margaritas cost. Loncheria fruit plate is 40-45 pesos, eggs with bacon about 40 pesos (plus drinks and tip). Haven't been lately but Imelda's near the CEA usually has fajitas for about $6 plus drink and tip (only open for breakfast and dinner).

Distance wise from the middle of HMB to Akumal is about 1km, it is 2km to Yal Ku lagoon from the arches.

If you want, there are golf carts to rent, there is a desk inside the reception office of Hotel Akumal Caribe, cost is $40 per day plus a deposit. Just make sure your condo has someplace to plug the cart in to recharge it otherwise you will be taking it back every couple of days to get it recharged. But honestly you could get a car rental for the same price.

I'm staying on HMB in mid-May and my friend is renting a car again and I'll just chip in for my share. Have a good trip.

Thanks for all the info. We almost always rent a car. We like to venture out and about. I was thinking we could walk the beach to Akumal from Jade but would need to drive to Half Moon. We want to go to Tulum as well so will have to rent a vehicle. Sounds like food and booze are definately less than the GCM and PLS. AND jamie99, thanks for the map link. Very helpful!

I suggest using gmaps instead as you get a much better perspective of the area including street walk which allows you to see some areas with a street view.

Sounds good january, we always rented a car, last few trips I used USA Transfers only because my friend that I travel with flew down earlier and rented a car and I just paid my share. Both of us rent from Easyway, very good reputation.

I hope you wil cme back and give us a report when you get back. I would really like to hear about Jade Bay and the beach and condos there, proximity to Akumal bay, etc.

You are going to have a great (and realtively inexpensive) time! I am heading to Playa in less than 3 wks and am so excited, even though I have a place there and go there often- this tme I am tking my sister who has never been out of the country much less to the Caribbean.

I certainly will! Thanks for all your help. When I get it all booked I will be back with loads of detail questions

Another question, I have been emailing with a nice person from i-akumal.com Has anyone ever worked with them? I know locogringos is popular with fodors folks but can anyone give feedback on 1-akumal? Thanks for your help.

hey January, I-Akumal is a reservations service. What exactly do you want to know, if anyone here has rented form them and if they are legit regarding their rentals and policies?

Yes, has anyone rented with thema nd if so are they "legit" I don't want to have one of those "horror stories" that we didn't get the condo we asked for, it was terrible, etc!

Also now my traveling companions are raising concerns about safety. I assumed most of the violence, kidnappings, etc were happening near the borders. Is Akumal, Tulum, etc "safe"? Keeping in mind using the same safety practices I would at home.

Yes it is safe. I think by now if anyone here who has been there thought there was a safety issue, they would have told you about it. Everyone on this board who has answered all of your many questions has loved the area, if they had had safety problems or concerns they woudln't have given it such glowing reviews.

Unfortuntely a lot of people do not read the press reports carefully to see where the violence concerns come from- it is not a global country-wide problem, and the tourist destinations on the Caribbean of Mexico and the Yucatan are fine. I would not have bought a condo there 2 yrs ago if there were safety problems there, I assure you of that.

If your friends can't get over their fears and look more closely at what the real info is on safety, it might be better for them to just go somewhere else. Sometimes you can not reason with people who hear the press reports and generalize it to an entire country, when in fact it is isolated to certain areas.

I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone with the question about Akumal being a safe place. I have searched Fodors for postings about Akumal, some current, some not. I even followed a link to a gov website that had me looking at maps, areas for concern, etc that I never did connect with Akumal. Seemed to be along the border and perhaps Mexico City.

Anytime I travel somewhere new, I ask questions. Again apologies if I offended.