Tour guides Akumal/Tulum
 

Hello all! My husband and I are traveling to Playa del Carmen next week for a short, (last minute) laidback vacation. In addition to escaping the cold Ohio weather on the beach, we'd like to spend a day or so seeing the ruins and snorkeling. I've heard that the lagoon at Akumal and the ruins at Tulum might fit the bill, at least geographically.

Does anyone have any suggestions for good, local tour guides? Looking for a small, reasonably priced operation. I tried to email
Edventure, but haven't heard back.

Your suggestions (as well as any other tips) are much appreciated since we leave next week!

You can do both of these on your own by renting a car and getting a good map - the Riviera Maya map from cancunmap.com, if you have enough time. Sometimes the front desk at Playa Maya (PDC) has the maps too.

I can't imagine needing a tour guide for either of these places. Yal-Ku lagoon in Akumal can easily be driven to, as can the ruins at Tulum. There are guides available at the Tulum ruins if you so desire.
Just rent a car for a day - both spots can be done as a day trip from Playa.
Akumal is about 1/2 hour from Playa, Tulum is another 1/2 hour. If you really want to, you could even drive to Coba, which is 40 minutes from Tulum.

Agree with pepper and zootsi, you do not need a guide to visit Akumal, go to Yal-Ku early to avoid the folks on tours who get there around 9:30-10am. Then snorkel main Akumal Bay to see turtles (snorkel from out in front of Lol-Ha Restaurant and Beach Bar and the dive shop. You can then have drinks at Lol-Ha and lunch if you wish, or go over to Lucy's for shrimp tacos and homemade ice cream - YUM.

Been awhile since we've been to Tulum ruins, but again get there early, think they open at 8:30am to avoid the hordes on the tour buses. Whether to hire a guide at the ruins or not is up to you, but it is a small site and because so many people visit it, it has a lot more tablets explaining briefly what you are looking at.

Enjoy.

Thanks for all the help everyone. One problem: since we're only there four days and staying at an AI, we weren't planning to rent a car. Is a taxi the best way to get there? Other thoughts? Thanks!

You should be able to rent a car from your hotel. Where are you staying? Or you can arrange to have a car delivered - try cancunrentacar.com.

Hi, I would like to jump in here as I have a similar question. My family of 5 (3 teens) will have 6 nights in PDC next week at the Las Palapas. I think that we will do 2/3 outings and the other 2/3 days we will leave open to hang out at the Hotel and in town. Can we really snorkle and experience Tulum and Akumal in one day with a rental car or should we split it into a two day trip? If we did this would we still want to do an excursion or would the two overlap? If we do an excursion what should we see if we plan on seeing Tulum and Akumal on our own. Some of us are a bit timid and will not enjoy the zip line. My 15 year old is also a little afraid of snorkeling. We are a mixed bag but I want to keep us together and not split us up like we have done in the past in PV and Hawaii. I also don't want to cut away the adventure that could be the most memorable part of our trip. My Husband and I fell in love with Yucatan last year as we drove around and did not see the coast. Thank you.

You can easily see Tulum (ruins only?) and Akumal in a day. The ruins will take no more than 3 hours.

On the way down, stop at Akumal Bay - find a snorkle boat captain and discuss a time to meet after your tip to the ruins. That way your timid snorkler can still be out on the water with the family and decide if and when he/she feels comfortable to get into the water. Some of the boats are glass bottom too.

Thank you Pepper, this is the information that I need. A few more questions?

1. As far as cost and experience, Does it make sense to do all of this on are own?

2. Where do we find this kind of a boat In Akumal?

3. What time should we be in Akumal to make this plan?

4. Will we have time to enjoy the beach in Tulum, or should we skip it? From what I have read it sounds beautiful.

5. On a different subject, If we do all of the above what kind of a planned excursion should we do?

Thank You!

Once you go through the arch in Akumal, park the car. You will see Lol-ha restaurant and Akumal Dive Shop. The boats are between the two along the shore - you just walk up to them and make a deal. Our's had a yellow stripe on the side and I think we paid $10/person including use of snorkle gear. It was a rainy day, so the price may have been discounted...seemed cheap to me. There's a capt and a guide in the water to help you along and spot turtles, etc.

An optimal plan would be to leave right after breakfast. Stop in Akumal (by 10am) and check on the times with the boats. If they can take you immediately - do it. If not, plan to come back in 4-5 hours.

During those 4-5 hours, you can tour around Tulum ruins (2 hrs). Then drive to the beach rd and eat lunch in Tulum at a cool place like La Zebra and enjoy the beach (2 hrs).

You can do this on your own. Your hotel shuold be able to rent a car for you - you'll need a minivan probably (since you have 3 teens) and it'll cost about $125 or so. Or see if you can have a van delivered to your hotel from cancunrentacar.com.

Get some maps - the Riviera Maya Map from cancunmap.com - it will show Akumal, Tulum ruins and the other rd to get to the beach cabanas in Tulum.