She was going to see sea turtles in 2019: with or without me.
When DW was researching our trip to the Mayan Riviera, at the beginning of this year, she began by searching for the best places in which to find sea turtles. She was looking for a place in Cuba, but the only thing she found was when some turtles came to lay their eggs, and she didn't want to be intrusive.
She wanted to swim among the majestic creatures, not be a spectator to what was likely already stressful for them.
She found a place in Mexico where the turtles seem to stay, year-round, to graze. In a shallow bay that has beds of sea grass, the turtles come to snack. That place is Akumal Bay, and it's where we decided to go.
On March 28, the day after DW and I rented our car, we were once again up early. We had a quick swim in our resort's infinity pool, followed by a breakfast that would stave off hunger until the early afternoon. We returned to our room, collected our snorkel equipment and video cameras, and headed out.
The town of Akumal was a short five-minute drive, north of our resort. We exited Highway 307 and headed toward the beaches. Unsure where to go, we drove until we felt we were moving away from the public access points and then turned around. Heading back, I found a large parking lot that was across from a dive shop and a sign that indicated access to the beach. The lot was guarded, charged 20 pesos per hour, and was only starting to fill up so there were plenty of spaces.
Next to the dive shop, several men were asking us if we wanted to snorkel with the turtles. We were skeptical but many people were lining up to get in. They said we had to wait until 9:00 to get in, so DW and I wandered the streets, looking for another access point.
We found none.
A man approached me and said that this year, they had closed off access to Akumal Bay in order to control the number of people who came to see the sea turtles. You had to have a wrist band to be on the beach and another band to gain access to where the turtles grazed. There were only a limited number of bands each day to see the turtles, and you had to go with a guide. A maximum of 12 visitors were allowed for each guide.
We returned to the access point and joined the line.
It cost 100 pesos for each of us to enter the beach area and another 500 pesos to take the guided tour. By far, this was our most expensive outing.
But it was the main reason we wanted to be there, so we paid it.
Because we were among the first on the beach, we managed to get a guide right away. And because some of the other people on the beach were hesitant to paying the 500 pesos, we were able to get a group of only six people.
I had some beginner problems with the 360-degree camera, and missed capturing our first couple of turtles: one, bathed in bright sunlight and swimming close to us as it moved from the bottom of the bay floor to the surface, for a breath of air. I have that image burned in my memory.
And, unfortunately, as we pulled our equipment from the trunk of our car, DW said she couldn't find our Sony camera, thinking she must have left it in our hotel room. We found it, tucked in a pocket, when we returned to the car.
I did figure out the camera and managed to capture three more turtles—one, up close—plus a stingray and a fish that followed closely, like a young child to its parent.
The still images in this post were captured with the 360 camera, made from the videos. I plan to cut a lot from our video and make a short movie, which I will share in the short future.
From Akumal Bay, we drove further along the road, to Yal-Ku, a fresh-water lagoon that is full of tropical fish. The cost to enter this area was 265 pesos per person.
Definitely, our most-expensive day. But worth every peso.
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| Yal-Ku |
And margaritas.
We still had two more days with the car. Our next stops were the ruins of Cobá and our first cenote.
Stay tuned...
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