Akumal Hotels

[Stokoe]

Hi. I am interested in nice hotels in Akumal, but definitely NOT all-inclusive. It's hard to tell on the Trip Advisor site which ones are or aren't all-inclusive. We were there years ago (mid 80s?) when there was only one or two places to stay -- I can't remember exactly, but the pictures of Club Akumal Caribe look familiar. Doesn't have to be cheap, but we prefer character over mindless glitz and/or buffering from the outside world.

Any recommendations?

 

[Yellowtail Damselfish]

Club Akumal Caribe is the only hotel on the main beach in Akumal. There still aren't many non all-inclusive hotels directly in Akumal and many of the hotels in the surrounding area are definitely more glitz than character. Would you consider renting a villa or a condo? You might find a larger selection of the kind of place you seem to have in mind if you would. Take a look at Locogringo.com. An excellent site with lots of information on the area.

 

[Stokoe]

I would definitely consider a condo or villa -- the only thing keeping me from it was my prior experience that villas are often set up for 4 or more people (there are only 2 of us) and condos often specify a week minimum stay. We are attending a nephew's wedding in Cancun and were considering heading to Akumal for about 4 days after the festivities to get a little more out of the trip (not trying to be offensive to Cancun fans, we're just not big fans ourselves).

Anyway, thanks for the website -- I'll poke around there. Do you have a favorite dive shop there?

 

[Yellowtail Damselfish]

If you look around Locogringo.com you'll see there are many condos, and even a few villas, that would be appropriate for two. If you'll have a car, and don't need to be within walking distance of restaurants, you might take a look at South Akumal or Soliman or Tankah bays. If you go at a time other than high season, you may well be able to rent someplace for less than a week. Write to the owners of Logogringo, Kay and Gary, and tell them what you're looking for and when. They're wonderfully responsive and helpful.

Akumal Dive Shop and Akumal Dive Center are both on Akumal Bay and each has its advocates. I've dived with Akumal Dive Center and they were just fine. If you stay further south, you might consider Chris Stanton at Lucky Fish Diving (Luckyfishdiving.com). I made arrangements with him by e-mail last October to do my grandson's Junior Open Water referral dives and he was a delight to do business with. Lucky Fish is located on Tankah Bay. If you're interested in diving the cenotes, Chris can arrange that for you. I've never dived with him, but I've heard wonderful things about Dennis from Diablo Divers (Diablodivers.com). He's located somewhere around Playa, but picks up clients in the Akumal area on the way to the cenotes.

 

[Stokoe]

Thanks so much for the info.