Thursday, December 28, 2017

Swimming with Turtles in Akumal Bay (2017)

So today, after a decent, but not spectacular, breakfast here at the hotel we headed out to the highway, flagged a Collectivo and went to Akumal Bay. The public beach is pretty narrow and only the hotels have lounge chairs. There are none to rent.  We scoped out a palm tree, spread out our $8.00 towels from Chadraui and then I went on reconnaissance walk to determine the best deal for renting snorkeling equipment. We knew we did not want to join a group tour. For 250. Pesos we rented a life preserver, mask and snorkel for the day. That's a few cents more than $12.00. At 10:00 there were already about one hundred bobbing orange vests in the water. I joined them. As soon as I relaxed and realized I didn't have to clench my teeth to keep the snorkel in place, I was in a state of bliss, head down, looking at sea grass, emerging coral beds, colorful fish and two BIG sting rays 3-4 feet across, some humongous fish that might've been a tuna, and 8 or more giant turtles grazing through the sea grass. They reminded me of cows grazing. I kept my distance whenever they swam to the surface. Chris pretended to read as he watched girls on the beach posing for pictures. I think he enjoyed that more than snorkeling. Once back in Tulum we walked to Chadraui and Chris bought a spare pair of shorts and we got cash to pay the hotel bill. Something good to know is most small hotels give a 10 percent discount for paying cash. Then we ate a great mid -afternoon  meal of shared lasagne and a salad and 'happy hour' gin and tonics. Honestly, you can eat the BEST Italian food in Mexico! Now after pool time and reading time we're going out on the town, possibly to the Bateys Mojito Bar to listen to music.



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