About Akumal

For those who are ready to get out of Cancun and Playa del Carmen and explore, Akumal, or “place of turtles” in Mayan, with its unspoiled natural beauty, is an ideal day trip. It gets its name from the hundreds of sea turtles that come here to lay their eggs in the white sands of its beaches every year from late April through August.

Akumal was used as a seaport and trading center by the Mayans before the arrival of the Spaniards. It also played a significant role in Spanish and Mexican history. The story goes that a Spanish galleon shipwrecked off the coast of Akumal and its crew had no choice but to come ashore there. Upon reaching land, they were quickly captured by the Mayans and enslaved. Of the seventeen captured sailors, only two survived.

Akumal monument

Their names were Geronimo De Aguilar and Gonzalo Guerrero. Guerrero eventually married a young princess named Zazi and fathered the first mestizo in the Mayan world. Mestizo's are decendents of both the Spaniards and native Mexicans, and how Mexicans refer to their race. Guerrero taught the Mayans new war techniques, which were later used against the Spanish conquistadors. When Hernan Cortez arrived on Cozumel Island, he learned of the shipwreck and sent soldiers to Akumal to look for survivors. The second survivor of the wreck, Geronimo De Aguilar, eventually joined Cortez's troops, while Guerrero, who considered himself one of the Mayans by this time, stayed behind. De Aguilar later acted as a translator and guide for the Spaniards, playing an important roll in the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Today, there is a monument by the beach in the Bay of Akumal that stands as a reminder of this first contact between Europeans and the indigenous Mexican people.

Akumal is located 104 km. (69 miles) south of Cancun and 36 km. (24 miles) south of Playa del Carmen on Carretera 307 (Federal Highway 307).

Akumal Beach

There is a 400 meter (400 yard) road leading from the federal highway to the site. The main and northern entrance looks as if it were the private driveway of the Hotel Las Casitas Akumal, but it is not. Once in the the center of town, you will see an arch. Just after the arch, the roads splits, with one path heading south and the other north.

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