‘Your Mexican friend is not going to let you stay in Cancun,’ my friend Vicky messages me as she shares details of the trip. She planned it with her family and invited me to join. We all fly to Cancun, but immediately take off in a seven-passenger car filled to the brim with humans and luggage for Akumal. From there, we will continue south to Bacalar, before returning north to Puerto Venturas.
We arrive to Akumal after dark and kick off this trip with a casual dinner of fish tacos and margaritas on the beach. Next morning, I wake up earlier than the group. As I walk out from the patio on the beach, the rising sun glistens between the large green leaves of the trees. It turns out that watching sunrises becomes a theme of this trip.
Later on day one, we do a snorkeling tour to see sea turtles. It makes me very happy, as they are one of my favorite animals. Afterwards, we drive to Cenotes des Ojos. My first ever cenote visit that exceeds my expectations. The second day, we visit Yal Ku Lagoon where we snorkel watching schools of colorful fish. We mostly eat at Turtle Bay Cafe and Bakery that serves all our needs – breakfasts, baked goods, and streaming the Bengals-Chiefs football game.
From Akumal, we drive nearly three hours to Bacalar. We catch up on life with a mix of Spanish and English given our Mexican-American-Czech crew. Bacalar is a quiet, off-the-beaten path town on the 42 kilometer long Bacalar Lake. Our Airbnb lake house has glass walls, offering amazing views. Our time in Bacalar is all about relaxing. We swim in the turquoise waters, kayak, eat quesadillas and fruit for lunch, and have dinners in town.
I truly enjoy kayaking on the lake. First, I venture along the shore, then do a beautiful sunrise kayak with Vicky, and lastly, to the amusement of her parents, I kayak across the lake. They watch me from the patio with Palomas in their hands, as I disappear in the distance on my mission.
From Bacalar we head back north. We make an afternoon stop in Tulum to visit the Tulum Mayan ruins and take a dip on the Santa Fe white sand beach. In the evening, we arrive to Puerto Aventuras, a low-key, but more touristy town. It’s an easy and relaxing place to finish our trip with the last day spent lounging on the beach. Needless to say, this trip was a wonderful adventure. Just what the doctor prescribed. I know I will be back to this area.
