“A Splendidly Secluded Detox From "Civilization" for the Ecologically Minded Nature Lover”
My friend and I stayed here for the 2nd week of January, and we absolutely adored it. The location is quite lovely, and the basic tent-cabin that we stayed in (#11) had beautiful views of both the sea and the lagoon from the porch, plus it was conveniently close to the showers (the showers and tap water are saltwater, but nice and hot) and composting toilets, which were all kept nice and clean. Hugo at the front desk was very helpful and friendly, as were all of the other staff we encountered in the restaurant and on the premises, and the food at the restaurant was delicious and reasonably priced (@ $7-$13 USD), with lunch/dinner being served starting at 11:00 am, and up until 10:00 pm. The wind blows so constantly here that the wind turbines could conceivably be used to supply power to half of the Riviera Maya, so if you are particularly fussy about your coif, you may want to bring along a nice head wrap or scarf, because no amount of extra-hold hairspray will help you here. For the same reason, the water clarity is not nearly as good here (or along this area of coast) for snorkeling as it is in Cozumel, due to the surf and particulate matter (mainly sand) that this stirs up in the water, but we did do a bit of snorkeling up the coast at the (very crowded) bay in Akumal late one morning, and were fortunate to be able to observe both a Green turtle and a Spotted eagle ray (both of which were impressively large specimens) feeding, at extremely close range, for a prolonged period; this is very unusual, particularly for the eagle ray (which is notoriously shy, and typically flees upon approach by humans.) Clearly, these creatures have become habituated to the human presence by the hordes of humanity that continually swarm about them there. My friend and I are much less tolerant of teeming masses of humans, and this, combined with the poor visibility, led to our exiting the water after only 75 minutes, and fleeing back to our relatively isolated paradise in the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, where we could walk down the beach to the south of our tent cabin for an hour each morning without seeing more than 2 or 3 people at the most. If you appreciate solitude and nature as much as we do, this is an excellent place to 'get away from it all.' I would highly recommend that you bring along a headlamp and a spare set of batteries (the candle lantern provided in each cabin is of course not very effective illumination,) a camera, warm clothes for the evenings (which can be on the cool side at times with the perpetual wind,) and a keen eye to observe and appreciate all of the natural beauty around you (the stars are magnificent, as are the birds, butterflies, crabs, raccoons, tayra, monkeys, bats, lizards, etc.) One amazing benefit of the constant wind: a near-total lack of biting insects (at least in January, which is part of the dry season;) I saw a few mosquitos while standing near a pond in the jungle in the monkey reserve near Coba, but never wore repellent for any other part of the trip, and I am a certified mosquito magnet! Also, do be careful driving on the main highway (307) that runs along this coast, particularly if it has been raining - we saw the spectacular results of a fatal crash the morning we left due to excessive speed and wet pavement, and apparently another 4 people were killed in a separate wreck earlier that morning near Playa del Carmen as a result of the same combination.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC