Hola! Not sure if this is interesting enough for inclusion in your book but....
I first started vacationing in Quintana Roo 12 years ago. A co-worker had been to Tulum a few times and encouraged me to travel there with a group of friends. We went two years in a row and the 2nd trip was my introduction to Akumal. We had heard of Yal Ku lagoon and all packed in the rental truck to visit one afternoon. It was an overcast and windy day (in March, i believe) but we pressed on. As we drove past Akumal and Half Moon Bays I felt that there was something different about this place! (Mind you this is still when 307 was 2 hectic lanes all the way from Cancun south and the only stoplight south of Cancun was swinging on a wire by Playa del Carmen! No WalMarts or car dealerships or McDonalds!) But Akumal just had a different vibe from Tulum or Playa. I was intrigued to say the least.
We enjoyed an hour or so of swimming in Yal Ku with hundreds of beautiful fish (and hardly any other visitors) and then stopped at a little place called La Buena Vida on the way back for lunch. It was so windy and dark that we were the only customers there and we had to eat upstairs in the enclosed dining room. Even on a dreary day, I could not stop staring out at Half Moon Bay.
Years went by and I tried Tulum again and Cozumel once, but my mind kept heading back to that dark and windy day that I spent an afternoon in Akumal. After trying fun, but not great, vacations in other spots in the Roo, I said to my girlfriend, "Why don't we try this little place called Akumal for our yearly vacation?". That was four years ago, and we have not missed spending our vacation there since! We stay at Vista del Mar and I laugh when I have to wait for a table sometimes at that "little place called La Buena Vida"! Over the past couple years I have convinced friends and co-workers to accompany us, and it has been so wonderful to see that this little gem called Akumal has affected them and earned a place in their hearts just as it has mine.
Even 12 years has not seemed to have changed the core of the place. Sure, there are more people than back then, but the beauty and tranquility of Akumal remain. It is a trip that I look forward to starting the day I return home from there! Whether it is swimming with sea turtles in Akumal or Half Moon Bays, walking along the road admiring the flowers and houses, or enjoying a cerveza and some delicious food on the beach, I feel like I am at home. And this is a feeling that I get from so many travelers that I meet in Akumal each year.
Let the huge resorts rise up all up and down the cost. Let the huge tour buses zoom up and down 307 whisking tourists to big overpriced attractions. I know that when I make that first turn off of 307 and head down the road towards Akumal, I will feel like I am returning to my home away from home. Tucked in safely on the shore of the the lovely and timeless Quintana Roo.
When I am home in Minneapolis and the snow flies in the winter or the humidity soars in the summer (with no bay to snorkel in) my mind immediately races to Akumal. I can hear the waves, feel the sun and the breeze, and count the days until I can be there once again.
Muchas gracias Senor Romero! You found a pretty neat little spot that has become a huge part of me!
Viva La Akumal!
-Dave Welte
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment