we go to Akumal every winter & stay at the Akumal Beach Resort , it is a small 3 star all inclusive resort. the rooms are nothing great , the food is good but the location is the best anywhere in the Mayan Riviera. y ou can walk out in the bay in front of the hotel & swim with giant sea turtles ,we regularly see 6-8 turtles every time we snorkle. as well we have seen leopard rays , cow nose ray , & dozens of sand rays of all sizes, barracuda all types of angelfish ,anemones etc. walk 3 minutes down the beach & you are in town, not a posh resort but a great place to stay & close to everything you need. the cenote tours are great as well & available for cert. divers or snorkelers.

I have snorkled in Fiji, Bali, Hawaii, Mexico, the Barrier Reef and in Jamaica and I was very impressed with Jamaica this past spring.

Where we stayed, the reef was accessible right off the beach with as good a variety of fish and corals as I've seen anywhere. For someone who is not a confident snorkeler, this is a huge advantage because you are in shallow, protected waters. A boat trip out to an outer reef can be expensive, through rough waters, hours in length, inflexible as far as departure times and very intimidating to snorkelers who have to jump in off of a boat.

A direct flight to Jamaica is only about an hour longer than that to Mexico and we found the food, people and variety of activities to be superior than Mexico.

Just in case you are missing the beach... :biggrin:

sure, now i won't be able to get any work done cause i will be watching the web cam all day. last year we stood in front of the camera & called home to our kids , they thought it was neat. can't wait till january

mayan side
 

I have been there the last 4 years and like a few others have said the reefs are still beat up from previous hurricanes. That being said if you want to stay at the akumal beach resort they have probably the best beach and reef in frt of it for snorkeling by far. I have stayed at four different resorts in the mayan but the akumal wins hands down for reefs just off the beach. The diving I have done down on the rest of my trips was forgetable. Try grand cayman for diving . I think mexico needs a few more years to heal, for diving.

Ok, thanks for the info people. Much appreciated. We are researching Akumal, Cozumel as well as Cuba. I know lots of people who have vacationed in Cuba and love it, but as far as the diving goes I can't find nearly as much info as the Mexican dive sites. :noidea:

She has made a decision: We are staying at Barcelo Maya Colonial Resort in Puerto Aventuras. Anybody been her before?

Never been there, but I see the place I use when I book handles it. If you have not already booked it, I recommend LocoGringo. Here is the specific page on the place you are staying. Looks nice! If you sign up on for forums and ask a question about the resort in the All Inclusive section, I am sure you will get some answers about the place.