Amazing All Inclusive Resort - A Snorkelers Dream

My husband and I visited Akumal Bay Beach and Wellness Resort for the 4th time in 2 years, April 3-10th. We feel so fortunate to have found this incredible resort on the beautiful bay in Akumal. The accommodations are well appointed, with all rooms having a beautiful ocean front view and a lovely 2 person hot tub on each balcony. The resort is relatively small (approximately 300 rooms), with low key, pleasant entertainment. There are 4 al a carte restaurants open each evening for dinne [... read more]r, and reservations are not required. We never waited more than 30 minutes to be seated. The food is superb. They have a large buffet restaurant as an option also, which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A 24 hour snack bar always has delicious options available too. Several bars throughout the resort offer an excellent choice of beverages from speciality cocktails to coffees. We love the ability to be able to snorkel right from the beach and see lots of colourful fish, turtles, stingrays, barracuda and beautiful coral formations. We went out at least twice a day and each time we always came back pleased with our findings and amazing pictures we took with our underwater camera. They offer daily yoga sessions, which people rave about the quality, paddle boarding, and a variety of other activities with the activity staff. They have an exercise room, a well maintained tennis court and a spa. The most amazing part of this resort, is you can tell the staff all want you to enjoy every minute of your vacation, and they work hard to make it happen. All staff we interacted with, are so warm and welcoming, and go above and beyond to make your stay comfortable and enjoyable. Yes, they are busy people, but always made you feel like you are important. We will return for a 5th visit as soon as possible. Our service from Tripcentral travel agent Carol Webber has always been perfect, and I would never hesitate to recommend her services. Thank you!

Amazing resort!!!

Not a single complaint...everything was amazing and totally met our expectations! Swimming with turtles every morning can be checked off the bucket list! Beach was amazing, rooms were immaculate and staff are second to none!!

Excellent Resort

This hotel was outstanding. Incredibly clean everywhere you went. The food was very good with a large variety available in the buffet. The ala carte restaurants were readily available and the food top notch. We were able to snorkel every one of the nine days we were there. We saw rays, turtles and an amazing variety of fish on the reefs which were easily reached from the beach. The staff was very attentive to our needs. A special thank you to Abel the concierge who treated us just like fa [... read more]mily. We highly recommend the wonderful retreat.

One Word - Incredibly

We stayed at Akumal Bay Beach and Wellness Resort (ABBWR) from March 7-14, 2019. This was our third visit to this resort. With a big smile and an even bigger hug we were welcomed back by one of my favourite people on the resort, Luis. Check in was a breeze, and were assigned room 3121. I had emailed in the resort about 2 weeks in advance requesting a higher up corner room with a king bed in building 3 or 4. That’s exactly what we got. Building 3 and 4 are quieter and further away from the a [... read more]ction. All rooms face the ocean and most have a really nice view. There may be a few that aren’t as good as others on the ground floor, but even those rooms face the ocean and have nice views of the grounds. There really isn’t a bad view here. There are robes and slippers in the room on arrival for use during your stay. You also get a reusable bag in your room that is great to use at the beach or on excursions. There is a hair dryer, loofah as well as the usual shampoo’s and that sort of thing. The beds are very comfortable with lots of pillows. There is flat screen TV in the room and books with lots of info in them. The sofa could easily be another bed. The mini fridge is well stocked. There is a small coffee maker with all the required amenities for your morning cuppa. Our room was kept spotless all week. There are four a la cartes, one buffet, a snack bar and the sushi bar. The buffet is always good. I can’t say enough about how well stocked up they keep the trays. Nothing is empty for long - ever! Morning bacon, never a problem unlike most other places we have been. We love the new smoothie bar and brick oven pizza station! We ate at the Gourmet and Rodizzio this trip. Both were great. The Gourmet is the only a la carte where men need long pants, which was great. Basically other than that one place the evening dress code would be casual summer dining. Drinks are fantastic. If they don’t have your drink of choice, tell them how to make it and they will look after you. I really like that you can get Dos Equis Amber, my beer of choice in Mexico, on request. There are three bars right on the beach/pool area as well as a bar at the snack bar, the main bar and the Patio bar. There are wait staff on the beach and at the pool area to look after you. When we booked this resort the first time it was the snorkeling that drew us here. We had visited Akumal Beach for snorkeling a number of times before actually staying here. My husband just loves it. It makes him so happy to explore the reefs and see the turtles. Nightly, there is live music up at the main bar area. No cheesy resort shows here. The staff here are part of what makes this resort and the guest experience so special. They are amazing. I have to mention Emanuele and Corinna, they made this trip extra wonderful for us. So many little things that just made our week so special. We used to be people who never returned to the same place twice but now it seems we have found a home away from home.

A gem in the Mayan

Resort, staff, food, kids club, entertainment bar none the very best!!!! The ground, beach beautiful Akumal town so quaint Collectivo so easy to get to Tuluum This has to be the best resort in the Mayan and I cannot wait to go for the third time❤️😆

Good resort

Very clean, food was very good for an all inclusive resort, work out facilities were decent. Staff was excellent. Beautiful location and beach. Penthouse room had a great view of ocean and was very quiet

Akumal Bay

Very clean and beautiful little resort. The rooms were clean and spacious, the buffet restaurant was quite nice very eager to please, with a good variety of different types of food and fruits. My only complaint is that Tecate is much better beer than Doseke XX ! The beach was gorgeous especially with the snorkeling right there

Very friendly, quiet place

We enjoyed the more intimate ambiance due to it being a smaller resort and with that came the ability to get to know the friendly staff in all areas. Lovely beach, cleanliness was evident everywhere, rooms, restaurants, grounds and the beach. Nightly live music was good and during the day we were able to enjoy the one man orchestra band, Abel who played for us frequently. The snorkeling was very good, saw sting rays, mantra rays, tropical fish and turtles. The paddle boarding staff were great,  [... read more]special thanks to Aytar who was very helpful, encouraging and professional and eager to learn English which we really appreciated and enjoyed. Big thank you to Christopher and German as well. Cristian, the lobby bartender, and Sintia the lobby server were very good, pleasant and engaging. The women serving drinks worked very hard and consistently and were a lot of fun, with a special thanks to Patricia, Abigail,and Sandra. Clemente the beach bartender was very good. The staff at the front desk were very pleasant, prompt and professional, Minerva, Zaisha, Tesla and Joanna. Any concerns re questions we had were dealt with immediately and positively. We enjoyed eating at the buffet and the wait staff from busters, waiters, cooks, etc were very efficient and friendly. Special thanks to Carlos, Jesus, Otilio, Kevin , Alejandro H and the hostesses Ingrid and Iris. Salvatore the beach ambassador attended to many of our needs with a big engaging, friendly smile.

Great resort for fun & relaxation.th

This was our 5th vacation to an all inculsive resort in Mexico snd it was by far the best. The people that work there have a smile & Hello for you all the time. Food is very good lots of varieties . My husband is very fussy but never had a hard time finding something to eat. Be sure to try their pizza. Room were beautiful. We had a penthouse so the view was wonderful. Beautiful sunrises every morning. Take a chance on the resort you won't be disappointed.

The best resort had ever been!

The hotel is absolutely amazing! Great size - small, intimate, service is excellent! Beach is very nice, snorkeling and diving (there are couple dive shops on the same beach) is great - lots to see: fishes, turtles, calamari, stingrays, urchins. Food was great - seafood, excellent lamb, beef and beef ribs to die for. ALL rooms have ocean view and jacuzzi tabs. Would come back 100%!

Fantastic place

Amazing place. We loved every minute of being there. Staff is friendly and very helpful. Great food with the huge variety of choices for every taste. Cenotes and underground river is the must see and just 10 min away. Fantastic place for snorkling and discovering some Mayan history. Planning to come back.

LOVED everything about this resort.

I have been looking for a long time a quite resort with a great beach location + good food = this is IT. Pros : - excellent beach to swim & snorkel, saw a lot of fish & turtles almost everyday. - staff super friendly genuine _ impressive kindness - food excellent , alot of choice and super fresh - animation at night was small bands playing in the lobby. Not overbearing discos. Excellent musicians. - this resort is excellent for quite friends or couples. NOT a party place at all. Y [... read more]ou can listen to the sound of the ocean all day , (not annoying tourists trying to party, too often seen in resorts). Which is why I would return in a heart beat. - rooms super nice + clean - small enough resort, all rooms have a view on the ocean. You dont have to walk miles between areas. - free Wifi everywhere Cons: - we found the walls rather thin, could hear our neighbours sides or top. So we upgraded to the penthouse , wow !! was worth the money. We are rather picky for sound. Some people thought the rooms were fine in terms of soundproofing. Depends how sensitive you are. - 1h30 min from Cancun airport Overall AMAZING resort for its value. No wonder this place is booked months in advance, has a large amount of returning customers, loyal to this quite relaxing wonderful resort.

Second time! Still great!

We got married at this resort in 2016 and loved everything about it. We went back this time with our two young children. Food was amazing although a la cartes said they couldn’t let us in when there were no reservations allowed and empty tables. Drinks are delicious! The frappacino with baileys was my morning go to! Yoga was relaxing and beach was gorgeous.

Fabulous resort and wonderful vacation

We just returned home last week Nov 7th, after a much too short vacation. The upside is that it was a wonderful place to stay - it truly is a “hidden gem”. We are definitely returning when they can accommodate us for at least 2 to 3 weeks. We did yoga every morning with Hiram, who is a master in his craft, and tried to pack in as much as we could in only 7 days. We had a wonderful room! Thank you for getting us a ground floor in building #3 - it is the perfect location and we would re [... read more]quest this again. Our housekeeper was wonderful; everything was completed in our room first thing in the morning by the time we returned from our yoga and breakfast, usually around 9:30. The food was terrific; we had no problems getting seated in any of the a-la-carte restaurants as they did not take reservations. The buffet also had great selections and variety for both breakfast and lunch. People can make a big deal about seaweed on the beach - we had some the first couple of days we were there but the hotel staff was right on top of cleaning it up as fast and efficiently as they could. This is not a factor in choosing this hotel - seaweed is caused by environment and weather. We would like to recognize Hiram and Rene in the yoga pavilion as well as German on the paddle boards who trusted that I could do it successfully.

Absolutely Amazing!

As frequent cruisers, this was our first all-inclusive beach destination and we loved it! We went with another couple from October 5 – 12. We did a fair amount of research beforehand and I really think we found our paradise. The place is a perfect size – not huge, but big enough to provide amenities, and yet small enough to have everything close and see familiar faces. It was our first time with Air Canada vacations and in typical AC fashion they oversold our flight, which resulted in us  [... read more]taking a different flight and having a stopover in Houston. However, the compensation was generous and we still arrived in Akumal later that day. There are many more pros than cons, so I’ll start with the cons: There aren’t a lot of veggie options in the a la carte restaurants but the options they do have were excellent. The snack bar had very few options, but it was convenient and easy for a mid-day snack (at night the snack bar serves gourmet burgers which are delicious! In fact my friend and I shared the veggie burger as an appetizer while we waited for a table at Rodizio and it was amazing – don’t judge us, we were on vacation! Lol) There had been some rain and because of the tropical environment and open air setting there were some insects around (they had to fumigate all the rooms one day) and a bit of an unpleasant sewage odour in the evenings at the back of the buildings (by the elevators). Fortunately this only lasted a few days, didn’t affect the common areas, or our suite, and our room was clean and free of any unwanted critters! We had asked to have rooms decorated for 2 birthdays we were celebrating during our trip and they missed the first one. I followed up with the front desk for the second birthday and there was no record of the request ever being made. Fortunately Minerva took care of things and our room was decorated for my husband’s birthday. A special thank you to Corrina for the champagne and strawberries – a lovely surprise! The pool is definitely on the small side and felt very crowded at times. It’s also difficult to get a Bali bed unless you are up before 7am, but we were able to find space by the beach. The only other concern is all the smoking – it was hard to escape the smell sometimes – but fortunately there was no smoking in the restaurants. The Pros list is much, much longer! Rooms: we were in building 2 which is perfectly positioned with a view of EVERYTHING! Rooms are plain but clean and spacious. The private 2-person hot tub is a great treat, but it does take time to fill so we only used it twice (felt guilty about wasting all that water). The housekeeping staff are great! Very thorough and so sweet. And we loved coming in to find towel-animals and chocolates waiting for us! The a la carte restaurants were amazing and we never waited long for a table. It’s so nice not to have to make reservations in advance and pre-plan your meals – you can just decide what you want to eat that night and within 20 minutes you will get a table. The French restaurant took a bit longer but we enjoyed live music and cocktails in the lobby bar while we waited. A special thank you to Mario (Lobby and Japanese/Peruvian Restaurant) for helping us arrange a birthday celebration, and thanks to Angela and Roy for a lovely evening! Also a big shout out to the Rodizio crew – we loved it so much we went twice. Luis was the best (sorry again about the glasses – we blame the tequila!) and Araceli, Kevin, Roger – thank you for a great night. Definitely try the sushi bar. Enjoy a seat on the gorgeous deck overlooking the ocean with some of Liliana’s delicious creations and a drink from the bar – we miss you every day, Liliana!! Snack bar – Manuel gets a big shout out! He definitely made our trip special - such a character and so much fun – always smiling and working so hard. He made us a ‘surprise’ drink each day and they were all delicious – but Diablo is definitely my favorite. And thank you for making us the little paper turtles on our last day. We will remember you (and crave a Diablo) every time we see them! The wildlife was so beautiful and the setting was lush and gorgeous. Iguanas, capybara, birds, tiny little lizards (anoles maybe?) and the smallest, cutest frog I’ve ever seen. Take the time to walk around the resort, past the yoga studio and into the wooded areas – it’s beautiful and there are lots of friendly critters to see. The best, of course, are the sea turtles. We did get to indirectly assist (no touching!) with the rescue of a sea turtle nest which was a truly incredible experience, and on the last day we FINALLY got to swim with sea turtles (they are so well protected that they aren’t the least bit afraid of us), as well as stingrays, schools of fish, gorgeous coral – it really was paradise. But the turtles were incredible!!!! Those memories will last a lifetime… Check out the hammocks for a place to relax and enjoy a siesta. I also recommend the walk to the town of Akumal. It’s only a few minutes along the beach and there are some nice little off-the-beaten-path shops there for souvenirs. Stop in and see Jose if you’re looking for silver! The live music in the evenings was nice – much better than mediocre staged shows you get on some vacations. The live musical talent was really amazing. We had fun with Raymond (the DJ) and enjoyed the tequila tasting! We did a few excursions (thanks to Tim from the resort and Bernardo from BDT for the recommendations - Coba and Playa del Carmen) but our favorite times were spent right there on the resort. We loved it so much we can’t wait to return. And finally, the biggest shout out of all goes to the activities staff. Alejandro (thanks for the guacamole lesson! I’ll always have beer handy and never throw away an avocado pit again!) and Samantha were great. Loved our aquazumba sessions in the pool every morning. And last but certainly not least, Mariana!!!! She was our absolute favorite!! Such a lovely person, inside and out. She made everyone smile and feel welcome. Just a bundle of energy and so sweet and genuine – you are the best, Mariana! Keep up the amazing work. And when you’re ready to come to Canada, let us know and we will take care of you :) Thank you for everything!! We highly, highly, highly recommend this resort!! Tammy & Steven

First Class Resort

Rooms clean and modern, Food in all restaurants good, location excellent, service at the hotel was excellent. Entertainment mediocre. Beach beautiful when seaweed is not there. Bar service very good. Long Bus ride from airport 1.5 hours.

Luxurious and peaceful

First, the layout of the resort is wonderful. They hired a professional to design and layout the entire resort. Everything is close by and easy to locate, beautiful gardens, walkways and lighting were perfectly designed. Hammocks were located in treed areas with lighted wicker balls high in the trees. Stunning! Every room faces the ocean. Next, the staff are amazing people. Raul at the front desk was professional and friendly. Phillipe at the 24 snack bar was friendly and a great bartender. Ser [... read more]vice was always prompt and they had plenty of staff to take care of all your needs. They have local and international liquor available, as well as Heiniken and XXX beer. The maids were friendly and provided great service. The Animation staff were very friendly and we got to know quite a few of them: Alex G, Alex S, Karla, Minvet, Samantha (wonderful with kids), and Mario. The food was excellent. The buffet had a huge variety of meat, fish, rice, pasta, vegetables, vegetarian and vegan dishes as well. The food was well prepared and spiced, always fresh and replaced regularly. The fresh fruit, desserts, and ice cream were delicious. The a la carte restaurants included: Brazilian, Japanese, French (requires long pants), and Mexican. All were excellent and gourmet quality. Both the presentation and the flavours were superb. Best feature ever, no reservations for a la carte! You show up and find out how long for a table. Usual wait for us was 0 to 15 minutes. There was also a Sushi Bar next to the pool, Lilian was a fantastic sushi chef. Finally, the 24 hour snack bar near the pool had mini buffet for breakfast and lunch and a menu to order from at other times. The food was very good and it allowed us to have a quick meal near the pool or ocean. The room includes a mini fridge with drinks and snacks which is restocked daily. The resort has chosen to have live music every evening instead of having "entertainment shows". Great choice. There was some music at the pool and in the restaurants, but not loud and not all the time. Again, great choice. If you like loud music all the time, partying not stop, and Animation staff blowing whistles all day, this is not the place for you. I would be remiss if I did not mention the wellness part of the resort. There are two yoga studios. The large one is on the beach, the small one is behind the resort. You can see and hear the ocean while you take your yoga lessons in the large studio. They also have meditation. There is a schedule with the classes they offer every day. Thoroughly enjoyed the two yoga classes we took. There is also a gym and spa area in the forest. Beautifully laid out and gardened, fully shaded. They have a steam room and sauna as well. There was also an in ground hot tub surrounded by the forest. There is a main pool, as well as four smaller pools located along the shoreline which face the ocean. If you want to take a relaxing dip, the smaller pools fit the bill nicely. Akumal translates to turtle. The ocean in Akumal has coral reefs which are great for snorkelling and you can easily find turtles while snorkelling. The beach has a lot of seaweed which is picked up constantly by the staff, every day. We swam in the ocean, but you will need to move a little to the left of the resort to find a nicer entry point. Other than the seaweed we absolutely loved this resort.

Fantastic holiday

My friend and I spent a week here may 6 to may 13th. The service from all staff was incredible. Lazaro in the kitchen,Timhy in the buffet and SAMANTHA HERNANDEZ in animation were the best. We look forward to visiting again soon. The only con is the length of time, wish it was longer.

Amazing place

This hotel was top of the line. They had an extremely inviting staff, clean atmosphere, an excellent location, delicious food, which overall left us with an unfortgettable experience. We will be back here for sure!

Amazing resort

We stayed at the at he Akumal Bay Beach and Wellines Resort ( ABBWR) the first week of May and we fell in love with the resort and the people there after the first 5 minutes. Its a small resort with only 4 buildings with 4 floors and elevator for easy access. Everything is close to the pools/ beach/restaurants and bars. One of the neat things is that all the restaurants are on a first come basis no reservations. We highly recommend this resort and will be definitely be going back