You have been through an airport, a customs line and a van. Whatever you had planned for this afternoon, cut it. Two things are worth doing properly before you collapse, and both happen before you reach the house.
Pull cash before you walk out of the airport
The ATMs are on your left as you come out of immigration, while you are still inside, before you exit into the arrivals hall. Two minutes with a stroller, and it saves you hunting for a machine on day two.
Take pesos rather than dollars, and if the screen offers to charge you in your own currency, decline and let your bank convert. You will want cash here more than you expect: taquerias in the pueblo, beach parking, tips for the driver and housekeeping, the tortillería, and small places that take no cards at all.
Groceries, delivered or picked up on the way
Walking into a stocked kitchen is the best thing you can do for a family’s first evening, and there are two ways to get one.
Grocery delivery is the simplest: send the list and it is in the fridge before you arrive. Milk, fruit, eggs, tortillas, coffee, beer.
Or shop on the way in. Chedraui in Puerto Aventuras is a full supermarket right on the highway, about fifteen minutes before Akumal, and the stop costs you roughly forty minutes. If you booked ground transportation through us, say so when you book and we will tell the driver in advance. A grocery stop is routine, but it needs to be on the plan rather than sprung on a driver at the curb.
Then get them in the water
Land before about two and let them swim, in whatever water is closest to your door. Land late and do not chase it: sunset is around five thirty in winter and closer to seven in midsummer, and a first swim in the dark with tired children is nobody’s good memory. The AkumalMX beaches guide explains how the five bays differ.
Dinner depends on which bay you booked
On Akumal Bay, Half Moon Bay and up toward Yal-Kú Lagoon you can walk to dinner: Lol-Ha on the bay, the original beachfront restaurant here, or Turtle Bay Café & Bakery at Plaza Ukana. Everywhere else you have one option close by and a drive to anything else. South Akumal and Jade Bay have Jungle Fish, with rocky points in between that want sturdy shoes if you walk. Soliman Bay has Pandano at its northern tip. Aventuras Akumal has Beached Bikini, a snack bar. Yal Ku Ha is a drive to anything.
All of it closes early. Last seating usually falls between 8:00 and 9:00, which catches out almost every family landing in the afternoon. This is the other argument for the grocery stop: on a late arrival, the kitchen in your rental is the only one still open.
About tomorrow morning
Small children usually surface around six, which here is a gift. Note that Akumal stays on the same clock all year while most of North America moves twice, so the gap between here and home shifts with the season.
Or just don’t: eat on the terrace out of the fridge. Half our guests do exactly this on night one.
Make it yours. Tell us who is coming and what you are hoping for, and our team here in Akumal will build the day around it: the right guide, the right hour, the right boat, arranged before you land.