Yal-Kú Eco Park in Akumal !! 🐠✨🩵🌴 - We booked our entrance tickets through GetYourGuide and we had such a nice day !! Being able to swim and relax next to such beautiful, clear waters is such a dream 🥰 With the standard ticket, you get entrance to the park and a life jacket (which is mandatory). There’s also the option to rent snorkelling equipment and lockers etc, but if you have your own mask you can take it too !! There’s lots of tropical fish to see !! 🐠 The restaurant is also very tasty.. it’s great to have a drink by the lagoon, and enjoy a bite to eat😍We had the Yal-Kú Quesadillas & the Chicken Sandwich.. perfect for inbetween swimming and sunbathing🌞 Definitely pay a visit to Yal-Kú if you are in Akumal !! 💙

Yal-Ku is all it's hyped up to be! - I'd been to Yal-Ku before on previous trips to Akumal. Of all the places I have ever snorkeled, this was hands down one of the best. I'd previously visited the other company that runs snorkeling out of Yal-Ku and kind of accidentally purchased tix online to this place. It ended up being a happy accident. It's only a minute's walk further but I have to say, the amenities are far superior. I didn't notice when I purchased the tickets, the date auto-filled to the next day. I wanted them for the current day that I purchased. When I went to the park, it took a little bit but they finally figured out how to honor my purchased tix for that day instead of making me come back the following day to use. There was a young man there who was instrumental in making this happen. I wish I could remember his name. Anyway, plenty of areas to chill if you want, a nice restaurant, nice facilities. A million species of fish to see. It's a not miss if you are in the Mexican Riviera.

Natural Bliss - We enjoy the great jungle paths lined with sculptural art as we make our way to the beautiful Lagoon. We rented a thatched hut to organized our stay in. It was so sweet with panoramic view of the Lagoon with it’s many happy snorkelers. Many tropicals and nice variety. It was raining at first but no problem. The cafe food is very good and a nice setting. Thank goodness for the well maintain restrooms, staff, and access to equipment and lockers. A real winner and our go to when in town.

Had bad weather, strong current - Very strong current when we were there, we are strong swimmers with fins on and it was a work out. Unfortunately the water was cloudy when we were there but I imagine it is good snorkeling if you have good conditions but mind the current especially wi the children or those who are not strong swimmers. The cafe had pretty good food

Beware of aggressive staff. - I would love to give Yal Ku park five out of five, and would have done so after our first visit. We are staying in Akumal for two weeks, so we made a return visit which left us feeling less than enthusiastic. On our first visit, we were given visitor tags to hang around our necks because we wanted to eat lunch in the café first then check out the facilities before making a decision. This worked well, I decided to go in, so went back to the gate and paid for my admission, which included a lifejacket, and I had my own snorkeling equipment. My husband does not swim, and settled in a chair near the water to keep an eye on me and my stuff. No problems at all and we had a lovely afternoon. Yesterday we went back and did the exact same thing. However, this time, while I was swimming, my husband was told he could not sit in the park because he had not paid the entrance fee. He explained and showed his visitor tag, where upon the attendant went to get another man who spoke better English and was very aggressive and unpleasant to my husband. He told him he had to go back to the café, now closed, and sit there. My husband was concerned that when I came out of the water, I wouldn’t be able to find him, and the man assured him that the nearby lifeguard would be there the whole time and would tell me what had happened. When I came out of the water to have a rest and sit in a chair with my husband, I found my clothes, but my husband and my other belongings were gone. I assumed he had gone to the restrooms, and sat down to relax for a while. Then I got concerned and went to look for him. All of this took at least half an hour, and no one told me where he had gone, and I didn’t think to go back to the cafe. Eventually, he grew anxious and came and found me and told me what happened. He was very uncomfortable about the whole thing and the way he was treated as if he was trying to cheat. No one had explained that the visitor tags were only good for the café and that he could not step outside of that area without paying. Last week everything was fine, this week it made for a very unpleasant experience because the two men were so aggressive and rude. Bottom line you have to pay the full price even if you don’t want to go in the water otherwise you will be treated like a criminal.

Clearly not a great experience - The first contact should have warned us at the reception as the receptionist was very unpleasant and obnoxious. Aside of the paying the entrance, they have basically everything available as options (from lockers to snorkeling equipment) and the total price climbs up very quickly. We paid 1350 pesos for 2 adults and 1 kid. On the top, there wasn't any one to guide/help us regarding the directions and the life jackets selection, probably because it was included. Beyond this, the water was un welcoming, blurry and full of seaweed, to the point that I had to open the path to my family. A bunch of seaweed was stuck in my wife's hairs as the water filled to the top of algae. We barely saw any fishes. No surprise we didn't see many people there... Clearly to avoid!

Front desk at the park is very unhelpful, and unapologetically so. Beware of buying your ticket here through Viator! - I bought a ticket to Yal-ku Park through Viator. The ticket said the park was open until 7PM. I arrived just before 5PM in full snorkel regalia, and they were closing. I showed them the ticket and asked if I could come back the next day instead. The guy at the desk said no, he couldn't agree to do that without talking to his boss. His boss had gone home. He said I would have to contact Grupo XCaret, yet another party that turned out to be the intermediary on the ticket. I emailed them, and they sent me an email back saying I'd have to talk to Viator, Viator is not open on the weekend, and tomorrow is Saturday. Jeez! Seems to me that the guy at the desk could have just written a note on my ticket saying "Let her in tomorrow instead." I suggested that, and the guy said he couldn't do it.