Ah, Akumal: “place of the turtles” in Mayan. It’s a small town with a gorgeous stretch of white, soft, sandy beach and calm blue water. Why combine days eight through fourteen in one blog entry when all the rest of vacation has been individual days? Why has this been sitting as a draft for over a week? Because once we reached Akumal – and family – every day blended into the next. This is the second year we’ve stayed at the same resort, right on the beach. My husband is the youngest of six and has three step-siblings. All together there are eighteen grandchildren. In total I think there were about 40 of us this year, I never did a total count. With parents, adult children, spouses and grandchildren, it’s chaos, fun, insanity and pure laziness al
l at once.
Mornings were spent eating breakfast with some number of cousins, aunts and uncles. Then we’d wander down to the beach. We usually found a cabana by the hammocks. The kids spent their mornings swimming in the pools, building sand castles on the beach, swimming in the ocean or snorkeling. In and out of various places and combinations of children, they were constantly in motion and had a wonderful time. Once the snack bar opened the kids would head over for a bite to eat – anywhere that has self-serve soft-serve ice cream is a pretty big hit. The kids enjoyed the all you can eat pizza, hamburgers and french fries. Mom and Dad were really glad that they had an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables in the dining room to balance there diet. We drug them into the actual dining room as often as we were able to pull them away from their cousins.
The cabana on the beach was a great place to spend most of the day. From our lounge chairs we could watch any number of the family playing touch football, bocce or building sand castles. The younger kids in the group spent a great deal of time perfecting their sand castle techniques. We spent some time building walls to protect our sand castles from the crashing waves. We had lots of fun playing in the sea. We spent some time on the sea kayaks rowing around the bay area. The kids had a chance to jump off the kayaks and snorkel around in the water. C and D got to see some sea turtles under the water. The water isn’t very deep so they were only about 10 – 15 feet underneath us. B got to see the turtle pop its head out of the water when it came up for air. The boys also got to see large schools of fish and a great big barracuda. Some of the bigger boys found a few Caribbean lobsters. They differ from Maine lobsters because they have no claws, but large antenna instead. We had seen them a few months ago when we visited an aquarium so it was a nice real life experience. When the kids needed a break from the beach they usually went to the snack bar first. After they had a quick bite to eat they would jump in one pool or another, but the swirly pool is still there favorite.
Last year we spent the entire time on the beach (well except for a trip to the ruins at Telum). This year the kids spent a little time getting into wandering around more and trying some of the activities. The Akumal Beach Resort is like being on a cruise on land – there are activities throughout the day and into the night. This year all of the boys wanted to try archery. With a little help from the Akumal instructor the boys were shooting arrows like they were William Tell. I think the boys went to the Archery area 3 or 4 times in the week were there. The kids also popped in and out of the kid’s club throughout the week. We missed most of the daily dance lessons, although mommy and B did do a salsa lesson poolside.
It’s hard to describe days that just float by in hammocks rocked to the sounds of a gentle ocean. Eat. Build a sand castle. Splash in the ocean while little fish circle round you. Snack with some cousins. Learn archery. Swim in the pool. Take a kayak into the ocean. Eat. Rock in a hammock. Learn to play bocce. Build another sandcastle. Eat. Listen to the music start in the outdoor disco (or in the case of our 7 yo dance one night with some very nice French girls). Go to bed. Repeat in a new configuration the next day.
Really what is there to say about a week where you snorkel with sea turtles, swim with dolphins (that post is coming I promise), eat all the ice cream you want, play with numerous cousins, make new friends, and move from sand to sea to pool as you wish? Honestly the same thing you would say as an adult about a week spent snorkeling with sea turtles, rocking in a hammock listen to the waves, having your children have a wonderful time while watched by older cousins and getting at least one dance in at the disco before everyone had to go to bed? Exactly.
