Beaches

Walking distance:

Mamitas (Calle 28 - 11min walk)
- Beach with a couple beach clubs - you can go with nothing and pay a fee to get in the beach club - the fees goes towards your food and drink consumption.
- Otherwise, there are generally beach chairs and umbrellas for rent on the beach (from 400 pesos and up per day).
- Or bring your own chair, umbrella, cooler, and pay nothing!

Playa 38 (10-15min walk)
- We often stray there at night as we’re walking on Ave 5 - and depending on the tide and the season and currents, there is or isn’t a beach!

Coco beach (C. CTM - 20min walk)
- Beach with a couple upside down boats on the beach, and scuba diving and fishing boats anchored at sea.
- The entrance is through a small passage at the back of the reef coco beach (just walk past the security gate and follow the foot path)
Playa 72 (on Calle 72 - 35min walk)
- They added a few palapas - free - but first come first serve, so come early!
- No infrastructure/hotels/beach clubs nearby and you only have jungle as a backdrop. This beach is dog friendly, though I’m not sure how legal it is to bring your pet, it seems to be changing regularly…
- A lot of folks go there to play beach volleyball and its not rare to see 3 or 4 courts erected for the day.
Playa 88 (on calle 88 - 40min walk)
- Similar to Playa 72, but with toilet facilities
Punta Esmeralda (C. 110 - 45min walk)
- Another free beach, where folks play volleyball, do yoga and just hang out - bring your own chair, umbrella and cooler.
- This one has an open air cenote that flows into the sea, and has a lot of families and young kids playing around in it
Other city beaches
- If you keep walking to the south of Mamitas, towards the pier for the ferry to Cozumel - you’ll generally find the same beach club concept, or restaurants with terrace in the sand.

Xpuha beach - on the way to Tulum about 1/2 hour - 60 pesos/person for access; more quiet spot, with restaurants and beach clubs, chairs and umbrella rentals.
Cenote y Laguna Yalku - Akumal ~30min drive - snorkelling in a laguna/open cenote (cash only ~250 pesos pp without equipment); there are also a turtle snorkelling area, with a couple nice restaurants on the beach on the way to the laguna.
Tulum - about 1hr drive - cross through any of the beach side hotels and walk on the beach -prices can be stiff and some bar/restaurants require minimum consumption. We liked the little bar behind hotel piedra escondida, facing the beach, for a couple Aperol Spritz…
Cancun - playas Delfines and playa Langosta - about 1hr drive
El Cuyo - white beach, caribbean blue waters, nobody in sight even on Easter day, when you go to Playa Escondida. Quite a ways away, on the gulf side, no sargasso, ~2 1/2 hrs drive.

Very unique to Yucatan, many cenotes are worth spending a half day or a day to see and experience. We did a day with jungle ATV and underground/completely dark cenote that was really cool and intimate (small group) with Thibaut (+52 984 164 6738 on WhatsApp). They also have some light spelunking/underground trekking options in caves we haven’t yet tried.
Cenote y Laguna Yalku - Akumal ~30min drive - snorkelling in a laguna/open cenote (cash only ~250 pesos pp without equipment); there are also a turtle snorkelling area, with a couple nice restaurants on the beach on the way to the laguna.
Cenote Casa Tortuga onthe way to Tulum
Cenote dos ojos, where you can actually do cave diving if you’re a slightly experienced scuba diver

Tulum, Playacar, Koba, Chichen Itza: a few options available, many tours, or you can go with your own car.

Cozumel: spend a day there - take the ferry across the pond - snorkeling/scuba diving
Holbox: a few hours drive, and a ferry away, on the north side - plan to spend at least a night there
Mahahual: fishing village that gets very animated when a cruise ship makes a stop (assuming they still do; we haven’t been back in a couple years) - it was a lot of fun watching the locals haggling with the tourists from our balcony!
Laguna de 7 colores in Bacalar (3-4 hours away) — freshwater laguna that looks like a gigantic swimming pool; highly recommended if you have a couple days to spend there. Take a boat tour in the laguna, and enjoy some of the local restaurants there.
Xcaret: adventure park with many options, beach, food, lazy rivers, animal habitats, open cenote converted in an aviary, and a show at the end of the day showcasing the specific cultural traits of each Mexican state
Rio Secreto: very close to Playa, tour through an underground cave for ~2hrs with the base package, up to a whole day if you get the rappelling/bicycle full package - as long as your not afraid of the dark or of small spaces, this is a really nice excursion!