Xcacel-Xcacelito
Overview
Xcacel-Xcacelito is a protected natural area on the coast between Akumal and Tulum, reached from Kilometre 247 of Highway 307 near the village of Chemuyil. It was declared an Area Subject to Ecological Conservation in 1998 under the designation of sea-turtle sanctuary, it covers 362 hectares of jungle, mangrove, beach, cenote and reef, and it has been a Ramsar wetland since 2004. It is one of the most important sea-turtle nesting beaches in Mexico, chiefly for green and loggerhead turtles.
It is two adjoining bays rather than one, Xcacel to the north and the smaller Xcacelito to the south. Behind the dune sits Cenote Xcacelito, a freshwater sinkhole open to small groups under strict rules.
What makes this beach unusual on the Riviera Maya is what is absent. There are no hotels, no beach clubs, no loungers and no vendors. Facilities amount to toilets and showers at the entrance. Entry is by a maintenance fee, set lower for Quintana Roo residents than for other visitors, and the sanctuary keeps limited daytime hours, generally Tuesday to Sunday, closed on Mondays. There is also no shade to speak of once you are on the sand.
Our current condition score for this beach is .
Photo summary of last month
Each photograph is published unedited and in date order, and is replaced as newer submissions arrive, so what appears here is the most recent view of the beach rather than a promotional photograph.
Xcacel is a protected area with no hotels, so photographs from here show the coast as it is, which makes them a useful reference for the beaches either side.
Position relative to the Atlantic sargassum belt
Sargassum reaching this coast crosses the tropical Atlantic, enters the Caribbean and is carried north-west along Quintana Roo by the Yucatán Current. Xcacel sits on the southern part of that run, north of Tulum and south of Akumal, facing east into the flow.
The reef offshore breaks the swell, but the two bays are shallow and open to the sea, so sargassum that gets past the reef reaches the sand directly.
Mechanical beach cleaning is not used on a nesting beach, so sargassum that arrives here tends to stay until the sea takes it back.
The sargassum season
The regional season runs from roughly May to August, heaviest in June and July, and quiet from late autumn into spring. Those months overlap with the turtle nesting season here, which runs from about May to October.
The wider picture for this coast, including how the belt has grown over the past decade, is set out in our Riviera Maya sargassum season guide.
Swimming conditions and safety
The bays are shallow and generally calm, with the reef taking most of the swell, and the water is clear over sand and seagrass. Snorkelling over the reef is the main draw.
There is little shade: the beach is exposed for its whole length, and sunburn and heat are the realistic hazards rather than the sea. Bring water, a hat and cover.
The cenote has its own rules and they are enforced. Sunscreen and insect repellent must be washed off before entering, because both damage the freshwater ecosystem, and access is limited to small groups at a time.
On sargassum: fresh weed in the water is harmless, if unpleasant to swim through. The sulphurous smell some visitors associate with it comes from material that has decomposed on hot sand for a day or more and is releasing hydrogen sulphide, so a strong smell indicates old weed rather than a fresh arrival.
Choosing a hotel on this stretch
There is nowhere to stay at Xcacel, and there will not be: the sanctuary designation exists precisely to prevent development on it. The practical bases are Akumal and Puerto Aventuras to the north, Tulum to the south, or the resort stretches at Xpu-Ha and Kantenah, all within half an hour by road.
Visitors who want a beach like this one to swim at rather than to study should treat it as a day trip and stay somewhere with facilities, since the site closes in the late afternoon and has none of its own beyond the basics.
Access and getting there
The turn-off is at Kilometre 247 of Highway 307 between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, and it is poorly signed, so it is easy to miss. From the highway a rough track leads to the guardhouse, where a donation is collected toward the conservation programme.
Colectivos running the highway between Playa del Carmen and Tulum will stop here on request; tell the driver you are getting off at Xcacel, and expect a walk of several hundred metres from the highway to the beach. ADO coaches serve Tulum and Playa del Carmen, from where a colectivo completes the trip. Cancún airport is around ninety minutes by road, Tulum about twenty minutes.
We do not publish a car park for Xcacel, because there is no formal lot to publish. Parking is informal ground near the guardhouse, and the site's hours and donation are set by the sanctuary rather than by any published schedule we can verify, so both are best confirmed on arrival.
Check live conditions before you go
Xcacel is not cleared, so it shows what this coast actually receives rather than what a morning's raking leaves behind. On the live map we track it with dated photographs and a current condition score, which makes it a useful reference against the managed beaches at Akumal, Xpu-Ha and Kantenah on the same morning.
See live conditions, photos & cams →