Feb 10, 2025
Amazing guide - well worth paying to go in a small group! - Darwin was such an amazing guide helping us see so much wildlife (turtles, coral, colourful fish, stingrays) and teaching us lots about them, as well as respecting and taking care of the wildlife too. He took some fabulous pictures on the go pro too!
Also, he made sure my 4 year old daughter was safe and felt happy in the water so she could enjoy the experience too - memory of a lifetime!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Feb 10, 2025
Amazing Snorkeling with Sea Turtles Adventure - MUST DO!! - This is a must do if you are in the Akumal region. Darwin is an amazing guide. We had an incredible experience and saw so many turtles. We had a non-swimmer in the group and Darwin was very patient and assisted the person by towing them. He was so conscientious and clearly concerned with the safety of the turtles and the ocean environment which we really appreciated. It was really nice having a private tour. There were just 2 of us. Other groups out in the water had up to 10 and they were very crowded to see the turtles. Darwin did a good job leading us away from the groups and finding turtles for us to watch. Seriously! You have to do this. It was such an incredible experience and Darwin was the best!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Feb 10, 2025
🐢 Turtle Paradise 🐢 - Wow! What an incredible experience we had Snorkelling with Darwin showing us all the different species of fish and seeing the Turtles up close in their protected habitat. We also saw Stingray, a wide range of different species of fish including Parrot fish as well as crystal clear waters above coral. It was truly a special moment and unforgettable experience! Marlene and Darwin sent thorough instructions and kept us informed from booking right through to what to expect on the day with clear directions of where to meet Darwin. I’m not great at swimming and it was my 2nd time snorkelling, so I was a bit nervous but Darwin was reassuring and is very experienced as a marine biologist and strong swimmer. The benefit of a life jacket and rubber ring aided our buoyancy, which Darwin floated us around on and reduced any exertion. I would recommend a full face snorkel which I brought myself and also a rash guard under your life jacket. You don’t need water shoes as the sea bed is all sand or sea grass. Be sure to keep your feet up when you get further out so you don’t disturb the seabed where the Turtles feed on the sea grass. The photos and videos are of excellent quality that Darwin provides on his go pro and we got some amazing footage of the turtle coming very close. I would 100% recommend booking with Marine Life Akumal MX for the private tour and make sure you go and visit the area as early as possible before the droves of people arrive. The cost included admission to the parc and a massive locker / clean changing facilities allowed us to spend time on the beach and visit the local shops / street Art after the snorkelling finished. It was interesting learning about the conservation going on here and all the hard work the partners and volunteers do to keep the turtles protected, especially around the nesting season. Thanks again! Andrew & Rachel :)
Yarm on Tees, UK.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Feb 8, 2025
Amazing experience - highly recommend! - Darwin took me, my husband, and my 10 year old daughter on a snorkeling excursion at the end of January and it was absolutely incredible! He was extremely helpful in getting us ready for the day - telling us everything we needed to know ahead of time (what to bring, transportation options, etc). He was very friendly, professional, and super knowledgeable. We learned so much about the area and the beautiful sea creatures we encountered. And we encountered a ton! We saw a couple of sting rays, had swarms of fish all around us, and best of all, we saw probably 20 turtles. All different sizes and some even came right up close to us. A magical day that we’ll never forget. Oh - and we also got tons of incredible photos from Darwin afterwards. Thank you, Darwin! You’re the best!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Feb 5, 2025
Swimming with the Sea Turtles - Swimming with the Sea turtles was surreal! Such amazing creatures! To be so close without any contact, we would do again!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Feb 5, 2025
Highlight of our holiday - We spent two weeks travelling around Mexico for our honeymoon, visiting a variety of cities, Mayan ruins and water parks. Our time spent with Darwin was the absolute highlight of our trip.
Several weeks before arriving in Mexico, we contacted Darwin asking for availability during our days in Akumal. We were quickly booked in by his partner, who suggested we go for the earliest slot possible whilst the beach was quieter. This was then confirmed a few days before our tour, making sure everything was still okay.
We received extremely detailed instructions of how to get to the beach, with Darwin meeting us at the Dive Shop from our taxi (Even though we were overly keen and arrived much earlier than we were supposed to!). We then hired a locker for a 100 peso deposit and were lead down to the beach. Darwin then informed us if we would like him to take pictures and videos he would be happy to do so, but that he does request a small tip in exchange for the pictures.
Darwin spent lots of time explaining everything to us, and telling us about the turtles and their habitat. We were also completely new to snorkelling and he spent a lot of time allowing us to practice before we arrived at the sea grass. What then followed was the most wonder time moving around the square, stopping off to see a sunken cannon, turtles, fish, stingrays and even an octopus.
Once our tour was over, Darwin even showed us where we could get a taxi back to our hotel.
In total, we ended up seeing 14 turtles! A little one even came to surface right by mine and my partners head, and Darwin got that wonderful moment for us on video!
We highlight recommend this tour - It is amazing value for money, extremely informative and Darwin clearly loves marine biology.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Feb 4, 2025
I love sea turtles!!! - This was our first trip to Mexico and mostly just wanted to relax by the beach/pool but when I heard about the chance to swim with sea turtles then I knew this was an excursion that we had to do, I have 2 sea turtle tattoos and love sea turtles so much! Darwin was an amazing and knowledgeable guide. Booking with him was easy and completely worth the cost. We got to see turtles, sting rays, many fish as well as coral, grasses and an old cannon! If you have the chance, go, do it!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Feb 2, 2025
Amazing turtle morning - Such an amazing day for our family. Darwin was very knowledgeable and caring about the turtles and their habitat. We saw so many turtles and other things. More than we expected. And as a small group we could be in the close area than the big tours are allowed to go.
Marlene was also very helpful with information on getting there etc. A wonderful pair.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 28, 2025
The best snorkeling experience - Darwin was amazing. Booked a private tour with a friend and we were not disappointed. Saw 12 turtles, sting ray, and plenty of fish. He was extremely knowledgable, very affordable and very environmentally conscientious. I would highly recommend booking with Darwin if you’re interested in an amazing snorkeling experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 27, 2025
Highly recommend our small group tour!!! - Highly recommend booking your snorkel with Darwin! I am so glad that I chose this tour for our family of four. Darwin does small group tours and we were his only clients during our tour. I am so thankful he does this for a couple of reasons: 1. It was so much easier for our small group to stay together in the water and hear Darwin when he was explaining things (the current was strong the day we swam), and 2. I think it is less stressful for the marine life to have smaller groups near by. Darwin loves the ocean and the turtles and it is quite obvious. His tour was educational and entertaining, and he is respectful of the animals and the environment. We loved it!
Review provided by Viator