It was our 3rd visit this September 2nd-12th 2026 and this reinforced our view that secrets Akumal will always be our all time favourite destination.
A bit about the weather/sargassum: We had two days with rain (even though the entire forecast showed rain all week) one day the rain arrived late in the afternoon, and the second day had two or three very heavy downpours and thunderstorms. Other than that, we saw full sunshine and temps of 33/34’c all week. The sargassum was close to zero on our first two or three days, a little washed up on day four which continued, slowly increasing until the storm arrived. Things improved from day seven, with a few more clear days just before we left as more arrived. Sargassum was always cleared from the beach or reduced as much as possible by 10am, and prevented us from going into the ocean or snorkelling.
This place is so special to a level that you cannot even imagine until you have lived and experienced it first hand. The grounds, rooms, pool areas and food were exceptional, as we have consistently found on each visit.
We began in building 5 in a preferred tropical view room, and moved to building 3 in an upgraded suite as building 5 was closing for renovations during our stay. Both rooms were stunning, clean and spacious, the first (5314) with tropical views, (very tiny) slither of ocean (we did not book ocean view) and the second room (3214) had a ‘tropical’ pool view and a little more ocean to see. Both rooms had plunge tub on the balcony but the master suite was much bigger in every aspect and far superior.
We did not use all of the preferred amenities this time as we were travelling with family who were in a standard booking, but we did not miss the preferred beach section, or the seaside breakfast (we like to head out early and this wouldn’t open until later anyway). The market cafe for breakfast was our preference as it is open from 7am, has extensive and varied choices and you can take as long or little time as you like.
We would visit market cafe every morning and most lunch times for the air conditioning and the wonderful pleasure of seeing Santiago again, who served us daily. We first met this kind, warm and attentive gentleman last year, and he had our drink and preferences memorised after day one. He was so kind to us, works so hard and was the outstanding server in all our time here.
We visited the preferred club a few times for drinks and snacks, this is a good place for better drinks but we noticed a slight reduction in food offerings and no cookings or treat jars this time. Not a deal breaker but I missed it because this was something I enjoyed before. You can ask for a plate to take food away to your lounger or room, and drinks to go.
The entertainment team were so welcoming and friendly, always energised, always take time to get to know you and help you engage in all the fun activities on offer. We can be shy and find it hard to let our guard down, but honestly it was such a pleasure spending time with these guys and they absolutely made our holiday. My advice would be to spend time trying everything they offer and get to know them - you will enjoy it, meet new friends and most likely laugh endlessly! My only feedback here is that some activities are scheduled to overlap, so you gave to make planned choices about which you would rather do. It would be nice to try everything!
The outstanding staff here were (from the very first day) Sina - she is one of a kind and made every activity so fun and enjoyable! With Sina we did turtle painting, kayaking, music quiz and the bike tour and loved them all. We also learnt so much language and history of the area from the staff, Tony also made our activities enjoyable and memorable, we did the kayaking with him, bike tour, and beach volley. He has an incredible sense of humour and always made us laugh.
We did aqua strong and aqua bike with Melina - the quality of her classes and instruction was excellent! And if you are looking for an excuse to slack because you’re on holiday, don’t 😂 - Melina will keep you on programme in the most enjoyable and motivating way!
Alan is such a lovely guy, on my first day he took time to introduce himself and say hello. We spent time with him doing pool casino, he helped show us and made us feel so welcome. We loved chatting to him about football and finding out about his football background.
It was also lovely to meet Dana, who even though it was her first week, seemed like she had been there much longer, and also meet Ari again who always has a smile and works very hard. Maximilian came over to say hi, and allowed us to congratulate him on his recent promotion, in mid quest to find one of his guests.
Excursions- We took a turtle tour right off the beach arranged with Victor - there was never any pressure, and he was genuinely a pleasure to see every day. When we finally did it was an amazing experience and we saw many turtles! He took photos and we purchased the package at a very reasonable price. I’d say we were out for 1.5hrs. We also visited Cozumel via taxi from the hotel then ferry from play del Carmen. The water and snorkelling in el cielito and palancar reef are not to be missed! And we did xplor theme park too which was so much fun.
We chose the pool most days, and Jose was our pool concierge, he was so helpful and informative, letting us know what was for lunch, cocktail specials, evening entertainment and restaurant opening schedules.
We visited most restaurants twice during our stay, and the food here was exceptional. Waiting staff are attentive and work very hard. Our favourite was himitsu and portofino, closely followed by bordeaux. Every night during our stay at least one restaurant was closed, which was a little disappointing as this made the other restaurants exceptionally busy and I feel this increased wait times and slowed down service - especially in Bordeaux. This caused us to rush to get to the evening show and was not expected, it has never been the case on our previous visits. I raise this because we noticed a few subtle changes this year and I hope this is not the beginning of further reduced services and operational efficiency decisions.
We love this place so much for everything that makes it so special!
