Vacation rentals in Akumal, Mexico, where guests swim with turtles in groups of six with a guide
If you manage condos in Akumal, you work in a small, expensive market: AirROI counts 71 Airbnb listings, nearly all of them entire homes, at an average of 4,304 pesos a night, and 77% of guests live outside Mexico. What they all come for is the bay, where turtle swimming happens with a certified guide, in groups of up to six, for two or three minutes per turtle. Upbridge's AI operations assistant, Cleo, works over WhatsApp with vacation rental operators and cleaning companies and organizes the cleanings and the inventory for each place.
The rules here
Akumal belongs to the municipality of Tulum, and we found no municipal regulation for nightly rentals. This is what applies as of October 24, 2026.
| Topic | What it says | Status | Since | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State register and its number | RETUR-Q, the number on the listing and the lodging tax are state rules, and they're on the Quintana Roo page. | In force | March 2024 | Quintana Roo |
| Swimming with turtles | In the bay, turtle viewing happens only in marked corridors, with a certified guide, up to six people per guide and two or three minutes per turtle, and Conanp, the protected areas agency, makes sure nobody enters the closed zones. | In force | As reported in March 2026 | Riviera Maya News |
| Number on the listings | AirROI went through the 71 active listings and none shows a registration or permit number, even though state law asks for the RETUR-Q number. | In force, not enforced | Data as of October 1, 2026 | AirROI |
This is not legal or tax advice, and Upbridge does not file anything for you: no registrations and no tax returns.
How it works on the ground
Akumal's guests come mostly from the north. Per AirROI, 46% of reviewers live in the United States and 12% in Canada, March brings the most revenue and February the highest occupancy, at 43%, while May drops to 20% and September is the slowest month. Guests book 38 days ahead and stay 5.8 nights on average.
77.5% of listings charge a cleaning fee, with a median of 1,279 pesos, and three in four are apartments or condos. A stay of almost six nights in a beach condo leaves more sand, more towels and more bedding than a two-night one.
Sargassum reaches this shore too. On March 13, 2026, in the middle of high season, a large mat washed in and more than 150 co-op members, guides and boat operators turned out to clean the beach (Por Esto!). That same month, local tour providers talked about occupancy near 80% and expected more people for Holy Week, without saying what the figure measured (Riviera Maya News).
In September 2025 the director of Conanp's Mexican Caribbean Biosphere Reserve, José Juan Domínguez, said that since the rules came in, the turtles get sick less often and stay longer in the bay. For your guest, that means booking the tour with a certified guide before getting in the water.
Where Upbridge fits
Almost eight guests in ten come from abroad, so the guest guide comes in English and Spanish, with how to get to the condo, the bay rules and how to book a certified guide. We build it and the guest opens it on their phone before landing.
With stays of almost six nights, the photo checklist can include the sand on floors and showers, the beach towels and the terrace furniture, and the cleaner sends a photo of each step.
Checkouts from Guesty, Hostaway, Lodgify, Uplisting or your iCal become assigned cleanings, and the inventory for each property warns you when what gets used most in a beach week is running low.
If you manage condos or clean homes in Akumal or along the coast between Tulum and Playa del Carmen, Upbridge helps with what happens between one booking and the next.
If you run a cleaning company in Akumal
In Akumal your work bunches up from December to April and drops in May and September. With the cleaning company account you see every client's checkouts in one calendar, from each one's iCal or PMS, and since guests book more than a month out, you know in January what March holds. Your clients stay yours, and the account takes no percentage of any cleaning.
Near Akumal
Questions about running rentals in Akumal
Can you swim with turtles in Akumal without a guide?
No. According to Riviera Maya News, turtle viewing in the bay is done with a certified guide, in groups of up to six, two or three minutes per turtle, and only inside the corridors Conanp monitors.
What share of Akumal guests live in the United States or Canada?
77% of reviewers live outside Mexico: 46% in the United States and 12% in Canada, per AirROI as of October 1, 2026.
Which month do Akumal rentals fill up?
February has the highest occupancy, at 43%, and March the most revenue. May drops to 20% occupancy and September is the slowest month.
Sources
Checked on October 24, 2026
- AirROI, the 71 Airbnb listings in Akumal from October 2025 to September 2026, data as of October 1, 2026.
- Riviera Maya News, "Sea turtle conservation improves in Akumal as tourism reaches 80% occupancy", March 10, 2026.
- Riviera Maya News, interview with the Mexican Caribbean Biosphere Reserve director on Akumal's turtle management plan, September 26, 2025.
- Por Esto!, "Sargazo llega a costa de Akumal y activa jornada de limpieza", March 13, 2026.