Last fall, Eric and I escaped the cold with a one-year anniversary getaway to Tulum, Mexico!
After an incredible honeymoon in Jamaica, we knew this “second honeymoon” would have a lot to live up too. Thankfully, after lots of research, we found the lovely Secrets Akumal Rivera Maya resort for our trip.
Giving you the scoop in case there’s a beach vacation in your future and you’re wondering where to stay in Tulum, Mexico!
P.S. We weren’t traveling with a fancy camera, so you’ll have to pardon some of the lesser quality pics!
The Views
Secrets Akumal is breathtakingly beautiful! It is essentially spotless, and the detail that has gone into its layout and design can’t be missed. I instantly fell in love with the luscious gardens full of bright flowers and massive palm trees. Every member of the staff we interacted with was incredibly friendly and willing to help with anything we needed. The service was wonderful.
The resort size felt just right – not too big, not too small. Within 5 minutes or so we could essentially get anywhere we needed, and I never complained about walking around because of the gorgeous views and ocean breeze everywhere we went.
The Beach & Pools
We always tend to spend most of our time on the beach versus the pool, but both were equally wonderful!
It was never difficult to find a lounge chair on the white sand beach – we usually grabbed a couple near the front of the water, and aligned with the volleyball court so E could play in the afternoons! One thing to note, it’s not a private beach, so you did have some families or non-resorters hanging out too, but that never bothered us or interfered with our relaxing. The staff does a great job to ensure those folks aren’t using chairs, and provides excellent ocean-side food and drink service. The beach was clean, romantic, and never felt overcrowded.
My favorite part was that the beach was actually a protected sea turtle haven. We could rent snorkeling equipment for free from the resort and see these beautiful creatures right there, just a bit out into the water!
The Food & Drinks
My favorite thing about all-inclusive resorts is that you’ve got unlimited food and drink options! E and I love that we don’t have to think through how much everything costs, but can just relax and get whatever we want. Secrets Akumal had a huge variety, so we enjoyed trying all the different options during the day and having dinner at a new restaurant each night.
Our favorite spot for breakfast was the killer buffet at Market Cafe. For lunch, we loved sitting outside and choosing from the variety of options at Barefoot Grill. I recommend the burger or the quesadilla! From French to Mexican cuisine, we tried something diferent each evening and felt so fancy. Since we were there over Thanksgiving too, they put up the cutest decorations and had a great holiday buffet!
For drinks, the swim up pool bar or Barracuda Bar on the beach were my top picks – it had swings!
I fell in love with my one-piece suits: two-pack from Asos.
The Room
E & I knew while we were treating ourselves to this vacay, we wouldn’t be able to drop as much as we did on our honeymoon the year before – just the reality of it as we are budgeting for other trips on our list!
That being said, we picked the Junior Suite Tropical View room and were upgraded to the same space with a swim up pool upon arrival. We were completely blown away by the beauty. If I didn’t know, I would’ve believed someone if they told me it was one of the premium rooms!
Our suite was spotless and even had a “Happy Anniversary” banner across the door upon arrival.
Ignore my drying bathing suit…haha.
The giant king bed was beyond comfy, and there was plenty of space for lounge furniture and luggage. The shower and jacuzzi tub were so luxurious. I loved the tropical vibes outside our patio that gave us privacy, even with the swim up pool.
The Anniversary Perks
If you take a Honeymoon or anniversary trip at a resort, always be sure to let them know and request those special occasion perks! Secrets Akumal not only had the banner decor for Eric and I, but a bottle of champagne in our room upon arrival.
Throughout the week, we also had special turn-down service with rose petals scattered throughout the room – totally romantic. We were also treated to a special breakfast in bed! We scheduled it for our last morning and enjoyed an amazing spread of goodies before heading to check-out.
The All-Inclusive & Adult-Only Status
We’ve dubbed our anniversary trips as the ultimate opportunity to #treatourselves, meaning all-inclusive is totally an option if we want it to be! After last summer’s magical trip to Machu Picchu (guide coming soon!), I was ready for a vacation where we honestly wouldn’t have to worry or work much for anything.
Secrets calls this exceeding of expectations Unlimited Luxury. Amenities include unlimited gourmet dining options, pool/beach wait service, top-shelf spirits, 24-hour room service, endless daytime and night-time activities, and more!
There’s also of course some additional experiences you can pay for too. For E and I, that was scuba diving! After getting our scuba licenses in Jamaica, we knew for our anniversary trip we wanted to get back at it.
Last, but definitely not least, Secrets Akumal is adults-only. E & I have loved this aspect of our beach getaways. Don’t get us wrong, we want kiddos someday, but right now we are loving this adult time knowing it won’t always be like that!
It probably goes without saying we had such an amazing time celebrating our one year anniversary. I hope we can make it to another Secrets resort soon!
