What you can see on the Xpu-Ha cam
The view runs over the hotel grounds toward the beach and the sea beyond. It shows the weather on this part of the coast at a glance: sun or cloud, wind, a shower coming in from the sea, and whether the palms are bending in the breeze.
Xpu-Ha from the UNICO 20°87° hotel
Mounted high on the hotel at Xpu-Ha, this camera looks down over its central grounds. In the middle lies a large pool with a volleyball net strung across the water, busy with swimmers, surrounded by white loungers, cabanas and palms; behind it rises the long hotel building with its orange roofs, and on the far left the trees open onto the beach and the sea curving away along the coast. A caption in the corner gives the hotel's name, UNICO 20°87°, after the coordinates of this stretch of coast.
In the humid coastal air the lens mists over at times, sometimes for hours. When it is clear, it shows the weather over Xpu-Ha and how lively the pool is. The hotel streams it through Angelcam.
Cenotes behind the beach
Rain on this coast never gathers into streams: it sinks through the limestone and flows through caves toward the sea. Where the roof of a cave has collapsed, the water shows in a cenote, a natural pool of clear fresh water. The forest on the inland side of Highway 307 near Xpu-Ha is dotted with them, several open to swimmers, from open pools fringed with mangroves to half-covered caverns. Out at sea, the Mesoamerican Reef runs along the coast, and the water between the reef and the beach is usually clear and turquoise.
When to watch Xpu-Ha
Sunrise is straight ahead, over open water, and with no town lights around, the sky before dawn is darker here than in Playa del Carmen. In the afternoon, with the sun behind the cam, the shallows over the sand turn their brightest. If the first image of the morning looks milky, wait a while: on humid days the lens mists over and clears once the sun has warmed it.
Nearby
Puerto Aventuras, built around its marina and canals, is a few minutes north. Akumal, with its bay where green turtles feed, is about 10 km (6 miles) south, and Playa del Carmen is less than 30 km (19 miles) to the north.
Getting there
Mexican law keeps the sand open to all, but there is no town square or promenade here: access from Highway 307 is mostly through hotels and beach clubs, some of which charge for entry or parking. Shared vans along the highway stop at the turnoffs. Sea turtles nest on this coast in summer: keep your distance from marked nests and keep lights off the beach at night.
