Xcacel Área Natural Protegida Estatal

About this audio guide

This guide to the Xcacel-Xcacelito Sea Turtle Sanctuary near Tulum opens with an old Maya belief that the whole earth floats on a turtle's back, the same shape painted onto hearthstones in the Madrid Codex. It follows that idea onto the real beach, where loggerhead and green turtles still nest each year, and into a nineteen nineties standoff between conservationists and a Spanish hotel chain that bought a stretch of this coastline. You will also hear about the hidden cenote tucked behind the mangroves, a good place to end a visit.