Punta Allen is a small community located in the Riviera Maya, 180km from Cancun. It is the ideal place for ecological tourism, because there can admire colonies of herons, crocodiles and manatees, plus flora one of the largest reserves in the world. Some are activities you can enjoy water sports like kayaking and snorkeling, lancha rides, snorkeling, bird watching and animals in their natural habitat.

In Punta Allen can camp, and either in huts or tents, you can bring your own tent. The place has at least 12 hosting sites of ecological huts, built of wood, with all services, in a rustic and natural style. Be prepared in various ways; Because there is no electricity, since it is a protected site, powered by solar energy. It is ideal for a lunada or evening stroll along the quiet beach, observing an almost lit sky and ideal for developing all kinds of tours; besides fishing, which is a tradition in this town.

Right at the tip of a narrow spit of land, with a lighthouse guarding the northern entrance to the Bahía de la Ascensión, the remote fishing village of Punta Allen is not the kind of place you stumble across by accident. With a population of just five hundred, it’s the largest village inside the reserve. Bonefish and tarpon in the bay are a draw for active travellers; layabouts come for the feeling of being entirely cut off from the world.

The beach is more for hammock-lounging than swimming. The road south from Tulum has helped maintain Punta Allen’s special quality: can still be very slow going during the dry months, typically requiring at least three hours for the fiftykilometre drive.

In any case, take plenty of cash (there’s no bank), and plan to spend at least a couple of nights, as the Tulum colectivo leaves at 5am, and the launch for the Carrillo Puerto service goes at 7am (reserve your seat beforehand at Tienda Caamal).

Entering Punta Allen from the north, past the naval station on the right and beached boats on the left. A mobile shop in a truck travels the peninsula on Wednesdays and Saturdays, selling fresh items you can’t get in the few village tiendas, reaching Punta Allen sometime in the afternoon or evening, depending on road conditions. Hotels have watersports equipment for rent and can arrange boat tours for instance, a three-hour snorkelling tour, during which you might see some of the local loggerhead turtle population.

A colectivo (daily at 2pm) runs from next to the taxi syndicate in Tulum. Another goes from Felipe Carrillo Puerto via an even more bonerattling route to Vigia Chico (also called El Playón), where launches (for 2–3 people) cross the bay to the village