Punta Bete
- Reef close to shore, good snorkelling
- Rocky entry in places, water shoes help
- Reached by a track off Highway 307
- Little developed, rarely crowded
- Jungle right up to the sand
- A few rustic beach restaurants only
- Cabanas, camping and boutique resorts side by side
Overview
Punta Bete is the point at the northern end of Playa Xcalacoco, a beach running roughly seven kilometres down the coast between Punta Maroma and Playa del Carmen. It sits about four kilometres north of the town, reached by an unpaved track east off Highway 307, and it remains one of the least developed accessible stretches on this part of the coast.
The character of the place is unusual for the Riviera Maya, in that two very different kinds of accommodation share the same sand. Small rustic operations renting cabanas, and in places allowing camping, sit alongside boutique resorts at the top of the market, with thatch-roofed restaurants between them and dense jungle immediately behind. There is no promenade, no strip of shops and no beach club sound system.
The water is the main draw. A reef lies close enough to shore to snorkel from the beach, which is uncommon this far north, and the shallows are generally calm. The trade is the bottom: the shore here is rocky in stretches rather than uniformly sandy, some hotels lend water shoes to guests, and one resort has built a dock so swimmers can reach deeper water without wading over rock.
There is also a small archaeological site on the beach itself. Xcalacoco means twin coconuts in Maya, and the area is thought to have served as a minor Maya coastal port.
Our current condition score for this beach is .
Our photographic record
Each photograph is published unedited and in date order, and is retained so the record builds rather than resets.
No photographs of this beach have been submitted yet. The grid below fills in as contributors send them.
Position relative to the Atlantic sargassum belt
This coast faces east into the Yucatán Channel and receives sargassum for the same structural reason the rest of the mainland does: there is no barrier reef far enough offshore to intercept drifting weed before it reaches the shore.
The nearshore reef here changes the local picture in both directions. It breaks the swell, which keeps the shallows calm and means arriving material tends to settle rather than be churned and pushed back out. Weed can therefore linger in the rocky sections longer than it would on an open sandy beach, held among the rock rather than washed clear.
The other local factor is the freshwater outflow to the north. Beyond Punta Maroma a river reaches the sea and divides the coastline, and that movement of water influences how material drifts along this stretch. Conditions at Punta Bete and at the southern end of Xcalacoco, several kilometres apart on the same beach, are not always the same on a given morning.
The sargassum season
The Caribbean sargassum season runs broadly from spring into late summer, at its heaviest between April and August and easing through the autumn. What arrives at any particular beach depends on the wind and current of the days beforehand rather than on the month alone.
The practical difference at Punta Bete is that there is no municipal clearing programme and no hotel large enough to maintain the whole beach. The boutique properties rake their own frontage; the public and rustic sections are cleared by whoever operates them, or not at all. So the same week can produce a clean stretch of sand in front of one resort and an untouched waterline two hundred metres along.
The regional pattern is covered in our guide to sargassum season in the Riviera Maya.
Choosing a hotel on this stretch
The range here is wider than anywhere comparable on the coast. At one end are jungle-set boutique resorts with private plunge pools and their own dock; at the other, simple cabanas and a few places where a tent can be pitched on the sand. Both look out on the same water.
Two things are worth confirming before booking, whichever end of the range you choose: whether the property's own frontage is sandy or rocky, since this varies considerably over short distances, and how the property handles sargassum, since there is no shared clearing effort here. Jungle proximity also means insects, and the better properties provide repellent as a matter of course.
Access and getting there
The turn-off is east from Highway 307 north of Playa del Carmen, onto an unpaved road signposted for Xcalacoco. A car is the practical way to arrive; the colectivos running between Playa del Carmen and Cancún along the highway will drop passengers at the junction, leaving a walk of some distance to the sand.
There is no organised car park. Parking is informal, on the track and among the trees behind the beach, and there is no charge. There is no Uber service in the area, so a street taxi arranged in advance is the alternative to driving.
Facilities are minimal. The beach restaurants can supply food and water, but there are no public toilets or showers, and no lifeguard. Anyone planning to snorkel the reef should bring their own equipment, as rental is not reliably available.
Check live conditions before you go
The rocky sections here hold weed differently from an open sandy beach, so a recent photograph tells you more than a forecast. Our live card for Punta Bete carries the current condition score and the most recent contributor photographs with their dates.
See live conditions, photos & cams →