Just inside the town arch, you will notice a statue of the majestic Mayan warrior, Gonzalo Guerrero and his family.
Guerrero was a Conquistador shipwrecked and captured by Indians on the Mayan coast in 1511. He is believed to be the first Spaniard to set foot on Mexican soil.
Fortunate for Guerrero, the Mayan chief of his captors had a daughter so intrigued by this strange prisoner she chose to marry Guerrero rather than sacrifice him to the gods. Their children were the first mingling of Spanish and Mayan blood.
Today, you can see the handsome physical traits of their descendants in the faces of the modern Maya who live and work in Akumal today.
Specifically the history of Akumal Mexico begins in the late 1950s.
When rediscovered by adventurer and world explorer, Pablo Bush Romero, Akumal was a pristine beach fringed with coconut palms on one side and crystal clear water on the other. With no roads leading to this primitive area, it was virtually undisturbed by man. This worldly traveler was so taken with the beautiful bay he purchased it from a coconut plantation owner and founded a city consisting of a small resort catering to scuba divers.
Bush was also a pioneer in underwater exploration. He united with other distinguished divers and formed CEDAM (Club of Exploration and Water Sports of Mexico). In 1972, Akumal was established as the world headquarters for CEDAM International and CEDAM of Mexico.
Although CEDAM’s headquarters has relocated to the United States, the diving exploration organization left behind an innovative underwater museum that is in Akumal bay today. The museum consists of cannons and anchors that once adorned doomed ships of the past.
The town was officially founded in 1958 as a community for scuba divers by Pablo Bush Romero - a Mexican businessman, diver, writer, historian, and archaeologist. Wikipedia
[Editor’s note: The Akumal DVD contains footage of a CEDAM museum in
