Fourteen years in the same bay.

"I didn't plan to become a tour guide. I planned to spend a season in Akumal, learn to read the bay's currents, and move on. That was 2010. The turtles were still here in 2011. And in 2012. By the time I understood why — the seagrass, the specific limestone shelf at four meters, the way the morning light enters the bay between seven and ten — I had stopped planning to leave."

I limit every tour to six people. Not because six sounds exclusive. Because I cannot safely read the water, watch the turtles, and watch six human beings simultaneously if the group is larger. Fourteen years taught me that. The bay does not wait for a distracted guide.

There is a group of green sea turtles that has used the same seagrass bed in the southeastern corner of the bay since at least 2019. I have watched them through four seasons. I know which one has the notched rear flipper. I know which time of morning they feed closest to the surface. I tell my guests this not because it is impressive, but because it is true, and because the truth is more interesting than anything I could invent.