Akumal Tip #030 - This little light of mine

Made available on September 29th, 2006 by Tortuga.
Groups: Health and Safety tips.

Flashlight
As mentioned in our big packing tip, be sure to bring a flashlight to Akumal, especially if you do not plan to rent a car. The road up North Akumal along Half Moon Bay is not lit. You will want to use your flashlight to alert any traffic that may be barreling down the road after a night of drinking at La Buena Vida.

The North Akumal road is a narrow local road and has many topes (speed bumps). There is no real danger here of a major car collision, but a pedestrian should protect himself with a little light he can shine at an oncoming vehicle to alert the driver.

If you find yourself out — heaven forbid — walking along Highway 307, this is a very dangerous road. You most definitely need a flashlight here. The driving habits of locals includes lots of impatient passing on the highway. A vehicle speeding faster than the one before it expects to pass even if there is oncoming traffic. The vehicle obstructing its path is expected to move to the emergency lane so that the one in a hurry can pass. Let’s say it is night and you have auto trouble and need to walk to a phone or Pemex station. Be sure you have a flashlight with you to alert traffic that you are a pedestrian walking the emergency lane. The emergency lanes on Highway 307 are very dangerous for walking — especially at night — because of all of the passing traffic.

Flashlight photo
It may be that you didn’t rent a car and that you need to pick up a taxi or a low-budget collectivo (or combi) on Highway 307. Let’s say you pick one up early in the evening to travel to Playa del Carmen for a night on the town. When you are ready to return home, it will be dark on 307. Hopefully, there is no reason why you should be on Highway 307 and you will simply catch your cab or collective in well-lit Playa del Carmen. But what if you do find yourself on the dark Highway outside Playa del Carmen’s city limits? Be sure you have brought a flashlight for such an emergency. At night, a passing collectivo or taxi will not be able to see you on the highway. Waving a flashlight at oncoming vehicles both alerts them you are a pedestrian on the highway and, if the vehicle happens to be a collectivo or a cab, alerts them that you need to be picked up. The local Mexicans flash a light at the combis when they need to catch a ride.

Back in Akumal, there are still some patches of the North Akumal road in desperate need of paving. Rather large chug holes still exist in front of some owner’s properties who haven’t cared to make their roads safe — yes, it is the owner’s responsibility to pave (or rather, brick) the road directly in front of their property. If you are staying at one of their properties or honoring one of their businesses, please encourage them to brick their road!

At night, walking becomes somewhat dangerous when traversing across pavement full of potholes. Once again, there are no street lights in Akumal! Stepping in a deep chug hole can cause you to tumble to the ground, possibly even twisting your ankle. In case it is necessary for you to walk the Akumal roads at night, make sure you have packed a flashlight and don’t forget to carry it with you if it is at all possible you might be out walking late in the evening. There’s no reason to ruin your trip to paradise because of stumbling on an hellacious strip of road that needs maintenance.

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