Mexico / Quintana Roo
Playa Tortugas
Playa Tortugas is a 281 m-long sandy beach facing north-north-east, 8.9 km south-east of Cancún (Quintana Roo, Mexico). The sea averages 29.2 °C in September, its warmest month, and 26.4 °C in February; it stays at 21 °C or above all year.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Playa Tortugas
Beach-day index 7.6/10 · Mexico median 8.4
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 26.5 °C | 26.4 °C | 26.4 °C | 27.0 °C | 27.8 °C | 28.4 °C | 28.7 °C | 29.1 °C | 29.2 °C | 28.8 °C | 28.0 °C | 27.1 °C |
| High °C | 25° | 26° | 26° | 27° | 28° | 29° | 29° | 29° | 29° | 29° | 27° | 26° |
| Low °C | 24° | 25° | 25° | 26° | 27° | 28° | 29° | 29° | 29° | 28° | 26° | 25° |
| Rain mm | 59 | 46 | 38 | 39 | 101 | 167 | 82 | 102 | 154 | 188 | 103 | 64 |
| Cloud % | 53 | 43 | 38 | 37 | 44 | 59 | 50 | 52 | 58 | 58 | 53 | 50 |
| Wind m/s | 6.6 | 6.5 | 6.7 | 6.3 | 5.9 | 5.6 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 6.0 | 6.5 | 6.4 |
| Daylight h | 11.0 | 11.4 | 12.0 | 12.6 | 13.1 | 13.4 | 13.3 | 12.9 | 12.3 | 11.7 | 11.2 | 10.9 |
| Record high/low | 28°/20° | 27°/20° | 28°/20° | 28°/22° | 29°/23° | 30°/26° | 30°/27° | 31°/27° | 30°/26° | 30°/24° | 29°/21° | 28°/21° |
| Beach index | 8.6 | 8.8 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 8.4 | 7.8 | 8.7 | 8.6 | 8.1 | 7.6 | 8.2 | 8.6 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in July–August and December–May; March scores 8.9/10 with highs of 26 °C, sea at 26.4 °C and 38 mm of rain.
In March that is 0.3 points below the median of the 345 beaches in Mexico covered by this atlas.
At its warmest the water here is 0.5 °C cooler than the Mexico median for September (29.7 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 27.8 °C, warmer than 88% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
October is the wettest month (188 mm) and March the driest (38 mm); the yearly total is about 1,140 mm.
Daylight runs from 10.9 hours in December to 13.4 hours in June; in mid-March the sun rises at 06:56 and sets at 18:56 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces north-north-east (20°). Open water fills about 42% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
At no time of year does the sun set over the sea here: sunset bearings run from 245° to 295°, behind the land.
Sunrise is over the sea in March–September.
Straight out to the north-north-east about 800 km of open sea lies before the next coast, enough for large swells to build.
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 2 m deep and 7 m at 3 km, a shallow, gently shelving sea floor. Behind the beach the ground is about 0 m above sea level 500 m inland and 0 m at 1.5 km, a flat coastal plain.
Within 1 km, the land is 43% grassland, 42% built-up land and 6% mangroves (satellite land-cover map, 2021): an urban beach. Water makes up 80% of that circle.
- Grass 43%
- Built 42%
- Mangrove 6%
- Tree 5%
- Bare 4%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Photos
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 33Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 1Public toilets
- –Showers
- 3Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 19Hotels & guesthouses
- 1Grocery shops
- 3Water-sports spots
- 3Marinas & slipways
- 11Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 1Pharmacies & clinics
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 24 restaurants, 3 cafés and 6 bars. Accommodation: 19 hotels and guesthouses.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Around the beach
Attractions & museums
- Atracciones Cancun attraction 70 m SW
- Manda Park attraction 70 m W
- Parque Xcaret attraction 330 m NW
- MUSA Underwater Museum museum 410 m SE
- Museo Subacuático de Arte museum 470 m SE
Islands in view
- Pok Ta Pok 1.4 km S
Marinas
- Sunset Marina Resort and Yacht Club 570 m W
- Marina Puesta del Sol 630 m SE
- Marina Colibri 840 m SE
Diving & boat hire
- Yacht2Go 590 m SE
- Top Boat Cancún 600 m SE
- Luxury Yacht Mexico 830 m NW
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancún International Airport Cancún | CUN | 15.5 km | south-west |
| Cozumel International Airport Cozumel | CZM | 71.4 km | south |
| Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport Tulum Tulum | TQO | 142 km | south-west |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 11 bus stops within 1.5 km, ferry terminal Ferry Isla Mujeres (80 m), ferry terminal Playa Tortugas (90 m) and 3 mapped car parks within 1 km.
2 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 903.7K residents); within 30 km there are 4 (about 919K).
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
| Beach | Distance | Warmest sea | Length | Surface |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playa Tortugas | – | 29.2 °C | 281 m | Sand |
| Playa Langosta | 1.5 km NW | 29.2 °C | 998 m | Sand |
| Playa Caracol | 2.4 km E | 29.2 °C | 783 m | Sand |
| Playa Delfines | 8.7 km S | 29.2 °C | – | Sand |
- Playa Langosta1.5 km NWCompare
- Playa Caracol2.4 km ECompare
- Playa Delfines8.7 km SCompare
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 15.0 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w445614179; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2B_16QEJ_20250823_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 49.5K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.