Xcalak is on the bottom right.

GETTING HERE:

It is best if you rent a car when you come to this remote area. You will want to explore, and not feel isolated without a vehicle. Try to get one with higher suspension because there are pot holes in Mexican roads that can damage the car. The roads are all driveable without four wheel drive.

Driving directions from CanCun:

There is only one way out of the airport. It travels east/west. Head east for a couple of miles toward the hotel zone until you get to the first overpass which is the 307 that goes north/south. Take the exit to the south. Follow the signs that will say either to Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos, or Merida (There will be another exit to Merida further south--don't take it.) Stay on the 307 most of the way. Time wise from the interchange: Thirty minutes south is Puerto Morelos, 45 minutes to Playa del Carmen, about 1.5 hours to Tulum.
The roads as far as Tulum are busy. When you get to each of those cities there will be splits in the road. The outside lanes will become service roads if you need to get off for anything. Otherwise stay toward the center lanes to go right through the cities. If you accidentally get on a service side road, don't worry, they will join up again on the south side.
As you get to Playa del Carmen be VERY observant of the speed limit (80 km or 55 mph). There are patrols everywhere and they are especially happy to see Gringo speeders. There are two grocery stores on the south end of PdC: Chedraui on the left and Soriana (in a strip mall up a hill) on the right. They are a bit tricky to get to. If you want to go back to them, there is a roundabout on the south side of town to loop back to them.
South of Tulum the traffic eases up quite a bit. The roads have been widened and that has helped too. As you enter Tulum and come to a stoplight, there is a SanFransisco grocery store that is easy off and on.
At the edges of every town, and periodically in busier areas of the road, there are speed bumps called topes. (toe-pees) Topes are also spread throughout the roads within the town limits. They take the place of highway patrols to control traffic speed. There are usually signs for them.
The next larger city after Tulum will be Felipe Carillo Puerto. It is half way here. It is slow going through the town as the streets are narrow and very busy. There are two Pemex gas stations, one on the north side and one in the dead center of the town. There is also a round about in the center of town, just go around and straight through. If you need a rest stop or a restaurant about that time, there is a nice one, El Faison, across the street from the Pemex gas station in the center of town (the south end of the restaurant is air conditioned).
Vehicles in the round abouts have the right of way, so you have to wait your turn to enter. Watch for fast taxis coming around.
Passing in Mexico is different than the USA. There is the rule of overlap, so a car way in the back that has guts and power may barrel up around a bunch of cars. So if you are going to pass, BE SURE to check BEHIND you before pulling out. If the road has a wide shoulder, and you are being passed from behind, it is customary to pull over onto the shoulder lane to let cars around you. Or if you see an oncoming car in your lane, pull over to the shoulder lane to give them room. They are nuts with speed and passing no matter what, hills, curves, cars....etc., no problem!
Many truckers/buses also turn on their left signal to let you know the coast is clear in front of them so you can pass. But be aware, they could be signaling to turn as well, so be observant--especially in the resort areas around Playa del Carmen.
After Felipe Carillo Puerto, you go about another hour to Limones. About 3 miles south of Limones is a turn off of the 307 that heads left toward the east (toward the ocean). The sign would say to Puerto Costa Maya or Mahahual. (The turn off is called Cafetal.) Just a couple of houses and a beer sales. They just cleared out a huge area so you will see a big plowed area at the corner. Sometimes a military checkpoint is set up there or in the vicinity. The road from Cafetal to Mahahual is very good and quiet, about 50 kilometers or 35 miles. It has one curve about halfway, be careful of going too fast there. When you get to KM marker 50, SLOW way down. The WORST tope in Mexico is there and it doesn't have much of a warning. Boom, you are on top of it and if you are going fast, you will hit your head on the roof. Crawl over that monster.
Right after the tope is a turn to the right, lots of signs for resorts, etc. on the side. Turn onto that road and go 60 km more, or 40 miles. Then you hit a T at the end of the road. Turn left toward Xcalak and in 3 miles, you will have to wind your way through the little town. There is no straight through road, but there is only one road that goes north out of town along the beach. When you get to town, it T's at the ball field, take a left, follow it around toward the beach, and at the end of the ball field, another left. There are large, round, white Costa de Cocos signs to follow and they point how to go through town.
Eight more kilometers, or 5 miles, north is our Casa Escondida. And the beach road has been smoothed all the way!! NO potholes!!!

Gas:

There are only 3 gas stations once you get past Tulum. (All gas stations are Pemex with green and white signs.) There are the two in Felipe Carrillo Puerto and then none until you get to Mahahual. Depending on how much your tank holds, you will want to stop at one of them.
The one at Mahauhal is at the turn toward Xcalak. Instead of turning, just go straight for 1/4 of a mile.
You will probably use half of a tank to get here, so it is best if you top off the tank somewhere. You will also need enough gas to get back to a gas station when you leave here. There is only emergency gas in Xcalak, so you can get some, but it is running it through a hose and funnel from a barrel.
The gas station attendants OFTEN have a scheme or game up their sleeves on how to get paid more. Especially if they see us ignorant gringos. What you need to do:
1. Get out of the car. Don't let them start pumping the gas until you check the pump and watch that they "zero" it. WATCH the pump the entire time they are pumping it.
2. Show them the exact amount you want (pesos) by holding up the bills, but don't give them the money until after the gas is finished. Don't tell them to fill it. Use the exact amount you have. Say "tres cientos, magna, por favor" for $300 pesos of Magna. If you are really empty or have a big vehicle, you will probably want "quatro cientos, magna, por favor" or 400 pesos.
3. Don't talk to the attendants. Ignore any other attendants that come over to distract your eyes. (Like a low tire, or an oil check, etc.)
4. Check to see that they are using the hose that is showing the gas being filled.

Some of their games are: They will flip the lever when it is close to finished so that it looks like it filled, especially if you look away for an instant. They won't clear the pump to zero, so you are paying for what someone else already got. They use a black marker to cover part of the number section on the pump so the 3 looks like a 9. Use a hose from another pump. One even tried filling a bucket when the guy looked away. They will tell you that you "accidentally" gave them a 50 instead of a 500 and demand more. Or they will slip you a 20 instead of a 200 for change or something like that.
If you have trouble, pull out a camera and take the attendant's picture, write down the station name and make like you are going to do something. and don't hesitate to make a scene.
We haven't had any problems for quite awhile, maybe because we are careful. Also some of the bad guys at Mahuahal haven't seemed to be around lately.
People usually tip about 5 pesos to the attendant. Everything gets tipped....grocery baggers, guys guiding your car in parking lots, etc....
The bathrooms in gas stations are usually awful. No toilet seat, not toilet paper, no soap. Bring some tp and soap slivers. Women often have to pay to use the bathrooms, usually a couple of pesos. Then they give you some TP.

Driving from Chetumal or the west:

You will drive north on the 307 to the Cafetal turnoff (6 km. south of Limones). It is 3 curves north of Pedro Santos. There is an exit lane starting at the 3rd curve. From there, follow the same directions as above.

Bus and Cab transport:

Buses leave the airport quite often. Some will take you to CanCun central, the main terminal, where you can catch a bus that goes south. You can also catch a bus that goes directly toward Playa del Carmen. If you stay overnight in Playa or CanCun, try to get a bus ticket ahead of time at the depots as certain buses do fill up completely.

There are two classes of buses that run from CanCun to the south: The ADO is the first class bus which runs more infrequently, makes fewer stops, and you need to be aware of exactly where you get off. Several left the airport at about 11:30 a.m., and not again until about 3:30 and then in the evening. The Mayab bus is the second class bus which runs about every hour from the main terminal, will let people off and on during the route. The ride is about the same quality in each bus, freezing air conditioning, and loud music-- but nice to watch the view.

If you take the Mayab bus, you would get off at Limones and need to catch a cab to Xcalak. They run between $50 and $70 each way.

Some buses run into Mahuahal, but check on times and prices. Then you would have to cab from there.

There are no car rentals south of Playa del Carmen, other than in Chetumal.

Driving Cautions:

All the authorities recommend that you do not drive in the dark. There are many people along the sides of the road at night and they are difficult to see. The roads are not well lit. Signage is not ample, especially after Hurricane Dean tore many of them down.

Be careful of topes entering/exiting each village/city and often many within the city/town limits. Be careful of pot holes everywhere.

Be careful passing other vehicles. The locals believe in the rule of overlap, so a vehicle at the end of a group of cars may take on a whole row of cars to pass when it looks like they would never make it. Always check behind you before pulling out.

Also watch the left turn signal. It may mean turning left; or it may mean it is okay to pass. Truck drivers will often signal you with the blinker that they have good visibility and it is okay to come around. But they could be turning...you never know, so beware. There are some areas that have pull offs on the right side to pull into to allow traffic to pass and then you cross over both busy lanes to get to the left of the highway.

We have many 3 lane type of highways and if the highway is wide, it is common courtesy to pull way to the right (sort of onto the shoulder) to allow traffic behind you to pass without going into the oncoming lane too far. We also pull over when we see passing cars in the oncoming lane.