Bacalar, Magical Town

Saliendo de Cancún a 356 kilómetros que se recorren más o menos en cuatro horas te encontrarás con una vista impresionante, se trata de Bacalar, ubicada en el estado de Quintana Roo en México es una pintoresca comunidad catalogada como Pueblo Mágico de México. Fue fundada por los mayas y acosado por piratas durante siglos debido a su importancia comercial ya que la laguna era un punto de transferencia de mercancías traídas de Centroamérica.

Bacalar es un poblado paradisiaco que te enamorará no solo sus pequeñas casas de pescadores y si cálida población sino también por albergar uno de los tesoros naturales más impresionantes de Quintana Roo, la Laguna de los siete colores,  en donde puedes bucear, hacer snorkel o dar un tranquilo paseo en lancha.

 

TIP

If you are coming from Mexico City, it is advisable to take a flight to Chetumal Airport, where you will take a bus to the city center. Traveling from Chetumal you must take the road to Carrillo Puerto and approximately 40 km you will find the lagoon.

The lagoon of the seven colors is the main attraction of the town, and has been named because of the seven different shades of blue that you will see in its waters, product of the different depths of the ground. It is part of a lagoon system approximately 55 km long.

What to do in Bacalar

Enjoy the unique landscape either by boat, kayak, sailboat or jet ski. Admire the contrast of the lush vegetation that surrounds the waters and let yourself be lulled by the sounds of nature.

If you go for a swim, do not forget to use biodegradable sunscreen.

Find in Bacalar an ideal place for relaxation: the energy it transmits fills you with an inexplicable sense of peace and tranquility. Let the elements of nature infect you with energy, helping your body in this healing experience.

Visit the Fort of San Felipe with its stone walls that resemble a medieval castle. The fort is currently the Museum of San Felipe de Bacalar, which, although small, tells in a general way the historical development of the area and shows the visitor how the arrival of boats to the lagoon took place.

Practice scuba diving or snorkeling in the magnificent Blue Cenote. Feel small next to the immensity of its more than 300 meters in diameter and its ninety meters deep. Lean on the professional instructors of the area to discover its underwater caves and countless nooks and crannies.

It is an outstanding site for diving, because even without a spectacular visibility, it offers intricate labyrinths of interlaced and overlapping roots and trunks, hollows of various sizes and rock formations on its walls with vertical and negative inclinations, with a background that remains hidden from the distance (more than 90m deep); It has caverns that invite to be explored, always by the hand of expert guides and the proper training.

What to eat in Bacalar

You can not leave without trying the tamales of xpelón (a variety of beans) and the sotobichay (queen's arm) which is a tamale with chaya. In the days of Todos Santos the "Mucbil Pollos" (baked tamales from the region) are prepared, and there are also dishes made with fish and seafood such as the dogfish and tikinxic bread, as well as the snail dishes; also grouper fish, red snapper and lobster are a small sample of the gastronomic variety of this paradise.