We visited Bacalar Lagoon as a 2 night side trip from Playa Del Carmen - it’s about a 3.5hr drive south near the city of Chetumal and border of Belize.

This Mexican Government and Tourism boards have created an initiative recognising certain towns across Mexico as Pueblos Magicos for their “magical” qualities, whether that be their astonishing beauty, rich history, or extraordinary legends. Bacalar, along with Valladolid, Tulum, Isla Mujueres and Izamal, which we also visited, have made the list. And I can see why. I loved Bacalar! It has as very ‘off the beaten path ‘ sort of vibe!

The town of Bacalar sits on the west side of Bacalar Lagoon, known as the Lagoon of Seven Colour, due it to spectacular array of clear, calm blue hues. The town itself is very authentic and not overly touristy, a total different vibe from Playa Del Carmen or Tulum.

The colour Bacalar sign next to the Fort on San Felipe in the central plaza area.

What We Did in Bacalar

The first afternoon, we wandered around town, had lunch at the main plaza where the old Fort of San Felipe is, before getting lost looking for a cenote that we discovered was only accessible via boat from the lagoon. 🤦‍♀️ But we stumbled into one of the many lake clubs that line the lagoon’s edge for a quick refreshment before heading back to our very cheap but also very cheerful accommodation.

Getting lost and finding our way to one of the many lake clubs

Our full day was spent at Los Rapidos, which was so much better than we expected. We stayed all day! The girls loved floating down the natural lazy river. I’ve made a seperate blog post for Los Rapidos because it was honestly one of the highlights of our time in Mexico.

That evening we ate dinner at Mr Taco and wandered down to the main square again where they had local markets set up. We also saw another Danza de los Voladores ( Dance of the Flyers ) which is an ancient Mesoamerican ceremony/ritual. The ritual consists of dance and the climbing of a 30-meter (98 ft 5 in) pole from which four of the five participants then launch themselves tied with ropes to descend to the ground. The fifth remains on top of the pole, dancing and playing a flute and drum. According to one myth, the ritual was created to ask the gods to end a severe drought.

The next morning, thanks to the recommendation of our accommodation owner, we went to the eco park area located at the northern end of Avenue 1 . The boardwalk wraps around the mangroves and provides an entry point to swim in the beautiful lagoon waters. It’s 20 pesos to enter the boardwalk but it’s worth it for the views alone. We didn’t stay too long because our whole family is prone to sizzling with direct sun exposure 😂 but the water was incredibly refreshing! I would suggesting bringing your own lifejackets for small kids as the water can get deep in parts.

If we had one more day in Bacalar, I would have done a boat tour around the lagoon. There are many cenotes around the edge, plenty of places to stop and have a swim and the Pirates Canal with the shipwrecks sounded very intriguing.

On our way back to Playa Del Carmen we stopped off at the Chacchoben Mayan Ruins which were so impressive and pretty much deserted. The perfect way to explore such a mystical location.