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For February vacation we wanted to take our kids somewhere warm. We were not very interested in another resort, we wanted to do something different than last year. Last year we did Cancun & stayed at Seadust Cancun Family Resort. It was fun, but it wasn’t necessarily what Dawn and I are into when it comes to vacation. So we planned split our trip between Bacalar & Tulum. Matt really wanted to see Bacalar, and Dawn wanted to see the jungle settings of Tulum.
So we put our plan together and decided that we would fly into Cancun, rent a car there and then begin our 4 1/2 hour commute south to Bacalar. We booked our flight through Jetblue. We concerted Chase credit card points to cover the cost of our flights, we had to pay the taxes. We used the chase ultimate rewards portal to book our rental car through(we were not satisfied with the rental company), which was europcar. For lodging we booked 3 different places using booking.com, since they had some good discounts if you book through a mobile device. For Bacalar we stayed at Rancho Encantado & Mia Bacalar. For Tulum we stayed at Zamas Hotel.
Travel day
We woke up around 2:30am to make it to Logan Airport for our 6am flight. This time around we decided to save a few bucks and try our a flight that had 1 layover going there and back. It wasn’t completely awful, for future flights we will definitely pay the additional cost for direct flights, if possible. The amount of time we’d save not being in the airports and transferring between airplanes and terminals would be worth the money. We ended up landed in Cancun around 1:30pm, and we were shuttled over to Europcar.
The process to pickup our reserved car here was time consuming, and it’s not like the experience we had last year with Easyway, which was fantastic comparatively. When we finally got into the car and on the road it was about 2:30pm. First things we needed to do was get a late lunch, hit up Wal-Mart and then start our 4 1/2 hour ride to Bacalar. We decided that we should eat in Playa Del Carmen, since the Wal-Mart was there.
Based upon reviews on-line we set our GPS for El Fogon. The tacos were great, and we were able to find some street parking a block behind the restaurant, it was very easy and painless. Once we finished eating we drove over the the nearest Wal-Mart and picked up some water, snacks, and other stuff we’d need.
Wal-Mart was packed with locals, and the staff were not friendly at all, so do not recommend. We ended up getting back on the highway shortly after 5pm, put on spotify, hopped on the 307 highway and set the GPS for Rancho Encantado. We arrived there a little before 9pm. We settled in and then went to bed. This is where the direct flight would have benefited us most, we probably would have been here a few hours earlier to enjoy some of the evening.
BACALAR
Bradley woke up early and was excited to go out and see the sunrise. Three of us went out to check it out, and Olivia slept in a little longer.
The lagoon is beautiful at all times of the day, but especially in the early morning hours. It’s calm, and very serene. It’s a great location to start any day. After hanging out for a bit we decided to head back to the room, wait for Olivia to wake up and then get some breakfast. Which was included with out stay.
Our room was a bungalow that had access into the lagoon. It was spacious enough for the 4 of us. It had 1 king bed, and then two sofa beds that were great for the kids. Outside had a hammock, a table with 4 chairs, some lounge chairs and a walkway that led right into the lagoon. The space could not have been any more relaxing. Which was great, because day 1 ended with Olivia being sick and under the weather, so there was not much we could do except for relax in our room.
That day, we ended up getting all of our meals at the hotel and all the meals were great. In between the meals we would go into the lagoon for swimming and to enjoy the weather.
This day ended up being a day to recharge the batteries and hopefully be better for the next few days.
LOS RAPIDOS
After a recovery day we planned to check out Los Rapidos, which is definitely a tourist attraction. Los Rapidos was about 20 minutes south of Rancho Encantado. It’s part of the lagoon where you can either float or kayak in the lagoon. Bring pesos, because they did not accept credit cards to cover the cost of entry.
I wanted to try the kayak option, despite Dawn thinking it wasn’t a great idea, and she was right. We got two double kayaks and trying to go upstream while all the people were floating downstream was too much of a challenge. The kids are not strong kayakers yet, so it was us doing all the work. I think it would be great to do a single kayak and get past where everyone drops in the lagoon. Once you get past there it’s empty as few people take the kayaks.
Probably after about 20 minutes we returned the Kayaks and decided to walk up the boardwalk and enter in the lagoon like everyone was doing. Walking along the boardwalk you see a lot of stromatolites, which are interesting to learn about and see. They want you to be careful of them, and not to use sunscreen here so it doesn’t have any impact on the environment. Rash guards are a good alternative if you plan on spending a lot of time in the sun.
Most people will float in lagoon, get out and catch some sun, eat some food. Then they will go back in for another trip down the lagoon. You can probably spend a good portion of your day here if you want. Olivia was still feeling a little under the weather, so she expressed wanting to go back to the bungalow and relax. Rather than push them for my own selfish reasons, we did that.
DOWNTOWN BACALAR
Downtown, or the center of Bacalar is incredible. It’s busy, but not overrun with people or cars. There are more restaurants and shops around this area than I imagined. You could spend two weeks here and likely never have to return to the same restaurant. The center of the town kind of reminded me of the center of Valladolid, just not as busy with vehicles. It was a very easy area to walk around and enjoy. I’d like to come back here just to try out all of the food options.
Aside from the food, the area is aesthetically pleasing, and it’s a pleasure to look at and explore. Both in the day time and at night time. One night I went out to pickup some food to bring back to our hotel. While walking around alone, I felt completely safe. Of cours being in an unfamiliar place I’m always cautious of my surroundings.
One other evening while downtown we walked around for a couple of hours, had dinner, dessert and enjoyed entertainment from the local police. There was about 15 of them on stage playing instruments, singing, and dancing. It drew a pretty large crowd of locals that sat and enjoyed the music as the sun was setting. Not something I’ve experienced in Cancun.
AMIR ADVENTOURS
Another thing we did while in Bacalar was a 4 hour lagoon tour with Amir AdvenTours. We booked this ahead of time based upon the reviews. We had a really good time with this tour. The guides were very friendly, knowledgable, and entertaining. They provided beer and cocktails for the adults, and sodas for the kids.
The tour took us to a few different spots in the lagoon where we could swim. One being Canal De Los Piratas. The water was incredible, and pretty shallow so it was very easy to enjoy. We stayed in each swimming spot for at least 30 minutes, and the time flew by. At the last spot, they took out a paddle board and carved up some fresh fruit that they served to the group.
MIA BACALAR
Our final day in Bacalar was spent at Mia Bacalar. This place looked great, and had wonderful reviews. So we said let’s spend one night there to see how it compares to Rancho Encantado. What I will say is that the property itself is beautiful. The staff were accommodating.
When we booked here the only room available was the Luxe Saasil. A second floor room with two queen beds, a balcony, and a very nice bathroom. The room had a nice handwritten note which welcomed us to their property, with a dessert for all of us. I thought the room was a little tight for four people, but it was comfortable.
The balcony for our room provided a great ambience overlooking the well maintained property. My only gripe about the balcony was that the wood flooring of the balcony was rotting in quite a few spots. Rot that made it somewhat unsafe. I was able to push my finger through one of the boards. It looks like they do a good job maintaining the property, they probably just did not get around to this repair yet.
The restaurant and bar here was gorgeous. It overlooked the lagoon, and was very spacious. The food service was delicious, and the cocktails they made were perfect. If you want to relax and spend a day at the property, this place has a perfect environment for it.
They did offer a free morning yoga that we decided to partake in. We were the only people that participated, so it turned into a couples yoga session. Dawn had the privilege of doing yoga with a very sweaty husband in the 85 degree Mexican sun. Something she will never forget.
Shortly after that we had to checkout and head to Tulum for the remainder of our trip. I’ll be sure to detail Tulum in another blog post.
I would highly recommend checking out Bacalar for following reasons:
- The food
- The culture
- The artwork
- The lagoon
- The people
Follow this link to get to all of the photos/videos from Bacalar & Tulum.