Last Updated on April 12, 2025 by Kirsten Raccuia
If you’re looking for an off-the-beaten-path (for now) weekend getaway in Mexico, Bacalar’s Lagoon of Seven Colors is THE answer. It’s my reigning champion of unique places to go to in this country, and I gush about it if given the chance. It’s the perfect blend of nature and zen vibes with a side of adrenaline and epic food.
Bacalar Lagoon is ridiculously, almost suspiciously gorgeous. Like, it must be fake. The first time you see it, you’ll probably blurt out something not-so-elegant like I did, “Holy sh!t, that’s blue!” The photos I’d seen didn’t have a filter, nor did they do it justice. The last time I saw this many blues was in my favorite 80s eyeshadow palette.
According to Mayan legend, the gods utilized it as a palette to experiment with different shades, infusing its waters with a range of blue hues.
I originally went to Bacalar for a work conference (poor me, right?), but when Mark joined afterward, we turned it into the perfect blend of zen and adrenaline that my soul didn’t even know it needed.
This is one of the most tranquil places on earth. But make no mistake, there’s an inordinate amount of things to do, see, and taste in Bacalar for the adventurous.
If you’ve got 48 hours to spend in this little corner of Yucatan’s paradise, here’s exactly how to make the most of it.
Before You Go: The Logistics Bit
Where is Bacalar?
In the state of Quintana Roo, near the southeastern Mexico and Belize border. It’s three hours south of Tulum in the Riviera Maya and about an hour inland from the coast.
Bacalar Mexico Map:
Getting There: You could fly into the new Tulum international airport and drive south. Or take the new Maya Train. But I think your best bet is flying into Chetumal (likely connecting through Mexico City) and then driving 45 minutes to Bacalar. This town isn’t going to be off the radar much longer.
Pro tip: Rent a car. The lagoon is 34 miles long, and while the town is very walkable, you’ll want wheels to explore the shoreline. Plus, Mexican car rental agents are the only people who can make you feel both ripped off and charmed at the same time. Be sure to take a video or pics of every ding and scratch on the rental car so you can prove you didn’t do it if need be. We’ve never had problems with rental cars in Mexico. But I’ve heard some whopper stories.
Where to Stay in Bacalar:
If money is no object (or you’re really good at justifying splurges like I am), Boca de Agua’s luxury treehouses are mind-blowing but about 20 minutes out of town. If you’re like, “Yeah, no, I need to eat for the rest of the month,” stay at the Agam. It’s right in the heart of town, a few blocks from everything. And the staff there is amazing, kind, and super helpful.
If you want to stay lagoon-front but closer to town, the Amainah is the spot.
Now, let’s get to the good stuff.
Day 1: Zen AF (with a Side of Tacos)
Morning: Sunrise Magic (Yes, It’s Worth Getting Up For)
5:00 AM: Wake up. Question your life choices. Consider going back to sleep. Don’t.
5:30 AM: Meet your paddleboard guide at the dock. If you’re staying at Boca de Agua, you’ll be with Cesar, who has the patience of a saint with first-time paddleboarders in the dark. Yes, you read that right — our first SUP experience started in pitch blackness. Nothing like jumping in the deep end, right?
As we pushed off into the lagoon with only stars above, we felt equal parts; this is magical, and this is how crime documentaries start. Cesar told us to follow his voice, which is all you can do when you can barely see your hand in front of your face.
But here’s the thing: as dawn broke, an ethereal mist settled over the lagoon, and we understood why we were paddleboarding at this ungodly hour. The water is glass-smooth, and the silence is complete except for our paddle’s gentle swoosh. The gradual lightening through the fog transformed everything into what I can only describe as a meditation session in a Japanese water garden.
The world was waking up around us, and we watched an elegant white heron hunt for his breakfast in the shallows of the mangroves.
Breakfast on the water: Cesar tied up the paddleboards and served breakfast right there on our boards — fresh hot coffee, fruit, homemade breads, and lust-worthy orange chocolate cake. We happily shared our mango with the local fish families as they darted around our legs and into the mangroves with their breakfast.
9:00 AM: Return to shore, take the most satisfying shower, and nap. Don’t skip the nap.
Afternoon: Beach Club Bliss
12:00 PM: Head to La Playita, one of Bacalar’s popular “beach clubs.” Unlike the beach clubs in Puerto Vallarta, which are on the sand, Bacalar has no sand. So a beach club here just means direct access to the lagoon. Order tacos. Order more tacos. Float in the multi-colored water and take 37 photos trying to capture the blues, knowing full well that none of them will do it justice.
The lagoon gets its seven colors from the different depths and the cenotes (underwater sinkholes) scattered throughout. Cenote Negro looks like someone spilled ink in the middle of the lagoon, while Cenote Esmeralda is an electric teal that doesn’t seem real. The lagoon bed is covered in powdery white limestone, which is why the shallow parts look like someone turned the Caribbean up to 100 on the brightness scale.
4:00 PM: Return to your accommodation for another shower (you’ll be taking a lot of these) and a siesta (and just as many of these).
Evening: Foodie Heaven
7:00 PM: Dinner at Nixtamal. When the chef delivers your food and says, “The most important ingredient is love.” Believe him. He’s not being cheesy — he’s just stating facts. The Axiote Shrimp ($26) with charred grapefruit and passionfruit crema is worth the trip alone.
9:00 PM: Stroll through town, maybe grab a nightcap, and hit the hay early. You need your beauty sleep for tomorrow’s scheduled humiliation… I mean activities.
Day 2: Adventure Mode (with a Side of Zen)
Morning: Boat Life
10:00 AM: Sleep in a bit. You’ve earned it after yesterday’s dawn patrol.
11:00 AM: Take a pontoon boat tour and cruise around the lagoon’s most spectacular spots while your captain explains all the natural wonders. You’ll stop at Pirates’ Canal, where actual pirates used ancient Maya waterways to raid the unsuspecting city 400 years ago.
The best part? Your captain doubles as a chef and will whip up a BBQ lunch of shrimp and beef skewers with chimichurri and guacamole. Eating freshly grilled food while floating on water that’s changing color before your eyes? It’s hard to beat.
Afternoon: Flying (and face-planting) on Water
3:00 PM: Time for an adrenaline rush! Head to Adventure Lab for an e-foiling lesson ($123). Let me set the scene: an e-foil is basically a motorized boogie board with a fin underneath and a handheld trigger that promises speeds up to 25 mph. As you pull the trigger, the board comes up out of the water and glides along its surface.
What they don’t adequately prepare you for is the physical workout. You’ll need the upper body strength of a CrossFit champion to pull yourself back onto the board over and over again. And the balance of a tightrope walker to stay on the board and master this e-foil, which I didn’t.
What I did master was the ungraceful art of belly-flopping from barely a foot above the water. Sounds impossible, but I assure you, it’s not.
You’ll pull yourself back onto the board approximately 4,000 times after falling. Your arms will hate you. But those few magical moments when you’re actually “flying” above the water’s surface? Pure. Magic.
It’s exhausting and exhilarating, and I’m dying to try it again.
Pro tip: If your instructor says, “Pull the trigger slowly,” THEY MEAN SLOWLY. Unless face-planting at high speed is something you are comfortable with. Who knew you could give yourself an enema through a bikini bottom?
5:00 PM: Head to Bacalar Beach Club to recover from your aquatic beatdown with a fancy cocktail. Their mixologist makes drinks that are almost as pretty as the lagoon. Almost.
Evening: Woo-Woo Wellness (Just go with it)
6-8:00 PM: On Wednesday nights, head to Akalki for a sound bathing session in what can only be described as a Dr. Seuss-inspired temple/mushroom. The entrance is behind a three-story-high white sculpture of a woman doing the cobra yoga pose that you can climb inside. Because, why not?
As a sound bathing virgin, I had zero expectations beyond, this is going to bring me back to my woo-woo hippie days. The first hour — lying on yoga mats in candlelight while a stunning woman in a flowy white dress tapped sound bowls around our heads — was surprisingly amazing.
My inner hippie was digging it.
But then came the chanting. The entire second hour of the ceremony. And it lost me.
And not just because it was Spanish chanting, but because it was weird. Everyone was belting out these chants, spinning in circles, with closed eyes and raised hands, and we were looking for the exits. Note to self – I’m only a partial woo these days.
No hippie cult chanting for me.
If you’re not in the mood for chanting, or the timing is off, Alkalki has other very interesting options you can partake in. Things like temazcal, cacao ceremonies, energy cleansing, and a meet your power animal ceremony are just a few options. They also have a sweet spa to treat yo’self.
After your sesh, head to dinner at Costera 28. If you’re feeling adventurous, try the four- or eight-course taco-tasting menu. Fair warning: there might be a gizzard taco or pig face involved. If that’s not your jam, the tortilla soup and sea ajillo (shrimp and octopus stew) are safe bets that will still blow your mind.
Or, head to Flora at Boca de Agua. Chef Charlie is nothing short of a miracle worker with food. Turning simple ingredients like jicama, grapefruit and mustard seeds into a luscious thing of beauty. We had some of our best meals in Mexico from Chef Charlie at Flora. He is worth the 20-ish minute drive out of town.
Really important lagoon tips:
- Be careful around the stromatolites — those bizarre, flat, mushroom-looking things in the water. They’re literally some of the oldest living organisms on earth (like, three BILLION years old). Step on one, and you’ve just damaged something that’s been alive since before dinosaurs were a twinkle in evolution’s eye. These stromatolites release oxygen into the water to clean it, and every week, the water is basically regenerated by these organisms.
They are detrimental to the health of the lagoon and very delicate, so pay attention to them.
2. No sunscreen in the lagoon, even the biodegradable type, is frowned upon, which is a massive challenge for my pasty self, who burns through 50 SPF and an umbrella. I bought a few long-sleeved bathing suits, like this one and this one that saved me. And, of course, I had this packable sunhat that I lived under. There are a lot of UV clothes out there that make all the difference. And they are cute. No need to look like you’re wearing your dad’s cargo pants anymore.
3. Do not pee in the lagoon. In the ocean, go for it. But no peeing in the lagoon. It disrupts the natural balance of the water. It may be a challenge with all that warm water around you, but for real, don’t do it.
4. Wednesday’s the lagoon is “closed.” Locals and tour companies want to give the lagoon a much-needed rest day to keep it healthy. No kayaking, paddling, tours, swimming — basically no people in the water.
Final Thoughts: Bacalar’s Identity Crisis (The Good Kind)
Bacalar exists in a bizarre but charming limbo — part traditional Mexican town with pot-hole-filled roads and crowing roosters, part high-end destination with restaurants that wouldn’t be out of place in New York. The locals move at a pace that makes you realize how unnecessarily frantic your normal life is.
The beauty of Bacalar is that it gives you permission to be both — fancy one minute (sipping craft cocktails in a luxury treehouse) and gloriously basic the next (giggling as you belly-flop off an e-foil for the umpteenth time).
My advice? Get there before the secret gets out. Because a place where the blues are this blue and the pace is this perfect can’t stay hidden forever.
Bacalar Travel Essentials:
- UV Clothing: Regular sunscreen damages the stromatolites. Some less responsible companies let you wear it. But don’t be that person. Buy the biodegradable sunscreen for walking around the town. But when you plan to spend the day in the water, wear UV clothes like these:
- Insect repellent: The mosquitoes here consider themselves the welcoming committee. Buy this repellent.
- GoPro or waterproof camera: Your phone pics won’t do it justice. But a GoPro could.
- Spanish phrases: At minimum, learn how to say “That was the best meal of my life” in Spanish. You’ll use it.
- A sense of humor: You’ll need it when you fall off that e-foil for the 27th time.
FAQ: Everything You Need to Know Before Visiting Bacalar
When is the Best Time to Visit Bacalar?
Go to Bacalar between November and April when the weather is warm and there’s little rain. May to October is hotter and more humid, with a high chance of rain. However, it brings fewer people.
How Many Days Should You Stay in Bacalar?
As long as you can. There is enough to do on the Bacalar Lagoon that you won’t get bored if you’re a water-lover. But if you are short on time, you can do it in a weekend. It’ll leave you wanting more, though, I promise.
What is the Tipping Etiquette in Bacalar?
Tipping is common in Bacalar, just like the rest of Mexico. Here is a general guideline:
Restaurants: 10-15% if service isn’t included.
Hotels: $1-2 USD per bag for bellhops, $2-5 USD per day for housekeeping.
Tour guides: 10-20% depending on service.
Taxis: Not required, but rounding up is appreciated.
Is Bacalar, Mexico, safe?
Bacalar is considered very safe, especially for tourists. Like anywhere, use common sense—don’t leave valuables unattended and avoid walking alone late at night in isolated areas.
Are There ATMs in Bacalar? Should I Bring Cash?
Yes, there are ATMs, but they can run out of cash or charge high fees. It’s best to bring enough pesos for your trip, especially for smaller shops and restaurants that don’t accept cards.
How Do You Get Around Bacalar?
Taxis and Uber: Readily available
Scooter & Bike Rentals: A great option for exploring at your own pace.
Walking: Bacalar Town is small and walkable.
Car Rental: Best for day trips or if you’re staying outside of town.
Does Bacalar have Sargassum (seaweed)?
No! One of Bacalar’s biggest advantages is that it’s sargassum-free. Unlike beaches along the Caribbean coast, Bacalar’s freshwater lagoon isn’t affected by the seasonal seaweed problem. It’s a pristine destination year-round.
Do I Need to Speak Spanish?
While many people speak English, having a few Spanish phrases ready will earn you brownie points. Everyone in the tourism industry will speak better English than you probably do Spanish, so you’ll have no problems communicating.
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(Photos 7 and 8 are from Deposit Photos)
You always make me want to go somewhere!!! I’ve added another one to the list now!👏👏
Mexico is always surprising me! So many incredible spots!
Wow, I had no idea this gem even existed. It’s now on my must-visit list!
I know, Michael! It’s a secret for now!