January 2026 – A week in Bacalar and Chetumal, Mexico

Let’s start with the “why” – we put together an itinerary for the spring, and we planned to start by traveling south from Playa del Carmen into Belize. On our 2022 visit to Playa, our neighbors told us about Bacalar. It’s a small, laid-back village next to a lagoon with calm, turquoise-blue water. Bacalar has been increasing in popularity recently, and since we’d be passing by, we thought we should spend some time there to check it out. The small city of Chetumal came along for the ride, as it’s the main travel hub near the Mexico-Belize border.

Travel –ADO is the national bus line in Mexico, with at least 6-8 buses heading south from Playa every day. They have an app and website, which I used to purchase our tickets about 1 month ahead, for 562 pesos ($31.50 USD) per person. I checked the app on the morning of our trip, and there were still a few tickets available, but I’m not sure if you can count on walking up and getting tickets on the spot.

We started our travel day with a typical super-pricey Playa taxi - 10 minutes, 200 pesos ($11.50 USD). We arrived about 30 minutes before our departure, which was plenty of time. The bus arrived about 10 minutes late from Cancun and we quickly moved into the queue. Our large suitcases were no problem, loaded under the bus, and our carry-on backpacks fit on a shelf above our seats. The bus was very nice, with large reclining seats, charging points for phones, a movie up front, a restroom in the back, and AC cold enough to want long sleeves. Sandy and I both travel with tablets loaded with movies, which is how we entertained ourselves on our 4-hour trip. We made 1 stop along the way, but otherwise traveled at interstate highway speeds. On arrival to Bacalar, we had to grab our bags from below the bus before it headed on to Chetumal. I had received a taxi phone number from our Airbnb host, but it was easy to flag a passing taxi for a short 10-minute, 60-peso ($3.50 USD) trip to our Airbnb.

Lodging - There are a few hotels in Bacalar, and also a number of hostels popular with backpackers. We used Airbnb to find a small apartment-style unit available in a larger complex with a central garden and small pool. Both the complex and our room had smart locks, great for checking in without having to find our host or their house manager. Our apartment had a king-sized bed, large bathroom, and a separate kitchen/dining/living space. We had 2 TVs and 2 AC units and good wifi. This place did not have laundry facilities, so we made sure to finish up those chores before we left Playa.

Our Airbnb in Bacalar

Bacalar is small enough that there’s not much differentiation within the town. Residential homes, businesses, hotels, and restaurants are scattered throughout, and the entire town is easily walkable. We were about 4 blocks from the waterfront and about 3 blocks north of the town’s central plaza. Most buildings are worn, white-painted buildings, but there are a few brightly-painted or more modern facades to be found.

Entertainment – The river-fed Bacalar Lagoon is the highlight of the area. It used to have larger/deeper connections to the ocean, with early traders establishing a port at Bacalar, and pirates navigating the waterways to find spots to hide. Now, the lagoon is effectively cut off from the sea, and is a large, freshwater lake. The shallow, white coral bottom creates a multi-colored effect, giving the lagoon its nickname of the Lagoon of Seven Colors. From the edge of the lagoon, you’d think you were on a Caribbean coastline, with beautiful views over turquoise-blue water. Visitors wade and swim in the shallow water, and it reminded us of Isla Holbox, but with fresh (not salty) water and no waves.

We booked a 2-hour pontoon-boat ride through a street vendor. Our guide did not speak any English, but our Spanish was good enough to understand everything he said. We had great weather during the tour, with sunny skies and temps in the low 80s. We stopped at a couple of notable cenotes - deep, natural pools formed in the limestone. First, Cenote Negro, where the super-deep pool caused the water of the cenote to appear very dark, almost black. Next was Cenote Esmerelda, where our boat stopped for about 20 minutes to let us float and relax in the waist-deep water. We brought our snorkel equipment on the tour, but we didn’t see any fish or features in the water, so we left it on the boat. Continuing on our tour, we passed quickly by Bird Island (we felt we could have stayed a bit longer there), then headed to the Pirate’s Canal, reportedly dug out to provide a hidden spot for pirate ships to anchor. We had another 20-minute soak before wrapping up the tour. The pontoon boat was a great option, and probably worth the upgrade over the bench-seat panga boat tour. We paid 450 pesos ($26 USD) each for the tour, which is the price we saw posted all over town.

Boating on the Lagoon of 7 Colors

At the edge of Cenote Negro

We had multiple rainy days forecasted during our stay, but found another ok-weather day to visit Los Rapidos – a spot where the river feeding the lagoon narrows down, forming a nice lazy-river effect. We contacted Taxi Seguro through WhatsApp, and were quickly on our way for a 20-minute, 200-peso ($11.50 USD) ride. At the site, we paid 200 pesos per person for access to their seating area and optional life jackets, plus 50 pesos for a locker and a 50-peso deposit for a lock. We made four consecutive trips down the lazy river, two with snorkels to see some small, multi-colored fish, and two without, just enjoying the float. As we passed the facility, we needed to swim to the side to get out of the current, or risk being carried further downstream, having to walk/swim back. The site has an on-site coffee shop, restaurant, and kayak rental. We shared an overpriced plate of nachos and coffees (it got a bit rainy and chilly) for 450 pesos ($26 USD) including tip. The office called us a taxi back to town for another 200 pesos.

We also explored the small town of Bacalar, including the Fuerte San Felipe (Fort of San Felipe). The fort was used in the early days of the Spanish development of the area and has a nice museum describing the original Mayan settlement, the arrival of the Spanish, the development of the local Chetumal wood trade, and the eventual statehood of Quintana Roo in 1974 (we didn’t realize it was so recent). Admission to the fort is 110 pesos per person ($6 USD, or half-price, 110 pesos total, with our residency). The fort has been nicely restored and the museum is quite good and easily viewable in about 30 minutes.

North of town, we found a small eco-park with a well-made and maintained boardwalk out over a portion of the lagoon. From the boardwalk, we had great views over the water, as well as multiple bird sightings within the mangroves at the edge of the lagoon. There are multiple stairways down into the lagoon. We didn’t get into the water here, though many others did. We paid 20 pesos ($1.15 USD) each for all-day access to the area.

The natural lazy river at Los Rapidos

An egret in the Bacalar eco-park

Iguana protecting the Fort of San Felipe

There are a few Mayan-ruin sites near Bacalar, but we didn’t tour any. They’re accessible by car, or you can arrange a tour with transportation and guide. We’ve already seen a lot of Mayan ruins in Mexico and have a few big sites planned later this spring, so we decided to pass on these smaller sites.

Food – Bacalar has become quite touristy, and the restaurants we visited were a reflection of this. We enjoyed the waterfront location of La Playita, dining there on two of our 5 nights, with items like smoked salmon wraps, Argentinian-style empanadas, and ceviche – 1,000 pesos ($57.50 USD) on the first night, and 700 pesos ($41 USD) on the second, including tips. We also enjoyed the wide variety of tacos and burritos at Mr. Taco, with very reasonable pricing, for a total of 500 pesos ($28 USD) including tip. We were a bit surprised at Mr. Taco, as the place was packed, but every customer appeared to be non-Mexican and we heard very little Spanish.

Since we were staying in an Airbnb, we found our breakfast basics - cereal, milk, and fruit - at local shops, plural because we visited three different spots to get everything we were looking for. We wanted to be sure not to have too much on hand, since we were leaving the country soon. We had used up our coffee in Playa, and instead visited local cafes each morning, for between 100 and 130 pesos ($5.50-7.50 USD) per day.

Expats – Visitors to Bacalar were a mix of Mexican and international travelers. Our boat tour was almost exclusively Mexicans, and we saw a mix of domestic vs. international travelers everywhere else we went – on the bus, at the fort, at Los Rapidos, in restaurants (except for Mr. Taco), and at our hotel. We were surprised to see a much younger demographic of travelers than we’re used to. We estimated most of the expats to be 20-something rather than retirees.

Travel to Chetumal – To get to Chetumal, we used a taxi to travel from hotel to hotel. We didn’t need a reservation, and were picked up in under 10 minutes. The trip took 45 minutes at a flat rate of 600 pesos ($34.50 USD) for the two of us.

Lodging – We booked two nights at the Tryp Wyndham hotel in Chetumal, purposely giving ourselves a full day to break up our travel and explore a little bit. The hotel was nice, though a bit worn. We chose it mostly for its location – close to the waterfront, where we need to go for our water-taxi trip to Belize. We arrived to the hotel just after noon, and our room was available but we had to pay an early check-in fee of 200 pesos ($11.50 USD). The hotel stay included breakfast, which was just ok and nothing special. We will be transiting back through Chetumal in a couple of months, and will likely book the same hotel for that trip.

Entertainment – We didn’t find much to see or do in Chetumal. It’s the capital of the state of Quintana Roo, with some government infrastructure and an airport (I’m pretty sure all the flights go to either Mexico City or Cancun). Otherwise, Chetumal is a small, working-class city that tries to advertise tourism, but seems to have lost that battle to Bacalar.

Chetumal has a very nice malecón/boardwalk – maybe the nicest that we can recall since La Paz, in Baja California Sur. It’s very wide and well-maintained, and we took a long walk along it, primarily to get to Walmart, about 45 minutes away. The street next to the malecón is lined with restaurants and bars, though we were surprised at how many appeared to be closed, and at the lack of people on the malecón - lots of infrastructure and no one using it. On our second night in town, we went out to see the sunset from the malecón and that had changed! The area was quite busy, with what seemed to be mostly locals enjoying the cool evening. A nearby park had a number of food stalls and a few carnival-style play areas for kids.

I should also note that Chetumal has a small Mayan museum, though we didn’t visit it.

Sunset at the malecón in Chetumal

Food – Our options in Chetumal were much more traditional and a bit less expensive. On our first day, we had some outstanding ceviche tostadas at Sur 983, for the reasonable price of 550 pesos ($31 USD) including tip. On our second day, we ate at La Brata, which had a surprisingly nice and modern interior and a good menu. We both had Jalisco-style Mexican dishes, with Sandy choosing quesabirrias, and me getting a bowl of carne en su jugo, a tasty beef soup, for 660 pesos ($38 USD).

On our evening at the malecón, we treated ourselves to a final marquesita – a Yucatan rolled-waffle treat stuffed with sweetness. I had the original, filled with avellena spread (commonly known as Nutella) and Dutch Edam-style cheese. Sandy chose caramel, marshmallow cream, and Edam cheese. The cheese is the constant, giving the marquesita a salty, savory flavor. Sandy really enjoys them, I think they’re so-so. The waffle gets wafer-y and breaks into large pieces and the vendors often spread extra filling on the outside. Basically, the treat quickly turns into a mess reminiscent of s’mores. Cost for two = 150 pesos ($8.50 USD).

The mamasita with our marquesitas!

Expats – Not in Chetumal. This is primarily a working city and we only saw a handful of expats. A few were out on the malecón at sunset, though we were joined by about 35 others when we boarded our water taxi to Belize on our final morning (I’ll write more about that in a future blog post).

Costs – Bacalar was on the medium-high end of the price scale of places to visit in Mexico, and Chetumal was more reasonable. In Bacalar, our Airbnb was about $114 per night, compared to our Chetumal hotel at $80 per night (plus early check-in fee). Our dinners in Bacalar averaged $44 per day vs. $35 per day in Chetumal. Bacalar also had the extra costs of $20 for groceries and $6.50 per day for coffee. Entertainment in Bacalar felt a bit expensive, mainly because we hit a few different sights in a short period of time.

Summary – We enjoyed our laid-back stay in Bacalar. It was nice to have the Caribbean beach feel, but with fresh water and low crowds. The town is very small, and I don’t think we would do a long-stay here, but we would definitely consider returning for another short visit. Chetumal, on the other hand, doesn’t really offer much beyond being a transfer point. We plan to come back through in March, but more for the simple logistics than anything else.