WHAT: A snorkel and exploration trip in and around Banco Chinchorro, a beautiful atoll WHERE: In front of the small fishing village of Mahahual, in the Quintana Roo region of Mexico HOW MUCH: The trips costs $100,- USD per person. This includes the admission fee to the reserve. I think both tour organisations Caribbean Buccaneer and Amigos del Mar charge the same amount HOW LONG: A full day. The trip starts around 08:30 am and ends around 03:30 pm
Although the Yucatán Peninsula has been immensely popular for decades, it’s still possible to find some places that are less visited in the area. In general I think the rule is the further you go from Cancún, the smaller and less touristy the towns become. Mahahual is one of these spots for sure.
This small fishing village is located halfway on the main road from Cancún to Chetumal. But it takes a detour from the highway, as you have to drive for another 30 minutes through a big swampy area before you reach the town.
Apart from walking the boulevard with its seafood restaurants and souvenir shacks, there’s little to do in Mahahual. But there’s a reason why people come here; the town is a popular destination among those who love marine life.
That attention makes sense as the largest coral atoll in the northern hemisphere, Banco Chinchorro, is only a 35 km boat ride off the coast. This natural area has been protected since 1996 and is home to a lot of fishes (also biggies like nurse sharks, spotted eagle rays and even the occasional hammerhead), large coral reefs and several shipwrecks, including two Spanish Galleons. There’s even an spot where the shallow bottom is dotted with ancient cannons. Jack Sparrow could relate.
Obviously we wanted to explore this area as well and therefore joined a ‘snorkel + island’ tour of Bucaneros del Caribe, very last-minute. In fact, we decided to come along just an hour before the boat left.
Unfortunately the tour of Amigos del Mar (an operator known for its excellency in Mahahual) was already fully booked and therefore we had to chose this organisation, recommended as a second by a local diver we met.
The boat ride with Bucaneros del Caribe was extremely bumpy, which was fun in the beginning, but as we had another hour ahead of us it became a slight test for the intestines. Lots of water was splashing into the boat as well.
Ah well, no pain no gain… I guess.
When we arrived at our first snorkelling spot the sea luckily was very calm and bright again. The coral was gorgeous and there were quite some fishes around. Nothing big unfortunately, but it was still an absolutely joy snorkelling the area.
Unfortunately we had six Chinese persons in our group who were barely able to swim. I mean, they can’t help that obviously, but they were touching and holding on to the coral and it really was quite frustrating to see. The guide thankfully was non-stop warning them, but it was terrible to see their lack of respect towards marine life.
Funny enough, I had read some horror stories about the guides themselves caring little for the reef (touching the animals / dropping trash in the ocean), but we didn’t experience this at all, luckily. In fact, the guides from Bucaneros del Caribe really took note that no one entered the water with chemical sunscreen ánd I saw one of them even jumping in the water when someone accidentally dropped a tissue from the pier. Hear hear.
After the snorkelling it was a small boat ride to the island of Banco Chinchorro. Apart from a couple of lobster fishermen the area was absolutely deserted, which meant that there was lots of space for wildlife.
The natural vegetation of the Banco Chincorro islands is largely mangrove and the area is thickly populated with iguanas and crocodiles.
Time for some prehistoric freakshow galore!
Unfortunately none of the guides had told us about these creatures in the beginning and when we were looking for a bathroom we were actually quite close to the crocodiles without even knowing it! They literally pop out from the bushes when you walk around. That would have been a scary experience while peeing…
On the other side of the island there’s a little wooden deck, from were you can observe the crocodiles up close, which is pretty cool. The crocodiles seemed hungry as many of them approached our deck once the guide tossed a piece of wood in the water.
We could use some food ourselves too after all the snorkelling and exploring and headed back to the pier for lunch. The guides handed out sandwiches with a slice of ham and that was a bit of a bummer as earlier in the office the guides were talking about fresh seafood for lunch.
But there was little reason to despair as the sun was out and we were ready for our second snorkelling adventure.
This second stop was just like the first a very colourful underwater spot, both full with fishes and Chinese that could barely swim.
And that was it! The boat ride back was a lot smoother and faster than our morning ride. It only took us something like 45 minutes to head back. Our day at Banco Chinchorro came to an end around 3:30 pm.
If you plan to go, don’t be like us and contact Amigos del Mar wayyy in time. Or just in time. I’m pretty sure you’d have an even better experience (or at least both boat ride and lunch) than we had. But nevertheless I was happy to see that the guides of Bucaneros del Caribe were quite caring too!
Here’s where to find those croccies in Mexico:
@the.vandersons
August 7, 2020 at 4:07 pm
What did you do with your dog? I wanna go!