Getaway to Bacalar!

 Bacalar

I hadn't actually ever heard of Bacalar before this little vacation. Bacalar is about 30 min from Chetumal which is right near the border of Belize. Bacalar is home to the Bacalar Lagoon. It's a fresh-water lake and is renowned for it's beautiful shades of blue. It's fed by underground rivers and there are several cenotes scattered around the lake.

It's a 4 and a half hour drive from Merida. Though in a small town, the large lagoon is the perfect getaway to get in a little relaxation and beautiful views.

We ate at a few places while here for our 4 night stay and they were all pretty good!

1. La Playita- This has a very "jungle/boho" vibe going on. It's situated right on the lagoon and has lush landscaping all over. It's an outdoor seating restaurant. The strawberry mojito was good. We got flatbread for the kids, I got the avocado tacos, and my husband went off the recommendation for the shrimp cheeseburger. The flatbreads were huge! My avocado tacos tasted good and the Hubby's shrimp burger...was interesting. We weren't crazy about it because shrimp in a burger just was kind of weird to us. Our friend really enjoyed it though so if you are ever here, you gotta give it a try!

2. El Minati- This is also an outdoor seating area. Beautiful trees are everywhere on the property. A little straw hut is in the center of the garden, along with some swings to enjoy while you are eating. The kids enjoyed it! We got the banana bread, blt sandwich, and hot cakes. All was pretty good. I really wanted to try their coconut lemonade and tropicoco bowl but they were all out of coconut! Darn! I did have another of their juices and it tasted really refreshing! 

3. Mr. Taco- We ordered and picked up these yummy tacos for dinner one evening. We ordered the fish tacos and the shrimp tacos. I thought I wanted shrimp but the fish ended up being my favorite! Corn tortillas with fried fish or shrimp served with a marinated slaw and limes with your choice of sauce. It was juicy and flavorful!

4. El Taco Loco- We didn't eat from here but put this on your list because we heard great things! Next time we visit we are getting some tacos from this place.

5. Akira Ice Rolls- It's not a vacation without ice cream! One evening at 10pm we decided to randomly go get some ice cream and this place was open. It's in the main square and it was crowded and lively everywhere. Cool shops and restaurants scattered throughout and this little food truck with one gentleman in there making some cold slab ice cream. We tried the Oreo blast and Choco loco. Each one takes him about 5 min to make but he puts a lot of care into making them delicious. They have ice cream tacos and bubble waffle cones too! 

So what is there to do here?

Most of the time we hung around our beautiful Airbnb and we swam, kayaked, paddle boarded and just relaxed overall.

We did take one day though and did a tour of the lagoon on a catamaran. It was about a 4 hour tour and included lunch. We had a group of about 12 and enjoyed hearing about the lagoon and stopping at 3 special spots along the lake. First-timers should definitely do this!

All of the stops had shallow waters so it was really enjoyable for the kids and they enjoyed jumping off of the boat and swinging in the hammock they had underneath.

We also walked around to the fort they have there which was interesting as well. Bacalar served as a protection from the ships coming in from the sea and would defend the inland against pirates and other bad guys 😉

              

Overall Bacalar was a really enjoyable trip! Again, great spot for relaxation and the water is unlike I have ever seen before in a fresh body of water! It should definitely be on your list of places to visit in Mexico.

~Bee