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The best way to explore Bacalar is to get out on the water, and there is no better way to discover the lake than on a sailboat tour!
Starting your visit to Bacalar on a sailboat tour will give you a first-hand view of all the colors of the lake, from pale jade green to stunning turquoise to intense black.
Best of all, you will have a few opportunities to jump into that beautiful pool of fresh spring water and let the pure clean goodness wash all over you.
Bacalar lake is fed by a 450 km network of underground rivers and cenotes running under the Yucatán peninsula—and actually has three cenotes within it, some as much as 90 meters (about 300 feet) deep—which gives it that cool, clean, limestone-filtered water. You will get to see a few of them on a sailboat tour.
A Fragile Ecosystem
If you read my Top 5 Things to Do in the Blue Lagoon of Bacalar post, you know how fragile this beautiful lake and its ecosystem are. As a responsible traveler, you need to do whatever you can to minimize your impact. You might think it’s no big deal if you break the rules, as you are just one person, but if everyone does it, this lake will be trashed in no time.
You will see a lot of signs asking you to follow these rules, so please do:
- Don’t use sunscreen or other lotions, etc. before getting into the lake
- Don’t pee in the lake
- Don’t use the mud on the lake floor on as an exfoliating body scrub (the oils from your body will mess with the biology)
- Don’t step on or touch the estromatolitos (stromatolites) – these precious coral-like, thousand-year-old creatures are rare and fragile and super important to the ecosystem. Also, they will cut you!
Bottom line: do everything you can to keep the lake pure and clean!
A great benefit of a sailboat tour is the minimal impact on the ecosystem. While they might use a little motor power if needed to get into and out of the docks, the tour is mostly at the mercy of the wind. The sounds of the sails make for a much more zen experience that the putt-putt of a motor.
As you plan your trip, note that the lake is “closed” to all motorized vessels and commercial activity on Wednesdays to give the lake a break, so you won’t be able to schedule a tour of any kind or possibly even rent a kayak or paddleboard. If available, you could probably use your hotel’s free kayaks or go for a dip…or you could just give the lake a break!
Tour Overview (Day Tours Bacalar)
We started off our visit to Bacalar with the three-hour afternoon Sailing Tour on the Lagoon of the 7 Colors with Day Tour Bacalar (MX$660 per person, about US$35), and highly recommend it as a great introduction to the different areas of the lake and its ecology. Given that we were not the only boat at most of our spots, it is safe to say that most tours follow a similar circuit.
We were on a decent size sailboat that could probably fit six people (maybe eight skinny people), but we were just a crowd of four guests and two awesome crew (shout out to Diego and his sidekick Alfredo) which was very comfortable.
If you have never been on a sailboat before, be prepared for some serious tipping of the boat, and hold on tight! They say it’s almost impossible for those boats to tip over…but, hey, that’s part of the adventure!
Itinerary
Day Tours Bacalar is based at Casa China towards the southern end of town. They are actually moored within the Cenote Esmeralda, so straight away you will get to see a cenote within a lake, which is pretty weird and cool.
We drifted out of the docks and headed due north past the Isla de los Pajaros (Bird Island) and up to the Canal de los Piratas (Pirate Canal). There we dropped anchor and had about 45 minutes for our very first dip in the lake—that went by way too fast. This is a popular stop for a swim and we had plenty of company with other boats. That said, there is plenty of room for everyone.
The water is pretty shallow and we could walk upright most of the time, with the mushy squishy limestone sand between our toes.
There is a main sandbar that was made for Instagram.
And a concrete carcass of an apparently failed attempt at a restaurant to swim or walk around.
Amazingly we didn’t see any fish in this incredible clear water.
The best part was just how clean you feel coming out of the water – unlike the salty sandy icky feeling coming out of the ocean (just me?).
After Canal de los Piratas we headed back south, but this time via the Cenote Negro, which is the deepest spot on the lake. The water really does look black! We weren’t allowed to stop, but our crew whipped us around the cenote a few times, demonstrating their mad sailing skills. Definitely hold on tight during this part!
We had one final stop near the Isla de los Pajaros, with another 30 minutes or so to swim around, watching the storks fly overhead with giant twigs to build their nests. If you don’t want to go in the water, this is a good time to enjoy the fruit snacks and beverages that the tour provides (you can also bring your own snacks).
With that, it was time to head back to the docks. Our trusty sailors gave us the option to sail back or motor back—of course we chose to sail!
We got off the boat all smiles.
Sailboat Tour Companies
Day Tours Bacalar offers a morning tour at 11am and an afternoon tour at 3pm—we went back and forth trying to decide but ultimately opted for the afternoon tour and had no regrets. I’d say the weather is more of a factor to consider than the time of day, as those blues really come out when the sun is shining and that’s, well, hard to predict. The one benefit of the afternoon tour is that you will catch the early part of the sunset, somewhat depending on the time of year.
The decision of whether to take a morning tour or afternoon tour depends somewhat on what time of day you arrive, how much time you have, and falls somewhere between “rolling the dice” and “can’t go wrong either way”.
We really enjoyed our experience with Day Tours Bacalar, but there are also plenty of other sailing tour providers out there offering similar experiences for similar prices. You will find no shortage of people offering to take you out on the lake; there are booths and signs all over town, and your hotel can probably also arrange something.
(This post is not sponsored by Day Tours Bacalar; we just had a really nice experience with them.)
What to Bring
You don’t need to bring much for your sailing adventure, but the following items are essential:
Bathing suit: you are going to want to get into the water, so make sure you are suited up before you get on the boat. Tour companies should have changing rooms (Day Tours Bacalar does).
Water shirt: Since you shouldn’t be wearing sunscreen in Bacalar lake, you should cover up with a water shirt. You will be out in the sun for about 3 hours with little to no shade, so protect yourself!
Hat: Again, with no sunscreen, you are really going to want a hat to protect your face and neck. Make sure you have a hat that stays on when its windy.
Towel: You are going to want to dry off after your dips in the lake. Turkish towels are the best—they don’t weigh much, don’t take up much space and are super absorbent.
Light shirt or fleece: Depending on the time of year and the weather, it can actually get cool out on the boat, especially on a breezy winter evening when you are wet.
GoPro (or other waterproof camera): Trust me, you are going to want to capture the fun moments in and on the water, so take your GoPro! I like to use the floating handle with a strap to make sure it stays attached to you and doesn’t sink if you drop it. You could also use a waterproof mobile phone case if your phone is not waterproof. There really aren’t any fish to see out in the lake but it’s still fun to film underwater.
Sunglasses: It’s bright out there on the water. Make sure to protect your eyes with some UV blocking sunglasses. You might want to use a strap so that you don’t lose them when you are out in the water.
Drinks and Snacks: Ok, these are not essential, as the tour companies provide some light snacks and drinks. That said, if you are particular or want something more substantial, bring your own. There might be a bit of room in the cooler to store them.
Final Thoughts
We loved our sailing tour of Bacalar and thought it was the perfect introduction to experiencing the lake. You get a great preview of the variety of scenery the lake has to offer and, most importantly, you get to jump in and enjoy the water.
I highly recommend that you start your visit to Bacalar on a sailboat!
If you are looking for other things to do during your time in Bacalar, check out this Top 5 Things to Do in the Blue Lagoon of Bacalar post!
Want to learn about other beautiful but less well-known places to discover in the Yucatán? Check out this 12 Amazing Places to Visit in the Yucatán (That Aren’t Cancun) post.
