Today we took the sea from San Petro in Belize to Chetumal in Mexico.
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By speedboat from San Pedro (Belize) to Chetumal (Mexico)
The next day at 8 o’clock our speedboat from Water Jets International went from San Pedro to Chetumal in Mexico. Due to the exit process (here you will get rid of another 20 US dollars per person in departure fee) the departure has been delayed by almost an hour.
The route from San Pedro to Chetumal
90 minutes later we arrived at the port in Chetumal. The trip was really exhausting, because the sea was quite restless and accordingly hard the speedboat hit the waves. At the port in Chetumal we were greeted by several armed border guards. Our luggage was then sniffed off by a dog before we were allowed to enter the entry office. Again, an “entry fee” for Mexico of 22 US dollars is due. Since there were 60 people on our speedboat and only one border guard was present, this has dragged on accordingly.
The journey with ferries, small boats or even cruise ships can get quite rough from time to time. A short video about our trip can be found here. If you are not used to the movements, high swell can easily lead to seasickness.
Our itinerary through Yucatan
The starting point of our Yucatan tour is the city of Chetumal (1). From here we make a short detour to Bacalar and then drive to Xpuji. Here we look at the first Mayan ruin Kohunlich (2) and then drive on to Campeche (3). From Campeche we continue to the ruins of Edzna (4) and Uxmal (5) and then to the town of Merida (6). From Merida it is about 90 km to Celestun to the lagoon with its thousands of flamingos (7). From there it goes on to Chichen Itza (8). Next stop is Tulum (9) and at the end there is a 3-day all-inclusive relaxation in Cancun (10).
Our round trip on our own through Yucatan (Mexico)
Our rental car for the round trip
When all this was done, we took a taxi and drove to Europcar, where we received our rental car for the next 9 days: a small red Hyundai i10.
Our little car rental for Yuukatan
Yucatan’s interesting facts
– Yucatan is a peninsula of North America that separates the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea
– Yucatan is mostly part of Mexico and consists of the three states of Yucatan, Campeche and Quintana Roo
– The south of the peninsula belongs to Guatemala and Belize
– The Mayans were at home on the peninsula before Yucatan was occupied by Spanish conquerors in the 16th century
– Yucatan is home to some of the most important Mayan ruins such as Chichén Itza, Tulum and Uxmal
– The largest island in Mexico is is is Isla Cozumel, off the coast of the Riviera Maya near Playa del Carmen
– The largest city is Merida with over 660,000 inhabitants
– The local language is Spanish
– In Yucatan you will find over 700 underground freshwater rivers and “cenotes” (limestone holes)
– Yucatan has a Caribbean climate
– Yucatan is also in the Atlantic hurricane belt
The Lagoon & Cenote Azul in Bacalar
After a small lunch, our Yucatan tour could start. From Chetumal we drove first to Bacalar, a town about 35 km away, known for its lagoon and the Cenote Azul. Actually we had tried to find a great view of the lagoon. Since between the lagoon and the street there were permanent houses and unaccessible plots, we unfortunately had no possibility to take proper photos. Between the houses, however, one has seen again and again the different colors of the water surface: turquoise blue, dark blue, white. It looked really great.
From above we were able to take a picture of the Cenote Azul. Cenotes are doline-like limestone holes created by the collapse of a cave ceiling and filled with fresh water. Here on the Yucatan Peninsula there are hundreds of them.
Our hotel in Xpujil
From Bacalar we drove 120 kilometers along the road 186 to Xpujil to our accommodation Hotel Maya Balam.
We stayed here only for one night as we were on the way. The hotel is easily accessible from the main road via a side road (is also signposted). Free parking is available in front of the hotel. We had a room on the 1st floor, which was very generously furnished (very large bed, dresser, sofa etc.). Everything was very clean and tidy. The air conditioning worked very well. Unfortunately, in the early hours of the morning, crowing cocks were heard from the neighbouring area, which was incredibly annoying. However, you don’t hear street noise at all.
Our room at Hotel Maya Balam
All travelogues from Yucatan (Mexico)
For Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula we put together a nice self-drive route, which we could drive on our own with a rental car. We absolutely wanted to see the many famous Mayan sites like Chichen Itza, Tulum, Uxam, Edzna or Kohunlich, get to know some cities like Merida or Campeche and finally relax a few days on the beach in Cancun. All in all, a beautiful route of over 1,400 kilometres, which can be ideally explored in 10-14 days.
» Day 1: By ferry from San Pedro (Belize) to Chetumal (Mexico)» Day 2: he Mayan ruins Of Kohunlich & the Old Town of Campeche (Mexico)
» Day 3: The Mayan Ruins of Edzna & Uxmal on Yucatan (Mexico)
» Day 4: The city of Merida & the flamingos of Celestun (Mexico)
» Day 5: Chichen Itza – The ruins of the Mayan site on Yucatan (Mexico)
» Day 5: Cenote Samula – The Underwater Cave in Valladolid (Mexico)
» Day 6: The Mayan site Tulum & Snorkeling with turtles (Mexico)
» Day 7: Cancun – Wreck Diving in the Caribbean with Aquaworld (Mexico)
» Day 8: Cancun – Relaxing at the All-Inclusive Resort (Mexico)