Bacalar is a so called Magical Town, this is a denomination given by the Mexican Tourism Board to some few Mexican towns that have significant cultural richness, natural beauty, historical relevance, unique traditions, architecture and some other characteristics. It is located on the south of the state of Quintana Roo, about 4 hours from Cancun. It is at the shores of the beautiful lagoon of Bacalar, also called “the 7 Colors lagoon” for its 7 shades of blue, from turquoise a

The ancient name of the city is believed to be “Zama”, a Mayan Word meaning “Dawn”. On the XIX century explores that rediscovered the city renamed it as Tulum, meaning “Walls” as the city is surrounded by them. Records say that oldest traces of human beings in the area are from the year 400 or 500 of our era, though the majority of its buildings were made between the XIII and XIV centuries. Tulum was an important seaport that traded merchandise around throughout the Yucatan c

65 million years ago in the Cenozoic era, the peninsula of Yucatan was under the ocean; during the last Ice age the sea level went down discovering the biggest limestone platform in the world. Cenotes were formed when acidic rainwater dissolves the porous limestone bedrock giving shape to beautiful geologic formations as stalactites, stalagmites and columns. Within time along the ages these process forms the longest underground rivers in the world, some with more than 300 kms

The City of Valladolid is the 2nd most important city in the state of Yucatan and it was founded in the XVI century on top of an ancient Mayan settlement called Zaci. It is in this city where the Caste War began, often known as the first spark of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Enjoy a typical Mexican town with its XVI century church in the main square along with the City hall and the market, be delighted with the colorful houses and their fine handcrafts made in the area

In Mexico you have it all, from street markets to the most luxurious boutiques, it all depends on what you are looking for, and how much you want to spend. If you want to buy souvenirs to bring home with you, go to the “Mercado de Artesanias” handcraft markets, if there is a city market is cheaper than the ones in the touristic zones, but in both of them, you will find lots of handcrafts and nice stuff. Also at the archaeological sites and touristic spots, you will certainly

We have all heard the media just spreading bad news about the drug cartels and things like that, but frankly the problematic areas are very specific mainly in the border states and some parts of some few other states. The truth is that Mexico is in the top 7 most visited countries in the world with more than 35 million foreign visitors every year. And more than 2 million american citizens have chosen Mexico as their place to live! So it is extremely rare crimes involving

In Mexico the tipping culture is a rule, as the minimum wage in Mexico is so low, the people who work mainly offering services and tourism activities will complete their salaries with tips. So, waiters, maids at hotels, guides, drivers, bellboys, porters, staff at gas stations, elderly or children who pack your stuff at the market, the guy that washes the car, the delivery boy, the street actor, everybody work on Tips. So, how much to tip, here is a little guide: Though tips

In Mexico any hospital (private or state) by law will attend any emergency demand that may show at the emergency room; though the state services may not always be as good as you may desire; so I strongly advise to have a major medical insurance that covers your full expenses abroad including repatriation in case is necessary. By having a good medical insurance from your country will be enough to assure the proper and high standard medical services you might need, though fre

In Mexico the legal age for drinking or buying alcohol is 18. You can not drink alcohol on any public areas; although a little tolerance exist in beach destinations, but don´t risk too much, be discrete. You can buy alcoholic drinks in most supermarkets after 12:00 hrs noon until 12 pm or midnight. Driving with alcoholic breathe can make the police to test you, and if you had 2 or more drinks, you can be put into arrest and taken on detention from 24 to 36 hours. No penalty

You can use most of androids and iPhones in Mexico without any problem, but you have to find out what the plans of roaming you have with your cell phone service provider. You can get to Mexico and buy a sim card and that´s it. A sim card costs about $ 80 pesos, about $ 5 USD and another $ 100 pesos to activate it; and then you can just put some credit to the number depending on how much data you need. As for my experience, if you are coming for a week, a $ 500 pesos (about $

Yeah, we have come to one of our big things in Mexico; simply the best food in the world! To speak fairly about mexican food, we can certainly spend days to go through the richness and variety of it, but here are some hints on how to get a very pleasant encounter with the local gastronomy during your trip to Mexico. Mexico has the second largest variety of food in the world and so inside Mexico itself, many of the dishes can be classified exclusive for certain regions or st

Getting to know at least a few sentences or words will help you breaking the ice with the locals and will make you feel more integrated, and people often show themselves more friendly. So we will go thru some important sentences you will find very helpful. Spanish Greetings: • Hola – “Hello” • ¿Como estas? – “How are you?” • Bien – “Good” • ¿Y tú? – “And you?” • Me llamo… – “My name is…” • ¿Cómo te llamas? – “What’s your

Yeah, mosquitoes and bugs can be everywhere, especially if you are out of the cities; however very rarely they represent a serious hazard to your health. In south Mexico and peninsula of Yucatan, there are some diseases transmitted by mosquitoes like Dengue ot Zika; there is no vaccine against them so only is to try to avoid them and observe your symptoms. However is very rare to get infected, I´ve been living in Cancun for more than 20 years and traveled a lot around the

Cash If you are flying into Cancun airport and your destination is Cancun, Riviera Maya or Tulum area, you will find that pretty much US dollars are well accepted. However, I do recommend you to get some cash at your arrival to the airport in Mexico, at least certain amount of mexican pesos, let´s say at least some $ 2,000.00 pesos which is about $ 100.00 USD. At the airports you will not get the best exchange rate but that is better than buying pesos at your country. Once yo

While travelling there is always a risk of pick-pocketing and petty theft, particularly in big touristy cities. We recommend that you are careful when walking alone at night and encourage you to walk together and only on main, well-lit streets. Many hotels have safety deposit boxes, which is the most secure way of storing your valuables. Be extra vigilant on public transport. Little measures like carrying your day pack on your front, and not hanging your bag over the back

Visas All foreign citizens traveling to Mexico must fill out an Official Entry Immigration Form, a Tourist card, at their arrival to Mexico. Your airline will be providing this info or you will get it at your arrival to Mexico. Visitax This is a tax that must be paid when entering to Mexico by the state of Quintana Roo. This is the State Government application for the payment of contributions from foreign tourists. The funds collected are supposed to be used to maintain

How to manage at your arrival to the airport in Mexico. Once you are out of the plane, just follow the directions to where the migration officers are, if you had not previously filled thru internet a Migration Tourist card and submitted it prior your flight, there will be some staff giving you a format FMM, you must fill it up and make the line for migration control where they will stamp your passport and receive the FMM format completed, and they will give you a part of th

Moving around Mexico To travel into Mexico, you can do it by plane to any of the international airports throughout the country, in which Cancun airport is the best connected with international destinations, followed by Mexico city. Though there are many other minor airports which operates also some international flights to touristic destinations like Los Cabos, Baja California, Puerto Vallarta, Huatulco, Cozumel and others. If you come by land, you can do it thru our nort

Mexico is a very vast country that has multiple landscapes and weather conditions according to the region and season. So we will divide the regions according to some of the most beautiful areas in the country to visit. Yucatan peninsula and Mayan region This is huge area of 40,000 square km This is a mainly warm region with temperatures running from 12° C to 35 °C (53 °F to 95F°) and with a high humidity all year round. The rainy season starts around mid July until end

The legendary Mayan city of Chichén Itzá, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988 and a Wonder of the World in 2007, stood out as the cultural and political center of the ancient Mayan civilization and was one of the largest settlements in the north-central Yucatán Peninsula. At its height, it was the most powerful city in the Yucatán Peninsula. The Itzáes settled in Chichén Itzá in the 9th century AD. It is believed that they were Putun Mayas or Chontal Mayas. They fo