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Hello all, here's what I did to beat the water-is-too-cold-to-paddle winter glumness. Forgive any off-topicness, there was no fishing but there is fishing potential!
I went to Mexico and kayaked at Lake Bacalar, a freshwater lake about 5 hours south of Cancun. It's called the Lake of 7 Colors - and it is. So many colors of blue water, white sand, stunningly beautiful.
I stayed at Villas Ecotucan:http://ecotucan.com/en/ for a few nights and kayaked with Active Nature Bacalar, which is based at Villas Ecotucan: http://activenaturebacalar.com/
Got there at 9 one night, launched at 9 the next morning, paddled 18 miles from the lake into the Rio Chaac (which is really a mangrove estuary) and down to Laguna Milagro, just short of the Rio Hondo, which divides Mexico from Belize. Camped at a small tourist area on Laguna Milago and paddled the lagoon the next day. We were supposed to get back on the Rio Chaac and go to the Rio Hondo and paddle down to Chetumal bay, but there was an east wind and it's a long fetch and we would have been paddling into a 20 mph headwind. So we had an easy day on the lagoon.
I also did a long day trip on Lake Bacalar where we followed a "crocodile path" through the mangroves. I did not fish but the people who run Active Nature know the lake and Chetumal Bay well and might be able to arrange a fishing trip. I saw people fishing from shore on the Rio Chaac and Lake Bacalar. If you stay at Villas Ecotucan you can use their basic plastic sit on tops for free. If you paddle with Active Nature, you use one of their sea kayaks. Villas Ecotucan proved to be even better than the photos. It's a comfortable and well maintained eco-resort. The elegant cabanas have great cross-ventilation and a breeze comes off the water. I did not miss air conditioning. A cooked breakfast is included and you go into town for other meals.
Bacalar itself is a well known tourist destination for Mexicans, although the mega-development madness is creeping south from Tulum. It's a small comfortable town with a historic fort in the center, a nice plaza and lots of restaurants and hotels and airbnbs. It's small enough to walk almost anywhere. Bacalar is not the place to go if you're looking for discos and glitz.
Getting there was easy. I caught a 4 hour nonstop flight from BWI to Cancun. You can buy ADO bus tickets at a counter just inside the exit of the Terminal 4 arrivals area. Buy two - one from Cancun Airport to Playa del Carmen, one from Playa del Carmen to Bacalar. The ride from Cancun Airport to Playa del Carmen is about an hour. You change bus stations in Playa del Carmen. The bus ride from Playa del Carmen to Bacalar is about 4 hours. The buses are clean and air conditioned and much more comfortable than any airplane seat I've been in for a while. Then you take a ~USD10 taxi to Villas Ecotucan.
I stayed in Puerto Morelos the night before my flight home. Puerto Morelos is a small, still low-rise village 20 minutes south of the Cancun airport. Lots of hotels, airbnbs and restaurants I went on a snorkeling trip the morning I left. There are also "big boat" fishing trips from Puerto Morelos.
I'm back and catching up and getting my kayak gear together for the season here . . .
Lisa
I went to Mexico and kayaked at Lake Bacalar, a freshwater lake about 5 hours south of Cancun. It's called the Lake of 7 Colors - and it is. So many colors of blue water, white sand, stunningly beautiful.
I stayed at Villas Ecotucan:http://ecotucan.com/en/ for a few nights and kayaked with Active Nature Bacalar, which is based at Villas Ecotucan: http://activenaturebacalar.com/
Got there at 9 one night, launched at 9 the next morning, paddled 18 miles from the lake into the Rio Chaac (which is really a mangrove estuary) and down to Laguna Milagro, just short of the Rio Hondo, which divides Mexico from Belize. Camped at a small tourist area on Laguna Milago and paddled the lagoon the next day. We were supposed to get back on the Rio Chaac and go to the Rio Hondo and paddle down to Chetumal bay, but there was an east wind and it's a long fetch and we would have been paddling into a 20 mph headwind. So we had an easy day on the lagoon.
I also did a long day trip on Lake Bacalar where we followed a "crocodile path" through the mangroves. I did not fish but the people who run Active Nature know the lake and Chetumal Bay well and might be able to arrange a fishing trip. I saw people fishing from shore on the Rio Chaac and Lake Bacalar. If you stay at Villas Ecotucan you can use their basic plastic sit on tops for free. If you paddle with Active Nature, you use one of their sea kayaks. Villas Ecotucan proved to be even better than the photos. It's a comfortable and well maintained eco-resort. The elegant cabanas have great cross-ventilation and a breeze comes off the water. I did not miss air conditioning. A cooked breakfast is included and you go into town for other meals.
Bacalar itself is a well known tourist destination for Mexicans, although the mega-development madness is creeping south from Tulum. It's a small comfortable town with a historic fort in the center, a nice plaza and lots of restaurants and hotels and airbnbs. It's small enough to walk almost anywhere. Bacalar is not the place to go if you're looking for discos and glitz.
Getting there was easy. I caught a 4 hour nonstop flight from BWI to Cancun. You can buy ADO bus tickets at a counter just inside the exit of the Terminal 4 arrivals area. Buy two - one from Cancun Airport to Playa del Carmen, one from Playa del Carmen to Bacalar. The ride from Cancun Airport to Playa del Carmen is about an hour. You change bus stations in Playa del Carmen. The bus ride from Playa del Carmen to Bacalar is about 4 hours. The buses are clean and air conditioned and much more comfortable than any airplane seat I've been in for a while. Then you take a ~USD10 taxi to Villas Ecotucan.
I stayed in Puerto Morelos the night before my flight home. Puerto Morelos is a small, still low-rise village 20 minutes south of the Cancun airport. Lots of hotels, airbnbs and restaurants I went on a snorkeling trip the morning I left. There are also "big boat" fishing trips from Puerto Morelos.
I'm back and catching up and getting my kayak gear together for the season here . . .
Lisa
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