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Our Rio Lagartos Boat Tour Experience
Rio Lagartos, Mexico is a small fishing town located in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. A small untouched lagoon lays on the Gulf of Mexico this is an outdoorsman’s dream with a variety of wildlife and a protected biosphere. Rio Lagartos is known for its boat tours, crocodiles, mangroves, exotic birds, and Las Coloradas Pink Lakes. This is a wonderful town to escape the crowds and enjoy the natural beauty of the Yucatan Peninsula.
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Getting to Rio Lagartos
Fly to Cancun
From Cancun, you can either rent a car and drive or take the popular Ado Bus. We chose to drive as we were traveling to five other Yucatan cities. The toll roads are easy and worth the extra fee. Most of the drive is on a highway that is well maintained and easy to navigate.
Driving Distances
Cancun to Rio Lagartos: 3.4 Hour Drive, Toll Road
Playa del Carmen to Rio Lagartos: 3 Hour Drive, Toll Road
Valladolid to Rio Lagartos: 1.5 Hour Drive
Isla Holbox to Rio Lagartos: 2.75 Hour Drive
Merida to Rio Lagartos: 3 Hour Drive
Rio Lagartos Packing List
Documents
- Passport + Passport Cover
- Itinerary
- Tickets
- Travel Wallet
- Driver’s License
- Credit Cards + Cash
- Document Folder
Personal
- Book
- Travel Journal & Pen
- Pencil Pouch
- Snacks – Think! High Protein Bars
- Water Bottle
- Sunglasses
- Small Jacket, Scarf
- Travel Lotion & Hand Sanitizer
Electronics
Rio Lagartos Boat Tour
An absolute must thing to do in Rio Lagartos is a boat tour. I highly recommend booking yours with Ricky’s Tours. The guides are knowledgeable, fun, and include everything for a great price.
What’s All Included:
- Boat Tour
- Private Guide
- Explore the four different Mangroves
- Crocodile Sightings
- Flamingos
- Exotic Birds Mayan Mud Bath
- Las Coloradas Pink Lakes
Area Facts
Our tour guide did an outstanding job! He spoke great English and Spanish. He offered a wealth of knowledge about the area and made it a fun tour with his jokes and great energy.
- There are two types of crocodiles in this area of Mexico
- The Marinette crocodile (freshwater) is aggressive and dangerous. They have a light almost white color skin.
- The Acutus crocodile (saltwater) is calm and less aggressive than the Marinette.
- To spot the crocodiles in the unclear water look for discoloration in the water, it is a sign that a crocodile is swimming there and kicking up the sand.
- There are four different types of mangroves in Rio Lagartos
- White – a small tree with light green flat leaves.
- Black – dark and scaly bark with shiny green leaves.
- Red – the most common and easy to identify with its falling roots.
- Flamingo Facts
- Flamingo season in Mexico is in late spring through early summer (March – June).
- A flock of flamingos is called a flamboyance.
- Rio Lagartos is home to the American Flamingos. There are six different types of flamingos found throughout the world.
Rio Lagartos Boat Tour Crocodiles
We loaded up into the boat, our guide said, “And now we go fast” and we took off towards the mangroves. It wasn’t 5 minutes into the boat ride and the boat started to slow down and came to a complete stop. A five-foot crocodile was in the water swimming around. The boat stopped right next to it and called it over and then touched it. My heart was racing! This was an amazing experience.
Crocodiles are not always seen on these boat tours, it depends on the time of day and if you are lucky enough to spot one in the muddy water. We also got to see a small baby crocodile, it was cute but not as impressive as the previous five-footer.
Next, we explored the mangroves and traversed through the narrow lagoon.
Exotic Birds
Rio Lagartos is a biosphere reserve with 395 different species of birds. People from all over the world travel here to see these exotic birds in their natural habitats.
Mangroves
Flamingos
We got to see so many flamingos! There was a large flock of them roaming around on a long sand bed. Flamingos in the wild are stunning with their poise and bright shades of pink. We also got to see a small group fly which was different and fun to see.
Las Coloradas Pink Lakes
What are they? The Pink Lakes are owned by a small salt mining factory that produces salt after the salty water is evaporated. The salt is then distributed throughout the world. The salt lakes get their pink color from the shrimp, red algae, and plankton.
Touring the Pink Lakes on your Own: You can tour the Pink Lakes on your own but you will not be able to get as good of an experience as you would with a guided boat tour. You can either drive or take a taxi to the Las Coloradas lakes. The road is smooth and easy to navigate with a large parking lot near the entrance. There will be a person following you the whole time to ensure nothing happens to the salt flats. They have built a large fence between the walking path and salt lakes which makes it difficult to capture photos.
Are the Salt Lakes actually pink? The iconic Pink Lakes located in Rio Lagartos Mexico is not the vibrant bright pink color you see in pictures. While they did have a small pink hue to them they were not pink.
Can you swim in the lakes? No, you cannot swim in the salt lakes. The salt that is produced from these ponds is used around the world for cooking.
*No drones are allowed to be flown in the Las Coloradas lake areas.
Rio Lagartos Mayan Mud Bath
The Mayan Mud Bath was a very fun and different experience. When looking up things to do in Rio Lagartos I saw many people with white cream-like stuff on their body and thought wow they have a lot of sunscreen on… come to find out this is a Mayan clay mud bath that is supposedly good for your skin.
After we were covered in white mud we hopped back on the boat and drove to the clean ocean water to wash off. On the ride, back the mud dried out and became crisp, sort of like a facemask. The clear blue ocean water is located on the other side of Rio Lagartos and absolutely gorgeous.
Rio Lagartos Boat Tour Rating
AMAZING!! This was an outstanding tour I highly recommend booking your Rio Lagartos Boat Tour with Ricky’s Tours.
Rio Lagartos, Mexico Travel Guide
