When Moonracer was a jungle lodge, we had a lot of guests who came to us from Bacalar, which is now a resort town that up until 15 or so years ago was a fishing village on the Bacalar Laguna. They all said it had a good vibe and was a nice place to chill for a few days, and we always intended to take a weekend and go there, but we never did.
So, on our way north, we decided to see what it was like. Let’s just say we were underwhelmed. IF we had found a nice little hotel on the beach where we could use their kayaks and paddle boards and drink beer for a few days, it would be great. However, going in with a self contained rig where we’d like to see the water but eat our own food and drink our own drinks (okay, a beer on the beach would be fine, but not necessary), we felt less than welcome. Almost all of the waterfront is privately owned by hotels, restaurants, bars, marinas, and whatever you call the places that rent kayaks and paddle boards and sell tours on boats that go out into the lagoon. And, while iOverlander has entries that say you can park for the night around the very lovely town square, the current rule is that there is no overnight parking on the streets. And, because most of the other parking places that can fit rigs like ours are hotels, restaurants, and marinas, they don’t want pets. So, in addition to being generally underwhelmed, we weren’t feeling especially welcome. None of this was helped by the fact that the weather varied between drizzle and outright downpours and we spent most of the day being soaked to the skin, but ultimately we decided to get in the truck and look for another parking spot for the night.
That also didn’t work out as planned, because most of the friendly camp grounds north of the town are down hill from the highway on white mal dirt roads. Which, if you know white mal dirt roads, you know that they are slicker than snail snot when they are wet. Which they were, after a day of alternating drizzle and downpours. We started down a couple, and ended up backing up to the highway, and we’re now at a gas station for the night at the turnoff to Merida. In the morning, we will decide if we are going to go directly to Merida, where we need to be by Wednesday, or take a couple of days and head towards Valladolid, or maybe even Cancun. The weather report isn’t promising for the next few days, but we’re going to sleep on it.
So, on our way north, we decided to see what it was like. Let’s just say we were underwhelmed. IF we had found a nice little hotel on the beach where we could use their kayaks and paddle boards and drink beer for a few days, it would be great. However, going in with a self contained rig where we’d like to see the water but eat our own food and drink our own drinks (okay, a beer on the beach would be fine, but not necessary), we felt less than welcome. Almost all of the waterfront is privately owned by hotels, restaurants, bars, marinas, and whatever you call the places that rent kayaks and paddle boards and sell tours on boats that go out into the lagoon. And, while iOverlander has entries that say you can park for the night around the very lovely town square, the current rule is that there is no overnight parking on the streets. And, because most of the other parking places that can fit rigs like ours are hotels, restaurants, and marinas, they don’t want pets. So, in addition to being generally underwhelmed, we weren’t feeling especially welcome. None of this was helped by the fact that the weather varied between drizzle and outright downpours and we spent most of the day being soaked to the skin, but ultimately we decided to get in the truck and look for another parking spot for the night.
That also didn’t work out as planned, because most of the friendly camp grounds north of the town are down hill from the highway on white mal dirt roads. Which, if you know white mal dirt roads, you know that they are slicker than snail snot when they are wet. Which they were, after a day of alternating drizzle and downpours. We started down a couple, and ended up backing up to the highway, and we’re now at a gas station for the night at the turnoff to Merida. In the morning, we will decide if we are going to go directly to Merida, where we need to be by Wednesday, or take a couple of days and head towards Valladolid, or maybe even Cancun. The weather report isn’t promising for the next few days, but we’re going to sleep on it.
We parked next to this truck at the Bacalar town square. It looks sort of like us, on a bad day.
The centerpiece of the town is a fort, located between the laguna and the town square. It’s…a fort.
We were in the middle of this all day, no matter where we were.