Los Rapidos on a Budget (in $MXN)
In the Mayan Riveria, venturing south past the popular tourist spots like Cancun, Tulum, and Playa del Carmen, opens you up to discover some hidden gems. Los Rapidos in Bacalar is one of those places. $100
local bus round trip
$100
entry
$170
nachos & 2 beers
$370
Total (approx $17 USD)
What a cool and unique place to spend an afternoon! Visiting the lake at Bacalar is spectacular enough. The black cenote and the perfect turquoise waters of the Pirate Channel would be enough to satisfy. But the off-the-beaten-path Los Rápidos really is a must-do in Bacalar.
In true travel you-never-know-what-will-come-your-way fashion, I was introduced to this place by some locals who were on our Bacalar boat tour (also well worth it - and I don't usually like tours). After the tour, they were heading to Los Rápidos and invited us to hop in the car and join them.
We piled in their small rental and headed down the highway, making a u-turn at some point and then turning down a small unpaved road. At the end of the road, we stopped in the dirt parking lot in front of a restaurant, the only building around, went inside to pay our entry, and when we walked out the other side, it immediately became one of my new favorite places.
Stromatolites are living colonies similar to coral and exist in only a few places throughout the world. The stromatolites in Los Rapidos are not billions of years old like some colonies, but are believed to be around 12,000 years old - so still pretty old! They're fragile, so you should be careful not to step on them, and wear reef-safe sunscreen. You can spend quite a few hours here just enjoying the water and hanging out. Not only does the stunning scenery have a strong "wow factor", floating down the water among the nature and unusual rock formations is one of those cool travel experiences. You really feel like you're doing it right as you drift through crystal clear blue water on your way back to your spicy michelada back at the restaurant.
How to Get to Los Rapidos
Bacalar is about a 5 hour ADO bus ride south of Cancun. The road into Los Rapidos is at km 8 on Hwy 307.They're open 7 days a week from 10am to 6pm. It's more crowded on weekends when the locals flock to this cool hangout, so if you can manage a mid-week visit, you'll be better off.
If your hotel provides bicycles, you can ride there, but it's 13 km each way so maybe not ideal. A taxi from town will cost you 170 MXN. You can go by combi (colectivo) van for 50 MXN. If they don't know Los Rapidos, ask them to leave you at the mile marker 8. Either way, you'll have to walk about 2 km (1.25 miles, 25 min) in from the highway. Nothing is really marked very well as your're sort of in the middle of nowhere, so hopefully your combi driver knows where to drop you.