A Guide to Los Rapidos in Bacalar, Mexico
Bacalar is located close to the Belize border, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo and has become increasingly popular with tourists. Thanks to the stunning waters of Lago Bacalar.
Sometimes referred to as the lagoon of seven colours, the stunning shades of blue will have you mesmerised. The actual town of Bacalar is relatively small and home to a few restaurants, cafes, hostels/hotels and an old fort that you can explore.
Many people opt to explore Lago Bacalar by boat, kayak or paddle board and it's incredibly stunning to head out for a sunrise on the lake. But today I’m here to tell you about the absolute gem located only a short drive outside Bacalar, Los Rapidos.
What is Los Rapidos?
It’s a small and thin section of Lago Bacalar lined with mangroves, stromatolites, and gorgeous blue waters. It also has the perfect current to allow you to float down from one section to another, hence the name Los Rapidos. This is also the restaurant name from which you can access this beauty.
What are Stromatolites? They are the oldest living fossil on earth, and the name translates from Greek as ‘layered rock’. They are rock-like formations created by colonies of microorganisms, if you catch them bubbling that’s the stromatolites breathing, or in technical terms putting oxygen out into the world.
Since the popularity of this spot grew, the restaurant placed a boardwalk so you can stroll up past the mangroves and then float back down to the other side without a care in the world. There are also many spots to chill in around the restaurant, including water-submerged hammocks.
Los Rapidos is open from 10 am to 6 pm and there is an entrance fee of 150 pesos per person, which is payable by cash or card.
How to Get to Los Rapidos
From our hostel in Bacalar, we opted to get a taxi which cost us 200 pesos each way it only took around 15 minutes. You can either arrange with your taxi driver a time for a return journey or if you’re not sure what time you will be done you can just ask the restaurant to call you a taxi when you're ready to head back.
It would also be possible to rent a car, scooter or bike to get to Los Rapidos. Just be aware if you're going to rent a bike, you would be cycling on the main highway without any pedestrian or cycle lanes.
What to Do at Los Rapidos
The number one thing to do here is to float down this gorgeous turquoise-blue stream and watch all your worries float away. It wasn’t a super powerful current when we were there, but powerful enough to have us bobbing downstream. I also enjoyed watching people attempt to swim against the current, too much effort for me.
You can rent a kayak to explore further up or downstream. A one-person kayak will set you back 150 pesos and a double kayak 300 pesos per hour. Just be careful with the paddle near the stromatolites, I saw many people hitting them whilst we were there, which is a big no.
The restaurant also rented out rubber rings but I didn’t see how much this would cost, but it would be another lovely way to chill out and float through the water.
There is also the option to grab a bite to eat or something to drink at the restaurant, it’s not the best food nor the cheapest but it did refuel us and was a table with a lovely view over the water. I gave the margarita a 6 out of 10, it lacked on the tequila side and had way too much ice for my liking.
With many hammocks, sun beds or chairs, you can kick back and relax when you're not floating down Los Rapidos. If you get lucky you may even be able to grab one of the submerged hammocks, which seemed to be like gold dust when we were there. I also had my inner child screaming when I saw they had swings, safe to say I was swinging away taking in the incredible views for quite some time. Who doesn’t love a good swing?
Top Tips for Visiting Los Rapidos
Get there for 10 am when it first opens as it’s a very popular tourist spot that can get pretty busy later on in the day. When we first arrived there was no one in the water and it was a beautiful sight, so I highly recommend going early.
Stromatolites are rare, very old living things so please respect the rules and don’t stand on them and refrain from hitting them with a kayak paddle also.
You're not supposed to wear suncream in the water as this can also damage the stromatolites and the surrounding environment. So make sure to take coverups and a hat also maybe think about finding a spot in the shade if you burn easily.
There are lockers inside the restaurant and it costs an extra 50 pesos to rent one. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to use your own padlock on these lockers, we made this mistake and had our locker double-locked.
You get a lifejacket included in the cost of entrance and I highly recommend using it even if you are a strong swimmer. Mainly because it makes being able to float down the rapids so much more relaxing, you can just kick back and bob downstream whilst enjoying the views.
It’s such an incredibly beautiful location, however, I do think a high volume of tourists has negatively affected the surrounding environment, which is a big shame. It seems to be a challenge to allow tourists to enjoy this natural wonder and sustain it at the same time.
Have you been to Los Rapidos or Bacalar? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
