Welcome to Río Lagartos
On the windy northern shore of the peninsula, sleepy Río Lagartos (Alligator River) is a fishing village that also boasts the densest concentration of flamingos in Mexico, supposedly two or three flamingos per Mexican, if one believes the provided math. Lying within the Reserva de la Biosfera Ría Lagartos, this mangrove-lined estuary shelters bird species, including snowy egrets, red egrets, tiger herons and snowy white ibis, as well as the crocodiles that gave the town its name. It’s a beautiful area. At the right time of year you can see numerous species of birds without even getting out of your vehicle.
Top experiences in Río Lagartos
Amazing hotels and hostels
We've pre-picked the best hotels, hostels and bed and breakfasts to make your stay as enjoyable as possible.
Food and drink
Travel guides
Starting at $38.99
Río Lagartos activities
Las Coloradas - Rio Lagartos Private Tour
You will be picked up from your hotel early in the morning (approx. 6 am) and head directly to Rio Lagartos. We will have breakfast before taking our private boat to do the tour of the Rio Lagartos lagoon - National Park. This tour is ideal for birdwatching and encounter with crocodiles if lucky enough! Then we will stop by Las Coloradas to observe the pink lagoons and we will finish the tour with a leisurely lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. Finally, you will be taken back to your hotel around 4/5pm. NB: it is not allowed to swim in las Coloradas as it is a private property.
Private tour to Las Coloradas Rio Lagartos
You will be picked up from your hotel early in the morning (approx. 6 am) and head directly to Rio Lagartos. We will have breakfast before taking our private boat to do the tour of the Rio Lagartos lagoon - National Park. This tour is ideal for birdwatching and encounter with crocodiles if lucky enough! Then we will stop by Las Coloradas to observe the pink lagoons and we will finish the tour with a leisurely lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. Finally, you will be taken back to your hotel around 4/5pm.NB: it is not allowed to swim in las Coloradas as it is a private property and it could hurt your skin.
6-Day Diverse Yucatan Tour(multiday)
Day 1: Transfer Airport - Hotel: Transfer from the international airport of Cancun to the hotel. Overnight Day 2: Cancun - Lagartos River - Las Coloradas Beach - Chichen Itza: We will start this adventure with a visit to Río Lagartos where you can observe its interesting flora and fauna that surrounds it. After lunch we will continue to Las Coloradas Beach where you can observe its amazing pink waters, a Mexican paradise that is worth knowing, finally, we will go to our hotel near Chichén Itzá. Overnight Day 3: Chichén Itzá - Cenote Ikkil - Izamal - Mérida: This day we start at 09:00 am in an enigmatic place full of culture, one of the most important archaeological sites of the Mayans, visiting one of the wonders of the modern world, the famous Chichen Itza, we will visit the place and we will know its history with the help of our professional guide, later, we will cool off in the ikkil cenote, we will have time to relax and live together for a while. After we will visit izamal to know a small characteristic city for its houses painted yellow, we will know its history and then we will arrive at the hotel in Merida. Overnight Day 4: Mérida - Uxmal - Sotuta de Peón: Today we will leave our hotel early to travel to Uxmal, an ancestral city with a lot of history, with the help of our guide we will know more about it and about these interesting structures that hide many Mayan secrets. We will continue our way to Hacienda Sotuta de Peón. Overnight Day 5: Sotuta de Peón - Valladolid - Cancun: Departure at 8:00 a.m. To Cancun. On the way we will make a stop in the picturesque city of Valladolid, we will take a walk through the main sites, its streets hide a lot of history, so our guide will tell us a bit about it. We will continue to Cancun. Overnight Day 6: Transfer Hotel - Cancun Airport: Transfer from the Hotel in Cancun to the Cancun International Airport.
6 Days of Diverse Yucatán Tour
Day 1: CancunTransfer from the Cancun International Airport to the hotel. Overnight. Day 2: Cancún - Riviera Maya - Rio Lagartos - Las Coloradas beach - Chichén ItzáWe will start with this adventure with a visit Rio Lagartos, Mayan bath (white mud). After lunch we'll continue towards Las Coloradas Beach. Lastly, we'll head to our hotel near Chichén Itzá. Day 3: Chichen itza - X-Cajum Cenote - Izamal - Merida This day we start at 9am in an enigmatic place full of culture, one of the most important archaeological sites of the Mayans. Day 4: Mérida - Uxmal - Sotuta de PeónWe'll have an early departure today as we travel to Uxmal and visit this impressive archaeological site. We'll continue on our way to Hacienda Sotuta de Peón. Day 5: Sotuta de Peón - Valladolid - CancúnDeparture at 8:00am to Cancún.On the way we will make a stop in the picturesque city of Valladolid. Day 6: Cancun Departure
5 Days of Pink, Green and Blue Yucatecas
Day 1: ArrivalWe will pick you up at the airport and leave for the village of Ek Balam. They will be installed in the cabins of a charming Ecotourism Center that has solar energy, to go to the Cenote Xcanché. To get to this beautiful cenote, you will travel a 1.5 kilometer Sacbe, choosing one of the 3 options: in a fun BiciTaxi, riding a bike, or walking for 15 minutes Day 2: Ek Balam - San Felipe - Rio LagartosAfter breakfast, we will move to San Felipe, a small fishing village with charming typical painted wooden houses of multiple colors, which in the pre-Hispanic era, was the mythical place for commercial exchanges among the Mayans. From the tourist hostel we will take our boat and visit the Kambulnah water eye, which we will descend by a wonderful wooden bridge of 320 meters, on which we will walk through nature seeing its four different types of mangroves (gray mangrove, black, white and red). Later, we will head towards Isla Cerritos, a small walled island that was discovered and later populated by the family of an ancient prince of Ek Balam. Day 3: Rio Lagartos - Biosphere Reserve - ValladolidAfter our breakfast, we will take another boat from the Lagartos River boardwalk to enter the Biosphere Reserve, a Protected Natural Area where the greatest biological diversity and the ecosystems with the best state of conservation of the Yucatan Peninsula are concentrated. In this wonderful tour you will see a great diversity of birds, until you get to see the flamingos, which reproduce in great quantity, in such a way that the pink of their plumage contrasts with green foliage in the background. It is a truly beautiful picture! You can see the pink pond, a lagoon that is tinged with different shades of this color, due to the membrane of a halobacterium. In the return, you can take a Mayan bath, an ancient Mayan tradition for skin care, with the natural white mud with salt that it contains. You will rinse yourself in clear water, and you will be as good as new. We will go to Valladolid and we will have the afternoon free to enjoy this charming city. Day 4: Valladolid - Cenotes RouteAfter enjoying the delicious and healthy breakfast of our hotel, we will put on our swimsuit and go out to explore the wonderful cenotes of Yucatan, with its crystal waters Cenotes available: Zaci in the center of Valladolid, Dzitnup (2 cenotes) which are called X'Kekén and Samulá, 2 km southeast of the city. They will return to the hotel to change, go out to dinner and rest. Day 5: DepartureYou will be transferred to the Cancun airport to take your flight.
Rio Lagartos Flamingo Biosphere (Private Tour)
This tour visits the natural reserve of Rio Lagartos and the archaeological site of Ek Balam, making for an excellent combination of archaeology and nature in a single day.Río Lagartos is within the Biosphere Special Reserve on the northern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula on the Gulf of Mexico. It is famous for its enormous flamingo colony and large variety of flora and fauna. The largest American flamingo population in Mexico, around 44,000 of them can be found here.Enjoy the boat ride through the wetlands, the guide will point out and identify the fauna that can be found on our way to spot the flamingos. Once we get to where they gather you will see how they are such incredible and beautiful birds, watching them run on top of the water as they take off. After watching the flamingos we’ll take the boat to the salt pond, with it’s high density of salt you’ll float so much easier than in regular seawater making for a novel experience.After the dip in the salt pond we’ll head to the Mayan Mud Bad. In Rio Lagartos we find a particular white mud with a high concentration of minerals that is really good for your skin, so it’s recommended you dip yourself in the mud and cover your whole body and face in it… or you can also do it just for the fun of it! Then we’ll ride the boat to a water spring or a close beach to wash the mud off!After that we’ll have a delicious lunch at a local restaurant and on our way to Ek-Balam we will go through some old fashioned Mayan Villages where you’ll see how the locals live.Ek Balam is one of the new jewels of Mayan archaeology, with recently discovered well-preserved stucco sculptures over 1200 years old which you witness up close by climbing the Acropolis, a nearly 100 ft. tall temple. It was considered a sacred city ruled by a living god and you can see and touch many of the temples and ruins in this wonderful ancient testament of the Mayans.A tour through the site will tell you all the history of the place and it’s buildings. An incredible experience for all ages, come experience the jungles, waters and ancient Mayan sites with us!