Mexico – One other travelogue – August 2026

Good morning from Mexico City. Still touring and partially nonetheless on trip, although working extra this week. That stated, given how I’ve spent the previous week, you’re getting one other travelogue e-newsletter entry at this time.

Bacalar, Mexico, is gorgeous and wonderful. The city constructed on Mexico’s second-largest freshwater lake is one among Mexico’s Pueblos Magicos; the laguna de los siete colores itself is spectacular. Unlike most lakes, it isn’t fed by aboveground rivers and runoff, however fairly by underground rivers and cenotes. There are some fish and vegetation, however it’s largely an enormous freshwater pool with clear water that displays totally different shades of blue relying on the depth at any given level. And being that there are random deep cenotes close to the sting and super-shallow knee-deep limestone platforms within the middle, that makes it fairly a enjoyable place to discover.

Prior to our 4 nights spent on the Mia Bacalar ecolodge, we spent two nights at a resort in Cancun like typical vacationers. Why not? And my impression was that Cancun is ok. Security appeared completely regular. Transportation and eating places have been overpriced for the vacationer financial system. Most conversations opened in English (although most individuals transitioned to Spanish as soon as we began chatting, some waiters have been actually cussed about sticking to English). The swimming pools on the resort have been absurdly giant and fairly good.

During the morning, we jumped within the ocean. Lots of massive waves. And a day later, I used to be nonetheless pulling seaweed out of my swimsuit. Completely coincidentally, I acquired to expertise this on the identical week that AP, Reuters, and plenty of others determined to cowl the seaweed bloom throughout the Caribbean. Sargassum is a brown algae that’s spreading throughout the area. It kills fish within the ocean. It stinks because it decomposes on land. Hotels pay huge cash to scrub up their beachlines a number of occasions per day. And final week, President Sheinbaum announced a $115 million (two billion peso) plan to fight the seaweed that threatens the vacationer financial system. There might be two seaweed-trawling ships and miles of containment boundaries.

Tourism is about 8% of Mexico’s annual GDP; the state of Quintana Roo represents over 40% of Mexico’s worldwide tourism. International tourism to numerous Pacific Coast resorts has declined because of hurricane injury and the menace (each actual and perceived) of cartel violence. On the opposite coast, Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum stay locations that many foreigners who’re in any other case a bit cautious as they journey wish to go. That means Mexico’s nationwide authorities takes any menace to that state’s tourism financial system significantly. It’s a concentrated danger. That’s why some smelly brown seaweed will be worldwide information and get the Mexican president’s consideration.

Beyond the seaweed is the safety query. Cancun felt secure. The roads felt secure. Tren Maya was secure. Bacalar felt secure in a distinct, small city method. We noticed a number of safety personnel and autos all through the journey, notably as we traveled alongside the highways. Local police, Army, Navy, and National Guard. Especially National Guard. Having not been to Mexico shortly, I’ve been stunned simply how a lot National Guard presence there may be in areas the place foreigners are (footnote, and I stress, the place the foreigners are. My expertise in vacationer areas virtually definitely doesn’t match what locals see and expertise in non-tourist areas). I’m undecided they’re doing a lot precise combating of crime and cartels, however it’s a present of pressure within the state that’s supposed to push the violent actors to different areas and create the notion of safety. Statistically, the numbers have improved.

Bacalar locals favored to emphasize that their huge benefit over the opposite resort cities within the state is that their laguna had no salt, sharks, or sargassum. But that doesn’t imply they haven’t any environmental challenges. I heard a number of individuals inform the same story. A number of years in the past, a hurricane brought on a bunch of runoff to enter the lake. For a number of years, the “laguna de siete colores” was brown in most spots. But mixed efforts by the area people, which is dependent upon ecotourism, helped restore the lake’s pure magnificence and colours. It’s successful story about group cooperation to beat an environmental problem and one that ought to serve for instance because the coastal components of the state and the nationwide authorities battle the seaweed. This shouldn’t be one thing that any particular person lodge or city can resolve on their very own.

Gut feeling after spending 4 nights in Bacalar suggests tourism goes to surge round this laguna. And that could be a huge battle for native communities, Quintana Roo, and Mexico. Because a part of what makes Bacalar wonderful is the dearth of tourism infrastructure that may hypothetically smash the ecosystem and destroy the pristine lake. Most of the resorts stay small ecolodges, not big company resorts. The state must increase its vacationer infrastructure to maintain the financial system booming. But construct up an excessive amount of too rapidly, as Cancun and Tulum have finished, and it gained’t scale on this city. That might be an actual problem within the years forward.

Thanks for studying.