TRIP LOGISTICS:

[The following logistics will apply when Camp Toucan is operating.]

Flying to Bacalar: There are three different airports to choose from – Cancun, Tulum, and Chetumal. When comparing flight schedules and airports, the key question is whether you can get to Bacalar the same evening, or whether you will have to stay overnight somewhere along the way. (When you reserve a hotel room in Bacalar, find out whether they will have someone on night duty to check you in, even if you arrive quite late.)

Most travelers take a bus from the airport to Bacalar. The main bus company in the region is ADO, and you can see their schedules and purchase tickets online at ado.com.mx. The website is in Spanish, but all you need to do is type in your origin, destination, and date, then click on “Buscar Viaje,” to see the various bus schedules for that route on that date, and the price in pesos. You can then purchase tickets online with a credit card. Note that some bus trips involve a change of bus along the way, while others do not.

Renting a car at one of these airports, especially for driving at night, is not safe, because on the highways in this region it is common for oncoming traffic to come toward you in your lane, and expect you to move over so they can squeeze through, at high speeds. There are also flagmen at construction places along the highway, even at night, waving flags in local ways that newcomers may misinterpret, which could cause an accident. You typically won’t be able to return a rental car in Bacalar (except perhaps for a big extra charge), and you won’t need a car while in Bacalar anyway, because you can walk from several of the hotels to the plaza, the lake, stores, restaurants, and even medical clinics if needed. (And taxi rides within Bacalar are inexpensive.)

Cancun airport (CUN) is served by many airlines from many countries, so you can use almost any airline rewards program to get there. It’s a drive of about 4.5 hours to Bacalar, and buses make the trip several times daily. You can compare the many flight schedules to Cancun on websites such as flights.google.com, then check the bus schedules from Cancun airport to Bacalar at ado.com.mx. Caution: If you arrive mid-afternoon, as many flights do, the passport checking process may be backed up, so it may take a while to get out of the airport, so you may miss your bus if your connection is close.

Tulum airport (TQO) is a near-new airport that is closer to Bacalar, a drive of about 2.5 hours. As of this writing there are nonstop flights to TQO from Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, and Miami, each taking 2 to 3 hours, operated by American, Delta, and United Airlines. (And there are many flights connecting these airports to the rest of the U.S., Canada, and Europe.) Travelers can compare flight schedules to TQO on flights.google.com (and the websites of American, Delta, and United), then check the bus schedules at ado.com.mx. As of this writing there are no direct buses from TQO to Bacalar – you take a taxi or ADO bus from the airport to downtown Tulum, then you switch to another bus from downtown Tulum to Bacalar. Time may be short to complete the trip from TQO to Bacalar without having to stay overnight. If you are traveling with several people, it may be convenient and cost-effective to reserve a large taxi or van going straight from the TQO airport to your hotel in Bacalar. 

Chetumal airport (CTM) is the closest airport, only about half an hour’s drive from Bacalar, but it only receives flights from cities within Mexico, so travelers from other countries typically have to fly to Mexico City and stay overnight, then fly to Chetumal the next day. Flights within Mexico to Chetumal are operated by AeroMexico, VivaAerobus, and Volaris. It’s also possible to fly from various U.S. cities to San Diego, California, then walk on the Cross Border Express (CBX) bridge into the Tijuana airport, then fly to Chetumal (or other cities in Mexico), but typically with an overnight stay involved. Once you land in Chetumal, in the airport lobby you will see van services that provide van rides to Bacalar for a reasonable charge. 

When booking flights, note that some airlines will let you fly home earlier than previously planned at no additional charge, when space is available, since that frees up your original seat for them to sell to someone else. If that’s true with your airline, you may want to book your trip for the longest you might stay, then fly home earlier if you need to.  

Lodging: It’s best to reserve a hotel room within 3 or 4 blocks of the plaza in Bacalar, so you can walk to the plaza in the morning in time for early day trip departures, then in the evenings, you can get back to your hotel after dark without having to find a taxi. The hotels are small, family-owned places, more like guest houses than hotels, and there is usually someone who can help you in case of a problem or emergency (usually in halting English). These small hotels typically have rather bare walls, and air conditioning in the bedrooms, and have about 10 to 20 rooms, arranged around an open-air courtyard of some sort. Breakfast is typically available starting at about 8 am in the courtyard, from a menu at additional cost, or at small restaurants a block or two away. To reserve a room, the website most used by the various hotels in Bacalar seems to be booking.com, although they use other websites as well. On these websites, you see a map of central Bacalar, then reserve a hotel room close enough to the plaza. They also like to take reservations by phone, and they can usually bring someone to the phone to talk with you in English.

When you are looking at hotel options online, you will likely see advertising for luxurious lake-front hotels, a few kilometers away from Bacalar. These typically have a rough dirt road to get to them, for a distance of about two kilometers from the paved highway, so it can be very difficult and time-consuming to get a taxi to come get you, so it is more practical to lodge within a few blocks of the plaza, where restaurants and everything else are easy to walk to, as explained earlier.

If you will be staying longer than a week, you may want to reserve lodging online for just the first week, then after you get there, negotiate for a lower rate for subsequent weeks. At typical places, almost the only times when all the rooms fill up are around Christmas and New Year’s, and during the two weeks before and after Easter. 

Meals: All the Camp Toucan day-trips and activities include lunch, sometimes as a small outdoor meal taken along, and other times at an open-air restaurant, depending on the trip locations. They also include the Social Hour by the plaza in the evening, so you can discuss your experiences with other travelers over a drink and an appetizer. (The drink can have alcohol or not as you choose.) For other meals and snacks, there are various restaurants around the plaza and adjacent streets, serving Mexican food, burgers, sandwiches, seafood, breakfast food, and so on. There are also small grocery stores that sell tropical fruit and other food. (In the tropical climate, you may not feel as much need for a hot meal as you would back home, so sometimes cut-up fruit and crackers may be enough.)

Walking in town: Think of the sidewalks in town as rugged hiking trails in the mountains, rather than as sidewalks, because there are often unexpected steps and unrepaired holes that could sprain an ankle or even break a leg. Right in the middle of a restaurant there can be a single small step across the floor (left from a time when the room was expanded without matching the floor levels), so unwary visitors can end up tripping and falling headlong onto the hard floor. So wherever you walk, take a moment to look down then back up, all along the way. At night carry a small flashlight to make sure there are no holes in the shadows where you will step. Tall people also need to watch for the low edges of roofs sticking out onto walkways, apparently built with the assumption that nobody is tall. 

Street names: You can readily walk to most places in the central part of town, looking down then back up as just described. You can see a map of Bacalar on your cell phone, or pick up a free printed map from most of the larger hotels and restaurants. (The free map shows north to the right, not at the top, of the map.) The avenidas (avenues) run north-south, parallel to the lakeshore, and have odd numbers, so Avenida 1 is closest to the lake, then Avenida 3, 5, 7, and so on, as you get farther from the lake. The calles (streets) start at the lakeshore and run west, perpendicular to the avenidas, and have even numbers, so Calle 2 is on the south side of town, while Calle 52 is on the north side of town. However, since the town is over a thousand years old, the streets merge together at the north and south ends of town. For example, Avenida 3 gets “squeezed out” at both ends of town, and Avenida 1 merges into Avenida 5 at the north end of town. At intersections, there is green paint on the lampposts indicating which avenida or street you are crossing, but usually saying, for example, “C 7” even when it’s actually Avenida 7, not Calle 7. (You are supposed to remember that the odd numbers are avenues, not streets.) 

Transportation: There are no in-town buses in Bacalar, just numerous taxis, which are white with clear taxi markings, and cost a little over a dollar within the central part of town (more for places further away, and at night). There’s no meter, it’s just a standard rate per trip (about 25 pesos). You just go to the nearest street with traffic and wait until you see a taxi coming, then hold your arm out for it to stop. Be ready to tell the driver where you want to go when you get in, perhaps writing it on a piece of paper beforehand. Occasionally the driver will pick up another passenger, which is normal, so be ready to slide over and let them in. Hold onto your stuff the whole time, so you never leave anything in a taxi. There are also casual bike rentals available in town, but avoid the busy streets, such as Avenida 1, 5, 7, and 9, and the calles near the plaza, or walk your bike on the sidewalk. The north-south avenues with less traffic are Avenida 3, 11 and 13.

Total costs: Your stay at Camp Toucan can be the length you wish – one week, two weeks, several weeks, or two or three months. There will be around 35 different day-trips, classes, and activities to choose from, plus whatever “on your own days" you choose to insert in your schedule, so you would need to stay over a month to do everything. (Or you can come for a week or two this year, then again next year). The cost is the day-trips, classes, and activities that you sign up for, plus the lodging and meals you choose, and your airfare to get to Bacalar. Following are estimated costs, in U.S. dollars for reader convenience. (The currency in Bacalar is Mexican pesos.) In dollars, your cost per day for lodging and meals will be about $35 to $60 per person, double occupancy, staying in typical hotel rooms and eating at typical restaurants. (Of course you can spend more at some of the lake-front hotels and dining rooms.) For a single traveler getting his own hotel room, the room and meals will total about $45 to $70 per day. (For a single traveler getting a bed in a hostel, in a room shared with other travelers, the bed and meals will cost about $35 to $60 per day, about the same as the double occupancy cost just mentioned. There are several hostels near the plaza, which are popular among single European and Latin American travelers. Of course it is quieter and more private to have your own hotel room.)

During your stay, you don’t have to do camp activities every day – you can insert "on your own days" as you wish, and your costs on those days will only be for your room and meals. So for example, for a one-week stay, your camp activities would typically total about $450 to $600 per person, depending on which activities you choose and which “on your own days” you insert. Your room and meals would total about $250 to $500 per person, depending on whether it’s single or double occupancy, and your hotel and meal choices. So the total for one week would be about $700 to $1100 per person, plus whatever airfare you can find online (perhaps using airline miles or points, as noted earlier). Therefore a two-week stay would be about $1400 to $2200 per person, plus airfare. A longer stay would be about $2800 to $4400 per month, plus airfare.

These costs are less than typical resorts, cruises, and bus tours, for a more beneficial experience. At Camp Toucan you will join a local community of teachers and outdoorsmen, to expand your mind and develop your outdoor abilities as you choose.

If you will be staying longer than a month, the Camp Toucan staff may be able to help you rent a furnished apartment with a small kitchen and one or two bedrooms (depending on current availability). Some rentals include weekly cleaning and changing the sheets and towels.

Finances: Credit cards are accepted at roughly half of the hotels, stores, and restaurants in town, especially the larger ones. Sometimes there is no sign saying that credit cards are accepted, but staff members carry a small hand-held device connected to a cell phone, so they can charge your card after all. Before traveling it’s best to get a credit card that does not charge a foreign transaction fee. You can probably set your cell phone to notify you of every credit card purchase, so you can make sure there are no unauthorized purchases being made on your card. When you pay the bill at a restaurant, have the waiter bring the portable credit card machine to your table, or go to the counter yourself to pay the bill. (Don’t hand him your card to take to the back part of the restaurant without you.) You can get pesos in cash from various A.T.M. machines in Bacalar using a debit card from a bank account in the U.S. and a number of other countries. The machines charge a small commission, but they tell you what it will be before you confirm the transaction. There are several A.T.M. machines in the courtyard of the main government building facing the plaza, and others in little rooms along the streets within a block or two of the plaza. So there’s no need to take lots of cash when you leave home, or stand in line at a bank during your trip. 

While in Bacalar you can keep track of your finances back home online (many hotels and restaurants have free Wifi). You can have your home post office hold your mail for up to 30 days (in the U.S.,) and perhaps longer by request. Before traveling, you can tell people who send you bills and other correspondence to send them by email, not paper mail. (Government offices may still be legally required to send correspondence on paper, but you can often look it up online as well.) 

Medical care: It’s best to buy a travel insurance policy before traveling. You can buy it for just the dates of your trip, or Allianz sells year-long coverage, conveniently online, for all your trips away from home during the course of a year, for a few hundred dollars. They will help you, by phone, to find a specialized, English-speaking doctor during your travels when needed. For outpatient treatments, it’s just reimbursement coverage – you pay by credit card or cash when you get treatment, and they reimburse you later, per your receipts. If you end up needing inpatient care in a hospital (such as the larger hospital in Chetumal), usually they can arrange to pay the hospital directly. The coverage is for accidents or illnesses that occur during your trip, not for optional treatments or surgeries for previous conditions (sometimes called “medical tourism”). In Bacalar, there is a small Community Hospital just one block from the plaza and the pirate fort, to the north along Avenida 3. They are ready to bandage up wounds and write prescriptions, usually at no charge, for locals and visitors alike. (They even deliver babies on the premises, when needed.) No appointment is needed -- you just arrive, sign in at the window in the front hallway, and wait in the chairs on the front porch until they call you in. They have an ambulance in the back, ready to take more serious cases to the larger hospital in Chetumal, half an hour away. There is also Bacalar Med Walk-in Clinic, two blocks south of the plaza where Avenida 5 meets Calle 16, which will treat you for a reasonable fee (with doctors who typically speak more English).

Since this is the tropics, there is a small chance of getting a tropical disease. In the eastern part of the Yucatan Peninsula, from Cancun to Chetumal and the surrounding areas (the state of Quintana Roo), government eradication programs have made malaria and zika virus very rare. Dengue fever rose in 2023 and part of 2024, but in the first two months of 2025 there were only 33 confirmed cases, in a population of about 2 million people, although there were presumably additional unconfirmed cases, because only 0.5% to 5% of cases of dengue become serious. So the likelihood of getting serious dengue is quite low. Even so, tropical diseases can get serious quickly, so if you start having symptoms such as a sudden high fever, a severe headache behind your eyes, bleeding gums, or vomiting with blood (not just “traveler’s diarrhea”), get medical attention right away, by calling Allianz from your cell phone (if you have that coverage), or by going to the Community Hospital or Bacalar Med Walk-In Clinic near the plaza, as mentioned above. These diseases are spread by mosquito bites, so to reduce your chances of getting sick, particularly during the wetter months from about June through October, take an insect repellent with DEET, and apply it frequently. You can also buy clothes with insect repellent in the fibers that lasts through numerous washings, made for tropical travel. You can get a lightweight, long-sleeved shirt, and lightweight long pants. You can buy them online or at outdoor stores. If you get two or three shirts, and rinse them out in the shower at bedtime without using strong detergent, the repellent will last longer, and you can rotate the shirts so as to have insect protection throughout your trip.

You may have heard about the dry season, the rainy season, and the hurricane season in the tropics. These are monthly averages, not daily weather predictions. It rains on a number of days during the dry season, and it’s dry and sunny on a number of days during the rainy season. Even during the wetter months it rains less than half of the days of the month (unlike the rainy season in Seattle, for example). Hurricanes are now carefully tracked by government agencies, and their every movement is well publicized online. They move at only about 12 miles per hour across the ocean, so you get notified several days before they get to your area.

When it rains in the tropics, the air is still around room temperature, so it’s a good time to do watersports without getting sunburned. So at Camp Toucan we continue doing our activities rain or shine. Some people assume that it gets too hot during the summer, but because of the trade winds coming across the Caribbean and Lake Bacalar, it doesn’t get as hot as it does at summer camps in the midwestern U.S., in states such as Missouri and Nebraska.

During the drier months, from about November to May, you may feel no need for an insect repellent, or use just a natural repellent. During the wetter months, from about June through October, there are more bugs, but they are typically active only around dawn and dusk, and the local restaurants put out pots burning copal, a local aromatic wood, to help repel them. During those months, put on a stronger insect repellent with DEET, and when you go exploring, stay on wide, established paths and trails, rather than probing in the underbrush.

Since the weather and bugs are not so different in the different seasons of the year, Camp Toucan will be open year round, so you can come whenever your schedule allows a trip. If you don’t need to be home around the holidays, November through January is a good time to come. If you can take a winter break after the holidays, February through April is good. If you can only travel during the summer, May through August is indeed warmer than other months, but the days are longer and the watersports are good, and we adjust our land activities accordingly. September and October have more rainfall, but that’s okay for Spanish classes, Seminars, and watersports. So come whenever you can.

The first priority is to make sure your passport, and your other identification cards, and credit and debit cards, and some cash, are in your day pack or fanny pack, ready for the trip. Take photos of your cards with your cell phone, and make color photocopies to keep separately in your suitcase, in case your wallet gets stolen during the trip. (Some travelers take two or more wallets, one for each currency, and for duplicate identification cards and credit cards, so they will always be able to return home quickly in an emergency, even after a theft.) Also make sure each piece of luggage has an identification tag on the outside, and another tag on the inside in case the outer one gets torn off by automated baggage machinery. 

With a passport from the U.S. and a number of other countries, you will automatically get a visa for Mexico when you land at the airport in Mexico. Ask the passport officer to issue it for 6 months (as they usually do,) so in case of an unforeseen accident or problem during your trip, you will have plenty of time remaining on your visa. With passports from other countries, check the visa policies online, and ask your airline whether you need to obtain a visa for Mexico before flying.

For luggage, on this trip you don’t really need a full-size suitcase, full of clothes. If you thoughtfully pack some lightweight tropical clothing, a medium-size suitcase can be enough, or maybe even just a carry-on and a day-pack. (If you take just a carry-on, send it as checked baggage, if there’s a knife, scissors, or liquids over 3 ounces in it. See airline websites for other prohibited items.) It’s good to have TSA travel locks on your suitcase, so you can leave a camera, tablet, laptop, or cellphone locked in your suitcase when you are out.

Bacalar is warm and humid all year, so some people think your shirt or blouse should be made of cotton, or linen, to facilitate evaporation and cooling. Other people think those fibers just make the shirt stay unpleasantly damp all day, so they prefer synthetic fibers, but in the lightest, loosest weave available, allowing the most evaporation between fibers. Either way, it seems best to wear a loose, oversized shirt or blouse, designed to not tuck in, so air can circulate all day between the shirt and your skin, to help with evaporation. It can be a “Hawaiian shirt” with big flowers on it, or better yet, a mostly-white shirt, since white will better reflect the sun and stay a little cooler. Some people wear a tank top or halter top, thinking that will be cooler than a shirt or blouse, but that exposes your shoulders, back, and chest to the sun, so it tends to end up feeling hotter in sunshine. (And it tends to make you look sweaty all the time.) So a big, loose, light-colored shirt, of thin fabric, seems best. Some women wear thin tropical dresses that extend down to about their knees.

For pants, one pair of lightweight long pants will likely be enough for the trip. In town, shorts are acceptable everywhere (except in the most formal ceremonies). Tropical shorts, with zipper pockets for keys and wallets, are popular. As with your shirt or blouse, the shorts should be made of thin, breathable fabric, and be oversized, so air can circulate all day between your shorts and your skin, to help with evaporation. Some people wear thin long pants, to protect their legs from sun and insects, while others wear shorts and thin knee-length socks, then spray some insect repellent and sunscreen around their knees.

Thin quick-dry underwear, made of synthetic fibers, is better than regular cotton underwear, which tends to get damp (and stay damp) all day long.

For shoes, a low-top hiking shoe is practical for visiting ruins, trails, mountain biking, and walking on the bumpy sidewalks around town. Durable hiking sandals are also popular, perhaps with thin socks to prevent sunburned feet and ankles.

A broad-brimmed hat is needed when you are out in the sun for hours. It can be a flexible travel hat that you can fold and put in a day-pack when not needed. Or it can be a rigid tropical straw hat, if you treat it carefully. (Lots of them are sold locally near the plaza.)

Most people carry a day-pack, or a large fanny pack, for their cell phone or camera and other basics (and perhaps an energy bar or other snack). One item for your day-pack is a few paper napkins, and some toilet paper, in a small plastic bag, for public bathrooms that often don’t have those things available. Also a little bottle of hand sanitizer. Also a small microfiber towel. In the warm breezy air, a small towel such as this is usually all you need to dry yourself off after swimming (or sweaty activities). Your shorts themselves can be your swimsuit, or you can wear a brief swimsuit underneath your shorts, then when it’s time to swim, you remove the shorts, swim, and after swimming you stand around for a few minutes in the breezy air, using your little towel to dry off enough, then put your shorts back on (your swimsuit will continue to dry anyway). This avoids having to find a place to change clothes. (If you prefer to change clothes after swimming, bring a couple of plastic bags for your wet swimsuit and towel.)

For swimming and watersports in the lake, the keepers of Lake Bacalar ask you to not wear sunscreen, due to the delicate ecosystem of the lake. It tends to wash off too soon anyway, so to prevent sunburn, you need a long-sleeved swim shirt made of synthetic fiber (rather than a cotton T-shirt). It should be mostly white, to better reflect the sun, and be snug, not loose. While paddling or sailing, you periodically jump in the water for a minute to get it wet, then the evaporation keeps you cooler for a while longer. Some people also wear thin, snug-fitting, synthetic swim pants, for the same reasons.

To cover up your arms at night and in the early morning, during cool spells, you need one long-sleeved shirt, of synthetic fiber and medium weight, that you will keep dry during the trip.

Flashlights are important, since people tend to stay out well after dark, because it stays warm. It’s good to have a couple of small flashlights, and perhaps a small headlamp, preferably rechargeable. (The electric plugs and the current are the same as in the U.S. and Canada.)

Earplugs are also important, due to the possibility of barking dogs and late-night music, so buy some wax earplugs at almost any pharmacy. Since most buildings are open-air, you hear the sounds of the neighbors more than you would back home.

A cutting board and knife are handy to cut up fruit for a simple snack or meal, but make sure the knife is in your checked luggage for flights, not carry-on luggage.

For laundry, there are places in town where you can drop off your dirty clothes in the morning, then pick them up clean that evening or the next day. Another method is to rig up a little clothesline in your hotel room or balcony, wash out your thin, tropical clothes at bedtime, and hang them up to dry overnight with little plastic clothespins. Usually they won’t be dry until later the next day, and on rainy days it will take even longer, so you need two or more sets of clothes to rotate wearing. Since the climate is definitely tropical, there’s no doubt that your clothes will get sweaty during the day, but since almost every restaurant and meeting place is open-air and breezy, it matters less than it would back home. Whenever you take off a shirt or blouse that has gotten a little damp, hang it up inside out, to dry faster. You will likely want to shower at bedtime. In many places, the cold water is actually about right to shower in, with almost no hot water added.

Take small bottles of a couple of different kinds of body wash, shampoo, lotion, sunscreen, and insect repellent on the trip, so you can see which combinations you prefer. As noted earlier, you may find that a natural insect repellent, or no repellent, is enough for you during the drier months from November through May, while a repellent with DEET is needed during the wetter months from June through October.

For Spanish classes and seminars, bring a sturdy folder or slim 3-ring notebook, to hold various sheets of illustrated Spanish, and seminar illustrations and outlines, that you will receive. Include some blank paper for taking notes. For day-trips, you may want a smaller notebook that fits into a fanny pack, with a pen for taking notes and journaling your observations.

Also a pocket-size nature book (or online version on your cell phone) to help you identify tropical birds, animals, trees, and flowers, as you prefer.

Regarding Belize, you may wonder why there is no Camp Toucan day-trip to Belize, since the border is less than an hour away. The answer is that the parts of Belize that are of interest to travelers are much further south, too far to be practical as a day trip from Bacalar. (Though on Kayak and SUP Trip 3, you paddle down the Rio Hondo, which is the border between Belize and Mexico, so technically you paddle a little bit into Belize then back into Mexico.) It’s not worth the possibility of fouling up the visa for your stay in Mexico just to go into northern Belize for a few hours. It makes more sense for people to visit Belize separately, staying several nights, carefully planning how to stay overnight on the Cayes (which are very small islands about 10 to 30 kilometers from the main coast, with scarce lodging), or going to the mountains and other interesting places that are in the southern part of the country. You could do those things after a stay at Camp Toucan, in which case you could fly to the Cancun, Tulum, or Chetumal airport at the beginning of your trip, then fly home from Belize City. (Or vice versa.) Or you could just go to Belize on an entirely separate trip, with careful planning to stay in the places of interest, as noted above.