Destinations / Latin America
Put together personally by Yari Steennot
Mexico – Yucatán
Flamingos, Maya pyramids, cenotes and a Caribbean-blue lagoon
Brochure not opening? Email me and I will send it to you.
My recommended private route across the Yucatán Peninsula, away from the crowds. If your flight lands in time you go straight on to Río Lagartos (if you land late, you first spend a night close to Cancún airport). There you get unhurried days with thousands of flamingos and the pink waters of Las Coloradas, climb Maya temples at Ek Balam and Cobá, visit Chichén Itzá at opening time and stay in colonial Valladolid.
Highlights
- Three nights in Río Lagartos (two if you land late): a sunrise boat ride among the flamingos and a slow afternoon in colourful San Felipe
- The pink salt water of Las Coloradas
- Climbing Ek Balam and swimming in X'Canché cenote
- Chichén Itzá (World Heritage) at opening, before the crowds
- Three nights in colonial Valladolid, with a cooking class at a Maya family's home
- Tulum above the Caribbean Sea and floating through the canals of Sian Ka'an
- Bacalar's 'lagoon of seven colours' by sailboat
Day by day in the brochure (PDF)
For information only, not an offer yet
What I will arrange for you after launch
You travel, I arrange everything. You travel privately: no group and no fixed guide tagging along.
- Airport pickup and the transfer on your last day; the details are in the brochure.
- All hotels and guesthouses, booked in advance at the level you choose: Budget, Comfort or Premium.
- Transport on the ground: a rental car waiting for you (self-drive) or a private driver and private transfers. Domestic flights and trains where that makes sense.
- The activities and entrance fees on the route. Prefer a guide? I can add a local guide to any activity.
- Breakfast, and the meals at remote places with no alternative (such as a safari lodge, desert camp or yurt camp). For the other meals I give you my restaurant recommendations, but you choose completely freely where you eat.
- A personal intake, at your home or by video.
- A WhatsApp line with me, before and during your trip, and my personal 24/7 number.
- A call-back after your trip.
- Your international flight: after launch I will also book your flight for you. Prices on the site exclude the flight.
Travel whenever you like
Your dates are completely free: there are no fixed departure dates, you leave on the day that suits you. My recommended route takes 15 days. Shorter or longer is possible too; I adapt the route.
This is advice, not a rule. If you want to travel in another month, I tell you honestly what to expect (rain, heat, crowds) and adapt the route.
Price by level and transport
You choose the level of your hotels and how you get around. Same route, same care; only the hotels and the transport differ.
Estimated prices per person, based on 2 travellers, excl. international flight. Travelling solo, count on a supplement of roughly 58%. With four travellers the price per person drops by roughly 11%.
If you are interested, I am happy to send you the hotel guide with all the addresses.
More about self-drive and the private driver on this route
Self-drive
Yucatán is very well suited to self-drive: roads are flat, straight and good, and distances are short. If your flight lands in time, you collect your rental car at Cancún airport on day 1 and drive to Río Lagartos in daylight. If you land late, a driver takes you to a hotel close to the airport and your rental car is delivered there the next morning (day 2). You return it at Cancún airport on day 14, so there is no one-way fee. Your Belgian licence is sufficient and you drive on the right. Watch out for speed bumps (topes), do not drive after dark and never leave anything visible in the car: the Belgian FPS Foreign Affairs reports thefts from rental cars in Quintana Roo and police officers asking for money. Full insurance is included in the price; fuel, tolls (approx. €20 per trip on the Cancún–Valladolid motorway) and parking are paid by you.
Private driver
With a private driver you do not have to worry about anything. A licensed driver with an air-conditioned vehicle takes you from hotel to hotel and, on excursion days, to the sites and cenotes; he waits while you visit. Usually it is the same driver for the Yucatán part and a second one for the coast. He speaks Spanish and often some English; at the sites you explore at your own pace, or with a guide if you like. In Playa del Carmen, Tulum and Bacalar you do a lot on foot, by bike or by taxi.
Flight & price
After launch I will also book your flight for you. The prices on this page exclude the international flight.
Return flight Brussels–Cancún not included: allow about € 570–850 p.p. depending on the month (most expensive in summer and around the holidays). After launch I will find you the best flight with your proposal.
Indicative price (estimate) per person based on 2 travellers, excl. international flight. This is not an offer: nothing is being sold yet. Indicative price (estimate), not an offer. In high season the price can be higher, in low season lower. All prices are indicative estimates, not an offer. Nothing is being sold yet; after launch you receive a no-obligation proposal with the price of that moment.
Travelling responsibly
We skip the big all-inclusive resorts and choose small hotels in Valladolid, Río Lagartos and Bacalar. Cenotes and excursions in Sian Ka'an and Río Lagartos are run with community cooperatives so income stays in the villages. We ask for biodegradable sunscreen and distance from flamingos and turtles, and we advise travelling outside hurricane and sargassum season. We do not build the new Tren Maya into the route where it runs through fragile jungle and cave areas, and we inform travellers honestly about the debate around it.