Mexico - Northern Yucatan - October 2024 - Itinerary and logistics

Northern Yucatan Peninsula, 10th - 15th October 2024

Fancy a bit of winter sunshine and some easy neotropical birding? Mexico has the answer. This is what I said last time of a trip in January 2023, and I found the same thing to be true last October. On that trip the original plan had to been to drive a large clockwise circle from Cancun to Calakmul via Chetamul and then back via Merida and Rio Lagartos. In the event we decided we did not have quite enough time and returned from Calakmul the way we had come. But Mick and I pledged there and then that we would be back to bird the northern half of the peninsula as soon as we could make it work. 

A good excuse to go back and head west to Rio Lagartos and Chichen-Itza, and possibly spend a day on Cozumel for the endemics on the way back.

It took us a year and a half, but this trip report is the result of that decision. There are a suite of different species up on the northern coast, including a small number of endemics, and of course Cozumel island has three (now four, but perhaps one of the original three is gone) endemics as well. Our original plan had been to do Cozumel on the final day, but before we left we decided to go immediately and thus take ferries out of any mucked-up transport equations that could risk our return flight. We had also planned to go a lot further west than Rio Lagartos, including to Progreso and Celestun, but in the event we saw most if not all of our targets at the first stop and decided against the extra driving.

Logistics

• A six day trip in mid October.

• Flights: from Gatwick to Cancun on British Airways. Outbound it is an early afternoon flight that gets you there early evening. Early enough that you can get a sensible distance away from Cancun and still have dinner. The return flight left at 6pm and landed in London in the morning. 

• Car Hire: Avis as part of a package. Can't remember the model, but a regular car rather than a 4x4 which is not necessary in this area. We also hired a car on Cozumel which was a total rip-off in local terms but wasn't too bad through a western lens. It did the job. It is recommened to go as a foot passenger rather than take your mainland hire car, which may in any event not be allowed.

• Driving: No hassle other than one encounter with corrupt policeman whilst driving in the dark near Playa del Carmem. They invented a speeding ticket and took all our money.
• Weather: We travelled during the Atlantic hurricane season which we stupidly did not consider at the time of booking. A day before we arrived in Cancun Hurricane Milton skirted along the top of the Yucatan before heading towards Florida. This made for a very anxious few days given our plans, mercifully however it stayed slightly offshore. On the west coast, Celestun was evacuated due to flooding. This had been in our original plans but we never ended up going that far across for other reasons. By the time we got up to Rio Lagartos two days afterwards the weather was lovely with almost no signs of a storm of this magnitude. But I would think twice before going to this area again at this time of year, especially as hurricanes are increasing in both frequency and intensity. 

• Accommodation: We booked the first three nights in advance and then played it by ear. The first two nights were the Hotel Real del Mayab at Playa del Carmen, very close to the Cozumel catamaran, and which had parking for our car. Night three was up at the Hotel San Felipe de Jesus near Rio Lagartos , and where we ended up staying two nights rather than just one. From there on we made it up using booking.com.

• Food: Very straightforward. Cheap and mostly very good, we ate at our hotel at San Felipe which was excellent, simply superb fish. We also visited our favourite truck stop near Tulum for another round of vegetable tacos.
• Optics: This time I brought a scope for birding on the coast, and was glad I did. It's not necessary if you are only contemplating forest birding.

• Literature: The Birds of Mexico and Adjacent Areas, 3rd Edition, E P Edwards & E M Butler (Corrie Herring Books), and of course the incomparable eBird which gave us loads of good information about where to go.

Itinerary
Day 0: Arrived in Cancun early evening and drove south to a hotel in Playa del Carmen chosen specifically for its location close to the Cozumel catamaran departure pier. It also had parking for the car. We booked our ferry tickets with Xcaret in a mall near the pier that evening.
Day 1: Cozumel. We caught the first Xcaret sailing of the day and arranged a car at the Playa del Carmen pier whilst waiting for it. In retrospect we should have waited for more options on the other side. All day on Cozumel birding based on gen as to where to find the endemics. It was really difficult but we just about scraped through! A car is pretty essential on the island if you are birding different locations and we only found the Cozumel Emerald some distance away from the main town. Early evening catamaran back (it takes under an hour) and then back to the same hotel for a second night.
Day 2: Early morning start on the Camino Akumal, delayed by a brush with some policemen who recognised us as an easy target. From there inland to Coba archaeological site. All morning at Coba. After lunch by the Laguna the heat of the day was spent driving north to Rio Lagartos via Tizimin. We arrived in time for some excellent birding along the Camino San Felipe. Overnight on the coast at San Felipe.
Day 3: All day birding around Rio Lagartos, including the salt pans at Las Coloradas. The birding up here was so good that we decided to stay a futher night at the hotel so we could repeat it again the following morning.
Day 4: Morning around Rio Lagartos. Mid-morning we moved south to Xocen close to Valladolid to bird several promising looking tracks found via eBird. Evening drive to Tulum, booking a hotel en route.
Day 5: Early morning at the brand new Quintana Roo airport south of Tulum, like Mayan ruins another way to get into the jungle - gigantic roads have been drilled in and even those right next to the airport had tons of birds.  Mid-morning we then birded the village at Muyil, however the ruins were closed whilst renovations to the entrance took place. We did sneak into the boardwalk behind the ruins which you can access from the lagoon but it wasn't very productive. Hotel for the night was the magnificent Wakax Hacienda, by some margin the most expensive night of the trip, but it had huge grounds, an amazing bird list, and we we could leave for the airport directly. We birded this for most of the afternoon and then had an excellent dinner.

Day 6: All morning birding Wakax with a break for breakfast. We were then able to freshen up, pack, and drive up to Cancun for mid-afternoon to catch our early evening flight. Overnight to London and straight to work.