After a while of living in Playa del Carmen, we feel like we have seen and done everything that should be done in the area, we think that cenotes, beach in Playa, Mayan Ruins are all there is to see, however there are other places you can visit that are awesome!
An amazing place that we discovered one day driving around Tulum was Sian Ka An and Punta Allen!
Sian Ka An
This is a biosphere reserve located in the municipality of Tulum, it’s a short 30 minute drive to the entrance of this magical paradise, there is nothing but quiet and peace once you drive past the entrance point, we highly recommend to rent a jeep because the road is quite bumpy!
The first think you will see once you enter Sian Ka An is green everywhere and if you look closely, there are areas where you can see the beautiful caribbean waters, if you drive for 5 minutes, on your left you will see the beach, however most of this beach is privately owned or protected, so no access.
Enjoy the setting and keep driving to the bridge point for about 30 minutes or so where you will see the sea on one side and a lagoon on the other, fresh water and salt water meeting each other, the right side of the bridge is a crocodile zone! So don’t be daring and jump, it’s not considered too safe!
Here is a list of the species found in Sian Ka An
Source of info on species recorded: Wikipedia
- Alouatta pigra (Yucatán black howler monkey)
- Amazona xantholora (yellow-lored amazon)
- Ardea herodias (great blue heron)
- Ateles geoffroyi (Geoffroy’s spider monkey)
- Crocodylus acutus (American crocodile)
- Crocodylus moreletii (Morelet’s crocodile)
- Ctenosaura similis (black iguana)
- Cuniculus paca (spotted paca)
- Dasyprocta punctata (Central American agouti)
- Eira barbara (tayra)
- Fregata magnificens (magnificent frigatebird)
- Jabiru mycteria (jabiru)
- Leopardus pardalis (ocelot)
- Leopardus wiedii (margay)
- Meleagris ocellata (ocellated turkey)
- Mycteria americana (wood stork)
- Nasua narica (white-nosed coati)
- Panthera onca (jaguar)
- Pelecanus occidentalis (brown pelican)
- Phalacrocorax brasilianus (neotropic cormorant)
- Phoenicopterus ruber (American flamingo)
- Potos flavus (kinkajou)
- Puma concolor (puma)
- Puma yagouaroundi (jaguarundi)
- Ramphastos sulfuratus (keel-billed toucan)
- Sarcoramphus papa (king vulture)
- Tamandua tetradactyla (tamandua)
- Tapirus bairdii (Baird’s tapir)
- Tayassu pecari (white-lipped peccary)
Keep driving for about an hour or so and you will get to Punta Allen!
Punta Allen
Punta Allen is the largest village found in Sian Ka An, it is known to be a fishing village, in this place you will have the best fresh seafood that you could find anywhere, this is a very small village and it only has 4 mini markets, a fresh seafood store, a produce store, a little lobster market place, and very few restaurants along the beach, it is a beautiful place to enjoy a hot day, activities that can be done here are: Fly fishing, fishing, kayaking, swimming, boat rides, scuba diving, snorkeling and bird watching!
Enjoy the Riviera Maya to the fullest and don’t settle for doing the conventional things everyone does! Live Playa! Live the adventure!
