Today we’re heading toward the Natural Reserve of Sian Ka’an (meaning “gate to heaven” in mayan) to explore ruins, swim in lagoons and hopefully enjoy the magic atmosphere surrounding the place. Ready for another adventure! Only 20min away from Tulum (you can also take the bus and ask to be dropped off in front of “Mujil Ruins”) it’s a MUST-SEE if you’re around the area. At the entrance of the reserve, the first thing you’ll see are the Mujil Ruins, a small but worthy archaeological site (entrance 38MXN) which can be visited in a little more than 30min.
The ruins are connected to the reserve but there are two VERY different options on how to reach it. You could ask at the ruins entrance for someone that can drive you there (taxi or similar) costing you 50MXN or you could walk through a 30min beautiful wooden path into the jungle for the same price (what we did). Needless to say that while walking we get to see not only a great variety of birds but also turtles, butterflies and even heard some monkeys in the distance. But this is not all, nearly halfway-through the path you can also climb up to an elevated mirador… impressive! If you’re not good with heights, it can be challenging as the wooden steps are incredibly steep but once on the top, the views are simply breathtaking!
Once to the lagoon Muyil, we see several boats tied at a small pier all waiting for tourists. Unfortunately, as we were told at the entrance of the ruins, there is just one fixed price for the “Lagoon Tour” (floating in the river + boat transport) which is 600MXN per person. Sad to say “more money, more adventure” but here seems to be the case… Thankfully our captain is very funny and immediately welcome us in his boat like only old friend would do!
Right after leaving the pier, we start to speed up toward what looks like just grass to us but “a small canal” to our captain, which connects the smaller lagoon to the bigger Chunyaxchélagoon. Since this area used to be populated by maya, it is scattered of small sweet-water canals (and for this the water is crystal-clear) that used to be used for trading back in the past. And here is where the best part of the tour is! On this small canal, there is another pier where the captain drop us off and give us two lifejackets, telling us that we can take a dip there and let ourselves float till the end of the canal where he will be waiting for us. This little swimming-time is simply gorgeous! The lifejackets hold us on the surface while the slow but constant current does the rest, pushing us forward through beautiful sceneries, hidden fauna and crystal clear waters showing every last tiny detail. What a great feeling of LIFE!
After an hour, our relaxation time is over and our captain pick us up ready for getting back to land. The ride back is another gift of the day; the sunset starts to come out, the sky turns into an orange tint and the breeze of the boat speeding up through the lagoons make us feel like never before. Some things are difficult to be explained with words, you just have to live them… and this is one of them! The magic of Mexico has managed to make its way through ourselves and show us the beauty of an incredible country.
It is the truth: Sian Ka’an really is the gate to heaven.
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