Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve day trip from Playa del Carmen

The Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve

Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve day trip from Playa del Carmen was our first day trip since moving to our apartment here in Playa.  Though we had other places in mind as well, the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve topped our list.  Up until recently, the comfy buses were great for travel between cities and withing cities, but we knew we would see more if we rented a car.  The car we rented was a Nissan March, a smallish simple 4 door hatchback.  Robert did all the driving.

From Playa del Carmen, we headed south to Tulum.  The main beach road in Tulum, Avenida Coba, is also the highway that heads south into the biosphere reserve.  Robert’s goal for our day trip was to get as far as the Boca Paila bridge. 

The unpaved road was a bit rough.  Since the car was small, Robert drove slowly and very carefully.  That way, he managed to avoid bottoming out in holes, ridges or gullies on the road’s surface.  The road obviously had endured some rainstorms since the last grading, but recent days had been dry, so it was a perfect time to explore.  Although it isn’t that far from Tulum, it took about two hours of driving on the unpaved road to get to the bridge.  The foliage of the reserve is beautifully green, deep and dark.  I would have loved to walk a bit in the forest.  It appeared to me that the plants were bigger there, the fan palms had enormous fans, the pinnate palms were tall with deep green fronds.

Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve is not exactly as I expected, but lovely nonetheless!

I expected a park where we could get out and walk among the trees along the road and access the beach.  But through most of the zone, at least as far as the Boca Paila bridge, there was fencing near the road.  The fencing demarcated private or off-limit property, so that we could not access the beach on the one side nor the lagoon on the other.  Some of the properties had signs indicating they were lodges or guest houses of some sort.  There is a rustic restaurant in the reserve a few kilometers from the entrance.  We did go there.  At the restaurant, though we didn’t access the beach, it appeared that we could have walked down to it.  The picture below is of the beach from the dining area.

Since we had planned only a day trip, I hadn’t done research on staying in the Sian Ka’an biosphere reserve.  We do plan to visit Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve from Playa del Carmen again, but not for a day trip.  We will stay at Punta Allen, the end of the road settlement that offers various levels of lodging to visitors.  Next time, to get there, we will take public transportation, a tour, or rent a much sturdier vehicle.

The Puente Boca Paila was the turnaround point of our day trip. We stood on the bridge and took some photos.  It was a very hot afternoon. Although Robert would have gladly walked to the ocean on the nearby path, it was too hot for me to attempt it and waiting in the car would have even been hotter.  Next time we hope to choose a cooler day for our visit!