11 Nature Parks in Yucatán, Mexico: Map & Photos

11 parks and reserves

Yucatán has 11 parks and reserves with their own page on Puebloteca, near the Pueblos Mágicos of Espita, Sisal, and Motul. The closest to a pueblo is Reserva Estatal El Palmar, 17 km from Sisal; the farthest out is Las Coloradas, 74 km from Espita.

Parks and reserves are best on weekdays and early in the day. Bring water, and check the opening hours, since some close one day a week.

Best months, when most of these towns are dry with comfortable afternoons: Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec.

The Nature Parks 11

Reserva Estatal El Palmar · Nature reserve · 17 km from Sisal
The wetland reserve around Sisal: boat and kayak trips through mangroves to clear freshwater springs, with flamingos and herons.
San Crisanto · Nature reserve · 31 km from Motul
A coastal village whose community runs boat rides through mangrove channels to a freshwater spring, plus a coconut grove by the sea.
Celestún · Nature reserve · 51 km from Sisal
A fishing town at the mouth of a long estuary where cooperative boats take you to flocks of flamingos, mangrove springs and a bleached ghost forest.
Río Lagartos · Nature reserve · 67 km from Espita
A fishing village on a long coastal lagoon where boat tours go out to see flamingos, crocodiles and herons.
Las Coloradas · Nature reserve · 74 km from Espita
Shallow salt-works lagoons that turn bright pink, east of Río Lagartos; visits are guided and swimming is not allowed.
Arrecife Alacranes · Nature reserve · Progreso
The biggest coral reef in the southern Gulf of Mexico, a national park far off Progreso with five sandy islets, a lighthouse and diving on a remote reef.
El Corchito · Nature reserve · Progreso
A small mangrove reserve on the edge of Progreso, reached by a five-minute boat ride, with three clear freshwater pools to swim in and tame raccoons.
La Carbonera · Nature reserve · Hunucmá
Mangrove lagoon west of Chuburná, opened to the sea by Hurricane Gilbert, with flamingos, pelicans and the Dzul-Ha freshwater spring.
Punta Bachul · Nature reserve · San Felipe
A low, lonely cape on the sand bar west of San Felipe, used by fishermen's camps and visited by boat for birds, beach and quiet.
Reserva Cuxtal · Nature reserve · Mérida
Mérida's own protected forest just south of the city, which supplies about half its water and holds 161 bird species, old haciendas and Maya sites.
Reserva de la Biosfera Ría Lagartos · Nature reserve · Tizimín
Yucatán's eastern coastal wetland reserve, where most of the Caribbean's American flamingos nest; you explore it by guided boat from Río Lagartos.