Sian Ka’an Reserve Tour with Boat Trip

Het waren twee boottochten. Een boottocht was door de mangrovebossen heen, waarbij je zo hard vaarde, dat je van de omgeving niet veel kon zien. We zijn heel even gestopt, bij een broedplaats van 2 verschillende vogels, waarna we weer hard doorvaarde. Bij de tweede boottocht gingen we de open zee op, opzoek naar dolfijnen en schildpadden. Wij hebben beide dieren gezien, maar van een grote afstand. Daarna hebben we kort gesnorkeld bij een koraalrif, wat eigenlijk voor het grootste gedeelte al kapot/vergaan is. Als laatste hebben we kort gezwommen bij een stuk strand. Als laatste nog heel belangrijk, in de omschrijving staat dat je je mag insmeren met biologisch afbreekbaar zonnenbrand, maar dit mag absoluut niet. Zorg dus dat als je deze excursie gaat doen, je een t-shirt meehebt voor het zwemmen en op de boot.

The range of activities for the day was excellent. We loved the speedboat through the mangroves and all the wildlife we saw. We also really enjoyed seeing a normal Mexican village and the food was lovely. The day was spoilt from being excellent for us by a couple of things. Firstly, the “beach stop” needs to be called something else as we were looking forward to relaxing on a beach for a bit and instead we had the option to swim in shallow water a way from the beach. This seemed rather pointless when we’d just been snorkelling and also was not what we had expected. Secondly, the snorkelling was horrible down to the guide. Once we were in the water instead of being able to relax and enjoy the snorkelling she took us on a swim one way and then back at such a pace that it felt more like an enforced March and didn’t give us any time to enjoy it. My partner is not the strongest of swimmers so I was more worried about him being left behind as I struggled to keep up with the pace. There was also a Spanish lady with the group who had been left behind and so I waited to make sure she was ok. It turned out she had been hit in the head by a flipper and was struggling but Olga was nowhere in sight. I stayed with her to make sure she got back to the group ok. I hate to think what could have happened if it had been worse or I had not waited. When back on the boat she told Olga what had happened she didn’t seem overly bothered and at no point later on in the day checked if she was ok. This event spoilt my whole enjoyment of the rest of the day and turned what should have been a 5* day out into something a lot less.