|
 The
laguna of Bacalar
You can also look at the Milagros lagoon, close to Bacalar.
380 km (222miles) from Cancun. This city has no interest except being the gate to Belize and Guatemala. With 200,000 inhabitants, Chetumal looks like it is: the most important eastern point and the furthest from Mexico City. Since Quintana Roo is rich in precious tropical essences, mahogany, “zapote”, etc. Wood is both the object of the local industry and the main construction material. The wooden buildings predominate in town ; most of them were built after the 1955 hurricane but the dilapidated aspect reminds you that the wood business is not the main activity of the city. Chetumal was a tax free seaport, well located between Puerto Juárez and the main entrance in Belize, on the opposite side of the river Río Hondo but the city lost its statute of duty-free zone, since1994, in favor of Belize.
Banco Chinchorro biosphere reserve
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33km (20miles) from Chetumal, a detour leads to the sublime blue
Cenote Azul, close to Bacalar. You can enjoy swimming in this
90m (295 feet) deep ! 
If you have some time, go to the Museum of Mayan Culture at the
corner of Avenue Héroes and street Mahatma Gandhi. Many
models of cities and Mayan buildings are on display. (Open 9AM-7PM,
Tue-Thu and Sunday and 9AM-8PM, Friday and Saturday, MXN$50).
It is really a nice museum.
The reserve is located in the Caribbean Sea, 31km (19miles) east
of the coastal city Mahahual, the closest continental point. Mahahual
is located northeast of Chetumal. The reserve is separated from
the coast by a 100m (328 feet) deep canal. It extends over a surface
of 144 360 ha (356,721 acre), with only 0.4% above water. It is
part of the Meso-American reef system. Located out at sea, it emerges
like a reef lagoon which, because of its low shallow and the coral
reef, provokes swell movements and processes of sedimentation. The
reef protects the coast from the tropical storms and cyclones. The
ecosystems, linked to fish breeding and reproduction and propagation
of economical and ecological value species, are made of coral reefs,
sea grass, sandbanks, rocky islets, lowlands covered with shrubs
and sandy beaches. The research made in the reserve allows to list
778 species: 58% belong to marine fauna, 14% to terrestrial fauna,
18% to marine flora and 10% to terrestrial flora. The marine fauna
comprises 95 coral species. Due to the coral topography, a large
diversity of habitats co-exists. Fishing is the most important economical
activity but it is under very strict regulations. You can find conch
(strombus gigas) and lobster (panulirus argus). This reserve is
also a big boat cemetery. There are 44 wrecks, among them 33 «
sunk » between the sixteenth and twentieth century, are listed
on a map based on bibliographic sources. 
