Guardianes de los Manglares de Dzinintún recorridos en Canoa y Kayak en Celestún — Attraction in Celestún

Our visit to the Celestun Mangroves and Reserve was a very rewarding experience.

The Guardians of the Dzinitún Mangroves captivated us with their work and preparation, a demonstration of the importance of teamwork and community work.

Our contact via WhatsApp was simple and very fast, we agreed on the time and date and the link was shared with us so we could enter it into the browser. Our accommodation was in the city of Merida and from there it was a trip of approximately 90 minutes by car.

The Guardians' suggestion was to start the tour at dawn, which surely would have been something very interesting and beautiful, but we did not dare to drive in the dark from Merida to Celestun. Here it would be highly recommended that if someone wants to do a tour at dawn they can stay in Celestun to avoid risks on the road. The risks I am referring to are generally the speed bumps and potholes on the road that can be difficult to see in time in the dark, and the animals (livestock) that sometimes cross or are on the roads, as well as some road users in cars, motorcycles and bicycles who are on the road very early in the morning on their way to their work destinations with few or no lights at all (this may be more common than you think).

Our tour started at 08:30 and our guides were prepared to receive us with mosquito protection equipment (mosquitos abound in the estuaries). We kindly requested a guide the day before who could speak English and be patient with the children. Our guides Henrry (bilingual) and Octavio (Spanish) explained to us from the beginning of our tour about everything we saw, about the work of the last years in the reserve, their plans, dreams and projects. The Guardians are in contact with organizations around the world that support their projects, fortunately and this is very comforting, you can see and verify that the Guardians make good use of these resources and work hard.

The tour through the waters of the estuaries was very pleasant, we were able to see some birds, see different types of mangroves and see many insects. The visual spectacle was very pleasant and the quietness of the reserve was wonderful. The rowboats that the guides use provide the opportunity to interact with the surroundings without causing major disturbances with the sounds of the engines. The boats are for a maximum of 3 passengers, the seats can be a little hard (especially for older adults) so a cushion is a good idea.

At the end of our tour, we told the guides that on the detour from the main road that leads to the town of Celestun onto the road that led us to the starting point of the tour with the Guardians, we saw some houses with excessive garbage in front of their doors and neighboring areas. They comment that it is still difficult to make some people understand about sanitation and environmental protection. I mention this because it can be an unpleasant surprise to see this when one goes on a tour with the idea of ​​enjoying nature. The Guardians recommended a very good restaurant on the beach of Celestun where we could eat lunch and allow the children to swim.

Our morning and a midday in Celestun were...

Definitely a 5 star tour through an amazing ecosystem, with caring and professional guides! Definetly recommended for birders! Do not take the motor boats!

We started the 3h tour before sunrise at 5:30 am because the birds are more active then. You could choose between a kayak for two or a canoe for 4 (including the guide). In this case, we took the canoe as I had my DSLR camera (but unfortunately no good tele lense) with me and wanted to take photos. That is easier in a canoe as the guide is the one pushing the boat with a long stick, and other passengers do not need to paddle.

After getting a head light and a mosquito shirt (mosquitos were not extremely bad but a cover for the face was nice) we walked down a wooden path through the mangroves and the guide started telling us about the forest and the ecosystem. Whenever he saw an animal, he also showed it to us and told us about it.

The canoe tour started in the middle of the forest, and a small canal led out to a lagoon where we watched the sunrise. On the way, we already saw a kingfisher, several herons, and other birds, as well as spiders and cocoons of butterflies. At the lagoons, many more birds were flying over our heads or were sitting in the trees, spoonbills, flamingos, fregatte birds, vultures, and ospreys. Then we were brought to the sleeping grounds of the flamingos where we saw really many of them. It was very quiet and idyllic, just awesome.

The tour ended at a different location. We took another wooden path from the edge of the forest through the forest to the other side. During that walk, we saw some insects like cockroaches and a praying mantis. Additionally, our guide showed us what the guardians have done and still do to save the mangroves and even reforest some parts after a catastrophic hurricane. We waited for about 5 minutes at a small lake with many birds, including flamingos, pelicans, cormorants, and herons. From there, we got a small ride on a motorized small vehicle with three wheels, which are typical for this region. On the way, our guide even stopped the vehicle at a point where he knew was a hummingbird nest. Unfortunately, the mother bird was not present but an egg and a fresh hatchling. So cute!

We did not see a crocodile or a snake but only birds and spiders. Still, it is worth it even though we hoped to see these animals as well. Sometimes, you need to be lucky :)

We often heard motor boards with their loud engines, and then I was very happy about the decision to do the canoe/kayak tour instead. It is a lot more ecological, and you do see a lot more birds. We were also able to get to some parts of the forest that were too shallow for motor boats. Lastly, we also saw needle fishes, puffer fishes, and baby sting rays in the shallow water. Definitely do not do a motor boat tour if you do not want to miss out!

Many thanks to our guide and the guardians for offering this amazing tour. It was worth...

We came to CELESTÚN and we wanted to see flamingos for sure, but we didn’t wanted to do Motorboot tour. Then we find this different opportunity, and we are totally happy that we did. I never do Tour in holiday, but I am so so so happy that we did this time with them. We wrote Jose on Sunday evening and we could make reservation for Monday morning. (5:30) which was really smooth. Jose kindly booked our tour with Marcos and he explained everything. He was super guide! Only beautiful shapes of mangrove made us super happy… after 5 min moving with canoe, we were „oh we don’t need anymore.. it’s amazing enough…“ But it continued…!!! Many beautiful birds, and sunrise in silence… I felt like I’m moving inside of painting of Claude Monet… after sunrise we went back to mangrove. It was interesting to watch mangrove in different lights. (moonlight and sunlight) there was little crocodile too. We came back to start point and thought it’s the end but it wasn’t, he brought us to the view point of birds. There were a lot of flamingos, different type of pelicans and black bird with red ball in neck…! Marco told us that the other side of street was also big lake in a past, but it sadly dried, so Marco and group started to plant trees 20 years ago. There is slowly water coming back and we saw some birds there too. It moved my heart to listen that people from this group are growing up this area and played there as a child. And now they are trying to protect beautiful nature. So they do canoe tour, they plants, and they also give education to local children. Amazing place, amazing people, amazing tour. You will be more than happy to take this tour, super...