Jardín Botanico Dr. Alfredo Barrera Marín — Attraction in Quintana Roo

A hidden gem for the type of tourist that isn't into the whole polished and artificial air of parks like Xcaret and the like. This place has had the same entrance fee of 120 pesos for years. Here you are able to see all kinds of flora and fauna wild and free, the way they are supposed to be. Spider monkey groups roam the trees and are unafraid and look at you curiously from the trees. Some lemurs roam the jungle, as do some mammals that look like or small capybaras or huge guinea pigs. Its also filled with iguanas and lizards of many kinds and sizes. There's a huge variety of birds and butterflies and you're offered some orientation sheets to identify them while you explore.

PLEASE do not try to feed the animals. They are free and wild. By feeding you harm them by making them dependant or by poisoning them with inadequate food.

All descriptions of flora, fauna, and some mayan culture are provided in spanish and english, some in the mayan language. The park offers an around 2 hour long walk where you pass through whats left of passable real jungle, since from Cancun to Tulum its either hotels or fenced and guarded jungle. They offer several small houses with free water and a seats to rest. They have an ecological dry toilet ( paper goes in the waste bin, and you take a small shovel of woodchips to throw into the bowel after you've finished your business)

Bring some repellant, depending on the season it can be chokeful of mosquitos. They offer natural and pretty effective repellant at the entrance though.

This place is truly a hidden gem that should be visited if youre interested in local flora and fauna that isn't locked away for thousands of people to stare at everyday.

When you visit be respectful with the nature and don't litter or go into places where you're not...

Beautiful walk with lots of flora, fauna, and fungi. It was beautiful to read about the history and ecology of the area through the interpretive signs and made me think deeply about the ancestral roots of the region, communal living, capitalism, and food as medicine. I thought the park was very thoughtfully laid out with informational archeological sites, beautiful orchid displays, and poetic thought provoking questions around every corner. Entry fee was not expensive ($120 pesos/person) and we easily spent 1.5hrs exploring. Staff was incredibly friendly, bilingual (at least) held our luggage (at no charge) while we walked and called a taxi for us to leave. We saw no other tourists while there so it felt like a private jungle adventure. We in retrospect would have enjoyed our visit more had we brought some water with us.thankfully we did have bug-spray but compared to the bugs in Coastal GA, USA it was not bad. We did not see monkeys (I hoped!) but many other beautiful wildlife, plants,...

Suspended boardwalks through the canopy, palms that have been around since the dinosaur age and an awesome guided walk with a botanist through the bio-diverse botanical gardens made this the best thing we did in Puerto Morelos. We hugged the oldest (300yr old) tree there and he included local Maya legends, showed us medicinal and edible plants (we even ate some) and had fun exploring a bubble gum tree camp. Mangrove boardwalks, climbing observation towers for a 360 degree view all the way out to the ocean and seeing evidence of how the jungle survived a hurricane made this an awesome morning. I would highly recommend spending some time there and paying for the guide as it makes it a magical experience rather just a nice stroll through the jungle. On a side note, make sure you have some mosquito spray because down near the mangroves they can get...