Si’an Kaan Biosphere- A relaxing adventure on the shores of RivieraMaya.

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If you’re headed to the Riviera Maya in Mexico for a relaxing vacation, floating down the quiet, peaceful waters in the Si’an Kaan Biosphere is a perfect excursion to add to your itinerary.

Si’an Kaan literally means Born In Heaven and as you roll up the serene coast you’ll see why. Everything is peaceful, quiet & relaxing. It’s kind of like a really great yoga class minus the sweat and awkward positions. Instead of trying to get the perfect spot in class to lie down your yoga mat, you and your friends or family can take off on a boat ride through a Mayan ecological biosphere. You can feel the wind in your hair and the droplets of water as they splash around you.

After a few minutes boating through the open water in the reserve the guide will navigate the boat through a small opening in the tall reeds. Try to transport yourself back in time several hundred years  – you’ve just arrived to the waterways of the Mayans.

As the boat winds through the small, connected lagoon system you’ll learn about the history of Si’an Kaan and why it was so important to the Mayans.

The waterways of Si’an Kaan were created by the Mayans for use in transporting goods. As a result there are several old Mayan buildings within the reserve. You’ll be able to walk around and in what used to be the Mayan Customs House. I didn’t walk in too far because there are a lot of bats residing there now but in any case it was incredible to see an actual Mayan building that once played an important role in the history of Si’an Kaan reserve.

After exploring the Customs House you’ll be able to enjoy the most relaxing part of the tour which is the float down stream. You get to jump into what has to be some of the prettiest blue water in the world and while using your life jacket as a diaper (yes, literally putting your legs through the arms) you’ll bob through the reserve. Relaxed yet?

While bobbing away you can take the time to look for one of the 300 hundred species of birds in the reserve, chit chat with your friends, lie back and look at the sky or you can reflect on the fact that you are floating down an actual Mayan waterway. You can daydream about the canoes and people that floated down this lagoon hundreds of years before you.

Don’t worry – you don’t need to swim. The slow, peaceful pace of the current guides you along the biosphere and gives you plenty of time to notice the unique beauty in this area – enough to grant it a spot on the Unesco World Heritage list.

After your relaxing float you’ll get to head down a wooden walkway checking out the biosphere from land and on your return to shore you’ll be able to partake in another really unique activity – a walk through the jungle! This easy going walk will bring you to a tower perched over the trees which you are welcome to climb to get an overall view of this special place from above.

All in all, everyone had a great time on this tour, including me. I know I’ve said it before, but it was really relaxing. We took our tour with Si’an Kaan Tours and the tour was provided to us by the tourism board of Riviera Maya. The guides were friendly and knowledgeable and increased our understanding of why this area is so important culturally and ecologically to the Mayan people today. I highly recommend this tour if you are in the Riviera Maya and want an educational yet easy going activity.

In the photo’s below there are an array of characters – all of the hysterical bloggers I got to take this trip with: Roni Weiss, Nomadic Matt, Ryan Van Duzer, Ryan Whaley our lovely PR host, Itzel Mejia from the Riviera Maya tourism board and our Mayan tour guides. Carol Cain from New York City Mama was also on this journey but her and I were sitting next to each other and so I don’t have a picture of her! But I have many photos of her from other Riviera Maya adventures that will be coming out soon.

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*Please remember all photos on this website, unless otherwise noted, are copyrighted and property of Beers and Beans Travel Website, Nariko’ s Nest Weddings & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you do want to use one of them please contact me first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!