San Felipe (Yucatan), is a small fishing village on the north coast of Yucatan. It is particularly known as the gateway to the Rio Lagartos Biopshere, an important area of natural beauty and one of the best places to visit on the Yucatán Peninsula if you’re looking for a nature getaway.

It’s perfectly possible to visit San Felipe as a day trip from either Mérida or Valladolid but I recommend spending a few days in the area and getting to know San Felipe and the neighbouring villages of Las Coloradas, Río Lagartos and El Cuyo.

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Why do people visit San Felipe, Yucatan?

Honestly not that many people do visit San Felipe unless they’re serious nature lovers or extremely curious about this isolated section of the north Yucatán coast. That’s what makes it so excellent. Come to chill out, take a boat tour, see the beach and more.

Where is San Felipe, Yucatan?

San Felipe is a tiny little village at the entrance to the Rio Lagartos nature reserve. 

🚗 From Merida, it takes just under 3 hours via Tizimin and then up the 295. 

🚗 From Valladolid to San Felipe takes around 1hr40, also via Tizimin. 

🚗 From Cancun, Playa del Carmen or Tulum you’d need to get to Tizimin and head up on the same 295 road.

🚌 If you want to use public transport to get to San Felipe, Yucatan, get yourself to Tizimin and then from Tizimin you would need to take a bus from the terminal Noreste direction Rio Lagartos and get off in San Felipe.

➡️ Let’s talk safety in Yucatán for a second. Yucatán is Mexico’s safest state, making it a perfect spot for a vacation.

What is there to do in San Felipe, Yucatan?

There’s very little to do in San Felipe, which is what makes it so wonderful. This is a place to come and take it easy.

Walk around San Felipe

👣 First off, take a stroll around, enjoy the atmosphere in this teeny-tiny village. Marvel at the brightly painted wooden houses you see everywhere. Apparently they are made of specific hardwoods that termites don’t enjoy eating. 

👣 At the entrance to the village is a stunning looking cemetery so definitely stop for a moment to take a look around. 

👣 Walk along the malecon (boardwalk), watching the local fishermen returning with their catch.

➕ If you’re staying the night, be sure to get out for sunset.

Take a boat tour

From a large palapa-ed building at one end of the malecon (near the San Felipe letters), you can pick up a boat tour organised by the local fisherman collective.

What are the boat tour options from San Felipe, Yucatan?

Beach Trip

San Felipe is a tricky bugger. It lures you in with the promise of a beach. You get there and find there’s no damn beach.

Why?

Because it’s a boat ride away, to a small island, which is truly fun and exciting but if you don’t know it’s also confusing. (both times I’ve been I’ve had people stop me to ask how to find the beach)

The beach island is nice. The water is extremely shallow and warm and kids love exploring and splashing around this almost private beach. There are shaded palapas on the beach and there is a small shack selling drinks but take anything else you might need with you.

Ojo de Agua (Kambulnah)

The boat takes you to the starting point of the walk through the mangrove on a wooden boardwalk around the Ojo de Agua. It doesn’t take long to walk around, but it is a beautiful walk and the guides are informative and very happy to chat about the mangrove and the animals you might see.

There are two crocodiles that live around this water hole. It isn’t guaranteed that they’ll be spotted but MexicoCassie has eagle eyes and, whooo, we saw one. It was right at our feet.

We also saw dozens of crabs, grasshoppers and beautiful dragonflies. It was fabulous.

Isla Cerritos

Isla Cerritos was an incredibly important Maya site for the rulers of Chichen Itza. From this small island, the Chichen Itza empire controlled the trade networks of the region. Over 50,000 objects have been found on the island and it was once covered in buildings.

Today, Isla Cerritos is part of the biosphere and actually known as an important bird island/sanctuary. You can see cormorants, frigates, pelicans (there are white pelicans in winter too), flamingos and a whole host of birds whose names I can’t translate from Spanish. We didn’t actually land on the island because there are so many birds and I also suspect you aren’t permitted to do so since it’s part of the protected biosphere.

We had a long chat about the Maya site with our guide and discovered that in 2008, or thereabouts, archaeologists uncovered all the ruins, checked them out, took away all the artefacts and re-covered all the ruins. Our guide told us there were 32 small pyramids on the island.

Las Coloradas (Pink Salt Lakes)

While most of the biosphere/salt lake tours start from Rio Lagartos or Las Coloradas itself, it is also possible to arrange that tour from San Felipe. We took a boat tour through the mangrove to Las Coloradas on our second visit: we saw crocodiles, multiple birds and the pink waters.

➕ There are also flamingo spotting tours available from here and fishing tours for those who enjoy sport fishing can be arranged too.

Where To Eat In San Felipe, Yucatan

San Felipe, Yucatan is known as a good place to go for excellent seafood and everyone recommends Restaurante Vaselina on the malecon. I’ve eaten there twice and entirely agree that the food is great – try the coconut prawns. 

What else to do in / around San Felipe, Yucatan

⭐️ Check out the most beautiful beach at El Cuyo

⭐️Take a trip to Las Coloradas

⭐️ Explore the weird and wonderful town of Tizimin

⭐️ Head into Quintana Roo to check out Holbox

⭐️ If you have time, drive the 90 minutes to Dzilam de Bravo, one of my other favourite beach villages in Yucatán.

Where To Stay In San Felipe, Yucatan

Most people don’t tend to stay in San Felipe, they head on over to Rio Lagartos where there are plenty of hotel options.