RFI: Yucatán (QRoo)
Hello,
Does anyone know any good cenotes for bats in the area around Tulum/playa del Carmen?I am staying with my family this week so won’t be able to do any side trips longer than a day but I’ll try to sneak out for a few hours here and there. If anyone has other advice or recommendations I am open to that as well, it will be my first time in Mexico. Maybe some scenic Mayan ruins I can convince them to visit which happen to have robust mammal populations?
No direct targets but will be looking out for dwarf porcupine, tamandua, paca, mouse opossums and other typical central am. lovelies. Already planned day trip to Cozumel for endemic raccoon/coati.
Thanks
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David Parnaby
We stayed at the Bahia resort in July 2022 (on the seaward side of the road), which was great for Coati, Agouti, Racoons and Yucatan Squirrels, along with single records of Paca and Virginia Opossum. As it was a family holiday, we were limited to a couple of days out looking for wildlife. We had a full day combining Coba (a really interesting archaeological site with plenty of birds, and Morelet’s Crocodiles in the lagoon opposite, but no mammals) with Punta Laguna where Central American Spider Monkey was easily observed, but we missed out on the Yucatan Black Howlers that can be seen there.
We also saw the bats in the reception of the resort (although didn’t know what they were, so thank you for that Jeff!). The best views we had of bats were at Dos Ojos Cenote, which we visited as part of a tourist trip to the Tulum Archaeological site. You can swim in the cenote and see the bats roosting a few metres above you (as well as nesting Cave Swallows). We think the bats there are Jamaican Fruit-eating Bats.
We’re heading back to Playa del Carmen next summer for another family trip, so we’d love to hear how you get on – especially as we’re also thinking of a trip to Cozumel.
Best wishes, David and Susannah-
aditnehra
Thanks very much both of you for the tips. I did not have very much success, not enough for a trip report here at least. For your playa del Carmen trip I’d recommend staying somewhere with a good amount of natural land, the place my parents picked did not have this which made finding animals less convenient since most of the habitat is privately owned by resorts and such. Agouti are common, as are Yucatán squirrel. I did not see Coati and raccoon in PDC but this is probably due to lack of nocturnal hours in the right areas. There are lots of free tailed bats around some of the fruiting trees fifth avenue during the first few hours after sunset. There is also a good tract of habitat by the reef – coco beach but it is private, although easy to sneak into and if you are caught just say you got lost and didnt see the fence. There is a small pond there where I had a crocodile, probably American and some decent birds. Did not get the Cozumel endemics because we got there late so all our time was spent on a snorkeling trip (recommend – amazing reefs, haggle with the tour operators to get a good pride and make sure they stop at Columbia reef). Overall could have done better with the mammals but not a bad way to spend the holiday
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JeffHigdon
My wife and I stayed at the Bahia Principe Luxury Sian Ka’An, between Akumal and Tulum, last fall (late September). It’s part of a complex of 4 resorts, with Sian Ka’an being the only one on the landward side of the highway. The other three are on the ocean side, all bigger, and much busier (and with kids, we picked the adults only one).
There is a small cenote between the main lobby building and the golf course at the adjacent Tulum Country Club. It’s fenced off, but you can see bats flying around the mouth. My detector (Echo Meter Touch 2 Pro) recorded bats there as Davy’s naked bats, Northern ghost bats, Mexican dog-faced bats, California myotis, and Greater sac-winged bats. The main building at the resort also has Velvety free-tailed bats roosting in the lobby. We visited Cenote Chukum on a day tour to Chichen Itza, but I didn’t see any bats there.
I saw deer on the golf course most nights, usually with my night-vision camera. Almost all were whitetail, but I did have a definite male brown brocket one night. I also saw agoutis, coatis, Yucatan squirrels and a gray fox on the resort. Also a frustratingly fleeting glimpse of a small arboreal mammal while spotlighting, that I wasn’t able to ID.
I don’t know if it’s possible to get access to the area without staying there, at either Sian Ka’An or one of the many options at the country club. But I assume it would be difficult.
Good luck!