About 25 mi/40 km northwest of Chetumal is the town of Bacalar, home to Bacalar Lagoon (the second-largest lagoon in Mexico) and the Spanish-built Fort San Felipe (noted for its museum of weapons and military uniforms but not always open).
Bacalar is in the southeastern part of the Yucatan peninsula, a four-hour drive from the Cancun airport and a half-hour drive from the Chetumal airport.
Bacalar was named one of Mexico's Pueblos Magicos (magical towns) by the Secretary of Tourism. It is famed for its spectacular Laguna de Siete Colores (Lagoon of Seven Colors) and the historic Fort of San Felipe, dating from 1733, along with its Museum of Piracy. The lagoon, which is named for the many shades of blue in its crystalline waters, offers an array of watersports, including swimming, kayaking, waterskiing and pontoon boating.
Take time to visit the archaeological site of Dzibanche. During the classical Maya period, from AD 200 to 800, Dzibanche was a regional center so vast that it had 22 separate plazas; so far, only three have been excavated. Archaeologists postulate that priests walked some 1,800 mi/2,900 km from Teotihuacan, near Mexico City, to perform ceremonies at Building Six, a Teotihuacan-style stone base topped by a pyramid.
Dzibanche's Temple of the Cormorants has hollowed-out burial caves where lower-ranking nobles were interred. And inside the Temple of the Owl, archaeologists found a royal palace with gold from Oaxaca. Trading throughout the Maya area was extensive, and the temple itself is in the Peten architectural style, which is found as far away as Tikal in Guatemala.
About 40 mi/65 km west of Bacalar are the Maya ruins of Kohunlich, which include a temple with giant stucco masks. This city was occupied from the sixth to the 12th or 13th century and was subsequently abandoned. The Temple of the Masks was built about 1,500 years ago.
Also nearby are two other impressive Maya ruins, Becan and Chicanna. Becan flourished from AD 600 to 900, and about 50,000-60,000 people lived there. The site is famous for a unique moat that surrounds it and a covered stone passageway with false arches.
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