Episode 32: Escape to Bacalar - Mexico’s Lakeside Oasis

This week, Jim Santos talks to International Living Mexico Correspondent Bel Woodhouse about her article in the March 2023 issue of International Living magazine ‘Escape to Bacalar—Mexico's Lakeside Oasis’. 

Mexico’s Riviera Maya—the stretch of coastline and tropical forest from Cancún in the north to the border with Belize to the south—is, for many, their first experience of Mexico. It’s a heavenly part of the world, with the wavelets of the Caribbean Sea lapping against fine sand beaches which are almost unbelievable in their whiteness. Truly, it’s like walking on icing sugar.

Inland, the land is hedged by dense, low forest, in which the ancient Maya people constructed pyramids and temple complexes which are still a mystery to this day. Freshwater cave lakes—cenotes—punctuate the landscape, many of which are open to the public for swimming. Spanish Colonial towns and cities add a historic flavor to the experience

It's a superb place for a vacation, whether your interests lie in cocktails on the beach and late-night dancing, eco-tourism, luxury wellness resorts, local color, or a combination of all the above.

But where do you go when you want a vacation from the vacationers? Bel Woodhouse, who lives on the island of Cozumel, just off the coast from Playa del Carmen, knows the secret spots and hidden getaways. In this episode of Bigger, Better World, she talks us through the details and directions for a slice of Old Mexico hidden in plain sight just south of the main tourism locations. And it sounds tempting indeed.

Join host, Jim Santos, as he meets Bel Woodhouse—expat, writer, videographer and International Living correspondent.

If you’re enjoying the podcast, we would really appreciate it if you could leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform: https://lovethepodcast.com/internationalliving.

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Chapters

• 1:58 Bacalar: ‘The Lagoon of Seven Colors’
• 4:12 Rent an Entire Apartment For $30 a Night
• 8:36 Excursions, Activities, and a Natural Lazy River Ride
• 13:33 ‘The Best Pizza I’ve Ever Had’… $30 For Two, With Wine
• 17:09 Places to Stay: From the Cheap to the Luxurious
• 22:23 Shuttle Bus and Transport Options From Tulum and Playa Del Carmen
• 24:45 All About Tulum—Party Paradise or Workman’s Town?
• 27:50 An Easy Way to Meet Expats on the Riviera Maya
• 29:24 Wellness, Food and Fitness on the Beaches of Tulum

Transcript

Jim Santos 

Hello, everyone, and welcome once again to Bigger, Better World. Today, we'll be talking with a return guest of the show, Bel Woodhouse. Bel spoke with us back in episode three about her decision to leave the Australian Navy and seek out a life as an expat in Cozumel, Mexico. Today, she's back to talk to us about a couple of nearby destinations on the Riviera Maya. Bel, welcome back to Bigger, Better World, and thanks for joining us.

Bel Woodhouse 01:07

Hi, Jim. It's so lovely to be here.

Jim Santos 01:10

I do want to ask how things are going in Cozumel. It's been a few months since we last spoke.

Bel Woodhouse 01:14

Well, it's summer now, so things are pretty hot, but we've just had a little heat wave, and that has finished, thank God. And so now things are back to beautiful, normal Caribbean breezes.

Jim Santos 01:26 

It's a tough life you have there, Bel. You live in Cozumel, of course, but anyone who's read International Living magazine articles knows that you also do a lot of traveling around the area there. So one of the things we wanted to talk to you about today was your article in the March 2023 edition of International Living magazine called ‘Escape to Bacalar—Mexico's Lakeside Oasis’. Yes, I thought I'd heard about just about every place in that part of Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula there, but I'd never heard of Bacalar. Can you give us a little background on that?

Bel Woodhouse 01:58 

Okay. Bacalar is called ‘Laguna de Siete Colores’. It's the lagoon, or lake of seven colors. It is called that because it has seven different shades of blue, and it is absolutely stunning. And it's a huge lake. We've hired a catamaran and we've sailed around the whole lake. 

And there is one little section where they say it actually has healing mud, and the Maya believed it had healing mud. So of course, we jumped off and got slathered ourselves in mud. And I must say, I did feel fantastic at the end of it. But it is a nature lover's paradise. It is very cheap. We had an apartment last time. I've been there three times. Last time, my friend and I had a full apartment to ourselves right on the lake. And it was something like $35 a night. And it’s just absolutely beautiful. We go for swims in the lake in the morning and sit on the deck and have a mimosa and read a book, and it's a paradise.

Jim Santos 02:59 

Now, I did take a look on Google Maps, and I was surprised at the size of this lake. It's over 30 miles long, but only a little over a mile wide in its widest part

Bel Woodhouse 03:10 

And it is absolutely beautiful. It's just down near the border, almost bordering on Belize. And it's funny, the very first time I went there, probably about five years ago, I did not see another tourist. All the vacationing families were all Mexican, and it was like a little hidden gem where the Mexicans go on holiday and they don't want to tell the tourists because they want to keep it for themselves. 

And then I've been back twice since, and each time I've started seeing more and more tourists. And when I went back this last time, there were quite a few more tourists. So people are starting to discover it and hang out there and it's starting to become a bit more of a go to place. There's been a lot of new upgrades, a lot new restaurants, especially down by the water in town. And, oh, we discovered the most amazing ice cream shop. Best ice cream I've ever had in my life. We are still talking about it six months later.

Jim Santos 04:09 

Must be some good ice cream.

Bel Woodhouse 04:12 

It was a really good ice cream, but it's a lovely little town and it can be as cheap or as expensive as you like. As I said, you can hire your own catamaran and sail around the lake, or you can just get on a little local boat tour for $20 and go around the lake. You can hire your own catamaran, you can stay in a fancy hotel for $300 a night, or you can get an entire apartment for $30 a night. It's just everyone in every budget.

Jim Santos 04:41 

You mentioned this is down close to the border with Belize. Is this still considered part of the Riviera Maya?

Bel Woodhouse 04:47 

Yes, it is. Yes, very much so.

Jim Santos 04:50 

Where are you in relation to, say, Tulum?

Bel Woodhouse 04:52 

Okay, so Tulum is about 40 minutes to an hour south of Playa del Carmen. Okay. And from Tulum, you're looking at about three and a half hours south. It's right down the bottom.

Jim Santos 05:07 

And it sounds like from reading your article, that this is more of a destination, a getaway spot, rather than a place where you would go to find a lot of expats living.

Bel Woodhouse 05:17 

Yes, it is. It's more of a destination. There are some expats living there, but they're few and far between. But I think more and more are starting to consider living there just because it's not a Cancún, it's not a player. They'll come and with all of those major tourist hotspots, it can be a little overwhelming and a little bit much sometimes with people always saying, buy this, come to my shop, or when there is a lot of tourists in an area that are constantly going there, of course the crime rate goes up a little bit. It does in every country. 

And Bacalar is just a safe little hideaway. You won't have all the luxuries that you will get in the major destinations like Playa or Cancun or Cozumel. They have very simple living. Simple. Little more like 7-11s rather than huge supermarkets. But anyone considering living there obviously would have a car and they can just go for a drive to stock up on everything that they need.

Jim Santos 06:16 

Speaking of which, is it easy to get there by car?

Bel Woodhouse 06:19 

Yes, we normally take the Ado bus down just because we don't want to be bothered with renting a car and then finding places to park it and then always parking in town. I prefer to walk. And the Ado bus because I catch the ferry from Cozumel to Playa del Carmen. So from Playa del Carmen, it's four and a half hours south and it's about 450 pesos, so it's under $25.

Jim Santos 06:48 

And these are decent roads. It's not like winding mountain roads or anything like that?

Bel Woodhouse 06:52 

No, they are very wide, very clearly marked, excellent infrastructure. It is just smooth sailing all the way down. Unless there are roadworks. Of course, we have the Maya train being built at the moment and that causes some delays in certain areas. But no, the infrastructure, the roadways here are excellent. They're always wide, perfectly paved. You're not bopping around on potholes or anything like that. Everything is very clearly marked. So if you do want to drive yourself, that is not a problem.

Jim Santos 07:22 

I know that many years ago, it must be 20, 30 years ago, one of our kids was very excited about being in that region because he wanted to ride on what he called the chicken bus. So it seemed like all the buses had live chickens on them. But I assume these are nice, new, modern buses that you're talking with hardly any chickens.

Bel Woodhouse 07:39 

No, not a chicken in sight. These are cushy reclinable seats, televisions to watch movies on the way down. Perfect air conditioning. Actually, they're better than the buses that we had in Australia, better than the old Greyhound bus. When I first saw these, I just thought, wow, fancy. And they're quite luxurious, actually.

Jim Santos 07:59 

Well, it sounds nice, but you lose a lot of charm when you lose the chickens, I think.

Bel Woodhouse 08:03 

Yeah, I haven't seen a chicken bus since I lived in Guatemala. And they do have the chickens and the turkeys. They used to have these big baskets of turkeys or chickens strapped to the roof and you would cruise along the highway and you'd see all of the birds sticking their heads out of the top of the cage, just enjoying the breeze. And it was funny and it was also pretty cute.

Jim Santos 08:23 

Now, one of the things you mentioned you can do there around the lake was called the Bacalar Rapids. But from your description, they don't sound really rapid, sounds more like a lazy river kind of ride.

Bel Woodhouse 08:36 

They call them rapids, and it always amuses me because it is literally like, float down them. Like you would get on a tube, or you could sit in a kayak and float down them or you can just float swimming and just gradually get taken along. There is no white water, there is no rafting and helmets and life jackets and all that sort of business. They are not rapids. I think they just call them rapids because they do softly flow over some stones but not very rapid at all. It's more like a leisurely float. But they are gorgeous.

Jim Santos 09:09 

And do those start near the center of all the activity there or is this something you take a bus out to and they drop you off and then pick you up later?

Bel Woodhouse 09:17 

It's about 20 minutes out of town or ten minutes depending on your taxi driver. But you can either take a taxi out there or I'm pretty sure there is a little local shuttle. If you stay at hotels, they have a little shuttle that will take groups out there depending on the hotel that you stay at. But normally you would just take a taxi and it costs you $5.

Jim Santos 09:43 

And then the actual river ride itself is also very affordable.

Bel Woodhouse 09:46 

Yes, the taxi drivers are very affordable. The best I've found actually. And they're really nice. I've never once had any try to overcharge or anything like that. And a lot of the time there is a little restaurant out there as well. So you can actually get the same taxi driver and just say can you come back in 2 hours or 3 hours? So you can go for a little float down the rapids and make your way back and sit and have lunch and a cool beverage and the taxi driver will just turn up and pick you up again.

Jim Santos 10:15 

You also talked about kind of a little wildlife preserve in the middle of one section of the lake called Bird Island.

Bel Woodhouse 10:22 

Yes, that is on my list the next time I go back because I will go back to Bacalar, I love it. But the next time they have something called a dawn walk and I have not done the dawn walk. I've been to Bird Island but I want to get up and do the Adventurers Birder’s walk and it starts just before sunrise. 

So you see all of the beautiful big owls and goshawks and things like that that are still sleeping. But you also see the big migrations of parrots that are leaving for the day and all of the other birds that are coming, the water birds that come to roost that have been out fishing all night. And it's just a magic time of day. And if you're a nature lover like I am, there is a lot going on in that island with nature. So that's the next top of my list. The next thing to do when I'm in Bacalar is to do the Birder’s Walk. Dawn walk.

Jim Santos 11:11 

Is this a tour you have to sign up for or can you just kayak out to it?

Bel Woodhouse 11:15 

No, this is a tour that you have to sign up for. You're not allowed on Bird Island without a permission. It's a protected sanctuary, so please don't kayak out to it. Sailboats sail past it, and they get pretty close so you can take photos, but they don't set foot on Bird Island.

Jim Santos 11:31 

One of the other tourist attractions you mentioned there is called the Bacalar Fort.

Bel Woodhouse 11:35 

Yes.

Jim Santos 11:35 

It seems to be an odd place to put a fort because it's not exactly on the Caribbean, and it's not like there's a big strategic waterway or something that you're protecting. It's just the lake itself. Do you know anything about the history there is?

Bel Woodhouse 11:51 

They built the fort there to stop pirates coming up from Belize, coming in from the Caribbean, because it does have a little like a narrow little strait that you can sail through. And to stop the pirates coming in from the Caribbean, they built the fort so that they could fight off the pirate attacks. It's all very funny. 

And they have little characters of pirates that you can put your head in and the old cannons. But those old cannons haven't been used in a very long time because iguanas now sleep in them. But it's pretty fun and it's pretty cute. And it is right in the middle of town. 

You literally have the town plaza and the town square, and it is right there, so you can't miss it. You just walk into town and there's this big fort and it stretches right along. And it's nothing exciting to look at, a lot of bricks. But I don't know, it's kind of fun to think that they were pirate attacks and they were defending their little town.

Jim Santos 12:53 

Now there's a bunch of drunken people drifting down a river on a tube there.

Bel Woodhouse 12:57 

Yeah, pretty much. But it's right next to the big, beautiful, colorful Bacalar sign that always has kids crawling all over it and tourists lining up to take their photos. So you can get a nice photo of Bacalar with the fort in the background. It's very rustic and very Pirates of the Caribbean-ish.

Jim Santos 13:16 

Right. One of the things that kind of surprised me in your description of it because it does look like it's not a very big town at all there on the lake. But you rattled off just a mix of cuisines that are available, I think some of that. You said some of the best pizza you've ever had.

Bel Woodhouse 13:33 

Yes. Oh, my goodness. There's this little Italian fella, and I think his name is Luciano, and he and his wife have this awesome Italian place in town. And, I mean, I'm a mushroom pizza lover, have been my whole life. Best mushroom pizza, hands down, I've ever had. And that includes when I traveled all through Italy. 

I don't know what he does, but it is a little bit of magic. And this place, if you ask any of the locals, they all say, go to his place. And it's called Bertolini's. Or something like that. I wrote it in the article. But when you look on TripAdvisor, I think he's number three for pizzas or something like that, because the young kids all want to, and they’re instagrammers, all stay right on the lake at hostels and they all get their cheap pizzas and say it's the best pizza they've ever had in their life. 

But I can tell you right now that when you go to the Italian restaurant, it is really good and very well priced, very cheap. So my friend had a seafood dish, we went halves in the pizza and we both had salads and we got a bottle of rosé wine. And the whole thing, I think, was about $30 for the both of us.

Jim Santos 14:46

I imagine there is a lot of seafood available in other restaurants in the area, too.

Bel Woodhouse 14:50 

And you have a choice. There is the fancier fine dining seafood restaurants. Or there are just where the locals go more where you just go and eat seafood and drink a beer and it's all very cheap. And you find them just walking along the waterfront on the side. And you can just walk in, no reservation needed, just walk in and sit down. And they'll bring you out, whatever you want, whatever's on the menu. And there's always your fish tacos and seafood tacos and stuff like that at all the tacos in town. There's a lot of seafood there.

Jim Santos 15:22 

Yeah, I found that generally the best food is found at the place where the locals are eating. Yes, the best food bargains.

Bel Woodhouse 15:30 

That's why when I first got there, all I did was ask locals, where do they eat? And my very first trip five years ago, they've redone the entire town square. But it used to have a big fountain there and everyone said, Go to the fountain. I said, okay. When I went to the fountain, there was just a couple of little street carts with the local food. 

But, oh, my goodness, it was amazing food and so cheap. We were having dinner for a $1.50 and just delicious because I'm a vegetarian, but none of my friends are, so obviously we go places and there's always something for me. 

Or when you tell the locals that you're a vegetarian, after they ask why, then they will make you anything that you want, because they all love their seafood and they all love their meat, so they can't understand why you would not want to eat these delicious things. But they're very accommodating. If you do have any food allergies, like if you're coeliac and you can't eat wheat, just let them know and they will actually just give you a corn tortilla instead of a wheat tortilla, things like that. They're very accommodating, very welcoming, and they will basically make you anything you want.

Jim Santos 16:39 

Another free restaurant tip for travelers is to look for where the local police are eating or the local utility workers.

Bel Woodhouse 16:47 

Yes, because they know all the best spots.

Jim Santos 16:49 

They know all the places and they know the best deal.

Bel Woodhouse 16:53 

I'd agree with that one.

Jim Santos 16:55 

You said there's a variety of places where you can stay there from very cheap to the very luxurious. One of the things you talked about in your article that caught my eye was eco villages on stilts. Are those over the lake?

Bel Woodhouse 17:09 

Yes, they are gorgeous. When you sail along the lake, you have all of these they look like somewhere someone would go for a honeymoon. They're on stilts and the palapa roofs, and they're like little huts just out on the water. Beautiful. 

A lot of them have hammocks where you can just sit in the hammock and dangle your feet in the water and read. And they are gorgeous. A lot of the places also have kayaks, so you can go swimming and kayaking and just laser away your days. And a lot of these places, the little eco villages with the hotels, they do have their own restaurants on site, so you don't actually have to go anywhere. You don't have to catch a taxi into town unless you want to, of course. But they are absolutely beautiful, and they're a lot cheaper than you would imagine. 

Before we found this apartment last time, we were looking at one of them, and I think it was $55 a night. It was off season in the low season, but then we found the entire apartment for $30 a night. And my friend said no. I wanted that one because this eco village. I'm the eco girl, not her. And it had fans, but it didn't have the air conditioning. And she said, look, that's a deal breaker for me. I want air conditioning. And I said, okay, because I very rarely use my air conditioning here, whereas her and her husband always have it on 24/7. 

Basically, she's an air conditioning person, whereas I never have been. I grew up in the tropics, so for me, a ceiling fan is fine. So that's about the only downside, I would sa, to some of the eco villages. They are gorgeous. But if you are an air conditioning person, just check. If you go through Booking.com or whoever you use, they will always list the thing. So if it just has a ceiling fan, be prepared. But during the tourist season, where most people come down, it's not an issue because it's cooler anyway. If you go in the middle of summer, like now, then it may be an issue.

Jim Santos 19:04 

Well, we think if you're out over the water in the evening, just a little breeze is probably enough to lower the temperature quite a bit.

Bel Woodhouse 19:10 

And if it's not, just jump in the lake and go for a little swim. There's nothing in the lake that can hurt you. There have been a couple of crocodile sightings in the last few years, and I say years because there was a big hoo-hah about two years ago. 

A family was swimming in the big blue cenote and that's in near town and a man and his son were swimming for something like 5 hours and something bit the man's leg. He didn't see what it was, but then all the locals got into a bit of an uproar and all these rumors started spreading about crocodiles and all the rest of it and next thing you know there was a dead crocodile found. 

So if something does bite you in the lake, which I've swam in there a bunch, nothing's ever even come near me. But if something does bite you, please identify it so wildlife doesn't get killed for no reason. Because I'm pretty sure if a crocodile grabbed your leg there'd be more than a scratch, right?

Jim Santos 20:06 

I don't think it'd be keen to let go or anything.

Bel Woodhouse 20:09 

Yes, if it's that hungry that it's grabbed your leg, I'm pretty sure there would be teeth marks or not just a little scratch.

Jim Santos 20:15 

Now is there fishing in the lake too?

Bel Woodhouse 20:19 

Not really, the water is more alkaline, it has these special minerals because it's all limestone so it's more fresh water. There are fish species in there but nothing big enough that you would actually really eat. They go fishing off the coast and then they just sail up the canal to the lake and bring all the fresh seafood in that way.

Jim Santos 20:37 

So this really sounds like a beautiful place to just go, even if it's not your main vacation. Say you're vacationing in Tulum or Playa del Carmen this would be a great getaway to just go and spend a day or a couple of days.

Bel Woodhouse 20:51 

Yes. And if you are vacationing in Tulum or Playa del Carmen there are shuttle services, you can look online, the taxis will always be really expensive but there are shuttle services where I put it in the article, one that I used locally who was very good and very well priced. 

They will actually take down a group like your entire family, a group of six, group of eight. And they will drive you down there for the day, and they will just sit around and have lunch and wait for you so you can run around town and look at all these fabulous things and have lunch and swim in the lake and go sailing all afternoon. And then they will drive you back so you can go down just for a day if you like and it ends up being something like $40 a person. It's very doable. 

But if you are a single solo traveler, like normally I travel by myself or just with a friend, then the cheapest way to get down there would be the Ado bus or the local Mayad bus.

Jim Santos 21:47 

Any of our listeners who are interested in checking out the Bacalar region again, that was the March 2023 edition of International Living magazine. ‘Escape to Cacalar—Mexico's Lakeside Oasis’.

Bel Woodhouse 22:00 

It's one of my favorite places I've discovered so far. It's just beautiful and so relaxing. Oh, my goodness.

Jim Santos 22:07 

Yeah, it sounds lovely. One of our daughters and her children are going to Tulum in a week or so, so we've already sent them some information if they want to take a little day trip down and check it out.

Bel Woodhouse 22:18 

Oh, yes, I absolutely adore it. She might want to say more than just a day trip. Once she sees the lake, she might say, I need an overnight.

Jim Santos 22:28 

One of the other things I wanted to talk to you about in your travels here, you're not just writing about these places, you're also turning into a bit of a videographer.

Bel Woodhouse 22:36 

Yes, I do love videoing them, because I want to share these beautiful places with everyone.

Jim Santos 22:42 

Well, one of your videos that I just watched yesterday, as a matter of fact, was a tour of Tulum.

Bel Woodhouse 22:47 

Yes, Tulum has changed a lot, but it is still beautiful. It still has that nature lovers’ eco vibe. It is turning along the beachfront a little bit more into… a lot of locals are saying it's turning into a dance party vibe you see on social media. A lot of people going down there and having beach parties and DJs on the beach and dancing to 03:00 in the morning and that sort of thing. And it's very popular with the younger crowd. 

But most of that happened during COVID, that's how the town survived, because Tulum itself is basically a workman's town. There's nothing special in there. It's just a normal town, and that's where all everyone works and lives that is employed by people, by the big hotels down on the hotel zone, on the beach, because that's where most tourists stay. They might drive up into town for a day's shopping or just to explore or perhaps dinner, but normally most of the tourists stay down at the beach zone. 

So Tulum itself to live in is still very authentic Mexican, but it does have a beautiful eco vibe to it. A lot of the people are very health conscious, very environmentally conscious. They love nature, they love the environment, they love protecting it. And you'll find a lot of hippie clothing stores and natural fibers. 

And I was very amazed. There was a lot of vegan and vegetarian restaurants now. I mean, there always have been, but there was a lot more now. Well, a lot more that I noticed. But even just walking around the local supermarket, it was outstanding. The abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables and bakery items. And it was bigger than the Sam's Club that we have here on the island, the local supermarket.

Jim Santos 24:37 

The video of the supermarket that you had there really surprised me because the street views, seeing the little shops and little restaurants, I think there's a place called Burger Ritas or something. Yeah, a lot of that reminded me of a beach town in Ecuador called Montanita. And like you said, it's kind of like a party place. Now it's where people go to party, and there's a lot of these little quaint shops and everything. But that modern supermarket, that was something that you would see in a much larger city. Just really impressive.

Bel Woodhouse 25:08 

Yeah, the only way I could equate to that was when I lived in Cancun. They have a massive Walmart at Cancun, and it was similar to that, but I actually think the produce was better in Tulum. So it gives you an indication of how the locals live and how they like to live. 

There is a lot of healthy, fresh fruits and vegetables and things like that. Of course, they have a big seafood section and meat section as well. But I was very impressed with their cheese selection because a lot of places in Mexico don't have a lot of cheeses. It's not a dairy country, but they had beautiful imported cheese from all over the world. And you've got all your creamy Bries and Camemberts, and then there was something like seven different types of parmesan, and that just blew me away. And I thought, oh, my God, the pizzas around here and the Italian restaurants around here must be amazing because I love, love, love my cheese. And they had massive islands, like fridge islands of cheese. So I was very impressed.

Jim Santos 26:11 

Yeah, that was something we noticed in Ecuador, also. There was queso, and that was it. If you wanted cheese, okay, we have queso.

Bel Woodhouse 26:18 

That's it.

Jim Santos 26:19 

We have cheese.

Bel Woodhouse 26:20 

Yeah, make like, a fresh cheese or a nice Oaxaca cheese or something. But it's not like you're in France and they have all of these fabulous 20,000 different types of Bries. Mexico is not known for cheese.

Jim Santos 26:34 

Well, in addition to that large selection of cheeses that you mentioned, they also had a large selection of tequilas. We always had a joke that if you wanted to meet expats, just go down to the Supermaxi and hang out at the liquor aisle.

Bel Woodhouse 26:51 

It's huge.

Jim Santos 26:52 

And you did exactly that. You met an expat named Bob there by all the tequilas.

Bel Woodhouse 26:56 

And Bob was wonderful. He had such a great sense of humor, and he and his wife have actually become quite good friends. Now, the next day, he sent me a message because I said, is it okay if I make a little video? And is it okay if I use it? And he said, absolutely. And we exchanged numbers, and the next morning he said, how about we come pick you up and we'll take you down to the beach zone and we'll give you a tour of Tulum? 

And they were just such wonderful people and really genuine, lovely people. And we had an absolute ball the week that I was in Tulum. I ended up going out for dinner with them on my last night there. So it's amazing. By all means, do go and explore the liquor section of the supermarket because you meet some wonderful people.

Jim Santos 27:41 

He mentioned that he and his wife had bought a place down there a few years ago and I think just in like a year, year and a half have moved there full time now.

Bel Woodhouse 27:50 

Yeah, they bought their place and they started renovating it to how they wanted it. But of course then COVID hit, so he was locked down in the States for a couple of years and then when things started opening up again, that's when they jumped in their car. And about 18 months ago they went down full time.

Jim Santos 28:06 

Also wanted to ask what time of the year it was when you filmed that video. Do you remember?

Bel Woodhouse 28:10 

I filmed that video two weeks ago.

Jim Santos 28:13 

Oh, okay. Well, it's really surprising to me then that the beach area that you showed, there was no one there. It's like you were the only person on the beach.

Bel Woodhouse 28:22 

That's because I went there quite early in the morning so I could get it without 50,000 tourists.

Jim Santos 28:27 

You're still in the hangover zone.

Bel Woodhouse 28:30 

Yeah, I think a lot of them were still waking up, perhaps because that was filmed at about nine in the morning, I think just after nine. So a lot of tourists, obviously they sleep in, they have the air conditioning, they've been out, they had a wonderful dinner and some cocktails and they like to sleep in and then leisurely have a breakfast. And they don't sort of start venturing out till about ten most of the time, I don't think. So I wanted to get down there nice and early so that you could see there are 20,000 beach lounges, but if they're full of tourists, you only see the first couple of beach lounges.

Jim Santos 29:06 

Well, in addition to the beach, of course, it's going to be a big draw. You also showed things like bike and scooter rentals. There are a lot of stores that are dedicated to health food. There are wellness centers, places for learning yoga. So there's quite a lot of healthy activities going on there at the beach.

Bel Woodhouse 29:24 

And there is a huge chain called Raw Food that is actually down in the hotels now as well. They have like little kiosks and everything because what they're finding is a lot of people that are drawn to Tulum, the tourists that are drawn there still have a very healthy mindset. They've got a gym on the beach. It wouldn't be a gym that you would use every day and it's kind of fun and rustic and it has wooden dumbbells and things like that. But tourists love to go and play there and get in a little rustic workout. 

And they love swimming, but at night they want to relax and watch a sunset and have a few cocktails. So it is very popular for people to rent bicycles and cycle around Tulum because Tulum Centro, the town itself, is about, I think it's about five or six kilometres from the beach zone. So if you're going to walk it in the Mexican heat, it's going to take you a little while, so it's a lot easier to jump on a bike and you're there in ten minutes.

Jim Santos 30:22 

When you're making these videos, do you find that people are happy to participate with you?

Bel Woodhouse 30:26 

Yes, absolutely. I've had people follow me around and when I'm finished filming a little segment, they say, what are you doing? And I always say, Hi, I'm making a video for blah, blah, blah, and they get really curious. 

That's how I ended up talking to the pet store guy, because I walked in and took a little video of just all the different types of pet food and the services they have, because a lot of people want to know if they can when they move abroad, if they can bring their pets right? And it was a US company that was there, and they have excellent facilities, so I wanted to just include that so people know that their fur babies would be looked after as well. 

And the guy that worked there saw me filming and he was like, Hola? And I said, Hola? And we got talking and I said, do you speak English? And he said yes. And he said, what are you doing? And I told him and he's like, thank you so much for coming to our store. And I said, well, would you talk for a couple of minutes and tell people about your services? And he was more than happy. So I always find, whether they're Mexican or expats, I've never had anyone not be happy to be included. They're normally very curious and very open to it. Yet both of those areas, I liked them. But I adore Bacalar. Bacalar is one of the places that I think I will always return to.

Jim Santos 31:46 

We've been chatting with Bel Woodhouse, author of the March 2023 article, ‘Escape to Bacalar—Mexico's, Lakeside Oasis’, and also the latest threat to Sophia Coppola as a world class director with her video on Tulum. And you can find that Tulum video and others by Bel on the International Living website. Bel, always a pleasure and thanks again for joining us on Bigger, Better World.

Bel Woodhouse 32:09 

Thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure.

Jim Santos 32:21 

The Bigger, Better World podcast is a production of international. Living. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social media, or leave a rating and review. If you have an idea for an episode or a question you'd like us to answer, email us at mailbag@internationalliving.com. And don't forget to put podcast in the subject line of your email. That's mailbag@internationalliving.com. We created Bigger, Better World to help showcase the ideas we explore at International Living each month, and grow our community of travel lovers, expats, and experts who believe, as we do, that the world is full of opportunity to create a more interesting, more international life. 

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Next week, I'll introduce you to one of the latest additions to the Il team, Kristin Wilson, our new go overseas mentor.

Until next time, this is Jim Santos for International Living, reminding you there's a bigger, better world out there just waiting.