Punta Laguna Nature Reserve Cancún

"Very authentic 2h jungle tour in a monkey preserve provided by local mayans. Very few tourists, plenty of flora and fauna to witness here. If you like authenticity, this is the real deal in Yucatan!
Just get there by car and ask for a guide at the entrance to give you a private tour. They will spot monkeys for you to observe and to take pictures. Cash only!!!"

Luke Swain

"We had a fantastic tour here with Julio as our guide. He expertly walked us through the reserve and we spotted numerous Spider Monkeys and a family of Howler monkeys. We learned so much and Julio, being a local, was a font of knowledge. Our walk took us down to the lake which was beautiful and tranquil. My wife and I would highly recommend Punta Laguna. It is a totally more real experience than Xcaret and we were privileged to see the monkeys in their natural habitat. The trek was great value for money, 1,300 MX$ for the 2 of us, but card payments are not possible, only cash."

Andrew Wilkes

"The photos I have shared here are from 2002, over 2 decades ago. The dock has been completely redone since then.

When it comes to wild nature, Punta Laguna Nature preserve is some of the best jungle for beauty and zoology that our planet has to offer.

I was part of a group called Summer Program in Tropical Conservation (SPTC) led by primatologist Dr. Michael Periera and Laura Vicke in 2002 in Punta Laguna. The purpose of the program was to explore botanical (medicinal tree identification), primatology (spider monkeys), native language (Spanish speaking), cultural interaction with Indigenous mayans (played football with the local Mayans, dined with them, and shared life experiences with them), and archaeology (Mayan ruins were near our campsite and we went to the surrounding ruins) - and establishing a reliable jungle trail mostly around our base, but as a circumference around the lagoon as well.

Not only was there no zipline nor any of the other tourism there, back then, what is now called "Punta Laguna Monkey Reserve" was not a tourist attraction back in 2002, over two decades ago. Although it was not a full-fledged tourist attraction back then, travelers occasionally appeared at the dock overlooking the lagoon (near where we had our tent site) because they had heard it was a worthy visit.

I am excited to see that today, still this magical and pristine place is held in high regard by visitors.

Back in the the ealry 2000s, we actually used machetes and gps to map out and make trails at the Punta Laguna reserve. I lived on the reserve for the summer of 2002 in the Yucatan for the summer I began college. Punta Laguna was one of the best experiences of my life. Most every day, I would have coffee in the very early morning in the palapa (main grass-hut house) after sleeping in my tent and the local Mayans (with whom we played soccer with on "la concha" the concrete slab which I am not sure is still there) cooked us dinner each night. I learned the local botany by studying trees and helped two PhD scientists research the indigenous spider monkeys, all while carving out trails in the jungle - the trails that began laid the foundation for the small tourism sight-seeing, ziplining thing that's going on there today. I am not claiming to be "founder of Punta Laguna tourism". The mayans are the founders of Punta Laguna if anything! Part of our Summer Program in Tropical conservation group was to energize the socio-economy of that area. My favorite parts of the experience were the long jungle hikes while creating fresh trials, the strong connection with Nature, the long sweaty, rewarding, exercise-filled days of botany, science, primatology, anthropology, Spanish speaking, and a lot of science.

Because Punta Laguna one of the most beautiful jungles on our planet, let's keep Punta Laguna Nature Preserve for its beauty, rich ecology, zoology, cultural significance, and cultural heritage site status!"

John Kuczmarski