“Blue color is everlastingly appointed by the Deity to be a source of delight.” John Ruskin, English art critic, 1819-1900. An easy 21⁄2-hour drive (217km/135 miles) from Tulum on Hwy. 307 takes you to the otherworldly, multihued Laguna Bacalar. Located 38 km (24 miles) northwest of Chetumal, the historic town of Bacalar overlooks Lake Bacalar, also known as the Laguna de Siete Colores, the “Lagoon of Seven Colors.” The Maya name, Bak Halal, means “Place Surrounded by Canes.” It boasts magnificent water with hues of mauves and blues and greens, great for swimming and is lined on its elevated west bank with summer homes and a few small hotels. The 42-km-long (26- mile) lake is linked to the Hondo River that separates Mexico and Belize by the Chaac Inlet. The town of Bacalar itself is not geared for tourists, although the one-story buildings are all of great antiquity. The first Spanish colony settled here in 1545, but by 1652 it was destroyed and abandoned. In 1726, Canary Islanders resettled it, building the thick stone Fort San Felipe in 1729 to fend off English pirates who scourged the town. The fort brought protection to the town from attack by water, only to have the city ravaged twice from the inland by the Maya. There are popular, balinerios, or swim clubs, along the lake banks near the fort and Navy post. Bring your swimsuit and jump in. On a sunny day, you will see why Laguna Bacalar is nicknamed Lago de los Siete Colores (Lake of the Seven Colors): The white sandy bottom turns the crystalline water pale turquoise in shallow areas, morphing to vivid turquoise and through a spectrum to deep indigo in the deeper center. Colors shift with the passing of the day, making a mesmerizing backdrop.

Considered Mexico’s second-largest lake, Bacalar is actually a lagoon, with a series of waterways leading eventually to the ocean. Fed not by surface runoff but by underground cenotes, it is almost 50km (31 miles) long. You’ll glimpse the jewel-toned water long before you reach the town of Bacalar, about two-thirds of the way down, where you must go for swimming or kayaking. The town of Bacalar is quiet and traditional, though it seems every year brings a new cadre of expats looking for a different kind of life. There’s not a lot of action in town, but you shouldn’t miss the Fuerte San Felipe Bacalar, built in 1733 to protect the Spanish from the pirates and Maya rebels who regularly raided the area.

Overlooking the lake on the eastern edge of the central plaza, the fort houses an excellent museum devoted to regional history, with a focus on the pirates who repeatedly descended upon these shores. As if to prove the water gods smile upon Bacalar, Mexico’s biggest and deepest cenote is less than 2km (about a mile) south of town, at Km 15. Measuring 185m (607 ft.) across, Cenote Azul is surrounded by lush fl owers and trees, and filled with water so clear that you can see 60m (200 ft.) down into its nearly 91m (300-ft.) depth. Some lovely inns dot the lagoon’s western shore, which makes Bacalar an appealing alternative base to Chetumal for exploring the Maya ruins in the nearby Río Bec area.

Get kayaks from your hotel or rent them and head for the wetland channels at the south end, where you can swim in the fast current of the small outlet called Río Chaak. The swimming is just as good, or even better, in Cenote Azul 55, about a mile south of town. Ladders provide easy access, and a rope stretched all the way across helps even weak swimmers to make it safely across. Its abundance of underwater caves attracts divers as well as swimmers and snorkelers. The town is nothing special, but you shouldn’t miss the Fuerte San Felipe Bacalar, on the eastern edge of the central plaza. Built to protect the Spanish from the pirates and Maya rebels who regularly raided the area, it also houses the excellent Museo de la Piratería, devoted to regional history with a focus on the pirates who regularly attacked the shores. Bacalar also has some lovely inns dotting the lagoon’s western shore that make ideal bases for exploration.

Bacalar is worth at least a night or two, and Chetumal’s Museum of Maya Culture is less than 48km (30 miles) away. To reach the lagoon and the village of Bacalar, drive south on Highway 307 past Tulum, gas up at Filipe Carillo Puerto and continue through the Sian Ka’an Bio Reserve to Bacalar. If driving from Chetumal, follow Highway 307 north for 22 miles (35 km). Once you’ve followed the signs and left the main road, you will come to a Catholic Church. Continue past it for one more block and turn left to reach the Plaza. Just beyond the Plaza is the fort. If traveling by bus, from Chetumal take the bus to Majahual. Traveling from the north, take the bus toward Chetumal from Majahual. These buses depart Majahual. Once in Bacalar, walking is easy and best, although there are a few public buses going from one end to the other. Around the Plaza is the best place to find them.

Festival of San Joaquin de Bacalar, the first two weeks of August, is an annual fiesta featuring outdoor concerts, dance competitions, horse races, games and a bit of boozing thrown in for spice. On the shore near the center is Fort San Felipe and Museum. It is in the center of the town, across from the Plaza but still on the shore of the lagoon. The museum signs are both in English and Spanish. The well maintained, walled fort was first built by Gaspar Pacheco in 1545 but by 1642 it had been destroyed by pirates and illegal logwood dealers exporting the precious commodity once used in dyes. The fort was rebuilt in 1729 using local stones, some of which came from Maya ruins. Its purpose was to protect the Mexicans from attacks by pirates and displaced Indians. At that time it was rebuilt under the direction of field marshal Antonio de Figueroa y Silva and was shaped like a star with a huge moat. During the Caste War the fort became a Maya stronghold but was again destroyed. Finally, in 1902, it was again rebuilt and eventually made into a tourist attraction and museum. If you look carefully you can still see bullet marks from past conflicts. Kohunlich Ruins, are 1.8 miles (three km) from Bacalar along Highway 186 and a pleasant 20-minute walk. The ruins are noted for their stucco masks on a pyramid built about 500 AD. The ruins are surrounded by jungle that is seething with wildlife. There are three partially excavated pyramids and a small cenote. The main palace is surrounded by Cahoon palms and the residential area is beyond (above) the Plaza, with a good view of the surrounding landscape. Cenote Azul, near the town entrance, is 300 feet (100 m) deep, reputed to be the largest and cleanest in the Yucatán. Follow signs to get there. It is popular for swimming, snorkeling and some diving. There is a restaurant on the rim where you can enjoy a beer and watch the action in the water. Quintana Roo is lush jungle so bird and animal life thrives. Walking in the Bacalar region, you could easily see up to 150 bird species without even trying. If you are a real birder take the walk from the Rancho Encantado north to the reserve about 1.8 miles (three km) into the jungle.

Back on Hwy-307, some 35km north of Chetumal, the gorgeous Laguna Bacalar stretches along the east side of the road. It resembles the Caribbean Sea, sparkling clear and ranging in colour from palest aqua to deep indigo. About 45km and 1km wide, it’s the second largest lake in Mexico (after Laguna de Chapala, south of Guadalajara), but still attracts only a small number of Mexican tourists and expat community with a bent for ecology and yoga. The small town on the edge of the lake, Bacalar, was once a key point on the pre-Columbian trade route, and unexcavated Maya remains surround the lake. The Chilam Balam of Chumayel, one of the Maya’s sacred books, mentions it as the first settlement of the Itzá, the tribe that occupied Chichén Itzá. All this is detailed in the interesting Museo de San Felipe Bacalar, set in a restored fort built by the Spanish for protection against pirates from Belize (then British Honduras), and later used as a Maya stronghold in the Caste Wars. The fort is just off the plaza about 1.2km from the highway, where the bus stops. In town, you can go swimming at the balneario municipal, down the hill from the fort and left (north) along the lakeshore drive. Or head south a few kilometres along this road to the inky-blue “bottomless” Cenote Azul, which is busy with swimmers, dive-bombing teens and live musicians at weekends. Several restaurants capitalize on the lake view, but more reliable is the basic yet satisfying Orizaba, one block off the northwest corner of the town’s plaza, or the veggie-friendly Gaia, just south of the plaza.