Sian Ka'an Jeep Safari Tour - Excursion To Tulum's Biosphere Paradise

Boat tour in paradise at Sian Ka'an biosphere part of the Sian Ka'an Jeep Safari Tour — Boat tour to Sian Ka’an biosphere near Tulum

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Sian Ka’an is a biosphere nature reserve South of Tulum and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

If you are looking for paradise, you just found it! You can get to this Riviera Maya nature reserve via a Sian Ka’an jeep tour from Tulum or from anywhere along the Riviera Maya all the way from Cancun even.

In this post, we write about our epic Sian Ka’an Jeep Safari Tour into Mexico’s most beautiful biosphere.

Sian Ka’an Biosphere Excursion Near Tulum

Table Of Contents

The Sian Kaan Biosphere
Sian Ka’an Jeep Safari Tour
- Sian Ka’an Jeep Safari Tour
- Visiting Sian Ka’an On Your Own
Sian Ka’an Full-Day Excursions + Half-Day Tours
Highlights Of The Sian Ka’an Jeep Safari Tour
Sian Kaan Packing List

Our Sian Ka’an Jeep Safari Tour

Sian Ka'an Jeep Safari Tour: Off-road jeep tour to the Sian Ka'an biosphere — Sian Ka’an Jeep Safari Excursion: Off-road jeep tour to the Sian Ka’an biosphere

The Sian Kaan Bisophere

The Sian Kaan reserve is home to many different species and archaeological sites like the Muyil Ruins from the ancient Mayas. The second-largest coral reef, the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, stretches into the Sian Ka’an biosphere.

Crystal Clear Water

The Sian Kaan biosphere spans over land and the Caribbean Sea and has the clearest water we have ever seen. You have to see it to believe it! It’s as clear as in a swimming pool. No kidding!

This stretch along the Mexican Riviera Maya is the most beautiful place! No wonder Sian Ka’an translates to “the gate of heaven” or “a place where heaven begins“.

Sian Ka’an Jeep Safari Tour

Getting to Sian Ka’an is an adventure, especially if you decide to take the self-drive off-road tour!

We went to the nature reserve near Tulum via a guided Sian Ka’an Jeep Safari tour. Check out the tour here!

Coming from Cancun we got picked up by a shuttle van at one of the hotels in downtown Cancun.

After being dropped off in Tulum you change to an actual off-road Jeep. You will drive your own Jeep for three hours over a bumpy dirt road until you arrive in paradise at Punta Allen.

We have seen different bird species, dolphins, and snorkeled in the clearest water there is. It was an incredible adventure that we can recommend to anyone who’s up for the adventurous jeep ride!

Sian Ka’an Excursions

Find the most popular and best Sian Kaan tours below. Some Sian Kaan tours are half-day excursions that take about 6-7 hours.

The full-day Sian Kaan excursions take about 8-10 hours, some even longer depending on your pick-up location.

More Popular Sian Ka’an Tours

Visiting Sian Ka’an On Your Own

Heads up, don’t even try it! You will most likely get sent back at the entrance to the biosphere already.

The thing is, the road is a dirt road that is at its best pretty bad and at its worst absolute hell. The tour guides even call it the highway to hell. For good reason!

Even with an actual off-road car, the road is super, super bumpy. This is because the heavy rain during the rainy season washes out the small potholes in the road which then become huge bumps or giant puddles of water.

A regular rental car won’t make it far into the Sian Kaan biosphere. So, the safest and easiest way to get to Sian Ka’an is really by taking a tour.

Sian Ka'an Jeep Safari Tour: Driving a 4x4 Jeep to the Sian Ka'an biosphere South of Tulum — Sian Ka’an Jeep Safari Tour: Driving a 4×4 Jeep to the Sian Ka’an biosphere South of Tulum

At the start of the tour, once we entered the Sian Kaan biosphere, our guide started to play AC/DC via our radio channel and welcomed us to the highway of hell. And pretty right he was!

Even though it was not a hellish drive, it was not a pleasant one either. We were bouncing around in our Jeep for three hours. But that’s OK, it is a nature reserve and probably the last spot in the area that is still not taken over by mass tourism.

The off-road tour into Sian Kaan is an adventure! It’s not for everyone, but so so worth it if you decide to take this trip.

Would highly recommend it if you are into it and able to drive a Jeep over a bumpy road for quite some time.

(Note on the side: You can’t do this tour if you are pregnant or have medical issues.)

Highlights Of The Sian Kaan Jeep Safari Tour

Dolphin encounter in the Sian Ka'a nature reserve — Dolphins in the Sian Ka’a nature reserve

Watching Dolphins In Their Natural Habitat

While crossing the Sian Ka’an biosphere by boat, we came across many dolphins. It was so nice to see them in their natural habitat where they are supposed to be!

Seeing the dolphins roam around freely, doing their thing, and not being bothered was such an awesome experience. Watching dolphins in nature is a million times better than swimming with them in a pool where they are held captive!

On this note, please don’t do such things as swimming with captive animals and don’t support parks that offer that or any type of activities that involve holding dolphins captive. It’s just plain cruel!

Dolphins in their natural habitat at Sian Ka'an biosphere in Mexico — Dolphins at Sian Ka’an biosphere near Tulum

If you want to see dolphins, go on a tour like this one and with some luck, you may be rewarded and get to see them swim around freely and happy.

Snorkeling In Sian Ka’an At The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef

Snorkling at the Riviera Maya in Mexico — Snorkeling adventure at the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef in Mexico

The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, also known as the Great Mayan Reef, is the second-largest reef in the world, after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

The reef spans over 4 countries from Mexico to Belize and Guatemala all the way to Honduras.

Great Mayan Reef

In Mexico, the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef (Great Mayan Reef) begins near Isla Contoy on the northern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula and continues South along the Riviera Maya spanning over areas like Akumal, Cozumel, and the Sian Ka’an nature reserve.

Sian Ka’an Snorkeling

Snorkeling in Sian Ka’an and the Riviera Maya is absolutely amazing. However, with its popularity comes also negative environmental consequences that can be observed on the Great Mayan Reef.

That negative impact is mainly due to the over-tourism of certain spots of the Yucatan Peninsula and tourists behaving and treating the environment badly.

Therefore, when you go snorkeling at the Riviera Maya and really anywhere else too, please be mindful of the environment and the wildlife and treat it with respect!

Here are a few things you can do:

Things To Be Mindful Of When Snorkeling

Try not to wear sunscreen! Sunscreen is toxic to the reef. Instead, wear a surf shirt for sun protection or limit your time in the water to not get a sun burn in the first place. This is the best option! (Our Sian Kaan tour didn’t allow any sunscreen at all btw)
If you must, wear reef-safe AND biodegradable sunscreen! That means the sunscreen is environmentally friendly and doesn’t contain harmful ingredients that are destroying the coral reefs. They break down naturally and minimize damage to the environment. None of the major brands are biodegradable btw, even most of the ones that claim to be “reef-friendly” aren’t. You specifically have to look for the ones that are. Here’s an interesting article about the sunscreen problem. Stream 2 Sea and Badger Sunscreen are two examples of reef-safe and biodegradable sunscreens.
Keep your distance from the turtles and other wildlife, don’t disturb them and don’t touch the turtles!
When wearing fins be careful not to touch the reefs with your fins and in general don’t touch the corals
Don’t litter! Under no circumstances discard trash in the water.

Floating In Prestine Crystal Clear Water

Swimming in pristine crystal clear water of the Sian Ka'an biosphere — Pristine crystal clear water of the Sian Ka’an biosphere

The most jaw-dropping moment of our Sian Kaan Jeep Safari tour was when we arrived at the above-pictured spot of the Sian Ka’an biosphere.

At this large lagoon of the nature reserve, the water is very shallow and crystal clear. It is so clear I can’t even describe it! We haven’t seen anything like it before. There is absolutely nothing in the water, it is unreal!

Things To Pack For Swimming & Snorkeling In Sian Kaan

We’ve put together a brief list of things that we found useful on our Sian Kaan day trip excursion.

If you want to take underwater photos a GoPro and GoPro Dome or other action camera is great. All the new GoPros are also waterproof and you can take them into the water without a case.

Bring your phone instead of your DSLR camera, as you are going to be on a boat and things will get wet. There are really cheap waterproof phone cases or more professional underwater phone housings that are great for visiting Sian Kaan.

Bring a quick-dry towel and a waterproof bag for all your belongings.

Snorkeling gear will usually be provided, but if you prefer to use your own, we recommend buying some inexpensive snorkeling gear online.