Progreso Things to Do

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This is one of the world's largest nesting grounds for the pink flamingo. You can take a boat trip on the "ria" and admire hundreds of flamingos and up to 320 species of birds. The boat will also take you through one of the passageways of the the mangrove swamps lining the estuary. There is also a refreshing cenote in which you can take a dip and a "petrified forest" which is really a forest of dead trees killed by seawater.
Please remember that the flamingos' worst enemy is man and getting too close has a negative effect on them.
When you're ready to eat go into town. There are alot of nice places to eat along the beach.

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Progreso is an area where peope return year after year. If you contact the rental agencies and give them your needs they can make arrangements to visit the homes while you're there. You may even meet people that rent privately. This was the case when we went to the Rotary meeting in Progreso where many of the members rent privately from contacts they had made over the years.

If you enjoy lots of privacy and solitude, you'll like walking for miles along the beach and meet very few people. You'll find lots of pretty seashells and may spot the occaisonal dolphin. This was the case in March, it's probably different in the summer when families are out in full force.

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The downtown Progreso beachfront is called the Malecón. There are a few thatched shelters, but mostly it is sand, water, seagulls, and the pier.

During July & August, this is a crowded place with fairs nearby, etc. but the rest of the time it’s a nice quiet beach. Warm enough for Canadians to swim (although locals only seem to swim when it’s above 90°F outside). The beach is great for long walks along the ocean. It is not as nice as the beaches in Cancun or the Mexican Riviera. There is more wind - especially in winter, plus the sand is not as fine.

If you click the photo, you will see the pier with the truck on its way out to the docks. The building you see on the right of the photo is only the half way point of the pier.

You can climb the lighthouse (El Faro), but we had no idea that you could, so we missed out. The lighthouse is very close to where the cruise ship buses drop off their passengers (Don't forget that the ship is a few kilometers from Progreso on the long pier).

Notice the outdoor market below. This is where all the booths are for the cruise ship passengers. I am not good at bartering, but I suspect that there is a lot of room for bartering between what you are quoted, and what they will actually sell the goods for -- better to do your negotiating just before you get picked up to go back to the ship as the merchants know once you are on the ship, you are lost forever as a possible customer.

Because Progreso is used both as a service town for locals as well as for tourists, it has everything one needs: large grocery store (called San Francisco's), internet cafes, the mercado (the market with fresh meat and vegetables, etc.), handicrafts (silversmiths, hand-made shirts & blouses, etc.), banks, ATM's, post office, drug stores, restaurants, hotels, bars, even a red light district (but we never saw it as we were never there at night) and bus services.

In 2005, there was even a Burger King in the mall -- the only place I knew to get a hamburger in town, but when we returned in 2006, the Burger King had closed down.

It was amazing the amount of change we discovered between our holidays in March 2005 and Feb 2006. A number of shops had disappeared - besides the Burger King, convenience stores like a 7-11, and a few of the tourist shops that catered to the cruise ships.

The reason that cruise ships can now stop at Progreso is the recent construction of a 6 to 9 km long pier (every source seems to say it is a different length). This pier allows ships to dock -- primarily container ships, but also cruise ships.

They would normally not be able to get anywhere near the shore as there is a large bank of limestone (that is present throughout the Yucatan) that projects kilometers into the Gulf of Mexico.

You can see the entrance to the pier in the photo. Unfortunately, private vehicles or pedestrians are not allowed to go on the wharf. You can see what the pier looks like from the air on my introduction page.

This was a day trip from Progreso that was scheduled by Carnival Cruise Lines. We had a very good and knowledgable guide who spoke very good English. The motor coach was comfortable and air conditioned. As the ruins were only 45 minutes by coach we chose this trip so that we were not in a bus all day.

I enjoyed this trip. The ruins, museum, food, and beer were wonderful. This is not one of the huge places like Tulum that is just over run with people so you can actually atke your time and wander in areas where no other people are. I tipped the guide $20.00