Nichupte Lagoon - The Other Water
A stop on Cancun: Downtown and the Hotel Zone, a free self-guided tour.
Turn your back on the sea for a moment. On this side of the boulevard lies Nichupte Lagoon, the shallow body of water trapped when the sandbar formed. It separates the Hotel Zone from downtown, and its edges are lined with mangroves, the salt-tolerant trees whose tangled roots shelter young fish, filter the water and buffer storms.
Much of the lagoon's mangrove forest has been a federal protected area since 2008, and crocodiles live here, so this is water for looking at, not swimming in. Herons, egrets and cormorants are easy to spot.
The long bridge you may see crossing the water is the Nichupte Vehicular Bridge, opened in May 2026. It runs about 8.8 km over the lagoon, from near Avenida Bonampak downtown to this part of the Hotel Zone around km 13, cutting the trip around the lagoon. In the late afternoon, stay to watch the sun drop behind the downtown skyline.
Getting here: Ride the R1 or R2 bus or a taxi south along the boulevard to about km 13, then step to the lagoon side of the road.
Did you know?: With its access roads, the Nichupte bridge totals 11.2 km, which made it one of the longest bridges over water in Latin America when it opened.
Photo op: Face west across the lagoon in late afternoon and frame the bridge and the downtown skyline against the sunset.
More on Wikipedia: Mangrove · Morelet's crocodile
Stops on this tour
- Parque de las Palapas - Where Locals Gather
- Mercado 28 - The Market With a Number
- Playa Langosta - The Calm Side of the Seven
- Playa Tortugas - The Island of Women Across the Bay
- Punta Cancun - Where the Seven Bends
- Playa Chac Mool - Named for a Stone Figure
- Nichupte Lagoon - The Other Water
- Museo Maya and San Miguelito - Ruins Among the Towers
- El Rey - The Maya Port and Its Iguanas
- Playa Delfines and the Cancun Sign - The Big Finish