Kayaking at Sunrise in Mexico

An excursion I have not seen anywhere else, but came across twice during my trip to Mexico, is a tour where they take you out kayaking at sunrise.
So, you can bet that I did two different sunrise kayaking tours.

The first was in Puerto Escondido, organized by “Eco Adventures”. My guide picked me up from my hostel at 5:30am and whisked me and a few other tourists away to a nearby mangrove paradise.

You can tell these shots are from the Puerto Escondido tour, because it’s super early in the morning and it’s already HOT.

I don’t have a lot to say about this tour, as I mostly just vibed for two hours, listening to handpan meditation music and enjoying the little swooshes the paddle makes when it hits the flat water. But in short: the Puerto Escondido tour was incredible. Stunning views, lots of beautiful birds, 10/10 experience would paddle again.

A few days and an 11-hour bus ride later, I found myself in a different hostel in Mexico City. And imagine my surprise when one of the tour offerings from this hostel was another sunrise kayak tour! I figured, hey, it was awesome last time, let’s do Round 2. So I hopped in a 5am Uber and headed to the Xochimilco canals. This time we got out on the water very early, in time to see the fog rising off the water at first light.

I think that visually, the CDMX sunrise tour was even more impressive than the Puerto Escondido tour. I mean, look at that fog. Magical.

But experientially, it was marred by one surprising factor. And that was cold. It was COLD!!

I figured it might be a bit brisk at first, so I brought a jacket just in case. But it was not merely brisk. It was see-your-breath cold, protect-your-extremities cold, wear-multiple-layers-cold, bring-a-hat-and-gloves cold. Several of us were woefully underprepared for that, and we suffered.

But hey, this was the product of our suffering.

And, as soon as the sun came up, things began to heat up again quite nicely.

So that’s my tale of two sunrise kayak tours. Both well worth your time. Bring a hat and sunscreen to the first; bring a hat and gloves to the second.

Here’s a cool bird that I startled with my kayak.