Where to Travel in Mexico 2025 Guide: Wildlife enthusiasts

As 1 of the world’s fewer megadiverse countries, Mexico is location to an estimated 10 to 12% of beingness connected Earth. It’s a onshore of unthinkable earthy superlatives. For example, the state ranks archetypal successful the satellite for reptile diversity, 2nd for mammals, and 4th for works life. A immense percent of its reptiles and amphibians are besides endemic, meaning they tin beryllium recovered obscurity other connected Earth. Because of Mexico’s profound biodiversity, its wildlife whitethorn beryllium its astir magnificent treasure. 

As a travel writer who’s been to 150 countries, I’ve been fortunate capable to person had galore epic wildlife encounters each implicit the globe. But Mexico genuinely stands retired for its sheer magnitude of wildlife, from humpback whales successful the waters disconnected Baja California to the coatís and jaguars successful the jungles of the Yucatán and millions of migrating monarch butterflies successful the highlands of Michoacán. 

For our last travel successful the Where to Travel successful Mexico successful 2025 series, we’re inviting you to beryllium a quiet, respectful impermanent successful immoderate of the country’s astir dynamic ecosystems. These are places that volition recalibrate your consciousness of standard and your spot wrong the grand, chaotic strategy of things. So drawback your binoculars and a consciousness of escapade and hole to get up adjacent and idiosyncratic with immoderate of the astir treasured animals connected the planet.

Baja California Sur: For underwater encounters 

An intimate grey whale brushwood successful Baja California Sur’s Magdalena Bay. (Nellie Huang)

Few places connected Earth tin rival the sheer marine biodiversity of Baja California Sur, wherever the legendary Gulf of California (always referred to a the Sea of Cortés locally) genuinely lives up to its nickname arsenic the world’s aquarium, a moniker bestowed by the precocious Jacques Cousteau. Its protected, warm-water lagoons, peculiarly Magdalena Bay, structure grey whales and their babies during their epic 10,000-kilometer migration from the Arctic.

Many of these whales question retired quality interaction, a profoundly moving acquisition that feels some past and profoundly personal. I volition ne'er hide the infinitesimal a 12-meter, 30-ton grey whale calf deliberately approached our tiny panga, rising truthful adjacent we could spot the idiosyncratic barnacles and interaction its brushed and rubbery skin. 

Nearby, the waters of La Paz connection the accidental to aquatics alongside whale sharks, the largest food successful the sea. This brushwood is 1 of unhurried grace, arsenic you glide alongside these gentle giants, their vast, polka-dotted backs filtering the dappled sunlight conscionable beneath the surface. A abbreviated vessel travel away, the land of Espíritu Santo is location to a ample colony of oversea lions. Slipping into the h2o present is to beryllium greeted by the ocean’s acrobatic, whiskered clowns. Pups, afloat of boundless energy, volition zip past your mask, barrel-rolling and playfully nibbling astatine your fins. 

Close to the tourer hub of Los Cabos, the waters of Cabo Pulmo besides connection intimate marine encounters. Once a decimated reef, this community-led marine park has seen its food biomass rebound by an astounding 460%. Playful oversea lions, oversea turtles, and adjacent bull sharks present patrol the waters, offering once-in-a-lifetime experiences for scuba divers.

Calakmul Biosphere Reserve: For jungle wildlife sightings

A howler monkey surveys the country successful Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. (Unsplash / Thomas Gabernig)

Deep successful the distant interior of the Yucatán Peninsula lies the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, a immense expanse of wilderness wherever past past and wildlife are inextricably linked. Here, towering Mayan pyramids, remnants of a almighty kingdom that erstwhile rivaled Tikal successful Guatemala, pierce done the seemingly endless jungle canopy. 

This 1.8-million-acre reserve is simply a stronghold for Mesoamerica’s 5 large feline taxon — jaguar, puma, ocelot, margay, and jaguarundi. Calakmul itself is location to the largest fig of jaguars successful each of Mexico. While spotting a jaguar is exceptionally rare, simply knowing you locomotion done their kingdom adds a thrilling borderline to exploring the ruins. Visitors are astir guaranteed to spot vibrantly colored ocellated turkeys, inquisitive coatís, and a fraction of the region’s astir 400 vertebrate species.

My proposal is to get aboriginal and marque the thrust dilatory into the archaeological site, which takes astir 90 minutes connected a winding, potholed road. Watch retired for wildlife crossing connected your way! Before the vigor of the time hits, marque definite to ascent Structure II, 1 of the tallest Mayan pyramids. From that vantage point, I’ve sat and watched a unit of spider monkeys plaything effortlessly done the treetops. 

Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve: For the yearly migration 

Monarch butterflies successful the Sierra Chincua sanctuary. (Nellie Huang)

High successful the oyamel fir forests of Michoacán, one of nature’s astir awe-inspiring spectacles unfolds each winter. An estimated 60 cardinal to 1 cardinal monarch butterflies get aft a multi-generational, 4,500-kilometer travel from Canada and the U.S., seeking refuge. 

When I visited the Sierra Chincua sanctuary, the sheer biomass of beingness was staggering. The branches of the ineffable firs drooped nether the corporate value of millions of butterflies, their clustered bodies appearing similar rust-colored beehives. As the prima warmed the air, they would burst into flight, and the wood abruptly filled with the dependable of millions of paper-thin wings beating astatine once. It was a profoundly moving and humbling experience.

The champion clip to sojourn is from precocious November to aboriginal March, with highest enactment successful January and February. Base yourself successful the tourer municipality of Angangueo, conscionable a 30-minute thrust from some El Rosario and Sierra Chincua butterfly sanctuaries. 

The migrating butterflies thin to congregate astatine an altitude of implicit 3,000 meters (almost 10,000 feet). So to get there, you volition request to hike up the steep slopes oregon prosecute horses to transportation you. Pack due walking shoes and hiking sticks if possible. Maintain implicit soundlessness successful the halfway viewing areas, arsenic large noises tin disturb the butterflies and origin them to expend precious energy.

Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve: For wetland animals

The lush jungles of Sian Ka’an. (Nellie Huang)

Just southbound of the vibrant vigor of Tulum, the gait of beingness slows to the bushed of the tides successful Sian Ka’an, whose sanction aptly means “Origin of the Sky.” The 1.3-million-acre UNESCO World Heritage site is simply a immense web of turquoise lagoons, mangrove channels and wetlands. Despite its proximity to the hedonistic enactment country of Tulum, it’s a wholly antithetic satellite here, 1 carved by Mother Nature and dominated by wildlife. 

A vessel travel done Sian Ka’an is the champion mode to research the reserve. While gliding done the pristine waters with my family, our usher abruptly chopped the motor arsenic a pod of dolphins surfaced to play successful our wake, their sleek bodies silhouetted against the emerald-green mangroves. We past drifted quietly, watching Morelet’s crocodiles sunning themselves connected the banks similar ancient, armored statues. The birdlife is staggering, with implicit 350 recorded species, including the shocking pinkish of roseate spoonbills. It’s a surviving mosaic of the Caribbean seashore arsenic it erstwhile was, a captious refuge for countless species.

There are 2 antithetic ways of accessing Sian Ka’an. The easier way takes you done the lagoon side, arsenic you enter done the Muyil ruins and hike done the boardwalk to get to the lagoon for a serene interval down an past Mayan canal. The 2nd mode leads you to the coastal broadside of Sian Ka’an, via Punta Allen, for a longer vessel travel that lets you acquisition marine beingness and coral reefs, with a accidental of spotting dolphins, turtles and manatees. If you person the time, I highly urge exploring some parts of Sian Ka’an to get a well-rounded experience.

Oaxacan Coast: For crocodiles, turtles and iguanas

A babe oversea turtle makes its mode to the water successful Oaxaca. (Nellie Huang)

The Oaxacan seashore is rightly celebrated for its world-class surf breaks and bohemian formation towns, amongst which the tiny colony of La Ventanilla offers 1 of the astir heartwarming ecotourism experiences successful Mexico. Here, a cooperative of section families took it upon themselves to reconstruct and support their autochthonal mangrove ecosystem. 

The acquisition begins arsenic you committee a lancha, and a usher from the assemblage rows you done the serene, shaded waterways. Within minutes, the occurrence of their conservation is each astir you. Giant greenish iguanas perch connected branches, countless taxon of h2o birds hunt successful the shallows, and ample American crocodiles glide silently done the h2o oregon bask connected the muddy banks. Seeing these predators thriving, acknowledgment straight to the efforts of the radical who unrecorded alongside them, is simply a almighty acquisition successful grassroots ecotourism. 

Combine your travel with a sojourn to the adjacent National Turtle Center successful Mazunte. For a genuinely peculiar experience, articulation the turtle releases connected Playa Bacocho adjacent Puerto Escondido, tally by VIVEMAR. You tin assistance to release babe turtles astatine immoderate clip of the year, arsenic assorted taxon of turtles laic eggs present (though determination is simply a greater beingness of turtles during the precocious play from October to April). Protecting implicit 27 km of the Oaxacan coast, this non-profit enactment is 1 of the astir outstanding conservation projects successful Mexico. 

Lacandón Jungle: For tapirs, monkeys and macaws

A chaotic macaw shows disconnected its colors successful the Lacandon Jungle. (Canto de la Silva)

For the genuinely adventurous psyche seeking a travel into Mexico astatine its astir earthy and untamed, determination is obscurity other similar the Lacandón Jungle. This spot of wilderness successful Chiapas is the country’s largest remaining agelong of lowland rainforest and a captious biologic corridor. Staying successful an eco-lodge tally by the Lacandón Maya people, the past guardians of this forest, is simply a heavy taste and ecological immersion. 

On a vessel travel down the magnificent Usumacinta River, which forms the borderline with Guatemala, I saw superb scarlet macaws flying successful vibrant pairs and followed trails wherever the tracks of the elusive Baird’s tapir were inactive caller successful the mud. The aerial was heavy and humid, live with a symphony of insects, the calls of parrots and the ever-present monkeys. It was a challenging environment, but it rewarded maine with a profound consciousness of transportation to the wilderness.

A travel present requires readying and a willingness to spell backmost to basics. Hire section Lacandon guides, whose ancestral cognition of the forest’s flora, fauna and concealed ruins is invaluable. There is nary awesome successful the area, and you volition beryllium disconnected from the extracurricular world. Pack for the vigor and humidity, and beryllium prepared for rainfall astatine immoderate clip of year.

What’s close for each benignant of traveler?

We’ve enactment unneurotic a array summarizing which destination would suit travelers based connected their acquisition successful Mexico. 

Beginner Travelers are those with constricted planetary experience, possibly this is their archetypal travel to Mexico. Ideal for first-timers who similar margaritas with grooming wheels. These travelers instrumentality to well-trodden paths, mastering “¿Dónde está el baño?” portion clutching a phrasebook. They thrive successful destinations wherever guacamole arrives with optional spice and edifice unit talk “Google Translate.”

Intermediate Travelers are those with immoderate planetary acquisition and tin grip mean connection barriers and taste differences. Ready to commercialized resorts for real-deal experiences, these travelers navigate cobblestone streets without face-planting. They’ve graduated to ordering tres tacos al pastor without pointing and tin haggle for a sombrero successful Oaxaca’s markets (but inactive overpay by 20%).

Advanced Travelers are those with extended acquisition navigating analyzable destinations independently. These wanderers dainty Mexico similar a choose-your-own-adventure caller written successful Spanglish. They’ve adopted a thoroughfare canine named Churro, statement the merits of antithetic mezcal artesanales, and cognize which mercado stall has the champion tamales oaxaqueños.

​​Nellie Huang is simply a nonrecreational question writer and writer based successful San Miguel de Allende with her family. She has contributed to BBC Travel, CNN, International Business Times, and National Geographic, and co-authored Lonely Planet’s 2025 Mexico guide. Read astir her adventures worldwide connected wildjunket.com and travel her updates connected Instagram @wildjunket.