About Chelem

Lizard Joes beach property is located in Chelem Yucatan Mexico, a small fishing village located on the Gulf Coast side of the Yucatan Penisula seated between a lagoon on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other. It is about 300 KM from Cancun (4 hours), 27 KM from Merida (40 minutes) and 10 KM from the Port of Progreso (10 minutes). Chelem provides an authentic Mexican vacation experience. This is the place all the Meridanos come for summer vacation and have their beach homes. It is a peacefull village of about 5,200 persons that has no gaudy resort hotels, no timeshare sales, no tourist traps. It does have a main plaza, family owned markets, a church, a Municipal building, some nice beaches, several seafood restaurants and hopefully one very nice Texas BBQ restaurant in the near future. In addition, Chelem is a birdwatcher's paradise. The Yucatan is famous for its bird life and given Chelem is between a lagoon and the sea, many of those birds can be found here. Colonies of wild flamingos can be found where the road ends driving north of Chelem. Chelem provides an authentic Mexican vacation experience. This is the place all the Meridanos come for summer vacation and have their beach homes. It is a peacefull village of about 5,200 persons that has no gaudy resort hotels, no timeshare sales, no tourist traps. It does have a main plaza, family owned markets, a church, a Municipal building, some nice beaches, several seafood restaurants and hopefully one very nice Texas BBQ restaurant in the near future. In addition, Chelem is a birdwatcher's paradise. The Yucatan is famous for its bird life and given Chelem is between a lagoon and the sea, many of those birds can be found here. Colonies of wild flamingos can be found where the road ends driving north of Chelem. If enjoying the sun, sand and sea is not enough, Mayan Ruins are just and hour or two away at Chitzen Itza and Uxmal. Need a little more action, visit Merida or Progreso. Merida is a major city founded in 1542 with a population of almost a million people and the lowest crime rate in Mexico. It is rich in culture, hosting museums, university, fist class hospitals, theaters, night clubs and shopping malls including US chain stores like Sears, Costco, Wal-Mart and Sams Club. If that seems a little intimidating, then Progreso is much closer and host several nice restaurants on the malecon, a large Wal-Mart type grocery/department store (it doesn't say Wal-Mart but Wal-Mart owns it) and is full of activity when the Cruise Ships arrive twice a week. The temperature in the area averages about 87 degrees F/30 degrees C. The rainy season is typically June and September.

Getting Here

There are basically 3 options for getting here:

1. Fly into Merida and rent a car or take a cab to Chelem (Simple)
2. Fly into Cancun and rent a car or take the bus to Merida and then bus or cab to Chelem (Often cheaper)
3. Drive (Not Recommended)

Fly into Merida

Continental Airlines flys into Merida direct from Houston and AeroMexico Airlines from Miami where you can rent a car or take a cab to Chelem for about $45-50 USD. All other flights usually have a connection via Mexico City.

Fly into Cancun

Often you can find much cheaper deals to Cancun. Once in Cancun you have two options:

1. Take a shuttle to one of the rental car agencies and then drive to Merida via the cuota (toll road). The drive is 3.5 - 4 hours depending on how fast you drive. There are two toll booths which will charge about $200 pesos at each booth. The only gas station and convience store is after the first toll booth so make sure the car is full of gas or at least a 1/2 tank before heading on the cuota and that you have any beverages in hand before leaving the Cancun area.
2. Take a cab (expensive from the airport due to airport tax) or ask where to catch the ADO/UNO bus terminal in Cancun. The bus trip from Cancun to Merida takes about 4.5 hours. UNO is the first class bus with movies, coffee bar, reclining seats ... but a bit more expensive. The ADO bus is very comfortable and clean as well but offers no amenities.

Find Your Flight

Here are some links to help you plan your flights:

• Find Cheap Flights from 100+ Sites with One Click at Kayak.com
• Orbitz Flight Deals!
• Hotwire.com
• Click here to Fly and Save with Mexicana Airlines.

Find Your Rental Car

Here are some links to help you fina a rental car:

• Rent a car today from Thrifty.com!