{"id":8993,"date":"2023-05-02T08:48:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T08:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nohurrytogethome.com\/?p=8993"},"modified":"2023-09-17T23:23:47","modified_gmt":"2023-09-17T23:23:47","slug":"visiting-las-coloradas-pink-lake-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nohurrytogethome.com\/visiting-las-coloradas-pink-lake-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"Visiting Las Coloradas: Mexico’s Pink Lakes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dreaming of visiting Las Coloradas? This set of pink lakes in Mexico is a bucket list item for many, and here’s everything you need to know about them!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back when I was a teenager, I stumbled across a set of pictures of Lake Retba, a pink lake in Senegal. I became obsessed with seeing it one day, not knowing that there were lakes just like it in my own country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just like most people visiting Las Coloradas nowadays, I found out about the existence of Mexico’s pink lakes via Instagram and have visited them twice since then. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s pretty crazy to think that Las Coloradas used to be one of the biggest hidden gems in Mexico<\/a> (like, virtually nobody knew about them) until up to a few years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visiting Las Coloradas<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I decided to put together a guide in which I answer every possible question you might have about visiting Las Coloradas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From how to get there by bus, to where to stay, and yep.. whether or not visiting Las Coloradas is even worth it! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This post is LONG, but I’m convinced it’s the most complete guide to Mexico’s pink lakes out there since I made sure to include everything about the newest tour available as well as how to get there by public transport since I couldn’t find any information on either when planning my trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s dive into what it’s like to visit Las Coloradas!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Are Las Coloradas Worth Visiting?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’m not going to lie. The first time I visited Las Coloradas, I was very disappointed. Back then, I would have told you that visiting Las Coloradas isn’t worth it at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s so far from everything and honestly? The water didn’t even look that pink the first time I visited – it was cloudy, it had been raining all week, and well, yeah… it wasn’t worth the three-hour drive from Tulum at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward to July and I visited again. I was traveling with a friend and she had seen pictures of the lake and convinced me to give it another chance and MAN ALIVE! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time around, the water looked so pink that I actually wondered for a second if I was dreaming or something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether or not Las Coloradas is worth visiting totally depends on your interests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to visit for a killer picture, then it’s definitely worth it given that you choose the right time to visit (more on that below). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you, however, just want to experience a striking lake – it might not be worth your time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, the pink lake of Mexico is set inside a salt factory, and the surroundings aren’t that pretty (they’re often not shown in pictures) – the main pink lake is incredible, but it does look way more romantic in photos than it does in real life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BUT, and yes, there’s a big but, visiting  Las Coloradas is totally worth it if you opt to take one of the locally-organized tours rather than visiting just the first lagoon.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I’m not a tour type of girl. I love to do things independently but on this one occasion, I’ll admit taking a tour was the right decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ll tell you all about it further down the post, but to keep things short for now: we got to visit more lakes inside the factory – some were pink, others were yellow, and some were even orange and oh, you can even find flamingos<\/a>. How cool is that?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can You Swim in Las Coloradas?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Swimming in the pink lake of Las Coloradas is not allowed for two reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first is for your own safety – the saline levels can sting, especially if you have any wounds and the temperature of the water can usually get over 40 degrees Celsius. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly, salt is actually extracted from the lake and dead skin can fall off while you’re swimming – this salt is packaged, sold, and later consumed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is now added security here due to people not following the rules and being plain assholes just to get a cute shot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Las Coloradas was never meant to be a tourist attraction – it just sort of happened. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a privately-owned salt factory and the owners are kind enough to let visitors take a look. I mean, they could have easily built a fence around the lakes to keep people away, but they didn’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s be respectful visitors to ensure they don’t ever need to take these measures and that more people can come and visit this fascinating spot in Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That being said, while swimming in the main pink lake of Las Coloradas isn’t allowed, they recently opened a much smaller lake where visitors can swim.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This lake isn’t pink, it’s turquoise but for me, getting to swim here was a highlight! Due to the high salinity, you can easily float here so it’s sort of like a mini version of the Dead Sea in Jordan<\/a>! I’ll write more about this lake further down the post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Are Las Coloradas Really That Pink?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you’ve seen pictures of Las Coloradas online, you’ve probably wondered if Mexico’s pink lake is really as pink as it looks in the photos without all the filters and Photoshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s the thing – it depends on a ton of factors! I’ve visited Las Coloradas twice, once in January 2018 and the second time this summer – the difference in the pinkness<\/em> of the water was huge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s an unedited picture of my visit in January 2018:<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Are<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Yes, it did look kinda pink but also not really. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Definitely not as promising as the pictures we’d seen on blogs had suggested. My mom and I drove three hours from Tulum to visit Las Coloradas and to put things bluntly, I was very disappointed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, though, is a totally different picture shot during my second visit. The difference was insane!<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"las<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Disclaimer:<\/strong> Yep, it’s a bit brightened up but the color of the water really did look that pink!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Factors to consider before visiting Las Coloradas:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n