Scorpion Reef National Park
The biggest and most important coral reef anywhere in the Gulf of Mexico, imagine yourself on a two-day sailboat trip to one of the most beautiful and remote places on Earth.
The Alacranes Reef National Park is a Natural Protected Area of great importance off the northwest coast of Yucatan. The park consists of, at sea level, five little islands: Isla Pérez, Isla Blanca or Chica, Isla Muertos or Desertora, Isla Pájaros, and the Isla Desterrada. Surrounded by shallow tropical waters, the most scenic parts of the park are of course, beneath the surface. The largest coral reef in the entire Gulf of Mexico, it is a natural wonder, and one that few people will get to visit.
People come for the recreational diving, wildlife photography, and for limited sport fishing. The area includes a platform reef of approximately 300 square kms. This rises some 50 meter from the sea floor in a semicircular shape. The entire park includes windward and leeward reef margins, an inner lagoon, and the five sandy islands mentioned above.
The only inhabited island is the Isla Pérez. The lighthouse was completed in 1901 and was constructed by the Chance Brothers & Co. LTD from Birmingham, England. It remains one of very few structures built within the park. The Mexican Navy also maintains a detachment of some 14 sailors here in support of the CONAMP office who are in charge of maintaining the park. Some 1,100 species of plants and animals call the park home. An abundance of reef fish is particularly well regarded and they live in harmony with some 34 species of coral.
The park is able to offer a bank machine, temporary solid waste storage, electricity, parking, ground passenger transportation, mobile network coverage, medical and hospital services, access to drinking water, and the docks for passengers arriving as well as for service personnel.
Most visitors set off for Alacranes from Progreso. A number of charter boat companies there will be happy to tell you more. At about 140 kms from Progreso, some of these boats will offer lodging on the boats as the trip usually takes two days.
