This was my second stay at BP. I was concerned because I was with my wife and she
doesn't fish and is a Vegan. NO PROBLEM. From the start everything was easy. I booked
my trip thru Claudia the representative at BP. She knows everything about the area and
speaks perfect English. You can reach her at info@bocapaila.com. I've been traveling to
this area for many years and there is nothing like BP. An incredible beach and beach service if you so desire. The rooms have AC and are quite comfortable. They have excellent reading lights and comfortable beds and good bathroom with hot shower. The food is quite good and was often prepared by the owner (it may actually be owned by her son now) Anyway the food is great and my wife is Vegan but they accommodated her food needs. The fishing was great. My guide Mario was the best I've ever had in the
Yucatan and i've been coming down here for 30 years. I caught Permit, Bonefish , snapper and Barracuda. This was a short trip only two days and my wife came out one day. I asked Mario if he could find any Manatees too look at and five minutes later we
were in a school of three. I also asked about alligators but have never seen one. Ten
minutes later I was looking at an eight footer. We saw some great birds as well. The
wildlife portion of that trip made my wife quite happy..she is not a fishing person.
The help at the lodge, especially Francisco who made Martinis and served the meals
always had a smile. You cannot go wrong here. I am going back again this year

This family owned lodge does not mess around when it comes to catering to your every need. I have been to Mexico 5+ times and I have never felt more safe and important than I did at Boca Paila. My fiancée and I met the owner Antonio our first night at the lodge and were very impressed with the concern for our needs from day one. I later learned that most of his staff has been with him for 5 to 15+ years and are considered family. This was evident with all of the staff from the bottom up. Finding GREAT service at a GREAT price in this part of Mexico is let's just say difficult. This is a very chill place so if you want to be near all the nightlife and shops I would stay closer to Tulum. We wanted a relaxing atmosphere with a great beach and we found it here. The beach is very secluded with white sands and aqua blue waters.

Another bonus for the great price at the lodge: AC in the rooms, actual electric plugs in the rooms, solid WI-FI, and 3 AWESOME MEALS INCLUDED. Believe it or not most places down there charge a minimum of $400/night for rooms with AC. We are honestly food snobs and had a damn hard time finding good food for a good price anywhere near Tulum. The problem with the food in this part of Mexico is all the resorts with restaurants. They all charge 4 to 5 star prices with 1 - 2 star food at best. Don't get me wrong there are good restaurants, just hard to find.

The family that owns the lodge are all chefs and they serve many home cooked recipes. The soups and desserts were all from Antonio's mom. All this included in the rate of the room!

My guided fishing trip was AWESOME! My guide Juan is a 30 year veteran in the Sian Kaan reserve. This guy knows every turn and corner in the entire bay system. At one point fishing I asked if he ever guided anyone famous. One of his clients he mentioned was the guy's name on my fly rod, Lefty Kreh. Enough said. We had very tough conditions and he still put me on many bonefish. I even had a shot at a door mat sized Permit but he did not take the fly. I am just a novice when it comes to fly fishing and Juan had the patience of Job!

Antonio and his staff has made us a lifetime repeat customer with doing nothing more than being a kind and catering family owned business. If you want pristine private beaches, 3 great meals a day, world class fishing and total relaxation this is hands down the place to stay in the Yucatan. Thanks again Antonio, see you this fall.

Mike & Rebekah
Austin, Texas

I have been a regular visitor to Boca Paila for the last 8 or 9 years. We return each year because it is one of the best places to consistently have the opportunity to successfully catch permit on the fly. There are also a great diversity of other fly fishing opportunities including tarpon and bonefish as well as snook, barracuda and cubera snapper. Grand slams and super grand slams are not unusual occurrences.

The setting of the lodge is quite magical; located in the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve in Mexico’s Yucatan, in the middle of a peninsula that is approximately 100 to 200 yards wide and 25 miles long, that runs from just east of Tulum and ends at the fishing village of Punta Allen. The lodge is located on the Caribbean side of the peninsula and each morning anglers make a three minute walk from the lodge to the lagoon dock where the flats boats are located.

There are approximately ten rooms in the lodge. The rooms are clean and comfortable each with private washrooms and air conditioning located parallel to a white sand beach all facing the Caribbean. The sound of the waves hypnotizes you to sleep in the evening and invites you to wake early each morning. The beach is great for swimming after a days fishing and warm ocean water is so comfortable to dive into.

The lodge has a dining area and bar. The majority of the staff have worked at the lodge for ten years or more make the lodge a welcome place. The food in the lodge is very good. Plenty of seafood with Mexican charm mixed with traditional dishes. The lodge has been owned by the Gonzalez family since 1964 and Mrs Gonzalez senior is usually in the kitchen, in charge of baking deserts each night which is always a pleasure.

The fishing opportunities from the lodge are really quite amazing. The lagoon is made up of several smaller lagoons which are joined together by mangrove lined “creeks” which the flats boats navigate through. The lagoon on which the lodge is located has an opening to the ocean and it is possible to navigate through this opening and fish in the open Caribbean on calm days. Each morning the guide must decide to head north or south or simply travel within the lodge’s lagoon to begin poling and searching for fish.

All of the guides who work for the lodge have learned their trade through years of experience. All of them are good, know and understand the geography of the area and have tremendous ability to site moving fish.

Permit can be found in large schools, smaller schools and in doubles and singles. The first challenge with permit is to get them to see your fly. Permit move extremely erratically, you can cast on top of them and they spook or you can cast in front of them only to have them move in the opposite direction. When everything works perfectly (which is the exception) odds are that the permit will still reject your fly. Occasionally however all goes well and the permit eats the fly, then all the frustration is forgotten!

The tarpon at Boca Paila are usually baby tarpon but in late spring migratory tarpon can be found in the lagoon. The tarpon are much easier to catch than the permit so long as you remember that tarpon have very tough mouths and set the hook with a firm “strip strike”. Bonefish are plentiful but generally small, especially when compared to the Bahamas bonefish. There are usually plenty of snook around. These fish are lots of fun because they are usually found at the edge of the mangroves or hidden beside a mangrove root. The casting can be quite challenging as the fly must be presented without getting caught up in either the mangrove roots underwater or the branches above. When the snook is hooked it must be dragged out of the mangroves so the fight takes place in open water. Many is the time I have blown opportunities with these fish.

I write this piece because I have no problem recommending Boca Paila to either beginning anglers or those who are experienced permit fanatics. The fishing can be very good but just like all fishing it can also be tough. However in my experience this is one of the best places I have ever found to find consistently good permit fishing with multiple other opportunities.

While staying in Tulum, my wife and I booked a day of fishing at the Boca Paila Lodge. Being experienced fly fishermen, we came with high expecations and we were very satisfied. Eduardo our guide was extremely knowledgable of the fishing grounds, very friendly, and gave us a wonderful day on the water. We had several shots a mostly solitary Bonefish, with us catching a total of 4 between my wife and me. There were also shots at Permit but unfortunately did not get hooked up. This is all boat fishing from their immaculate Dolphin Skiffs, so if you want wade fishing best to try the lodges in Punta Allen which are 20 miles farther south and a very bad road. Boca Paila is easily accessible from Tulum by car (a Jeep is more fun though). It's about a 45 minute ride, with the last 7 miles on an unimproved but passable dirt road within the Sian Ka'an Biosphere.