If you’re looking for a lodge that provides access to the virtually unfished waters of the remote Espiritu Santo Bay, Playa Blanca Lodge is the perfect choice. With a large number of Permit on offer, this lodge is spacious and luxurious, located 15km south of its sister lodge, Casa Blanca.
Also with fine food, hospitality and service the lodge has beautiful beaches and a range of non-angling activities including Mayan ruins, Eco-tours, kayaking, bike riding, snorkeling and variety of wildlife. Or you can relax in a hammock, read a book or organise a massage treatment.
With excellent fly fishing on offer, the experienced guide team and fleet of skiffs will have you in good hands to fish the unpressured waters and explore the prolific Permit and Tarpon fishery in the bay. With many river systems, channels and limestone bottoms, the habitat is perfect for a super grand slam, with flats perfect for wading or sight-fishing schooling fish from the comfort of the skiff.
Playa Blanca Lodge is a refined, remote lodge perfectly situated with access to the isolated Espiritu Santo Bay, and world class fly fishing.
Playa Blanca Lodge rooms are located in large duplex cabanas set among the palms near the beach. The rooms have en-suite facilities, large bathrooms with marble vanities, and natural wood furnishings set in white interiors with tropical themes. Each room has its own patio overlooking the grounds and nearby Caribbean Sea. Please note that rooms that are set back from the ocean have air-conditioning, while ocean front rooms take advantage of the sea breezes. The lodge offers seven rooms and accommodates fourteen guests perfectly.
The spacious, luxurious lodge with a deep-set covered porch, is perfect for reading and relaxing, as well as a roof-top sanctuary, a fabulous place for stargazing. There are traditional Mexican palapas at the water’s edge, equipped with comfortable furniture and brightly colored hammocks.
Socializing with other guests is at your own discretion and the lodge bar and restaurant provide the perfect spot to mingle and talk about the day’s activities.
The food rivals any of the best restaurants on the Yucatan coast. All meals are served in Playa Blanca’s beachfront restaurant and bar. The bar is well-stocked and the service is excellent. Cocktail hour under the roof-top palapas overlooking the Caribbean and the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve is a must.
Breakfast is a favorite meal at Playa Blanca, with coffee, juices and platters of assorted tropical fruits and cereals. From pancakes and French toast to scrambled eggs and omelette’s, anything you want is on offer. The kitchen will also accommodate any special dietary requirements.
For anglers heading out to a full fishing day, an extensive lunch buffet is prepared each morning. Selections change daily, and include assorted sandwich makings, salads, shrimp and fish dishes, fruit, cookies, chips, etc. Guests staying in for the day or participating in non-angling activities may choose from a lunch of their choice served in the dining room, or a tailor-made picnic basket to be enjoyed outdoors.
Each afternoon after guests return from fishing, the chef prepares tasty appetizers to pair with a cold beer or cocktail. The evening dinners are three-course meals taken from the chef’s revolving menu. Everything is made from scratch daily, from bread and specialty salsas to soups and desserts.
For the non-fisher, activities range from snorkeling and kayaking to cycling and hiking/ walking along the beaches, to eco-tours – or you can simply go for a swim and relax on the beach.
There is WIFI at the lodge.
One of angling’s best-kept secrets, Playa Blanca Lodge, has unrivaled access to the flats frontier of Espiritu Santo Bay and its virtually unfished waters. Loaded with Bonefish, Permit, Tarpon and Snook, it would be impossible to find a better destination from which to fish this remote area. Importantly, this bay offers the tantalizing proposition of huge numbers of naive, unpressured Permit and therefore is a must visit destination for all Permit fishermen. Possibly the best location in the world to accomplish a Grand Slam, the bay is teeming with all of the flats species year-round. From rivers, lagoons and classic sand flats, there are endless possibilities to wade or fish from the boat.
Espiritu Santo Bay lies off the southern tip of Punta Pajaros. Often referred to as the last frontier of Yucatan flats fishing, Espiritu Santo is difficult to reach from anywhere other than Playa Blanca Lodge. At approximately half the width of Ascension Bay, Espiritu Santo is a smaller but equally impressive fishery. Multiple river systems pour into the bay over limestone bottoms, depositing an area of rich sediment that Bonefish and Permit are often found tailing in.
The mangroves that line these rivers provide perfect habitat for Tarpon and Snook and an ideal situation for a Super Grand Slam. The bay itself is edged by vast sand flats, perfect for wading, while the deeper water can be a great place to find cruising permit schools. Due to the remoteness of Espiritu Santo Bay, fishing pressure remains light. A local lobster boat or one of your lodge mates is usually the only traffic you will see while out on the water. Runs to the fishing can be anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour.
A typical day starts with breakfast at 7:00am and you’re then ready to leave the lodge with your guides (all of whom speak good English) and gear for an 8:00am start from the quay. Anglers then load up into the lodge truck for the five-minute ride to the Santa Rosa Lagoon pier or the ten-minute ride to Sacrificio flat, where skiffs and guides await. Fishing grounds can be anything from a ten to forty-five minutes run. Typically, it is one guide to two anglers.
Playa Blanca Lodge uses 16-foot Dolphin Super-Skiffs, smaller and considerably more maneuverable than the traditional pangas used elsewhere in Mexico. The skiffs also have a lean bar capability for added stability. VHF radio and all safety kit is onboard along with well-maintained engines to ensure fishing guests’ safety.
Much of the fishing is from skiffs depending on the target fish, however there are plenty of opportunities to walk and wade.
As per all Fly Odyssey bookings, you will be provided with a comprehensive and detailed pre-trip fly fishing guide, prior to your departure.
From Cancun, Casa & Playa Blanca will provide an air charter, which will fly you directly to the lodge. Guests must plan to arrive in Cancun no later than 2 P.M. and schedule their return flight no earlier than 11a.m, in order to make connections with the air charter.
A passport with minimum six months validity is required. Visas are not required.
Let us do the groundwork for you.
Our tailored fly fishing and accommodation itineraries are designed with you in mind to suit your preferences. They are also quoted in your local currency with very favorable exchange rates.
This includes flight bookings, transit accommodation, transfers and a host of non-angling activities and experiences.
We specialise in family, couples and group says to the region, and our long involvement with our partners on the ground in Mexico will ensure you are well looked after both on and off the water.
This includes extended coastal stays in Cancun and Isla Holbox, the Baja Peninsula or further south in Belize.
CONTACT OUR INTERNATIONAL OFFICE
- M:
- E:
CONTACT OUR UK OFFICE
- M:
- E:
Creating and sharing memorable travel experiences with our clients and friends provides us with genuine satisfaction. All of our trips are bespoke, tailored to your needs and we always love hearing all about the adventure on your return.
Our knowledge of travel logistics saves you time, and our highly experienced team is here to ensure its spent on the water and not at the desk or on a long flight connection that you didn’t require. Since 2006 we have developed a valued client-base that has travelled to all corners of the globe.
We are a fully-accredited travel agency, where all of our flights, accommodation and associated travel bookings are done in-house, which means that you pay less. We have access to a huge range of specials, deals, great volume pricing and excellent currency exchange rates which allows us to pass these benefits directly onto you.
On the fishing front, our extensive expertise and experience around prime seasons, species, moon-phases, tides and personalised customer service is centered around one principal – preparation. This includes detailed gear and equipment lists, the fly patterns, transfer details, up-to date fishing reports and some of the finer aspects that can often be overlooked.
We travel extensively and understand that your free-time is important. Just as we all understand from experience, that the key to a successful trip is pre-trip preparation.
Our highly experienced team has fly fished the world for the last 25 years, and we understand the considerations and gear needed to turn a good fly fishing trip into a great one.
Fly fishing and travel is our passion. It’s all we do.