El Buho Sport Camp

This place isn’t by the water, it’s right on the main highway, so traffic is very loud. The staff were unfriendly, and our private room was awful. A thin, semi-transparent door was all that separated it from the shared kitchen. The fridge and stove were right up against the room, so anyone coming into the kitchen late at night sounded like they were in the bedroom. They charge for everything, even bathroom towels. The grounds are nice, but this was a waste of money. Don’t stay here.

We’ve stayed in much cheaper places all over Mexico as backpackers and never had service or management this bad. It’s a shame, because the plants around the property are beautiful and it could be a great place. Staff were very unfriendly and unhelpful, and they charge for everything: hot water, towels, coffee, shampoo, and more. The kitchen is tiny and dark, and could be better equipped. The location is poor, right by the very loud highway and at least a 20-minute walk from the center. They say they rent bikes, but when we asked for two, they told us to get them in the center. On checkout day, we asked to leave our backpacks while we went to the lagoon, since our bus didn’t leave until later that afternoon. They said there was no room, but we later saw other guests’ bags behind reception. We asked the receptionist to call a taxi to the ADO station, and she did. She quoted 105 pesos for what was about a five-minute ride, but the taxi charged us just 40 pesos.

We spent three nights at the camp, and it was a terrible experience. They ask you to leave your passport or a 1,000-peso deposit when you arrive, and make you sign a paper listing all the rules. I’ve never been asked to do that in all my travels. We accidentally damaged the entrance to our bungalow. The material was very fragile, and since a nearby bungalow had damage patched with a white strap, we did the same and didn’t think more about it. At checkout, they kept the entire deposit. Charging 50 dollars in Mexico, or anywhere, for something that could be fixed easily felt totally unfair. I could have sewn it up myself in 20 minutes. After we left, they told the booking platform that we hadn’t shown up, which meant we couldn’t leave a review. They seem willing to lie even to their business partner just to avoid a bad review. That says plenty about how the owners run the property. We sent several messages asking why they’d reported us as a no-show, and they ignored them. Maybe I should have taken the damage more seriously and reported it at the time. But after seeing all the long, bad reviews from other guests on social media, I doubt it would have made any difference. People mention paying for hot water, staff moving their belongings without permission, bad electrical work, charges for blankets, rude behavior, a focus on profit, paying for the wrong parking, damage fees without proof, and staff entering bungalows without permission. The list goes on. Don’t let the camp’s paradise look fool you. I strongly recommend spending a little more and staying somewhere else.

We left after just one night because we knew we wouldn’t be able to sleep. The camping area is nice, but the main highway is right beside it, and it’s extremely noisy. There’s a gas station a few meters away where lots of trucks come through at night. We could even feel their vibrations sometimes. We’d booked three days, but sleeping there felt almost impossible. We had a bad experience and wouldn’t recommend staying.