Where: Punta Pájaros, Mexico
When: year-round
If you like: conservation, the sporting life, the outdoors and sports
Why you should go: Casa Blanca and Playa Blanca are sister lodges going all in on environmental initiatives in 2025. These are the only Yucatán Peninsula lodges on a twenty-five-mile-long private island called Punta Pájaros, which lies between the renowned Ascension Bay and Espiritu Santo Bay in the heart of the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve. Work has already started to decommission diesel generators and convert the island to solar power, and the lodges have recently inked an agreement with Bonefish & Tarpon Trust to partner on conservation efforts around some of the region’s famed fishing targets. The lodges are also remodeling a building to use as a field laboratory, office, and housing for scientists working in the area, and later, guides will tag caught bonefish and issue permits for research projects designed to shed light on spawning movements in and out of the biosphere reserve. “We don’t want to be hangers-on when it comes to sustainability,” says Juan Carlos Rodríguez Bush, fly-fishing manager for the two lodges. “We want to give back.”
G&G tip: Casting flies to finicky fish isn’t your thing? Then grab a beer or three and strike out for a night-fishing expedition from Casa Blanca’s well-lit pier, which draws tarpon right under your feet.
