Our friends at Blue Safari Fly Fishing, known for their programs throughout the Indian Ocean, have expanded operations into Mexico. What is widely recognized as one of the premier destinations in the western Hemisphere, Grand Slam Lodge, will be known as Sian Ka'an Lodge moving forward. Read the Blue Safari Press Release below:
"Blue Safari, the award-winning Indian Ocean travel brand is expanding into the Riviera Maya with Sian Ka’An Lodge, located in one of the world’s premier mixed-species flats fishery, a place recognised by UNESCO for the extraordinary biodiversity of its tropical forests, wetlands and coastline.
Acclaimed for pioneering conservation-first luxury experiences across the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, Blue Safari is bringing the brand’s signature approach to a new hemisphere: with world-class guiding, rigorous conservation standards, and an experience designed for every traveller. Blue Safari Mexico’s Sian Ka’An Lodge – a newly rebranded property set at the tip of the Boca Paila Peninsula – will reflect both the UNESCO World Heritage site it calls home and the cultural landscape of the surrounding Mayan coast.
The property itself (previously known as Grand Slam Fishing Lodge) is synonymous with serious flats fishing in Ascension Bay, a place widely regarded as one of Earth’s premier mixed-species flats fisheries. Its vast network of shallow flats, mangrove lagoons and backcountry creeks supports the ‘Big Four’ of Caribbean fly fishing: permit, bonefish, tarpon, and snook. It’s a destination that offers a realistic opportunity at a Grand Slam – bonefish, permit, and tarpon in a single day – let alone the elusive Super Slam, which adds snook to the mix. Punta Allen, just a kilometre from the lodge, is internationally recognised as the Atlantic permit capital of the world.
Sian Ka’An Lodge is about more than fly-fishing. It is a destination – one where non-angling travellers will discover an extraordinary array of experiences. As the southernmost lodge in the reserve – an area currently reached only by day visitors from Tulum – our guests will be the first to base themselves here. The peninsula is home to over 6,000 cenotes, the natural freshwater sinkholes the ancient Maya revered as sacred portals to the underworld. To swim in one today is to move through the same crystal-clear waters that shaped a civilisation. Above ground, Tulum itself stands as one of the last great Mayan cities – once a coastal trading hub for jade, cotton, and cacao – whose clifftop structures, including the El Castillo pyramid and the Temple of the Frescos, reflect an architectural and astronomical precision that still draws wonder.
Opposite the lodge, the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System anchors a richly interconnected mosaic of habitats, home to dolphins, manatees, three species of nesting turtle, saltwater crocodiles, iguanas and over 350 species of birdlife – with manatees and dolphins often spotted hunting the shallows of the flats themselves. The region’s gastronomy completes the picture, with a dining programme led by Mexican chefs championing local produce, with lobster and line-caught fish sourced daily from Punta Allen.
Embracing a legacy
Blue Safari Mexico inherits an amazing partnership from the Keir family, along with a guide team and a legacy of operational expertise. The experience will be elevated by the standard of service, the variety of activities and plans for a newly renovated infrastructure, as well as new skiffs, enhanced conservation and better fish handling practice, all practices that define the Blue Safari Fly Fishing programme.
“The Seychelles taught us that the world’s most extraordinary wild places reward those who approach them with humility and rigour. The Sian Ka’an Biosphere demands exactly the same. We didn’t come to the Caribbean to build another resort. We came to extend the Collection into a fishery and a reserve that deserves the same level of care we’ve given to the Outer Islands in the Seychelles for more than a decade.”
– Murray Collins, co-owner Blue Safari
Conservation at the Core
Operating inside a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve is not a marketing credential for Blue Safari, it is a mandate. Sian Ka’An Lodge operates under the protocols of the Sian Ka’an Biosphere: strict catch-and-release guiding, low-impact operations, local hiring, and active community partnerships with Punta Allen. The lodge’s sustainability credentials are material – 120 solar panels supply 85% of its power and increased efforts to remove plastic from the beaches as part of community upliftment projects. Every guest contributes directly to the reserve through an included conservation levy paid to the Sian Ka’an Biosphere. A regional conservation partner, aligned with the model established by the Alphonse Foundation in the Seychelles, will be announced ahead of the lodge’s first full season.
‘The way we see it, the sea is both the primary asset and the primary vulnerability here – so the question is not whether to use the ocean but how? We know that if managed well, the ocean can generate lasting economic value with fly fishing revenue used to fund the kind of conservation infrastructure – monitoring, research, protection – that keeps ecosystems intact.’
– Keith Rose-Innes, co-owner and Managing Director Blue Safari"
