Have you ever been told to “Take a long walk on a short pier?” If so, this is the pier for you! The world’s longest pier is in Mexico! It is in a port you’ve probably never heard of, unless you’ve cruised there.

Progreso de Castro is Yucatán state’s most important port and is a cruise ship destination. The pier is 6.5 km – or about 4.5 miles long.

The Port was founded in 1871 at the height of the henequen, or sisal boom, when the Customs House was moved from the Port of Sisal to be closer to Yucatán state’s capital city – Merida. The pier was completed in 1947.

The sensation of the fresh sea air in our faces was apparent as soon as we stepped off the bus. We headed to the beach walking the gauntlet of stalls selling the usual cruise port clothing and trinkets and beach massage offers.

Wow! Turquoise waters and soft white sand, but also some sargassum seaweed. Hawkers were trying to rent us their beach chairs and palapas. We started walking the malecon on the edge of the long beach.

I wanted to swim. The water was cool and calm, but not very clear. Not being able to see my own feet, or anything else that was in the water, made it impossible to think of anything but shark attacks. I decided I really didn’t want to swim. In no time I was dry so we continued walking to the end of the malecon, stopped to eat at Viña del Mar and then walked the sleepy side streets back to the station.

Our day trip to Progreso started at the Mérida AutoProgreso station. The buses depart very frequently. We purchased round-trip tickets for about $2 each. Once purchased, we were directed to take a seat that put us in a line. When the bus pulled in, everyone stood and filed to the bus in the order in which tickets were purchased.

When we returned to the Progreso station for a bus back to Merida we were directed to the line. Very civilized and organized, unlike some places we’ve been!

The bus trip took about one hour each direction. The last bus for Mérida leaves Progreso at 9:00pm.

And that was our $25 day trip to Progreso.

Te Next time, Meet You in the Morning from Campeche, Campeche.