Isla Holbox
By Jaimy de Vries
For backpackers the place to be! Everything goes a little slower on this paradise island. We had a wonderful relaxing time up here. The vibe is chill and everyone is kind and happy. The extensive beaches are amazing with lots of nice beach clubs. Around the island there are several places where you can spot flamingos and pelicans and between May and September you can even snorkel with whale sharks (they say)! And the sunsets are like no other. There is something magical about this place, especially at night!
Hasta la vista Orlando & Hola Mexico!
Leaving Orlando was not that easy. First our baggage was too heavy (3 kg in total) and we got hold on at the security check. We had milk powder in our baggage. Jup, stupid! We put it in our bag because our checked baggage was too heavy. So we ended up getting a full body check. Finally after some stress at the airport, we set off to Mexico. Afterwards everything went smooth: we arrived early, it was easy to get through customs, we got our bags and within 15 minutes we had a bus and ferry ticket to Isla Holbox. We went with ADO, a good and safe bus company that takes you to every popular spot in Mexico and it’s quite cheap too. We paid 630 MXN for the bus + ferry ($20). No need to rent a car!
I learned some Spanish in South-America when travelling there. But I haven’t spoken any Spanish after I left Peru. My Spanish is quite bad, but the level I spoke before was easily rattled back up. I was so happy being back in a Latina country. I love the people, the music, the prices, the Spanish language, and seeing other backpackers again. I missed this kind of adventure.
Chill mood on!
After a 2 hour bus drive and a 45 minute ferry we arrived in Isla Holbox. A small paradise. The vibe is really nice, live music every where, kind people and lots of other backpackers. The roads are all sand and dirt. Transport is by a taxi golfcart or buggy. You can also rent one yourself. We first went to our eco-hostel where we slept in a tent. It is incredible warm at the island. It’s hard to cool off, but a nice cold shower outside really helps.
Everything is walkable
First dinner in Isla Holbox
After a warm night in the tent we woke up without an alarm (has been a while). Today is going to be a chill day! First we enjoyed a good breakfast at the hostel and then we went to the beach at (what later turned out to be our favourite spot): Carolinda. After we arrived we took a quick swim to cool off. And the weather helped a hand too…there was a storm coming. It was only for one short hour, luckily. The rest of the day we enjoyed some Mexican food, cocktails and of course the sun.
We liked this so much, that we had these type of days several times that week. At Carolinda we had a lovely white sandy beach, a swing, nice music, drinks and a fresh water shower. We could rent a beach bed at Carolinda if we spend 500 MCX on food and drinks. Perfect for a day of relaxation and 100% worth it!
Some nice art along the way to our “beach spot”
Lots of cormorant & pelicans
Chilling at the swing
My favorite type of drinks: cocktails
A fresh coconut
Just love the swing!
Rain season
We arrived in Mexico on rain and hurricane season (September). Well we haven’t had a hurricane so far, but boy did we had a lot of rain! After we arrived in Isla Holbox there was a 2-day long storm with tropical rain showers. All the streets that first was just dirt, turned into a mud pool. The other days at the island were quite nice, it was sunny, but we usually got a thunderstorm every day late in the afternoon. The nice thing though, is that everything is a bit cheaper this season.
How the weather can radically change
Magical sunsets
In Isla Holbox you have one of the most amazing sunsets! And what better to enjoy it with a drink (cocktails!) at a beach restaurant. And fun to watch people. Especially the women asking their boyfriend or husband to take pictures of them.
Bioluminescence
One of the coolest thing to do on the island is seeing the Bioluminescence. You can walk to Punta Cocos, take a taxi or go on a kayak tour to see it. But actually every where around the island you can see it and for free. The important thing is, it needs to be really dark. So you need to walk to an area where there is no light pollution and try to go on a day where the moon is not shinning bright. We waited at night till around 10 p.m. to get really dark. We walked on the beach and thought there was a strange color in the water. We decided to walk in the water, and that’s when we really saw it. It was amazing!! It was so magical. The bioluminescence is a plankton that gives light triggered by movement. If the sea is quiet you can’t really see it…but if you walk into the water you’re surrounded by “blue glitters”. We saw fish swimming away from us, and that made it look like firework. Just so magical! Sadly you can’t make a video or photo from it, not with a normal camera, but maybe that’s a good thing. On that way it keeps its magic.
Mosquito point
With a nice group from the hostel we walked to mosquito point. It doesn’t sound so attractive, but we were not visiting mosquitos I can assure you. It’s a place close to a natural bird sanctuary. It’s a long hike of approximately 70 minutes. You get wet, because you need to walk on beach beds. But that part was what I really liked. While walking on beach beds we also spotted some fish and a stingray.
At the bird sanctuary we saw a magnificent frigate bird, egrets and pelicans. And I saw an orange butterfly, but when it landed in front of me it turned out to be a grasshopper. Ieehh! After walking back we had lunch at an nice mexican restaurant and later drank some cocktails at the beach with music. It was a nice relaxing day.
Magnificent frigate bird
Whale shark tour?
Whale shark day!! Swimming with whale sharks is on my bucket list. The tour is 2750 MXN, that is around $ 130. Quite expensive for a snorkeling tour, but seeing whale shark is a once in a lifetime experience. The tour starts really early, at 5:50 am. When we arrived, it turns out it’s canceled because of bad weather what makes it dangerous and a lesser chance to see whale sharks. We’re lucky we had other days we could go. So we went two days later. This time it wasn’t canceled. We went into a small boat. I was surprised because we’re going to the open sea. Well… I can tell you it was a bumpy ride where you get easily sea sick. It was not a comfortable and relaxing ride with all the clashing on the waves. But they drive this small boats because they want to drive in front of the whale shark and drop off the snorkelers. This is to create a good change to see the whale shark and keep up with it. After a 2 hour boat ride we where at the whale shark area. There was a storm of 2 days before, so they haven’t sailed for a while. We followed an old GPS coordination of three days ago where they found whale sharks. We were searching and searching and searching. Meanwhile half the people on the boat got sea sick and were vomiting. I’m almost never sea sick, but I was feeling verry uncomfortable too. Eventually after seeing no sign of a whale shark (the other boats too) they decided to quit. We were actually glad, because we were all so sea sick. We just wanted to go back on land. But we were really sad too, because it was quite expensive and usually they see one every day (what they said). The captain said it’s the second time this season they haven’t found one on a tour.
Luckily we also went snorkeling at Cabo Catoche, so still some wildlife spotting. And we did found something: the biggest stingray’s I’ve ever seen and we saw a nurse shark hiding underneath a coral reef. So the day was not all lost. We didn’t got a refund, but when asking they could give us a discount on another trip. But we didn’t want that: not going through all that again and losing more money. So we left this day behind us and enjoyed the sunset back in Holbox.
Sad that we could’n’t see a whale shark
Well, then a shot with a whale shark at an amazing graffiti wall in Chiquila.
Chilling at the swing
Angelfish
Big stingray!
Back Packer's disease
The last two days on the Island I was feeling sick, we thought it was from some bad food. We dit eat Ceviche on the whale shark tour ( yes it was not a good succes – more bad luck). But on our last night Jaron got sick too. And that night there was no water at the hostel and our tent got quite dirty after a week staying there. We felt sick and grosse the next morning. We should have headed out to Tulum for a workaway in the jungle. But we decided to be responsible and book a nice stay in Chiquilla. Eventually we stayed here for 3 days. It was a nice place to relax. We had a swimming pool and within 10 minutes we were at the small center. But we didn’t stay 3 days for fun, it was necessary. It took a while for Jaron to get better, so we visited a doctor. He said it was probably because of the ceviche and we had an bacterial infection, the backpackers disease. He got antibiotics. After feeling better we got some strange messages from our workaway and we didn’t had a good feeling about it anymore. We decided to make another plan: head out to Merida.
My guide for your Isla Holbox trip
We stayed in Isla Holbox for one week and this was perfect! Here my recommendations:
- Recommended duration visit: 5 days
- Best places to eat: Nereida (all favorite), La Tapatia (best Mexican), Roots (best pizza), La Sirenita (best cheap food), Las Panchas (best fish)
- Best hikes: Mosquito point
- Highlighted things to do: chilling at the beach, whale shark tour, bioluminescence, kayakking mangroves, party
- Best hostel: Mapache Hostel, with a really good breakfast
- My favorite activity: beach day at Carolinda, bioluminescence