Holbox Island, or more correctly Isla Holbox, is situated off the northern tip of the peninsula, pretty much smack dab where the Gulf of Mexico waters meet those of the Caribbean Sea,
Our route took us from Merida across through Vallodolid and eventually up to Chiquila where you have to leave your car in one of the many family-run parking facilities. From there, you take one of the ferries operated by two different groups and cross to the island. Ferries run every half hour until about 11:00 at night. There is a constant stream of men/boys on special bikes who will find you and transport your luggage to the dock if you need it -- believe me, as soon as you get out of your car in whichever parking area you choose, there will be a guy there ready to assist you -- and these guys work only for tips.
Here is a photo of my daughter and my friend's daughter about to get a lift while we adults walked to the dock.
The ride across to Holbox takes just under a half hour. You can ride inside if the weather is poor, or you can ride on top of the ferry as we enjoy doing.
The town of Holbox has about 2,000 actual inhabitants, but many others come regularly to enjoy its non-touristy vibe and to swim with whale sharks during the time of the year when they are in the area. That's the main reason I went two years ago, but I returned this summer because I fell in love with the island and also because I wanted to see the whale sharks again and properly this time with my newly purchased prescription snorkel mask!
When you arrive, you can either walk to your hotel or house, or you can rent a "taxi." All vehicles on Holbox are golf carts with the exception of the few delivery trucks and construction vehicles that have to come across the waters on different boats. The streets are made of a fine white sand only, and they are quite pitted with holes, so any ride in a golf cart you take is a very jolting one. Nothing is so far that you can't walk as long as you are able to walk, but when you arrive laden with luggage, then it's best to rent a taxi.
The fare will always be 30 pesos no matter where you are going, and the taxi will only take four people. Since we were a group of five, we did a little begging and pleading with the taxi driver, who finally relented and took all of us, but when we left the island, my boyfriend did walk to the dock and let us ladies ride in the taxi -- what a gentleman!
On my last visit, we had stayed in a small room-only hotel many blocks from the beach, but this time we booked a room far in advance in a place called Amaite Hotel and Spa.
This post isn't meant to promote or disparage the hotel. I'm glad we stayed there as it offered a large suite with three bedrooms that accommodated all of us under one roof. Two of the rooms were air-conditioned, and the un-air-conditioned one had a ceiling fan that could have doubled as blades to make a helicopter take flight -- that sucker really moved. The suite was right off the beach and faced the sea, and there was a daily continental breakfast of fresh fruit, toast and juice or coffee. The drawbacks were that there was only one bathroom for everyone, and the water temperature was hit-and-miss. When we first arrived, we found boiling hot water awaiting us in the toilet, but then when we needed hot water in the shower, there simply wasn't any. Here are some photos of the suite and our views --
Our first evening there we ate at the seaside restaurant across the street. Then we went for a walk along the beach where I took one of my three favorite photos while there. Here it is --
The next morning we had some early beach time fortunately because a long-lasting rainstorm set in and lingered all afternoon, flooding the streets, which is a common occurrence there. My friend and I took advantage of the poor weather for a long girl talk at the hotel restaurant/bar which is open to the sea air. It was lovely to watch the rain pour down only feet away while having a drink with my best friend. Then we took a walk through the flooded streets to do a little shopping and find a place to eat for supper. There are many places to eat, and they are all very near each other.
There are beautiful murals painted on many of the buildings of Holbox.
I especially love this one because it depicts a whale shark, and one of the main reasons to visit the island from July -- September is to go swim with the whale sharks that are in the area. I don't have photos of swimming with them, though, as we used disposable cameras, and the photos didn't turn out the best due to the speed in which the whale sharks swim away from you and the sheer size of the animals when they are close to you -- you simply can't fit them all in the frame.
We'd been advised to sample the lobster pizza while we were there. I'm not a fan of seafood, but I was willing to give in a whirl. We did, though, also order a pepperoni pizza for the kids, and I'm glad we did as I ended up eating that when I got a look at the lobster pizza. Sorry, just not for me, but my boyfriend and I my best friend enjoyed it.
The above photo is another of my three favorite photos taken while on the island. We were heading back after wandering the sandy and flooded streets of Holbox. That's my guy, my best friend's daughter, my best friend and my daughter -- four of the most important people in my life sharing a beautiful place and experience with me.
We had just done some shopping where my guy had bought me a wonderful silver necklace made by a local artisan named Noa. She has her own metallurgy workshop at the back of her small store, and she makes all her own molds of whale sharks, sea horses, shells and other local fauna. Since I am in awe of whale sharks and find them to be the most beautiful animals in the sea, I naturally selected a solid silver whale shark pendant and chain.
I'm a lucky gal to have friends and family who will travel to a place I love and to have a man who will buy me such a great memento to wear everyday as a reminder.We did go swim with whale sharks, and this time around I had a much better experience than last time. First, we took motion-sickness pills prior to boarding the boat because last time we got really ill from the rocking of the small boat at the whale shark spot, but I don't think we would have needed it because the water was much calmer due to fewer sharks and only a few boats when we arrived at a spot where some sharks were feeding at the surface.
Secondly, I had my prescription mask, so I could actually see the animals clearly, and so that my mask didn't leak like the defective one they gave me last time did. I sucked so much salt water into my nose last time that I was more focused on breathing and surviving than actually seeing the sharks. This time I saw them up close and personal, and in my third time in I shared a brief eyeball-to-eyeball moment with one of the giant fish. Glorious! In my second time in, the shark thumped me on the shoulder with his tail as he swam past. Loved it!
Third, we stayed out longer because this tour group took us fishing for our lunch. Nobody but the captain and the guide actually caught anything, but everyone had fun trying to catch some fish. The captain and the guide chopped up the fish and made ceviche while we snorkeled in shallower water. They let us swim for a long time, and we managed to see two sea turtles. My daughter swam along behind one for a while.
The tour operators were Tour Moguel. Again, I'm not supporting them, but they did a nice job, so I'm just letting anyone know who might like to know.
One of the main things I wanted to do on my second visit to Holbox was to explore the island better. The best way to do that is to rent a golf cart, which we did, but the problem for us was that it had rained a LOT on our first full day there. The water just doesn't run off; it sits in large puddles on the streets for a long time afterwards. Some of the puddles are simply not navigable with a golf cart because the water is too deep for the cart to go through without getting the engine works wet, so even though we did drive around the town a lot, there were areas on the outer limits that we just didn't get to -- guess that means I'll have to go back someday!
Here are some final photos of the trip. I'll begin with the final one of my three favorite photos I took there:
Just to prove I was actually there:
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