After Chichen Itza, we decided to spend a few days on the island Holbox, which is a long narrow island at the northen-most tip of the Yucatan penisular. I had read great things about this isolated island which has no roads and is one of the best places to snorkel with Whale Sharks in Mexico. Pete and I really wanted to do this, but unfortunately I had been reading before our arrival that the waters of Holbox are closed off by the Government from the end of September, mostly since it’s not a peak migration time to spot the sharks… which was a real shame, we were just a few days too late 😦
Still, we had heard that the beaches on the island were unrivalled and we booked a fairly fancy beachfront apartment at “the quiet” end of the main beach; villa flamingos.
So, we set off from Chichen Itza raring to go. Unfortunately, half way to the ferry port to the island we got “stuck” on the main highway with our petrol tank light on and no exits off the motorway in sight… According to Google maps, we were about 30 miles from the nearest petrol station, with only 15 miles remaining in the tank! Pete started driving much more economically to make the final miles. Despite the anxiety, especially when we got pulled over by the police at the toll booth, we made it safely to the petrol station and filled up for the remainder of the journey!
When we finally got to the ferry port, we parked our car up (Isla Holbox has no roads afterall…) and bought a ticket for the next boat over, which was only a short 10 min wait. We got there just on time!
Pete was happy on the boat as there was a cute dog which decided to plant itself under our seats! The journey was beautiful though and we saw many sea birds in the evening light as the sun began to set.
When we arrived on the island, which was only a short ride away, we hired the only mode of transport on the island – a golf buggy!! to take us to our hotel. And as we followed the sandy “road” along the beach we were grateful for being at the quiet end of the beach. It was absolutely stunning, but was quite busy.
We checked into our room and instantly fell in love, the hotel was beautiful on it’s own, all made of natural woods and very boho, which has since inspired the decor of my home and bathrooms! We loved the bedroom’s natural feel, and the shower was also a natural wood feature. But what made the room even better was the location, right on the beach with a sea view all to ourselves! We sat and watch the most amazing sunset, and infact every night here had the same incredible sunsets…
After a quick shower and sunset watching, we grabbed a golf buggy back into the main town to get some food, there were quite a few vegan restaurants in town thanks to the hippy vibe of the island, and we had a delicious meal.
The next morning was a chill day. I spent most of the day on the beach or in the pool relaxing and making the most of the amazing views. Pete rented a stand up paddle board and had a go on that, then we both walked out into the sea to a sandbar, watching loads of little rays on the way. There were also lots of sea birds to watch, including pelicans diving into the water, and loads of iguanas just chilling on the rocks and the beach too, some were pretty big, but they mostly kept themselves to themselves.
In the afternoon, we walked out again into the sea, past the sandbar and out towards the neighboring cove, we heard that there were supposed to be flamingos there (what gave the hotel it’s name) but unfortunately we didn’t see any, just a lot of little rays as we walked waist high in the sea…
The evening was much the same as the last… we watched the incredible sunset, then got a golf buggy into town for some food and drinks. This time we found a little taco place with the best baja cauliflower tacos I’ve had!
On the last morning, we left the island and returned to our car for the return drive back to the airport and our flight home.
We really loved our week in Mexico, and despite having broken up as a couple a few weeks before the holiday, we were still able to maintain a great friend relationship and have an amazing time together.
One of my favourite things about Mexico was the incredible food, so I would definitely like to return to this vast country to sample more! Perhaps I could try and time it with the whale shark migration next time, as that would have been amazing!
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