Visiting Isla Holbox, Mexico
The past two years have included a LOT of east coast road trips, and I was so happy to finally get on a plane and fly somewhere last week. I usually try to go to a warm destination in the beginning of the year to escape the east coast winter, and this year my sister, mom, and I spent a few days in Isla Holbox, Mexico.
Holbox is often described as Tulum’s less crowded cousin, mainly because it’s not as well known and is a bit harder to get to. My sister and I visited Tulum in 2018 and had a great time. We actually stayed in town for most of the week, and on the beach for just a couple nights, providing us a unique perspective that you can’t necessarily get from only visiting the beach. Town has more of a local flavor and doesn’t cater as much to tourists. It was also a great jumping off point for some of the activities farther from the beach such as cenotes and ruins. I digress, but you can read more about our Tulum trip here.
I’ve been to Mexico several times and hadn’t heard of Isla Holbox until two podcasters/bloggers I follow visited Punta Caliza a few years ago. I’ve since kept the beautiful family-run boutique hotel in mind, knowing I wanted to visit one day.
Here’s a bit about getting to Isla Holbox and what it’s like to vacation on the island. Next up will be a blog post on what we did and where we ate!
Getting to Isla Holbox
Getting to Isla Holbox from the New York area takes almost a full day of travel, so keep that in mind.
We flew into Cancun, which is only a four-hour flight from NYC. From there it’s a two-hour drive to a town called Chiquilá, followed by a half hour ferry ride to Isla Holbox, and then a short taxi ride to anywhere on the island. Sounds pretty doable, right? What I didn’t think about is all the extra time around these steps, such as arriving to the airport early, going through customs in Mexico, finding your ride at the airport, stopping at an ATM or currency exchange, waiting for the next ferry (they run every thirty minutes), and waiting in line at the taxi stand once you get off. These all add up to a long travel day.
We booked our departing flight from NYC as early as possible in hopes that we would arrive to our hotel by late afternoon. We didn’t arrive until after 6PM! Luckily that still left time to shower, unpack, and head out to dinner. This late arrival was mainly because of a very long line at the currency exchange desk and arriving to the ferry right on the hour, meaning we had to wait until half past for the next one. We booked our return flight for night, which allowed us to enjoy breakfast and a couple of hours on the beach on our last morning.
How to take these steps
We booked our travel through Punta Caliza, our hotel, which meant a driver with a private van was waiting for us when we landed. He drove us the two hours to Chiquilá and handed us our ferry tickets, purchased by the hotel. When we arrived to Punta Caliza in a taxi after the ferry, they paid the fare. It wasn’t cheap to book this through the hotel, but we felt the convenience would be worth it. Once we arrived to Holbox we saw signs all over offering inexpensive shuttle services to Cancun from Chiquilá, and wished we hadn’t pre paid for round-trip service through the hotel since now we were comfortable with the route and could have saved money on the return. On the way there for our first time, I think it was worth it, especially having a private shuttle during Omicron scares.
Alternatives from the Cancun airport to Chiquilá include bus, taxi, and shared shuttles, all worth looking into. Ferry tickets can be bought at the dock. The ferry is quite large and has a bathroom on board. Once you get off the ferry, stand in the taxi line to catch a golf cart taxi to your destination (unless you prefer to walk, but given the condition of the roads - more below - it may be a challenge with luggage).
About Isla Holbox
Roads and getting around
The first thing you’ll notice on Isla Holbox is that there are no paved roads and no cars except for a few small work trucks. Everyone gets around by golf cart, ATV, bike, or foot. We walked everywhere and only took a taxi to and from the ferry. We planned on renting bikes to explore the island, but since it had rained earlier in the week, the roads weren’t conducive to bike riding (more on that below).
Some of the roads suffer from several potholes, and you can expect lots of puddles - some very large and deep - after it rains. Our taxi from the ferry drove right through some deep flooding, which made for an interesting first impression of the island. If you accidentally step in the puddles or surrounding wet ground - and, you will! - it dries quickly and flakes off. Just be careful not to slip! The roads will leave your shoes very dirty by the end of your trip, so packing plastic bags to protect the rest of the items in your luggage isn’t a bad idea.
There are no street lights, so if you’re staying at a hotel farther from the main part of town, like Punta Caliza, you’ll want to plan on using your phone’s flashlight when walking on the roads or beach after sunset.
I will say that we always felt very safe, even as three females walking down dark roads alone. The first night was a little challenging navigating the dark roads and avoiding puddles without having our bearings yet, so eating dinner at the hotel wouldn’t have been a bad idea, but it all worked out in the end.
Service and wifi
I have T-Mobile, which includes an international plan, but even when I had full bars I didn’t always have a strong connection. For me, service was best in town but not at the beach or hotel. The wifi at Punta Caliza was strongest in the lobby/restaurant area, so don’t plan on getting work done in your room if you stay there.
I tend to easily disconnect from texts and emails on vacation anyway, but given my lack of service it was even hard to mindlessly scroll through Instagram and I will say that it was a welcome break.
Streaming and downloading will be very hard or near impossible to do, even on wifi. I learned this the hard way when I realized my books hadn’t downloaded to my Kindle yet and I was having trouble connecting to the hotel’s wifi! Luckily the staff was helpful in getting me onto another network and while the downloads were slow, I was able to complete them. Phew.
Money
There are few ATMs on the island and there’s no guarantee that they will be stocked, and several places are cash only. Enough restaurants take cards that you won’t be completely trapped if you are low on cash, but I recommend getting pesos before you arrive to Isla Holbox and maybe even before Chiquilá, as others will have the same idea. I have a Charles Schwab debit card that reimburses ATM fees so I always use that to travel, and I just stopped at an ATM in the Cancun airport to take out a few hundred pesos, which was more than enough. My mom and sister brought US dollars and exchanged them after we landed.
People
We were able to chat with a lot of locals during our stay, especially the staff of Punta Caliza, and everyone was so friendly. Life on the island is very relaxed, and the demeanor of everyone - locals or visitors - reflects that. Shout our to Aldo, Axel, and Eduardo from Punta Caliza, who really made our stay so memorable!
Packing
Nowhere is very fancy, and given the condition of roads, you’ll want to leave your heels at home! In the winter it gets chilly at night, so a light jacket or a long sleeve top will come in handy. The sun is strong, so don’t forget your sunscreen and hat!
Water
Like everywhere in Mexico, you can’t drink the running water, and it’s recommended you don’t even use it to rinse your toothbrush. Bring your own reusable bottle and fill it at your hotel restaurant, or stock up on bottled water from the local shops for drinking and brushing!
Toilets
Like other developing regions of the world, Isla Holbox asks that you not flush toilet paper down the toilet. It takes a little getting used to if you are visiting from a more developed region, but it’s doable and helps their septic system.
Where we ate and what we did in Madrid, Spain