Not Posh, Isla Holbox

I say ‘not posh’ Holbox because the pronunciation of the island’s name Holbox rhymes with ‘posh’ and not with ‘fox’. And I also say ‘not posh’ because Isla Holbox is very laid back, relaxed, and unpretentious.

Located on the northern Yucatan coast about 3 hours’ drive from the Cancun airport, you won’t find any paved roads or cars on Mexico’s Isla Holbox and only an occasional work truck. Isla Holbox reminded us of a place we stayed in Belize called Caye Caulker which also did not have cars and was a relatively small island – click here to see our post about Caye Caulker.

Holbox has a great vibe and the people are very friendly and accommodating to tourists. It is not one of Mexico’s official Tourist Zones like Cabo, Cancun or Puerto Vallarta so it has more of a small beach town feel.

Though it has a decent infrastructure it is much less touristy than Isla Mujeres or Cozumel – the other islands we have visited in the Yucatan. There aren’t a lot of fancy areas on the tiny island, although if you want to spend the money you can certainly find some very luxurious resorts and very high end restaurants.

You can fly into the tiny airport on Holbox but it only takes small planes and so the typical route is to fly into Cancun and take a shuttle to the coastal town of Chiquila and then take a short half hour ferry across to the island. If you choose to, you can rent a car in Cancun and drive to Chiquila and park at one of the many long term parking lots and then ferry across.

Most of the island activity is centered along the northern coast and stretches from Punta Cocos on the western tip eastward to Punta Mosquito. The Gulf of Mexico waters are warm and it is very shallow especially when the tide goes out.

You are able to walk out 50 yards or so into the ocean before you get to waist deep in the warm water. During low tide sandbars pop up off shore and you can walk up and down the coast for miles or just lay in the shallow water and sunbathe.

Isla Holbox is well known and remarkable among certain crowds for several reasons. For one thing, there are virtually no cars on the island and instead people just walk, take bikes, or ride around in golf carts. Some of these golf carts are quite formidable and can hold 6 passengers and are equipped with impressive traction tires. You do see an occasional work truck or petrol and construction trucks that come across by barge, deliver their wares and then barge back.

 

There are virtually no paved roads and so when it rains as it frequently does in short spurts in the Yucatan, the roads can get a bit muddy, actually it is more like a clay-like covering of very dense white sand than mud that makes up the roads. So when it rains it becomes a bit slippery and you can get covered in a powdery sand that looks a little bit like cement mix. Hence the need for the golf carts with heavily treaded tires to navigate the puddles that form after a rain. 

We are here in early November which is near the tail end of the rainy season and we had only one night of rain but had to navigate around puddles for the next two days. Since there is no drainage to speak of, they have built elevated sidewalks to allow the pedestrians to negotiate the puddles.

Isla Holbox is also one of the premier spots in the world to see whale sharks which are really neither a whale or a shark in the traditional sense. The whale shark is the largest fish in the ocean but it is not a mammal and so it is not classified as a whale and it is a filter feeder that eats plankton and other small fish and poses no threats to humans. Alas it was not whale shark season during our visit (June to mid-September) so we were not able to snorkel with them. But having been in the water with a couple of them in the Gulf of California near La Paz, I can tell you they are worth a trip to see. These mammoth fish and can reach up to 40 ft. which is about as long as a bus.

The Gulf of Mexico waters are warm and gentle so no surfing waves here but in the mornings it is calm enough to kayak in the open sea or the mangroves and we also saw paddleboarders plying the waters. In the afternoons the wind kicks up and the area around Punta Mosquito attracts an enthusiastic kite-boarding crowd.

Since this is an island and everything is shipped in to Holbox it is a little more expensive than some spots in Mexico but in general I would say everything is about a third to a half as expensive as in the states. For example in restaurants a beer costs $2 – $3, wine and margaritas around $5 and an excellent meal for two around $30 – $40. There are no big chains here in terms of grocery stores or restaurants so you’ll find more mom and pop stores and individually owned restaurants. But there is a big variety of food from sushi to pizza and of course the seafood and Mexican fare is outstanding.

The sand here is white and powdery and in some spots there are lots of shells in the sand but out in the water as you walk along the sand bars it is very nice on your feet

Isla Holbox also has an area where you can see bioluminescence but unfortunately for us that only occurs during times when the moon is not out and we happened to be here during a week that included a full moon. So just unlucky timing on our part but everywhere you go you see tours touting visiting the bioluminescence.

Isla Holbox is also known as a spot that has beautifully painted murals and street art throughout the town and you can see in the pictures below how beautiful and colorful they are. It reminded us of Valparaiso, Chile which was also covered in colorful street art – Valparaiso Street Art. To see more pictures of Isla Holbox’s Street art click here

Like any island there are some bugs present and as we have learned throughout Mexico and Central America that the bugs hang out underneath the tables at restaurants and so we always use a liberal dose of bug spray before heading out in the evenings. We had about 10 bites during the week but they were tiny and only itched for a night. They are not at all like the type of mosquitoes we get in the states – more like a flea bite or what you might have heard called ‘No Seeums.

There is a lot of bird life here as well and we’ve seen lots of pelicans, frigate birds, gulls, and herons and at certain times of the year there are flamingoes in the area. There is some charter fishing in the area and you can also take tours to nearby islands or visit a cenote in a remote area of the island and swim in freshwater.

Our 7 days here typically consisted of long walks along the beach followed by a nice lunch, maybe a little day drinking in the midafternoons followed by a swim and siesta. Then after a happy hour drink we would head down to the wharf or a rooftop bar to watch one of the fabulous Gulf of Mexico sunsets.

Then it would be off to one of the many restaurants the island had to offer. At this point in our trip, it being the first week, we are mainly eating Mexican fair and seafood and it won’t be for another week into our trip that we go to a pizza or sushi spot.

Dinner is typically followed by a gelato or another Mexican treat like a churro or a new treat that we found here called a marquesita, which is like a crispy crepe filled with your choice of Nutella or caramel or whatever sweet thing you might desire. Then we get up and do it again the next day – so relaxing! It is not a vacation where there is going to be a ton of things to do but if you have a pool and an ocean and lots of good food and drink there’s not a lot more that one needs other than a good book to make for a nice relaxing vacation

The nice thing about being in Isla Holbox is that the typical tourist could just as easily be a Mexican tourist as likely as it being an American, Canadian, French, German or Australian. 

Our hope is that Isla Holbox will retain its charm and stay relatively tranquil and not be overrun by tourists so that we can come back in the future. Due to the difficulty of getting to the island we think there is a good chance of that because you really have to want to go there as it is not close to major roads or international airports. Two thumbs up from us – we think it is worth the trip!