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Are you heading to Holbox soon and looking for some useful travel tips to make the best of your trip? You’ve come to the right place!
Isla Holbox is one of the most beautiful islands in Mexico as well as the perfect place to relax. Here there are no cars, no stress and beautiful beaches.
I recently visited Holbox during my Yucatan Peninsula road trip and thought I’d share with you all my travel tips!
So, are you ready to get started?
1. Use mosquito spray
This one is no joke. While it’s true that there are mosquitoes everywhere in Mexico, in Holbox, it’s simply insane.
They bite you even during the day but it gets completely out of control around sunset time. Whether you are on the beach, in a bar, at the hotel, it doesn’t matter, they will simply bite you.
To avoid it, you need to carry (and use) mosquito spray at all times.
Please remember that you will be swimming a lot as well so it’s better to take an eco-friendly mosquito spray but make sure it’s a tropical strength one like this one.
Click here to buy mosquito spray
2. Get up early and go for a nap in the afternoon
It gets really hot on Holbox and while I know this is also true for the rest of the Yucatan Peninsula, it feels even hotter on Holbox.
For this reason, I recommend splitting your day in two. If you get up early, you can enjoy the beach without the crowds. It’s also a good time to go kayaking in the mangroves. You can then keep on doing your activities until noon, have some lunch and go for a nap before resuming your activities around 4PM-5PM.
If napping is not on the cards for you, then you can always relax but make sure to put sunscreen on and ideally to stay in the shade.
3. Make sure to go to Punta Mosquito
Punta Mosquito is the most beautiful part of the island. The water here is incredible, it’s a true paradise.
It’s also a great place at night to see the bioluminescence and do some stargazing.
There are three options to get to Punta Mosquito:
- You can walk on the sandbar from Las Nubes hotel (free but long)
- Book the 3-island tour which also includes Yalahau cenote and Passion Island
- Book a kayaking bioluminescence tour. This takes place at night so you can see the plockton as well as the sky.
4. Go see the bioluminescence
Holbox is one of the best places in the world to see bioluminescence and one of the rare places where you can see it all year round.
Usually bioluminescence is only visible in the warmer months and while it’s true that it is better in the summer months, you can also see it at any other time on Holbox.
Seeing the bioluminescence is an incredible experience. There is nothing like it! It feels so magical!
That’s definitely something you shouldn’t miss on Holbox and if you only have the budget for one tour, that’s the one you should do!
I particularly recommend the kayaking tour because it’s a lot of fun and you learn plenty about the bioluminescence but also the sky.
5. Don’t book your ferry in advance
You can book your ferry online to go to the island but it will ask you to choose a time which can be stressful.
The reality is, when you get to Chiquila, there are several booths where you can take your tickets and there is no queue so you can buy your tickets in a couple of minutes.
For this reason, I don’t think it’s worth booking online. You might as well drive there, see what ferry you want to get on and just buy your ticket there.
The return is an open ticket so you can take any ferry back to the mainland.
6. Get cash on the mainland
There are 3 ATMs on Holbox so if you run out of cash, you should be able to withdraw there. However, it’s very common for them to not have cash or simply refuse your card.
Out of the 3 ATMs, we were only able to withdraw from one (and it was the one with the highest fees of course).
For this reason, I’d highly recommend getting cash on the mainland so you don’t have to stress about it on the island.
It’s very stressful when you need cash and can’t get it, especially since all the places don’t always take cards and if they do they usually charge you 5% on top so avoid some stress and get your cash before taking the ferry.
7. Stay at least 2 days
While it’s possible to visit Holbox as a day trip, you can only really experience it if you stay overnight.
There is something very soothing and relaxing about Holbox and you can only really see that if you stay at least one night.
It’s all about the beach and the island life here so if you want to experience Holbox, spend the night!
Also, that’s the only way you have to see the stunning sunset and incredible bioluminescence and sky.
8. Just relax!
While it can be tempting to do a lot of activities on Holbox, one of the best things to do is actually to just relax.
Get that book, lay on the beach and enjoy! It’s what Holbox is all about in the end. The locals are very relaxed and chilled and for good reason, that’s what this island life is like.
It’s a great place to slow down and actually enjoy a relaxing holiday.
I hope these travel tips for Holbox will help you! It’s a fantastic destination and you are going to love every second of it.
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