Mexico : Isla Holbox, Tulúm and Bacalar
- ionaweir
- Apr 16
- 10 min read
Updated: Aug 17
I made my way to Yucatan with a thirty hour travel journey from San Cristobal to Isla Holbox, straight after our final Spanish class. The first leg was a 24 hour bus to Cancún, although Calla and I actually took different buses as she booked later and price had gone up, and then met at Cancún bus station to take a three hour bus to Chiquilá, then finally a ferry to Holbox. The journey was longg and unfortunately for most of the 24 hour bus I was sat next to a large man who was asleep and manspreading. I felt very excited and grateful to be in the Caribbean when we were about to get our ferry, and we got seats at the front and crossed during sunset ! Very picturesque. Calla was more concerned about finding a smoke shop once on the island. Helena was on a side quest to Valladolid and Merida (which we’d foregone as I couldn’t bear the idea of being in a non-coastal city in 40 degree heat) but was gonna join us in Holbox a couple days later.
We stayed at Tribu hostel which I thought was great. They had so many hammocks which I love and lots of activities, including daily yoga. The hostel also had so so many scabby cats which are my favourite type of cat. As well as the cats, the hostel was unintentionally home to quite a few racoons with very little fear of humans. They ran into the kitchen a few times and then stole Calla's baccy with their creepy little hands which made her very distressed. We went to the beach the first day of course, which was so much nicer than in Puerto Escondido as the air felt way less humid and the sea was way less wavey so you could actually swim when you wanted to cool off rather than feeling as if you were risking your life. We had a bit of a wander around the island after that and then decided to join a mural tour of the island which had been organised by the hostel. I found it a lot more interesting than I’d expected and it was really cool to learn about the island and get recommendations, and then everyone who’d joined the tour decided to get a beer and watch the sunset on the pier which was really nice to get to know the other people at the hostel, and had a few more drinks with them later and almost almost almost got tattoos since there was a tattoo artist at the hostel but then didn’t.
The next morning we went to Punta Mosquita with some other girls from the hostel, which is this stunning sandbank that you have to wade through the sea to get to, and even gets flamingos during the rainy season ! Luckily we had good weather because we were talking to another girl who’d been a few days before in bad weather and said the water had gone up to her chest and been really wavy and grey eek. Even so it was quite the workout and I was starving after and had to have a v early lunch. Helena arrived later on that day and I’d already decided to extend my stay as I was loving the island so much. To be honest I wasn’t really doing much – mostly just going to the beach and reading in the hammocks. This hostel also had a really good kitchen and communal areas which was a nice change from a lot of the other hostels we’d stayed in. I finally managed to get a bit of a tan in Holbox too (which is already fading unfortunately). My favourite thing we did there was the sunset kayak tour in the mangroves which was absolutely beautiful, although quite hard work. They only had double kayaks so Helena and I went together, and as she was sat at the back she was supposed to be leading but I don’t like not being in control so I think we were sometimes going against each other haha. That being said, we were far better than the other people in our group who were genuinely shocking and kept on bumping into us and slowing us down (amateurs). Calla basically had a free ride and was only pretending to paddle as she was with the tour guide. We saw a crocodile and lots of other birds and wildlife which was really cool and it felt very tropical being in the mangroves and very Caribbean-y. Which it literally was. I've come to the conclusion that I really love mangroves. They're also really important as they're natural barriers which reduce the impact of hurricanes which is cool. The best part was on the way back through the sea at sunset when loads of pelicans came out and started feeding on all the fish in the water. It was so so pretty none of my photos could do it justice but one of my travelling highlights so far for sure.
A couple days later Calla and I headed for Tulum for a couple days, mainly to see some cenotes and break up the journey from Holbox to Bacalar, leaving Helena to ‘solo travel’ for two days again. We’d heard mixed things about Tulum from other travellers, but figured we might as well stop for a few days since it was en route and a good base to see the cenotes. This was my second time in Tulum as I’d spent a week there last time I was travelling, and we even ended up staying in the same hostel. I will say it wasn’t as nice this time round – whilst it still felt very fancy, the breakfast has definitely downgraded in the last five years and the water wasn’t working during the day, which wasn’t the most convenient.
We ended up going to the hostel bar the first night and made some friends, although Tulum does seem like it’s mostly full of wealthy Americans and people on work trips etc but it was still good fun, just not somewhere I’d want to stay more than a few days. We were slightly hungover the next day so just spent the afternoon wandering around the shops and side streets and going to every single ice cream shop we saw to try the free samples. Some were very generous. We also went to Chedraui (a huge supermarket chain in Mexico) where we also had loads more free samples, then Calla found a cheap Chinese restaurant on this random street which was very enjoyable. The next day we finally went to a Cenote ! We took a colectivo to Cenote Azul, which wasn’t one of the ones in a cave which I quite liked as it meant we could spend a while there in the sun without actually having to go in the water as I’m slightly afraid of the fish nibbling me and my crusty toes. Calla basically got a free pedicure. They had loads of big big iguanas which was fun and only slightly disconcerting as they kept on trying to fight each other.
Our final stop in Mexico was Laguna de Bacalar, also known as the Lake of Seven Colours. We met Helena there as she had arrived the day before and unfortunately we were staying at the Che hostel there as it was a decent price with good amenities, but luckily this one didn’t seem too over the top. I'd been to Bacalar before, the same time as I went to Tulum, but only spent a couple nights there. This time round it was actually one of my favourite places in Mexico, alongside Holbox I think. I had such a nice time. The first day we went to Los Rapidos, which is a lazy river in the lake and you get given a life jacket and just float down which is very fun. I even finally brought my goggles out so got a full view of everyones feet in the water. Yum. We spent a good part of the day there before heading back to the hostel for a bit and the heading to a random bar which ended up having amazing live music later on. I think they were a Cuban group and they were so good which was such a nice surprise as we hadn't known they were playing and the bar ended up really filling up with lots of old couples salsa dancing, and then the tourists joined in as well. It was a very easy game of spot the gringo. I know better than to even attempt to dance.
We spent the following day just wandering round the town and ended up in Yak hostel for the afternoon, which was really nice but quite expensive to stay at s back to Che we went, just in time for the free cocktail making "class". This involved pouring rum, pineapple juice and coconut milk into a bottle and shaking it, so not too sure I learnt much but it was free so oh well. We'd booked a Catamaran tour of the lake with Yak for the following day which was so so much fun and another highlight of the trip. We got to swim a few times and they gave us free fruit and beer which was lovely except then Helena had a crisis and nearly wet herself. We were there for sunset which was obviously stunning and the guides were so nice and chatty and were telling us about all the underwater cenotes in the lake. We got super lucky as well as the people who went the following day got completely drenched by the rain and had grey sky. Shame for them. We didn’t have long to sleep though because we also had booked a sunrise kayak for the following morning. This was also amazing and involved even more free fruit. I’m so glad we did kayaking instead of paddle boarding as well – meant I got to sit down the whole time and also lucky for me these were single kayaks so I had all the control. Yay.
This was our last proper day together and in Mexico so Calla and I had to check out right after as we had a night bus to Cancun, with me flying to Guatemala City and her flying to the States, and then Helena getting a bus to Belize the following morning. I spent most of the day at the hostel and getting my rucksack flight ready, and also went back to a really good wrap place right by the hostel. We'd planned to sit outside with our bags it kept on raining on and off very suddenly so all our stuff kept on getting wet. Then that evening we went on a final excursion to get a Marquesita, a dessert native to Yucatan which is like a crunchy crepe filled with cheese (queso de bola) and chocolate and jam or something. We had one between the three as it was massive and we were trying to get rid of our last pesos so each took turns taking a bite. I think we looked quite silly but it was quite enjoyable and a cute way to end our two months together.
Calla and I then just had to wait in the hostel (with a party going on downstairs) until around 11pm before getting our bus to Cancun, then another to the airport where I had around 5 hours to wait. Unfortunately my flight was delayed by three hours, and then six, and then cancelled. I should also mention that my Mexican visa also expired that same day so when the airport staff said there were no more flights to Guatemala until the following day I was quite concerned. This ended up in the airport staff leading us on a wild goose chase around the airport until we eventually got taken to a hotel for the night before the new flight at 8am the following day. I felt quite guilty as I was right at the front of the queue for everything whilst so many people were waiting for hours to get buses and rooms at the hotel as I’d made friends with this really nice Dutch girl who was also solo travelling in Guatemala and just happened to be on crutches and then got given a wheelchair as we were standing in queues a lot, so then got pushed to the front. She didn’t speak any Spanish so asked if I could go with her at the front, which I definitely wasn’t complaining about but did feel quite cheeky. She wasn’t in a wheelchair when I first met her I swear. My room at the hotel was also insane. There was room for 4 of me in the bed and then I also had a sofa. I had the longest hot shower of my life before going straight to bed and then up early for my flight the next day. Luckily the expired visa wasn’t an issue and no one commented on it, and then after another full day of buses and ferries and a three hour stop off in Antigua (which was fun to be back in )! I’ve finally arrived at Lake Atitlan. The lake is surrounded by different towns, all only accessible by a lancha (small boat/ferry) and I’m currently in San Marcos La Laguna in a cheap Airbnb for a few days before I start my workaway at an eco-lodge in San Juan La Laguna which is very exciting. I’ve done a few things here but have mostly just been reading, watching White Lotus (finally caved) and catching up on this blog. It’s been so nice to have some time to myself as I think after two months constantly with other people I’d forgotten how to spend time alone ! I even bought a yoga mat, although not sure how I’m gonna travel with that but I guess that’s a problem for a month’s time. Anyway, signing off now, big love, will update soon,
Iona xoxo
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