I never knew what paradise was until I visited Holbox Island, my only regret is that I could only spend two days there.
I had to visit an island for a River Island campaign called #TakeMeToTheIsland, and given that we were at Coachella at the time, I decided to look on a map and rely on google to help me find a beautiful island on that part of the world, and that’s how I arrived on Mexico’s secret haven. I had such an amazing time, even though the trip was far too short, that I wanted to share it with you, as well as my holiday lookbook of course!
To get to Holbox Island, you have to fly into Cancun and then take a 2 hour trip to the port, before getting a half hour boat to the island. we arrived at the port just in time for sunset, and that was when I knew I had arrived in heaven on earth! The sky was full of every shade of pink and orange imaginable and there were beautiful birds flying around. It was so magical.
We booked our travel through a website called TravelYucatan.com and paid $288.00 for a return trip that included a private minibus, the ferry, and a shuttle to our hotel, and they were so polite and professional I’d really recommend them. Plus, they’re a small company. It is worth finding out if your hotel offers free transfers before you book though.
There are no cars on the island, and it’s pretty small so you can get around most places on foot, or there are lots of golf buggy taxis. I think you can rent your own one too.
One thing that’s really important to know is that the ferry’s only start at 8am and the last ferry is around 9pm - make sure you check this as we had a return flight at 9am from Cancun and had paid for a night at the hotel, but we had to leave the night before and stay in a hotel in Cancun.
Accommodation: CasaSandra
After extensive research online, I discovered that CasaSandra seemed to be the most sought after place to stay on the island. Plus, it just so happened that Lucy Meckenborough’s sister had just got back from Holbox and had highly recommended staying there.
It did not disappoint! We arrived onto Holbox island as the sun was setting, so after a ten minute taxi journey to the hotel, we were blown away when we arrived onto the driveway of CasaSandra to a beautiful hotel with candles everywhere right in front of the sea.
Our room was spacious with a large bathroom, and it even had its own hammock and private terrace!
There’s an outdoor pool, but we spent our days on the beach. The sea is so blue it’s turquoise, and the sand is so soft and white. It’s one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever been on, made even better by the outdoor beach bar. I’,m still dreaming of the mango daiquiris! Plus we ate lunch on our big double beach bed.
A local speciality is the seafood cervice, and eating food this fresh on a beautiful beach in the sunshine with a cocktail was just so idyllic. Plus, it’s the land of guacamole, and me and avocado have a serious relationship .
Other accomodation recommendations:
Hotel Mawimbi
Las Nubes de Holbox
Dream Beach Front Hotel
Holbox Island is really small so we spent one afternoon walking along the beautiful beach strip in search of the insta-famous hammocks in the sea! The beaches really is so beautiful, and the sea is so blue, but then we were struck with a tropical storm so whilst it was still beautiful we were left avoiding thunder and lightning by the time it came to finding the hammocks. (They are at Hotel Flamingos).
By the time it came to sunset, the sky was clear and the weather back to its beautiful self so we decided to wander into town for sunset. The centre of town is only about a 10 minute walk from CasaSandra and it’s so cute and colourful. All the buildings are painted different colours and so we stopped to talk thousands of photos on the way before discovering a rooftop bar with a jacuzzi! We watched the sunset whilst sipping the most phenomenal cocktails before we headed back into town in search of some dinner.
Our taxi driver recommended an amazing restaurant to us that served Mexican food, but I’m so gutted that it was fully booked when we arrived, but we stumbled upon a cute restaurant between the town and our hotel, so we feasted on some amazing small dishes.
I was so sad that we only had two nights in Holbox as there’s so much I would have loved to have done, travelling to the neighbouring island to see all the flamingos definitely being one of them, but I’ll definitely be back to that secret piece of heaven.
Something I didn’t get to experience whilst I was here but I did find out about was The Art of Whale Shark and Fishing Experience in Holbox. You can meet the Islands Fishermen and learn about the fish and swim with the largest Whale Sharks from mid May- mid September.
Top: EgaliTEE (My brand)
Other practical information worth knowing:
They accept cards and have a cash machine on the island so don’t feel the need to take loads of cash like I did.
It’s a really safe island, so you don’t need to worry about your safety. There’s only 2000 people in total living on the island and everyone we met was extremely lovely. We did both lose a couple of pairs of sunglasses from our bags on the ferry on our way to the island though, so maybe don’t leave valuables in your bag or keep it on you rather than putting it below
Holbox Island is genuinely one of my absolute favourite places I’ve ever visited so I cannot recommend it enough as a holiday destination. I hope this post has done enough to convey my love for the island! Do let me know if reading this post has inspired to visit Holbox Island. You honestly won’t regret it!
You can read my interview on the River Island website HERE
Speak to you soon,
Ashley x
Hey, don’t forget to check out my new #WONDERWOMENWEDNESDAY on instagram. You can get involved and get featured on my page on a Wednesday! Check it out here!
Nice useful post written by a stunning girl.
Thank you 🙂
A brilliantly thorough description of what sounds like one for the bucket list. Full of detailed information about both the resort and surrounding areas,
Ashly who is taking this picture? Simply stunning🎊