Isla Holbox: where do I even begin? Actually, I know where… let me begin by informing you that Holbox is pronounced whole-bosh, I had no idea for 2 weeks prior to my arrival and I just want to quickly save you from mispronouncing it so you don’t sound like a ding dong like me 😉 Ok but for real, I can’t say enough good things about Isla Holbox… literally THIS PLACE IS PERFECTION. Vibes on vibes on vibes. Colorful, beautiful, tropical, authentic, and mostly undiscovered (so it’s not yet been taken over by massive amounts of tourists) This 26 mile long island is roughly 2 hours north of Cancun, Mexico; and while it took a 5 hour plane ride, 2 hour taxi ride and a 30 minute ferry ride to get there.. it was worth every single second of travel, this place is beyond magical… I most definitely will be going back.

Why Isla Holbox? Well, the trip itself came about in the most random way; I had been planning to travel to Bali in June, but after not one but two different girls I was trying to plan a Bali trip with bailed on me it was looking like I wouldn’t be going anywhere, which I was super bummed out about because one of my goals for 2018 is to travel more and I was FINALLY serious about making plans and going somewhere. One morning I was at the gym with my friend Caroline and she mentioned she was going to Mexico in June with her 2 friends Ary and Sam, and casually invited me; I knew in that moment I had to jump on the invite and go, this was my chance to get my feet wet traveling again- it had been 4 years since I went on a trip!! The next week I booked my ticket; it was official, I was going to Isla Holbox, a little island that I knew nothing about, all the way in Mexico… I had no idea what was in store for me, but boy was I excited.

We took a red eye to Cancun, then hopped in a taxi and took a 2 hour drive (aka nap city as you can see below 😉 thanks for capturing us mid slumber Ary lol ) to Chiquilá where we then hopped on a ferry that took us to beautiful Isla Holbox!

Once we arrived on the island we paired off (there were 4 of us traveling together) and hoped on the back of a couple golf cart taxis and drove to our hotel! There are barely any cars on the island, no paved roads, and most everyone gets around on foot or by golf carts (which the 12 year old in me LOVES) ! I didn’t bring any pesos with me and the ATM in the airport wasn’t working, but I was easily able to get some from an island bank ATM which you can find upstairs above the Police Station near the town center!

We stayed at the most beautiful hotel on the island, Punta Caliza. From our room, to the pool and hotel staff, everything was perfection. I’d go into detail but I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

Once we arrived and got all checked into the hotel, we changed and immediately headed straight for the beach, which is just a short walk from the hotel… the water you guys is SO INSANELY WARM, amazingly salty and crystal clear, AND THE SAND… the sand is on another level…so soft and almost clay like. At one point I had everyone laying down in the sand rubbing it all over themselves like a head to toe clay mask exfoliation treatment lol… it was awesome.

After the beach we headed back to our hotel and swam in the pool for a while, then we got ready and walked into town for dinner!

The original crew: me (only a tad sunburned lol) + Caroline + Ary + Sam… I say original because we added 2 to our crew on day 2 of our trip! I’ll get to that in a minute though 🙂

This pink 2 piece outfit + my hat is from Madewell // My sandals are from TOMS !

On our first night in Isla Holbox we ate at what would end up being my favorite place on the island, Roots Pizza. I had the best mezcal margarita and vegan pizza EVER. Not kidding. The best. We sat outside enjoying our meal while a live band played music. They even had a slack line hung up, so naturally we had to get up and try it! I made it about a total of 4 steps lol slack-lining is seriously so hard!

PS: I found this super cute macrame bag at World Market! It was perfect to carry on this trip!

I was a little worried about the food situation, as I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find good vegan options but everyone was SO accommodating and luckily I love chips and guac 😉 I really didn’t have any issues, I found some really great vegan options! I even found green juice! I have some good places listed below! My breakfasts mostly consisted of tortillas, avocado and veggies but that was just fine with me 🙂 Here are a few of the delicious vegan meals I had on the island:

For all my vegan babes traveling to Holbox, here are the names of my favorite places I ate at on the island:

My hotel, Punta Caliza was able to accommodate me with great vegan options!

Luuma

ROOTS Pizza

Casa Las Tortugas

Naay

Day 2 started off with me waking up to a mosquito bite on my eyelid.. lol seriously my right eye was swollen shut haha after the initial shock I took a deep breath and accepted that I would look as if I were winking for an extended amount of time, threw on my sunnies and decided I would have the best time ever, swollen eye or not… so I got my day started with breakfast at the hotel followed by some play time in the pool before me and the gang headed back to the warm water for a full day at the beach!

Just when I thought this trip couldn’t get any better, IT DID. We met the raddest chicks from London who were also staying at our hotel, Monica and Louie. By mid morning of day 2 we had become fast friends with these gals; we spent the rest of our trip with them! I couldn’t imagine my trip with out these babes, we were totally meant to meet! We even got BFF bracelets and have a group chat going where we talk daily and are discussing future travel plans together 🙂 How cool is that?

For the remainder of the trip our party of 6 dined together all over the island, played lots and lots of cards, swam in the pool and in the ocean, explored neighboring hotels in our robes, rented golf carts and drove around the island (which our hotel helped us arrange!), and we even made friends with some locals who told us about the island hot spot called Hot Corner where we danced the night away. It was seriously so so so much fun! The laid back vibe of this island was just what I needed, I didn’t do my hair once and didn’t wear one bit of makeup the whole trip.

In addition to the white sand beaches with bath temperature waters I love that everything is so colorful here! The only downside I found  to this little island is the mosquito situation. Mosquitos LOVE ME and I got more than my fair share of bites 🙁 Bug spray is a MUST! Our English friends had this little bug bite zapper, otherwise known on our trip as “the clicker” which was a life saver. I had never heard of or seen one of these but I was able to find one on Amazon and I highly suggest you bring one along with you for mosquito bite relief! Another met have item for your trip is sunscreen! My favorite brand is Suntegrity, I am obsessed with their face sunscreen and primer, and their mineral body sunscreen!! I don’t just use it on vacay though, it’s a daily essential for me!

This orange 2 piece outfit + my fanny pack + sandals are all from Free People!

On my final day it started to storm and rain, which made for a muddy mess as this island doesn’t have a drainage system! The streets were flooded and filled with puddles, so we resorted to playing cards and swimming in the pool in the tropical rain. I’m not going to lie, when the weather took a turn it made it a little easier for me to leave.. but I was still so sad, I didn’t want this trip to end!!

I left a day earlier than my friends as I had to get back to teaching my yoga classes, so I stayed for a total of 4 days and 4 nights, and this may not come as a surprise but it wasn’t enough 🙁 I wish I could’ve stayed for at least 6 days, and totally could’ve stayed longer!  Traveling back to the airport alone in Mexico when you don’t speak any Spanish and have no cell service can be a little intimidating, but the staff at Punta Caliza arranged everything for me and I got there safe and sound! Overall my trip was incredible, the island itself, the experiences, my travel buddies, it all has filled my heart with so much joy. I can’t wait to start planning my next trip! By the way, if you want to see fun video clips from my trip head over to my Instagram and click the Travel section of my highlights to see all of our adventures! 🙂

Isla Holbox: you have my whole heart!

If you have any questions please feel free to leave me a comment below! I am happy to help you in any way that I can in planning your own trip to Isla Holbox!