A Roadtrip Through The Yucatán Peninsula
An action-packed adventure through the safest part of Mexico with three under six. Stops: Isla Holbox, Merida, Bacalar
Winter break of 2023/2024 was fast approaching and my shpilkes*-afflicted (*it’s yiddish, look it up) hubby was planning yet another Italian ski trip with the three littles. Don’t get me wrong; I had a wonderful time on our last one but I found myself wanting to stay in the same or a similar time zone this time around. That was probably because Nala, our littlest love, was following in her brother’s footsteps when it comes to being an expert non-sleeper. I blame the overabundance of energy passed down from Papà. So, I knew I had to derail Gabri’s efforts or rather distract him with another option.
I’ve head a number of friends, Mexican and otherwise, sing the praises of Isla Holbox, Merida and Bacalar separately so I was pleased to discover that they could be visited in one road-trip covering the Yucatan Peninsula in about 10 days. So, I got to planning and presented the idea. Gabri being Gabri, he insisted we plan and book both trips, having them ready to go up until a week before (in accordance with cancellation policies of course). In the end, my plan won out and off to Mexico we went.
I’d say the trip was a great success. It had a nice rhythm and enough kid-friendly adventure to maintain overall happiness across the fam. We’d heard Holbox (pronounced Hole-bosh) was what Tulum used to be. I’ve come to find that’s a description applied to almost every trendy beach destination so not sure to what extent it rings true. Though, Holbox is indeed unique. It’s an island reached by ferry from Chiquila which is about two hours drive from Cancun Airport. It’s a car-less island where you get around on foot or by way of golf cart taxis. There’s a four person maximum so Nala (age one) spent most rides tucked into my oversized tote so as not to break up the fam. How’s that for a tip for friends wondering how we manage travel logistics as a family of five? It was a little like off-roading at times but Nalita seemed to enjoy the adventure, a foreshadowing of her dare-devilish nature, and would often pop her head up to surprise the driver who, at that point, was already trapped into transporting us and we’d just coerce him to continue. The coastline was decorated with a fair bit of smelly seaweed which tainted my perception of its beauty but once past it, the waters were warm and welcoming and the sunsets viewed from various beach clubs were the perfect backdrop to a cerveza and the occasional massage. Favorite Holbox moments include 1) walking on water at Mosquito Beach, 2) fishing our way (Gabri fished copious amounts of Blowfish) to Cabo Catoche, an island a boat ride away where we ate our catch (not the Blowfish) two ways — ceviche and BBQ’d, and 3) taking in the star-filled sky on our nightly walk home.
Once our time in Holbox came to a close, we hopped back on the ferry to pick up our car and head to Merida. I’d heard and read great things about the city—tons to do in and around the city so alluring that lots of ex-pats have come to call it home. En route, we made a pitstop for lunch in Valladolid, a cute little town for a bite and a wander with a famous street, Calzada de los Frailes, known for its historic colorful facades and plentiful cute shops, none of which I had the time to go into. We were on a tight schedule in that we wanted to get to Chichen-Itza, a World Wonder and one of the most important examples of the Mayan-Toltec civilization in Yucatán. It’s quite a site in that several buildings still stand, such as the Warriors' Temple, El Castillo and a circular observatory known as El Caracol. The boys LOVED the ruins. They were captivated by stories of human sacrifices (must be the Roman in them) and Mayan ball games. They reenacted what their little imaginations saw as being Mayan warrior battles and continued to talk about the “Piramidi di Maya” for the months that followed.
With regard to Merida itself, I have to say I was unimpressed. Apart from some good restaurants and a couple of nice streets, parts of it resembled India. (I absolutely love and am fascinated by India but I’m referencing the dirty disarray found in many of its streets). There wasn’t much to do, especially as museums aren’t at the top of our list considering the ages of our kids. We stayed in an Airbnb that was modern and clean with extremely comfortable beds (underrated importance) and a scorpion waiting to greet us (very happy I encountered him before any little hands were able to).
However, and this is an important however, the experience of staying at a Hacienda on the outskirts of Merida is one I’d highly recommend. We stayed at Hacienda Xanatun, a beautiful property and great base for touring the area, full of cenotes and Mayan ruins. We planned naps around transit time and managed to do it all. We visited Uxmal, another fascinating Mayan site with far less people than Chichen-Itza located across the street from Choco Story, a sort of museum where you learn about and taste Mayan-style cacao and visit rescued monkeys and jaguars. We toured Hacienda Mucuyche before visiting the beautiful cenotes on its property, the second of which was among most beautiful we’ve ever seen. We included all three of these stops in one day which might have been slightly aggressive with three under five but it was an action-packed, fantastic day!
On a slower paced day, we drove an hour to Celestún and took a little boat ride to see an abundance of bright pink flocks of flamingos and the occasional crocodile before enjoying a beachside lunch at La Palapa.
We were back and forth on whether to reroute to Tulum as our final stop as opposed to our scheduled destination, Bacalar. The motivator was eliminating the four hour journey there (and subsequent four hour journey back to Cancun) but curiosity got the better of us and we stuck to regularly scheduled programming. In the end, the kids were great in the car with Nala sleeping almost the entire time and the boys enjoying some rare time on the iPad in between dozing off. The moment we saw the seven color lake, we knew we’d made the right decision.
Bacalar is a beauty. The water is incredible in terms of both color and depth and a boat ride across the coastline and out to the Canal de Los Piratas was a wonderful way to enjoy it. We snuck in (just because) to Los Rapidos which was a cute enough activity for the kids. I don’t know that it deserves the rave reviews it gets but we had fun being pushed down a stream by the current, landing in a pool attached to a mediocre restaurant. Mornings were spent kayaking on the lagoon and nights involved swinging on colorful chairs out over the water at La Playita, a restaurant on the water with pretty good eats, nice ambiance and lots of space for kids to roam. Bacalar may have been a bit out of the way but its beauty and tranquility were well worth the trip. In fact, the only moment that disturbed the peace was when Rafa helped himself to a spoonful of some extremely spicy something left on the breakfast table. He lived to tell the tale.
The kids ate 1,000 tiny bananas on the car ride to the airport and the journey (and adventure overall) was almost void of any snafu until, three minutes from the airport, some corrupt police pulled us over to scam us out of $600 for a made up offense. I often joke that Gabri has a criminal mind (offset by fear of prison and American police). So, he knew almost immediately it was a scam but had the good sense to avoid an argument with the armed Mexican criminals. Thanks to whatever absurd logic (or ignorance) on their part, they accepted payment via American Express and while they then attempted to charge us twice, they were no match for the exceptional customer service of the fine American institution that swiftly remedied this unpleasantry.
Considering this was a nanny-less adventure with multiple destinations and a fair amount of hours in the car, it felt easy. Scorpions and above-mentioned criminal encounter aside, we always felt safe. It was a trip that suited the ages of our kids (and perhaps our aggressive rhythm) and contributed to the beautiful memories we continue to make together.