Tangerine-tinged Isla Holbox was long Mexico’s best-kept beach secret, just down the coast from Tulum. The word may have trickled out, but it has held on to its heat-drunk vibe.
Thear the flamingos before I turn and look up to see them: seven, pink and white against the dawn blue, gently gliding east. Around my feet, slender silver fish drift in orderly shoals, scattering suddenly to send fine spray into the air, alarmed by the pterodactylshaped frigatebirds circling above or wading through the shallows. Then the seabed shifts; in a cloud of white sand, a small white ray rises and takes off for deeper water.
The morning hours on Isla Holbox are otherworldly.
There’s the slightest of breezes and the soft light makes the clear, milky-green waters easy on the eye. The beach is almost deserted: a couple of runners, a sea angler preparing kit. The inshore waters are knee-high, with a thin line showing a sandbank, beyond which the sea is darker but still calm, warm, clear, for the teeming, tame, marine life.
So far, so paradisiacal. But returning after an eight-year hiatus, I’m struck by changes on Holbox, a 40km-long sandbar off the Yucatán peninsula’s steamy northern coast. A beach runs the entire length of its northern edge. To the south are lush mangroves and crystalline freshwater lagoons, part of the Yum Balam biosphere reserve. Pirates hid here once, Creoles fleeing the Mayan rebellions came at the end of the 19th century. But since then, and for more than 100 years, it’s been a domain of fishermen and their families: these are the real Holboxeños. The isle remains isolated.
Change has come fast, but not too febrile. The main plaza has been enlivened by murals and solid-looking street furniture. As well as the little shacks for fish and tacos, there are now Argentine steakhouses, sushi joints, cocktail bars, cute cafés, new Italians as well as old favourites doing the island’s trademark lobster pizzas. Shops still focus on crafts and this place even has its own skilled luthier (a stringinstrument maker). Holbox is bright, bold, makeshift.
Denne historien er fra April - May 2019-utgaven av Condé Nast Traveller India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra April - May 2019-utgaven av Condé Nast Traveller India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Made In Nagaland
From home textiles to jewellery, clothing, and more, here are the 10 Naga craft brands you need to know. By Sohini Dey
TOKYO RIGHT NOW
As impossible to pigeonhole as ever, the Japanese capital is buzzing with fresh influences and new ideas
RAISING RAI: WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS
Raghu and Avani Rai on connecting via worlds seen through their lenses.
GILDED WATERS
Paula Hardy boards one of the last remaining dahabiyas on the Nile for a different perspective of Egypt's storied river
THE GIRL WITH GRAND DESIGNS
Gauravi Kumari is part of Jaipur's new creative set that is bringing fresh perspectives to the city's design legacy.
A FACE FOR ADVENTURE
Retooling the iconic Rolex GMT-Master II for fresh explorations.
THE GRAND seduction
Palermo's chaos, swagger, and temperamental charm cast a hypnotic spell.
Rhythm Divine
Wherever you go in Gwalior, the myth and magic of Tansen are inescapable, as Sam Dalrymple finds out.
IDEAL WORLD
Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan explains why he went ahead with the publication of Bethlehem, his celebratory cookbook.
NUJUMA, A RITZ-CARLTON RESERVE SAUDI ARABIA
On alittle-visited Red Sea archipelago, the Middle East’s first Ritz-Carlton Reserve reflects both untapped nature and hyperreal modernity, finds Noo Saro-Wiwa.