Yucatan Peninsula by Ben McFarlane
Tulum was the first stop on our Christmas Tulum trip.? The idea of kitesurfing in front of the Tulum ruins was just too good to pass up.
?
Location
Tulum is about a 1 hour and 20 minute drive south of the Cancun Airport.? It is far enough removed from Cancun / Playa del Carmen to avoid the whole loud drunken spring break crowd.
Wind
Tulum does not enjoy the same wind as the better-known spots in the Yucatan.? A basic rule of thumb seems to be to take the wind strength at Isla Blanca / Cozumel and add 4m to your kite size.? This meant that at 200lbs I didn't get a chance to ride in front of the ruins in the four days I was there.? The word from local kiters who had riden there is to watch out for the reef and shallow rocks in front of the ruins and funky winds around the cliff walls.
Accommodation
Our group stayed at the Papaya Playa hotel.? It had all of the basic ammenities for kitesurfers - Palapas with sand floors and a bed with a mosquito net and bamboo walls cost USD55 in high season and USD35 otherwise - that was about par for the course in Tulum but a bit of a shock with those accustomed to Baja California options.? Papaya Playa has communal bathrooms and showers which were kept remarkably clean.? The bar overlooking the ocean equipped with hammocks certainly softened the blow of windless days.
Nightlife
Tulum is a couple's paradise which wasn't that healthy for four male kitesurfers.? There are a few fun bars in town but they are all a 5 minute drive / 30 minute walk from the seafront palapas
Conclusion
If you are a wind-starved kitesurfer with limited time, don't bother with Tulum.? If you are a couple and your partner can forgive/join you for a day of kiting in front of the ruins if an El Norte turns up, go for it - Tulum is beautiful.
Isla Blanca
Isla Blanca is a flatwater shallow saltwater lagoon where you can kite just about any direction of wind safely and on fairly smooth water.? Given consistent wind this is the pick of the bunch for beginner kiters (including Cozumel due to Cozumel's nasty currents).
Location
Isla Blanca is 20 minutes north of Cancun. Coming from the south, you take the 307 highway north until you see an old 60 foot high timber control tower on the right.? Take the next right here - this is the main road through Cancun called the Avenida Bonampak.? (Once you're through the built-up areas, if you're lucky enough to pass some street vendors cooking chicken and ribs in half a 44-gallon dum in the center median just after the roundabout, stop and buy some no matter how sketchy their setup looks - it's awesome).? Continue down the road to the north until it ends in a little traffic circle.??? After the traffic circle, take the dirt road which branches off to the NW and drive for 10 minutes following various detours.? Look for a turnoff on the left-hand side of the road (there is only one).? The road condition is a bit average but a rental car with a bit of momentum will have no problems as long as it is driven with the attitude for which rental cars were intended.? In a few hundred metres this will take you to a small clearing with enough space to set up three or four kites simultaneously in most conditions.? The launch is a little tight but once you are out on the water everything is fine.? Beware of the dark 10ft x 3ft area patches when walking out - these are way deeper (6ft+) than the surrounding 2ft deep water!
Wind
Isla Blanca seems to attract way more wind than the surrounding areas.? It would have been no more than five knots anywhere on our trip from Tulum to Cancun but once we reached the launch site at Isla Blanca this suddenly jumped to around 11 knots.? At 200lbs I was struggling to stay upwind on an 18m Nemesis and 145x43 Lightwave but at least I was out there getting wet.? Apparently the previous day when it was blowing no more than 7 knots at Tulum it was 12m kite weather at Isla Blanca according to the guys at Ikarus in Playa del Carmen.
Isla Holbox
Isla Holbox is an island 7 miles north of the top tip of the Yucatan Peninsula about 40 miles NW of Cancun although there is no direct road - it is more like an 100 mile drive. It's approximately 7 miles long & 1 mile wide.? Being an island, it is well positioned to take advantage of winds from any direction.? Being off the beaten path means it is cheaper and more laid back than Cozumel but the downside of that is the limited nightlife.? The island has a surreal and friendly vibe.
Getting there
We used a rental car to travel to Holbox but if Holbox is to be your only destination then the bus from Cancun to Chiquila is the cheaper way to go.? Don't plan on spending any time in Chiquila - it is simply a supply city for the much bigger settlement on Holbox. ?If you do drive to Chiquila you can park your rental car in a secure carpark behind the ice shop for 30 pesos/day.? There are several options to travel from Chiquila to Holbox - the cheapest is the government-run ferry which runs three or four times a day and costs 20 pesos - a bargain if you have an hour to spare.? The next option is the smaller faster passenger ferry at 40 pesos - this ferry and the government ferry alternate hourly more-or-less.? Your final option is to charter a private boat.? You should be able to negotiate a boat for 200 pesos or less which is still pretty cheap if time is of the essence.? All ferries are cancelled at the height of any El Norte episode - beware of this if you have a plane connection to make.? We were lucky that we found a driver willing to risk the USD250 fine to take us back to the mainland.? On the island there are pretty much no cars - all of the people use golf carts of various sizes to get around the settlement.? This is a pretty good idea as the fibreglass body of the carts doesn't rust like most cars - of course this doesn't stop the chassis rusting through and breaking at regular intervals.? If you are dragging kite gear with you the fare from the ferry dock to most of the hotels is 50 pesos / cart.
Accommodation
During our stay on Holbox we stayed at Hotel Tortugas.? Our hosts Francesca and Patrick were awesome.? Francesca started the hotel and the attention to detail in the rooms and facilities at this mid-priced hotel sets it apart.? Tortugas is the most kiter-friendly hotel on the island and Mike, the kite-school owner on the island operates out of the hotel.? The only downside of the hotel is the nightclub a few doors up.? Our stay was during the lead-up to New Years so the club was in full swing, sometimes going until 5am in the morning.? One of my buddies claimed that his earplugs were touching and he still could hear the music.? On the windless days we decided that if we couldn't beat them we'd join them - on the night we went they had a great salsa band.? Be warned however, and ask for rooms as far away from the nightclub as possible - room location made a big difference.? As mentioned we stayed over Christmas and the room cost $80 for a room with two double beds, bathroom and fridge.? Other hotels ranged up to $200/night during this period.
Money
As with everywhere else on the Yucatan Peninsula, cash is king.? Holbox has no ATMs that we could find so cash up big time before coming to the island.? Totugas had the advantage that they accept payment via Paypal, so take advantage of this if you can.? Credit cards are not accepted at most places on the Peninsula and Holbox is no exception.? I didn't see any ATMs in Chiquila as well so be prepared for a long trek if you forget to bring enough cash.
Communications
There is no cell phone reception at all on Holbox.? There are two internet cafes on the island with good bandwidth and good prices (5 pesos / 15 minutes) - just watch out for the gamers who take them over between 7pm and 10pm every night.? The net cafe in the square has international phones with typically exorbitant international phone call prices so take your calling card.
Wind
Holbox appears to get the most dependable wind of any site we visited on the Yucatan Peninsula.? The most dependable indicator of the wind is buoyweather.com.? This site is used by Tortugas and the school and it appeared to predict the wind with good accuracy during our stay <show image of screen grap from buoyweather.com>? There are options for just about every wind direction.? Patrick, the co-owner of Tortugas and all around natural sportsman practically can't contain himself when he describes kiting in a ESE - SSE wind off Isla Passion off the south-west tip of Holbox.? This island has the kiter's dream of butter flat winds under practically any wind strength.? Unfortunately during our time there the island had been ruled off-limits while the habitat regenerated following the hurricane. So we had to kite of Playa Coco on the western tip of the island.? < map of the island with all wind directions >
Playa Coco
Winds here were sideshore / side-off with some fairly strong currents.? During our 10-day stay we had one SE event (2 days on 18m kite + 145x43 board, 1 day on 15m kite + 132x39 board for a 200lb intermediate kiter).? Mike, the owner of the kite school arranges a rescue boat and transportation for 60 pesos/rider/day which is a good deal.? One day when we chose to leave for the sitebefore the bulk of the school, the local taxis charged 80 pesos for the return trip and we didn't get the benefit of a rescue boat. < photo of group with golf-cart taxi >
The currents off Playa Coco are fairly strong and the wind can be up-and-down (not particularly gusty) so you can get stranded if you are unlucky.? Mike (instructor) reckoned that the currents were as high as four knots although I'd guess they were only as high as two knots.? It didn't really matter though - once your kite was down and you were past the northern point of Holbox swimming was not an option.
Despite the problems with the site, the launch is really wide and clean and the chop rarely gets particularly big so you can start to boost fairly well.<rigged and ready photo>? One final note with this spot - remember your bug repellent - the mosquitos and sandflies will rip you to shreds at sunset if you're not covered up - no malaria though!.? The hungry little buggers on Holbox seem to be able to shrug off 10 knot winds - most of the locals retreat inside during dusk except on the windiest days.
Main Beach
At the end of our stay at Holbox we were finally treated to a spirited Northerly - I'd be guessing 22 knots gusting to 30 knots at times.? The wind changed the whole nature of the island - the mugginess that had previously fatigued us disappeared and we finally had to break out the sweaters.? The mosquitos and sandflies vanished.? The smoke that had settled over the town after an ill-timed burn-off made a hasty exit.? And kitesurfers from all over the island emerged with broad grims as they broke out their crisp high-wind kites.? Kiting in northerly wind is restricted to an area starting about 500m east of Tortugas due to swimmers and boat traffic (none of which were present in the high winds of course).? Rather than walking down the beach we rigged at Tortugas and tacked straight down the beach.? All of our group extended our stay to enjoy our one-and-only northerly and it was worth the wait.? The first day saw us using our big kites (18 Nemi, 17.5 Machine).? The second day saw most people drop down to 9m and 10m kites in a straight onshore 2-3ft sea chop.? The conditions were great for intermediates and entertained us for hours.? The northerly (or north-westerly to be precise) was punctuated by a few lights squalls which would have added 5 knots to the gust wind speed. <photo of kiting at sunset with failed jetty in background>
Nightlife
There isn't much nightlife in Holbox - there is a nightclub above the internet cafe in the square with a good vibe and the worst tasting tequila shots in the world.? Of course, then there is the nightclub near Tortugas - if your salsa skills are up to scratch you'll have a blast there.? The restaurants are good and reasonably priced.? Lobster dishes are generally between USD20 and 30 - a far cry from the USD7 mentioned in the guidebooks.? The pizza place (Edelyn) in the south-east corner of the square represents good value for money.? The stand in the middle of the square serves a great variety of tacos (try the especial).? The other restaurants all appear to serve good food and are good value for money too.? The "Pirate" restaurant in the south-west corner of the main square is also good but a little spendy particularly if you start rounds of shooters :(? This is an island so go for the fish - don't bother with any steaks - you're guaranteed diappointment.
Actually, the best deal on Holbox is to pick up a couple of fish direct from the boats when they come in (20 - 40 pesos) and cook them on the beach yourselves.? Our hosts told us yet another use for a kite pump - stoking a beach-pit BBQ - works like a charm! <photos of kite pump near beach BBQ>
Transportation
As mentioned previously, Holbox pretty much exclusively uses golf carts for transport.? You'll also notice that walking instead would considerably lower the average weight of the population.? Unless you resort to a game of rental golf-cart polo on a windless day, don't bother renting a golf cart.? Walk everywhere instead - you'll take in much more that way and you small board will thank you for it when the wind finally does arrive.
In Summary
The Yucatan is a much-hyped kiting destination.? Granted, our visit was preceded by Hurricane Wilma which did amazing damage to the region and possibly disrupted weather patterns in the region in ways we can't begin to understand.? However, that said, if you are in search of consistent wind, cheap accommodation and are travelling with bros, forget it - there are better places to go.? If kiting isn't your main focus (ie romantic travel with a girlfriend or you are a partying alcoholic with nascent drug problem) this may well be your home away from home.
