CasaSandra

Activities

• Explore Isla Holbox, a largely uninhabited 25-mile spit of land off the north-eastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It's largely flat scrubland, with mangroves to the south, white beaches in the north, and a small town of simple brightly-painted houses and sand roads (there are no cars) at one end
  
  
• If you're here from May to September, take a whale shark tour; this is one of the few places in the world where you can swim with these harmless gentle giants - the largest known fish in the world
  
  
• Or join a kayak tour of the mangroves and rivers to see resident and migratory birds in their natural habitat, including pelicans, pink spoonbills, flamingos (up to 40,000 in season), ibis, herons, storks, ospreys and cormorants, as well as the occasional sleepy crocodile
  
  
• The fishing, both deep sea and fly, is excellent. You can rent boats nearby - mornings are best to go out. Hugely experienced guide Alejandro Vega takes a regular fly fishing tour
  
  
• The boat tour to Isla Pajaros (Bird Island) also includes a swim in the fresh bubbling cenote (sink well) of Yalahau Spring, set in a reserve just across the lagoon
  
  
• Take a kitesurfing lesson - this is one of the best places for the sport in the region
  
  
• Go riding along the blissful beach, or hire a bicycle (available 300m from the hotel) to explore the island
  
  
• Snorkelling is best on the other side of the island - you get taken around in a motor boat
  
  
• Artists, writers and painters are welcomed as kindred spirits at CasaSandra and regular writing workshops are held here; the best-known one happens every November
  
  
• Ask if yoga classes at a nearby hotel are in season when you're here
  
  
• Back on the mainland, you can visit Nuevo Durango (a Mayan village) with a bilingual guide, discover Mayan culture, see the ceiba (the Mayans' sacred tree), visit an orchid sanctuary, venture deep into the jungle to climb a 20m watchtower, and kayak through watery forests filled with cork trees, myriad birds and spider monkeys
  
  
• CasaSandra also arranges day trips to the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza and to colonial Valladolid