Kajakervaring door de mangroven van Holbox Island

We were lucky to see two crocodiles and a lot of birds. Our guide Sergio was very informative and had a lot of knowledge about the wildlife. We enjoyed a lot seeing the mangoves and paddling on the river in a very easy slow tempo. In the middle of the trip we took a break to strech the legs and enjoy the stillness. The only (big) downside was the kayaks, it was difficult to steer those things and they have extremely uncomfortable seats. I’m working as a kayak expedition guide myself and therefore can’t blame poor technique or bad sitting position. The kayaks are simply super uncomfortable even if you know what you are doing and you might end up getting back pain. But all the companies seem to use the same type of kayaks so there is no way around it if you want to go paddling.

This was a lovely trip to take. Unfortunately we didn't see as much wildlife as expected, but did almost see a crocodile, some birds and were lucky enough to see some vibrantly pink flamingos. The tour only lasted 3hrs and not 3.5hrs and we were disappointed not to be dropped back to our hotel but downtown instead which isn't what we signed up for.

The beginning and end of this tour were comically bad. The middle (the actual kayaking part) was honestly fine. This tour started off confusing and frustrating because I booked the tour through TripAdvisor for 4:00pm and was confirmed with a text from the company for “a tour at 4:00pm” the day before. We waited in our hotel until 4:10 for the pick-up then tried to call 3 times and could not reach the tour operator even messaging through trip advisor. Ultimately our hotel tried to call them for us, reached the tour company, and we were then told we wouldn’t be picked up until 4:45. What?!! Shock. This was extremely unprofessional for us to not be noticed of the departure time change (especially that much of a change). As far as the tour goes, it was really fine but the guide barely looked back to see if we were even still with them lol. My husband and I were put into a 2 person kayak which made it extremely heavy and difficult to paddle in the shallow areas and we had to get out and walk a lot and/or push our kayak off the sand repeatedly before getting to the mangroves. It was a frustratingly long paddling session to just get to the mangroves. The guide was overall nice, but once again, he barely checked on us or turned around to look for us when we fell behind. Also, at the end of the tour, we felt extremely rushed trying to get out of our kayaks on the beach and gather and check for all of our belongings. Our guide left us on the beach scrambling for all of our things, while he went off to his golf cart with the other guest. We couldn’t find my husband’s shoes and went to tell the guide this. He didn’t offer to come back and help us find them among the kayaks and life vests. He just sat on his golf cart and said “well sorry guys, it happens”…once again what?! They were literally just in the kayak with my husband so we knew they were somewhere but in the scramble of getting out they got put under a life vest apparently. While we walked back again looking for my husband’s shoes, we heard the golf cart engine and realized to our horror that the guide was about to leave us LOL. He never came back to help us and we were so annoyed and frustrated at this point, we didn’t even run after him to get him to transport us back to our hotel. We were getting eaten alive by mosquitoes on an unfamiliar beach looking for my husbands shoes. Not a great beginning or end to this tour. I would recommend the company work on professionalism and guest communication if they want to be successful. Our whale shark tour today with VIP Holbox was guest-centered and extremely professional. Take some tips from that company please. Extremely unimpressed.