Things to do
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Cabo Catoche
The northern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula, where the Gulf of Mexico meets the Caribbean, lies a long boat ride east of Holbox along an empty shore. Spanish ships made their first deliberate landing on the Mexican mainland here in 1517. Boat trips to the cape run only when the sea is calm.
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Isla Pájaros
Frigatebirds, cormorants, white ibis and roseate spoonbills roost on this mangrove islet in the lagoon, and flamingos feed nearby for part of the year. It is reached only by boat, usually on the half-day lagoon tour from the village pier that also stops at Yalahau.
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Punta Cocos
Sunset is the hour for this western point at the end of the sand road, where the water stays knee deep far from shore. A bicycle or golf cart covers the distance from the square, and the point has little shade and no services.
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Punta Mosquito
East of the village the beach thins into a sandbar that curls out into the Gulf, and at low tide the shallows can be waded for a long way. The sandbar lies well away from the hotels, so the shore is quiet, and sandflies bite hard around dusk.
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Yalahau
On the mainland shore of the lagoon, a freshwater spring rises in a round pool ringed by mangrove and reached along a wooden jetty. The water is clearer and cooler than the lagoon around it. Lagoon boat tours from Holbox stop here for a swim.
