Retire Early Lifestyle
Retirement; like your parents, but way cooler

In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this financially independent lifestyle, they invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and experience.

Chiquila, Quintana Roo

Yucatan, Mexico

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

Currency Exchange

We were going to a tropical paradise island in Yucatan, Mexico!!

WooHOOO!

But first, we had to get a taxi, then a flight, then a taxi then a ferry... Let me back up a minute.

 We got up at 5 am and Chapala in a taxi (450Pesos) to arrive at the Guadalajara airport. Our 2.5 hour flight from Guadalajara to Cancun on Volaris airline was under $70USD (1,322Pesos) one-way, for each of us.

Previously, Billy and I discussed taking a taxi straight from Cancun to Chiquila - our next destination - thinking it would be about 1,000Pesos for the ride ($50USD). This would save us time and would be very convenient.

When we arrived at Cancun airport, everyone was scurrying to find transport to their next stop. Billy immediately began asking taxi drivers the price to Chiquila, and - shockingly - their answer was between 3,500 to 5,000Pesos (between $175-$250USD) for the ride!

Since we had only paid $140USD for the both of us for our flight, this taxi price seemed comparatively outrageous.

Stupefied and a bit crest-fallen, we stood in line for the ADO bus which was the next best thing. Except...  all the buses for today were full. That meant we would have to stay the night in Cancun ($$!) and book a ride for the next morning.

As we kept our place in line assessing our situation, a young, handsome Brit approached us and asked if we'd like to share a taxi with him and his friend.

Perfect.

"Our kids" Chris and Harry

Chris said the price he was quoted was 3,500Pesos which - with us included - would be about $45USD per person.

As the story unfolded, the price kept going up because now, there were 2 couples involved.

Without missing a beat, Chris told them we were their parents and we should get a family discount. Of course, we didn't bat an eye (did we look that old? Did we have and English accent? Yikes!) and went along with the bargaining scheme.

With this, that, and the other, our ending price was 4,000Pesos total, coming to about $50USD per person.

It was the best deal we all could get including the driver.

The above photo is of Chris and Harry - our kids - wearing RetireEarlyLifestyle ball caps, clowning around in the back of the taxi.

Oh those silly kids!

Bright letters spelling out Chiquila

Two bumpy hours later, we arrived at the small town of Chiquila.

By small we mean having a  population of about 2,000 residents.

Out of the photo to the left is the wharf.

Mayan Villas

The boys continued on to the ferry and arrived on Isla Holbox that afternoon. We had made reservations for 2 nights in Chiquila, staying here at Mayan Villas.

We like to hang out in small villages and find out what the locals do, where they eat, and what's going on.

Due to the timing, however, much of what was in Chiquila was closed. Looking back, we should have continued onto the ferry and arrived in Holbox as our first stop.

But one doesn't know this when their adventure begins! We just gotta go with the flow.

Store and restaurant

Many restaurants were closed and the tiendas had slim pickings. We walked the town with its dirt roads in about 30 minutes, then wondered what we'd do next.

No restaurant was open, including the one at our hotel, so we dined on our travel food that night, which wasn't much of a meal.

We went to the tienda across from our hotel and picked up a couple of bananas for the morning.

Wharf in Chiquila

Chiquila is a fishing port, and until recently there were no hotels here at all.

This is the lovely wharf and where we would be catching the ferry.

Ticket booth for Ferry

We had read previously that there were two ferries and to choose Holbox Express because it was more modern and had an upper deck.

As it turned out, these two ferries are pretty much interchangeable, both having upper decks and the ferries leave about every 30 minutes.

We ended up taking 9 Hermanos (9 Brothers).

The night before, we checked out this ferry ticket kiosk so we knew where to go.

Wharf in Chiquila

The weather looked a bit ominous and we thought we might experience rain the next day while on the ferry.

But it turned out that the ride was pretty smooth and we had no rain at al.

Ferry tickets to Holbox

Tickets for the ferry to Isla Holbox (pronounced: EES-lah HOLE-bosh) is normally 225Pesos per person, but with our INAPAM cards, our individual tickets were 140Pesos (about $7USD)each.

With our cards, we saved almost $9USD between the two of us.

Map of Laguna Conil and Isla Holbox

Here at the bottom of this map you can find the town of Chiquila.

It's about a 25 minute ferry ride to Isla Holbox, the tropical paradise we were promised!

For more stories and photos about Holbox CLICK HERE

For more stories and photos about the Yucatan, CLICK HERE

For more stories and photos about Mexico CLICK HERE

Retire Early Lifestyle appeals to a different kind of person – the person who prizes their independence, values their time, and who doesn’t want to mindlessly follow the crowd.

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