Nobody does Day Of The Dead better than Mexico, but is there a particular destination in Mexico that does it even better than the rest?
I’m not so sure, but after witnessing the event for myself by visiting the island of Janitzio for Dia De Muertos succeeding the previous years’ festival in 2 other cities; I could not recommend it enough.
After several months of hard work and not enough play, I decided that it would be absolutely criminal to not make an effort for the Day Of The Dead festival, having been living in Mexico City for over a year and completely missing it the first time around.
Weeks of researching ensued to see where the best place to honour was quite possibly the biggest and most profound day of my newly adopted country. I decided that Janitzio Island, in the state of Michoacan was to be the chosen one.
There were a few tricky challenges along the way and I almost missed out on it, so let’s dig into the logistics and my personal experience of visiting Janitzio for Die De Muertos so that your own story can be smoother sailing.
Dia De Muertos
Day Of The Dead (AKA Dia de Muertos and Dia de Los Muertos interchangeably) is a Mexican-originated holiday celebrated throughout Latin America when family and friends come together to commemorate in tribute to their loved ones who are no longer with us.
It’s no surprise that the birthplace of the event is a little more hardcore than the rest of Latin America when it comes to celebrating Dia De Muertos, and I was beyond intrigued to experience it whilst visiting another part of Mexico.
Most Mexican homes create a shrine for specific members of the deceased and leave a candle burning for each person throughout the night, with the belief that their souls will return for a visit. ‘Bread Of The Dead,’ a sugary white loaf is broken and shared amongst sugar skulls, incense and flowers as a heartfelt gesture to the departed.
As you walk through the streets or visit the markets between the 31st of October and the 1st of November, it’s not abnormal to see locals’ faces adorned in stunning artwork, usually depicting a skeleton or something looking slightly ghoulish.
The two-day celebration starts on what Westerners call Halloween, which traditionally is meant for the return of child spirits. November 1st (known as All Saints Day) is a day for the adult and child spirits to return and November 2nd is All Souls Day, where family and relatives visit the gravestones of their lost loved ones and beautifully decorate their tombs.
I wanted to experience the Day Of The Dead in the most authentic way possible. My first thought was Oaxaca. I could be wrong (it’s been known before) but it mostly looked like a place for people from English-speaking countries, more interested in landing an Instagram pic in the painted face than the actual event, something of a tourist trap.
I’m not suggesting for one second that I am immune to those get-togethers, I just really wanted to avoid it for this occasion.
Why The Island of Janitzio For Dia De Muertos?
Janitzio Island has a population of 1600 indigenous peoples by the name of Purepecha. The local inhabitants, who are surrounded by the picturesque Patzcuaro Lake celebrate the Day of The Dead Festival in a very traditional and powerfully engaging manner.
I got the tip from a local who said I should get there before it becomes too big of an event.
I decided against Oaxaca and a couple more options as I was seduced by everything that I read about Janitzio Island’s version of Dia de Los Muertos.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Day of The Dead in Mexico City too, some years before. But for me, Janitzio was the top dog. No matter where you do choose to celebrate the Dia de Muertos, feel grateful to be celebrating one of the most exciting and important Mexican landmarks on a particularly special day in the Mexican calendar.
How To Get To Janitzio Island From Mexico City
It’s really not worth the extra price to fly to the state and online information on busses to the mainland/times of ferry departure to the island is scarce, to say the least. The bus station that you need to go to is called; ‘Terminal Central de Autobuses.’
Many companies go to Michoacan state roughly every hour – needless to say, it’s best to go earlier than later. Now go grab a Mezcal and get your best game face on; this is where it gets complicated. You have to get the first (of two) busses to a town called Morelia.
Once you get to Morelia, you then need to ask for the bus to Patzcuaro (which takes an hour). I lucked out on this because I was going to get a bus to a different town, thanks to outdated advice on the Lonely Planet forums, but after asking the poor bloke at the ticket desk in Morelia a million and one questions – Patzcuaro turned out to be the best possible choice in terms of logistics and time.
So you pay for your ticket, you skip onto the bus and they take you right there, right?! Oh, you poor, sweet, naive little thing – this is Latin America. The ferry terminal doesn’t have an official bus stop, but as luck would have it – it does stop close enough to it. Also, as Mexicans are generally brilliant human beings, locals are bending over backwards to help your lost little worried face and point you in the right direction.
Once you get off at the fake bus stop, you follow the signs to the ferry terminal. It’s a little spooky, about a mile walk with massive trees on either side and barely any lights at all. Once you get there, you pay for your cheap chips ferry ticket (around $ 3 USD in pesos) to Janitzio Island and wait in the queue.
Don’t stress about the fact that no one who works there knows, or seems to be in a great rush to know when the next ferry arrives. This is Mexico, you take the rough with the smooth. But trust me – the positives here immensely outweighs the negatives.
Janitzio Dia De Muertos: The Initial Plan
Seasoned travellers know that plans don’t always come off and it’s better to have a loose plan, but be open to curveballs and changes – sticking to a rigid one will 9 times out of 10 result in failure and lost opportunities.
So this was the loose idea:
Back in Mexico City, I preemptively decided against going to the island on the 31st of October, opting to go on November 1st instead, as I found out that there is a duck-hunting ceremony on the 31st and that wasn’t really my cup of tea. But I did want to cram in as much as possible and pull an all-nighter with no sleep at all.
I kind of got off on the fact that I really had to earn my trip, it had cortisol-raising adventure written all over it from the get-go.
I aimed to primarily get to a graveyard at 9 pm in a tongue-twister of a town named Tzintzuntzan. My Venezuelan amiga spoke very highly of it and the pictures looked unreal.
This was barely half an hour away from the ferry terminal so I thought I could check that out, before sailing over to Janitzio and seeing the Dia De Muertos through midnight and beyond.
Janitzio Dia De Muertos: What Actually Happened
With the mix-up between the alleged “best” town in order to get to the ferry terminal and a delayed bus from Mexico City – I didn’t get to Morelia until 10 pm. I had to make a decision on the spot and I sadly decided to sack off Tzintzuntzan and just work out the entertaining mystery of how to get to the island instead.
I made friends with an Australian guy on the second bus and we headed to Janitzio Island. As the ferry pulled into the dock, I pulled out my camera that I hadn’t used in over a year, in order to snap the welcoming entrance of Janitzio. It wouldn’t work – heartbroken.
But I had my phone camera as backup and let’s face it – I sure as shit ain’t winning any National Geographic awards any time soon.
I headed up to the graveyard on the top of the island (there is a magnitude of traditional Mexican food and delicious hot beverages along the way) to see what it was like. It was absolutely CRAMMED between midnight and 2 am.
It was just like how I read – stunning, decorated gravestones, adorned with flowers, letters and photos sitting proudly alongside them were former friends, lovers and relatives.
I felt incredibly uncomfortable as if I was invading their personally sacred sanctuary and turning it into a human zoo.
Some people were pushing their camera lenses right in their faces, and one guy brought an obnoxiously loud drone, which seemed to subtly agitate some of the mourners.
It was extremely claustrophobic and I started to wonder if I had made the best decision. The Australian guy was a photographer so he needed to hang about patiently for a good photo, but I had to get the hell out of there and decided what I was going to do.
I considered getting the ferry back to Patzcuaro, so I could just spend the night in Tzintzuntzan. I got myself a delicious fruity hot drink from one of the stalls and breathed deeply, finally making peace with staying on the island and making the most of the night.
I aimed to go back to the graveyard at 4 a.m. in hopes that it would have fewer people and that I’d have a licence to roam, take in the scene and take a couple of non-invasive photos.
During this time I drank about 20 delicious, hot and fruity drinks available (as the island is very cold – take a warm jacket, hat and gloves, but it warms up around dawn) and played with some stray dog friends.
My Experience On The Island of Janitzio Dia De Muertos
I went to the church near the graveyard around 2 a.m. to observe people of faith and wonder what they were thinking.
I’m not a religious man myself, but the clear allegiance and conviction that individuals have in their denomination truly fascinates me, whether that be The Hindus at the Holi Festival and the Thaipusam Festival in Malaysia or to take it to another extreme: Peranakan people at the Phuket Vegetarian Festival in Thailand, or the Catholics at the Easter Sunday Crucifixions in the Philippines.
I was exhausted from the travel, sensory overload and lack of sleep and I wasn’t ready for what happened next.
In my peripheral vision, I could see someone standing at the end of the altar staring in my direction. I looked to the left, she was an island local Mexican lady looking awkwardly at me, nervously smiling.
I threw her a smile back and a; “Buenas Noches,” She replied with the same and suddenly burst into hysterics. I stood up and asked her if she was ok, trying to decipher the emotionally-frantic Spanish.
Then I worked out what she was saying: “You remind me SO MUCH of my son, who died last year.”
I felt an instant knot in my stomach, I said I’m really sorry and she asked me for a hug. I said of course and I asked her if she was alone, she told me she was with her sister – who subsequently came over and scorned her for; “making a scene in the house of God!”
The sister did a double-take at me and affirmed that my mannerisms were indeed very much like her deceased nephew.
Between 4 am and 6 am, the graveyard mainly houses the people who it was meant for; the dead, and the alive who love and revere their memory. The handful of spectators are a lot more respectful and as the sun starts to rise, a mass begins in the church, with loudspeakers in the graveyard.
The Priest comes out at the end to bless the departed and those who still cherish them. I went to a secondary Catholic school and I absolutely loathe mass. I’ve sat through hundreds and I vowed (pun intended) that I’d never sit through one ever again.
But there was something different about this procession. Maybe I was caught in the moment, maybe I was tired – but I felt really moved by it all and as cheesy as it may sound to some; I felt genuinely connected to everyone.
After all, I too have deceased loved ones who I think about and painfully miss on most days.
And just when I thought I couldn’t possibly be any more susceptible to it all – the lady from church showed up, and she broke me into a million tiny taco pieces.
The priest (who had impressive vocals that would kill any X Factor show) repeatedly sang the words:
“Salgan, salgan, salgan...almas de pena,” which loosely translates in English as; “Come out, come out, come out…souls in pain” (but please correct me if I’m wrong, native Spanish speakers – I’d hate to bastardise the true meaning).
The grieving elderly lady from the church came in to say goodbye to me, during this constant, harmonious back and forth of this powerful phrase. She stayed for about ten minutes and my t-shit was ringing wet as she sobbed into my chest.
It stopped being weird within seconds and ended up being kind of beautiful. Pretty much everyone has (or will in the future) lost someone for who they feel a deep level of love that words can’t explain.
Someone who they wish that they could just pick up the phone and chat with one more time, share a hug with, or a personal joke, or simply reminisce about a common memory that connects them immeasurably.
I absolutely love how Mexicans look at death. In England, we barely talk about our departed. It’s too taboo. They’re gone now, don’t get all sad about it, toughen up.
Then there is the other extreme when people fall into a pitiful sense of depression during anniversaries of the deceased and birthdays only looking at the sad part of death – the loss. The vacuum of what no longer is, as opposed to what once was and being grateful that we were once blessed with what we did have.
I believe with regards to this that some people are worth hurting for, but at the same time, we owe it to those who are gone too soon to remember them and celebrate their memory.
And the truth is that the tears on my t-shirt weren’t all hers. The whole ethos of the event moved me into an emotionally paradoxical state of happiness, sadness, longing, nostalgia, pain and acceptance.
I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way and I feel incomprehensively lucky to have experienced The Day of the Dead Festival in Mexico on multiple occasions.
8 Tips For Visiting Janitzio For Dia De Muertos
Visiting Janitzio for Dia de Muertos is currently not firmly on the tourist radar, which adds to a more authentic feel. So let’s wrap up with this cheat sheet so you can experience this unique festival while it’s still a relatively intimate gig.
- Get there a day early. I was lucky with my delayed bus, transport is delayed and cancelled all the time in Latin America. You may not be as lucky as I was, so best to get there in good time and chill before the big event.
- Book accommodation and fights early. Even though it’s not a well-known gig compared to Mexico City and Oaxaca, it’s still popular enough to get fully booked. Get on that right away!
- Be respectful to the mourners. Don’t poke your massive camera lens in their faces, walk across graves or be too loud. Common sense and decency rules apply here.
- Take plenty of cash. When I visited here in 2017 there were no ATMs but plenty of food and drink. So if you don’t want to go hungry or thirsty, bring a stash of pesos.
- Keep an eye on Covid regulations. At the time of writing this, visiting Janizio for Dia de Muertos is currently prohibited. I hear this is set to change, but I also read from a reader that there is plenty of other cool Day of The Dead celebrations around the Patzcuaro area.
- Spend some more days in Patzcuaro. Because… why not? Explore a new place while you’re in town.
- Manage your expectations. Yes, it is relatively quieter than the more famous Dia De Muertos attractions, but it could get bigger every year and snowball. That’s how it works. Even more of a reason to plan ahead!
- Do an all Nighter as a Plan B. It’s not the end of the world if you can’t get accommodation. The main event is November 1st, so in a worst-case scenario you can get there on the day in the afternoon, smash caffeine and stay up all night.
Now you know everything that you need to know before visiting Janitzio Island for Dia de Muertos, hopefully, it will open back up for business next year and you’ll get to experience this sombre, yet beautiful Mexican commemoration.
