Your expert guide to what to do in Holbox
– The “spend local” version
Isla Holbox is an incredibly beautiful island that is extremely popular with people looking for a special somewhere to take a vacation in Mexico. Holbox’s reputation is of an eco-friendly, laid back place where you can chill on the beach, commune with nature and not wear shoes for a week. Mostly, this is accurate.
I first went to Holbox in 2016 and I recently returned to the island to see how much it has changed. It’s not that Holbox was a ‘hidden gem’ in 2016, rather it was probably just creeping onto the radar of visitors to the Yucatán Peninsula. Since then its popularity has grown enormously, and naturally, as a result it has changed: there are far more hotels & restaurants than ever before and many of these are bougie, upmarket and definitely giving ‘Tulum’s younger sibling’ vibes.
In this article, as well as discussing the best things to do in Holbox, we’ll also take a look at some of the problems facing the island and consider how visitors might respond to this when you’re there. I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t visit, I’m simply sharing what I learned on my own recent trip and what it meant for my own time there.
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Where is Holbox?
Holbox (pronounced Holbosh) is a long, thin island, located just off the north coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the state of Quintana Roo. Holbox Island is located within the Nature Reserve of Yum Balam.
It is only accessible by boat from the small village port of Chiquila. This is a village that well understands its role in transporting people to the beautiful white sandy beaches and turquoise waters of Holbox. Here you will find numerous safe car parks for those who drive and there’s an ADO bus park as well as the more informal colectivo bus parks. There are cheap restaurants, and convenience stores so you can grab snacks before you leave.
Getting to Holbox
✈️ The nearest airport is Cancun airport, which is just over 2 hours drive from Chilquila/Holbox.
🚗 Chiquila is located at the end of the 5. Be warned: this is not a wonderful road, it’s very much ‘tope’ (speed bump) and pothole heavy and many of these are pretty invisible until the last moment. Once you reach Chiquila, drive until you find a car park you like the look of – the car parks have guards so it’s well worth paying for the space.
→ Read the MexicoCassie guide to renting cars & driving in Yucatán
→ Check car rental options & prices now
→ Book a private transfer from Cancun airport or minibus transfer from the airport
→ If you’re wondering about whether you should visit Holbox or Bacalar, the full MexicoCassie guide will help you figure it out
🚌 Both ADO buses and colectivos (minivans) transport people to Chiquila from the nearby cities as well as the special transfer buses you can book in advance from the airpotr.
→ Check ADO timetables and buy tickets on Busbud (I no longer recommend buying direct from ADO after they cancelled my tickets and didn’t tell me, forcing me to buy new ones)
Chilquila to Holbox by ferry
🛳 There are 2 ferry companies (9 Hermanos & Holbox Express) departing alternately every half hour between Chiquila and Holbox. The ride takes about 25 minutes. You can book your journey in advance or you can show up and book to ride whichever ferry is leaving next. It’s never a problem to get a ticket.
🛄 Luggage is stored at the front of the boat. Please don’t forget to pick it up at the other end, as I, um, may have done the first time we visited. (Embarrassingly, the second time I went I also screwed up and accidentally ‘stole’ someone else’s luggage thinking it was ours. Luckily they were very understanding when asking me what on earth I thought I was doing!).
Did you know that you can take a day trip to Holbox from Cancun & Playa del Carmen? There are trips that take you around the island, ensuring you get to see the best of Holbox while staying on the mainland.
Getting around Holbox
There are no cars on the island so when you arrive and have collected your luggage you either walk to your hotel or pick up a golf cart taxi to take you to your hotel if it isn’t walking distance from the port.
🧳 It’s easier to walk with a suitcase when the ground isn’t wet because much of the time you’re walking on sandy paths and roads. Pulling a suitcase through wet sand is not fun.
You can also rent these golf carts or bikes if you don’t want to explore on foot.
🔆 ⛈ Holbox weather
The dry season runs from November – May and the rainy season is June – October. May is the hottest month, December is the coldest.
Hurricane season is June – November, more or less coinciding with the rainy season. We aren’t saying there will be a hurricane, just that there could be – but there probably won’t be.
Nortes are wind systems that tend to hit the Yucatán coast once a month or so during the dry season, bringing with them cold, stormy weather.
🦟 And, of course, when there’s rain, there’s mosquitos so be sure to come with repellant.
⛈ An important note on the rains
The rain turns ‘paradise’ into a soggy old place! Most of the roads become un-passable without a golf cart or without accepting that you are going to get very wet, muddy feet (personally I enjoy a good old muddy walk but I appreciate others might not). The island can also start to smell a bit as the water stagnates. Only once enough water has drained into the mangroves that cover the island do the islanders start pumping away the excess water.
Holbox isn’t all perfection & paradise
When I was last in Holbox, I found myself chatting with people about the state of tourism on the island and what it’s doing to local life there. It got me thinking. As a visitor to Holbox, your biggest worry will generally be the rain clogged streets and mosquitos after a storm. You may notice that the infrastructure isn’t what it could be but you’ll probably put that down to the quirks of island life. Or maybe not.
One of the very first things I noticed when I visited at the end of 2024 was that while Holbox still claims to be a car-free island, the golf-carts these days might as well be cars they’re so big. They have grown enormously since I first visited in 2016. They’re not really golf-carts anymore, more ATVs. For me, this is pretty much a metaphor for the island as a whole: still fun but not quite what it was or what people think it is.
Visiting Holbox means staying within a biosphere or natural reserve where the land should be protected. Except it doesn’t totally feel that way. Once you move away from the main tourist sites, you’ll notice there’s trash everywhere. Garbage just isn’t dealt with well on the island, which is gross for everyone – at the end of 2024 there was over 40,000 tons of garbage sitting on the island, posing a risk to the island’s water table supply.
The building and developing is happening fast, and not always particularly responsibly, from what I read. Mangroves have been drained to make way for tourism, which I think we all know is a terrible idea. Locals spoke to me about feeling pushed off their island by people excited (greedy?) to make money off Holbox and opening up swanky hotels and restaurants. It makes sense, Holbox is a gorgeous little place that’s become very popular with visitors and it’s obvious there is big money to be made here. Of course people got in on it.
It’s hard to know exactly what errors have been made but the people I spoke to were clear that local businesses aren’t necessarily going to survive and thrive. A quote I found from 2018 states that “Holbox has reached its limit” (Yucatán Magazine 2018) yet here we are, in 2025 still marching and still building.
When I was buying a fresh coconut water from a beach seller we talked a little. He told me that the bigger hotels and restaurants are pushing for beach seller licences to be more and more expensive in an effort to drive them off the beach. Apparently they don’t think it’s the vibe people coming to Holbox want (I say they’re wrong but then I’m not pushing to make Holbox another Tulum).
So what do we do?
Making informed & ethical choices in Holbox
Look, I know you didn’t come to this article for a lecture. I’m sorry. You can still go to Holbox and have a lovely time. It’s a gorgeous place. But you could also have a lovely time AND support the local community by being intentional about how you spend your money. I’ve done some research, I’ve asked around and here’s my list of places that are definitely locally owned, which is a good start when considering ethical travel. If you know of others that should be added, please do let me know.
🏨 MexicoCassie recommended locally owned hotel: Los Arcos
This is a centrally located locally owned hotel in the traditional Mexican style. Rooms have A.C and it’s close to the beach and all amenities.
🗺 Or, if this doesn’t strike you as what you need, use my helpful interactive accommodation finder to choose something more suited to your needs.
🔆 MexicoCassie beach club recommendation: Mantarraya Beach Club
This is the only locally owned beach club on the island. Every other beach club on this small island is owned by non-Holboxeños (locals). By supporting this beach club you’re putting your money directly into the local community and ensuring that locals aren’t priced out of living on their island. Mantarraya might not be as fancy as some of the other beach spots but honestly, it’s great. They have ample shade & sun loungers, the bathrooms are clean, the staff are really friendly and most importantly, the food and drinks are delicious.
🐟 And since this is the only beach club owned by fishermen, they serve the best and freshest fish of all the beach clubs on the island.
🌮 MexicoCassie locally owned restaurant recommendations
This isn’t a list of the ‘best’ restaurants on the island, this list comes entirely from chatting with local people to find out more about where to eat that actively supports locals.
Please note that I’ve only eaten in the first three places named.
Las Panchas – always busy, serves good sea food
Taco Mateo – always busy, serving up really tasty cheap tacos
Mantarraya – this beach club is owned by local fishermen, meaning that fresh fish and top quality food – my prawns here were the best I’ve ever had
El Crustáceo Kascarudo – hidden away from the main tourist area, serving fresh seafood
Viva Zapata – fish, meat & pastas with a cool vibe
BIG Fish – traditional, local food
La Conquista – good empanadas
La Palapa de Victor – a cool beach front restaurant, perfect for sunset cocktails too
El Limoncito Breakfast – traditional breakfast spot on the main plaza
Taco Queto – popular but recently closed down
➕ While you’re enjoying your beach fun, you may notice people with street-food carts walking up and down the beach. I recommend you try their wares for 2 reasons:
1. It’s yum – seriously, who doesn’t love traditional beach candy or fresh coconut water?
2. These are also local people and they’re struggling right now. The owners of the big hotels and fancy restaurants are pushing for their removal from the beaches, saying they don’t fit the vibe. I disagree and I implore you to do the same – we should support these local vendors, not force them out of their businesses and their homes.
👣 MexicoCassie tours suggestions: I’ve said before that I like Viator and GetYourGuide because they help small, local tour companies get in front of a bigger audience. But if you want to go all local and entirely cut out the middle-company, you can wait to book your tours until you get to Holbox. There are plenty of people offering tours once you’re there – just do your due diligence and ask the right questions because if your hotel isn’t locally owned, their tours may not be supporting the local economy either.
What to do in Holbox
OK, now that I’ve got that out, let’s finally look at what to do while you’re in Holbox:
🏝 Enjoy the beach
Obviously the beach is why people generally head to Holbox. With its gorgeous shallow waters, and white sand beaches fringed with palm trees, this is really a lovely place to spend some time. Frolicking in the crystal-clear waters on a warm (hot) day is such fun.
Playa Holbox is the main beach that’s most accessible from town. Playa Punta Cocos is also accessible on foot on by bike/golf cart.
There are plenty of beach clubs and bars as along the beach, you have my recommendation, above.
Sandbank walk to Punta Mosquito
This is one of the most popular things to do on Holbox – walk along the coast from where Playa Holbox ends up to Punta Mosquito. Even at high tide the water only covers the sandbars by 1/2 metre or so – you just have to have trust that it’s possible! At low tide the sand bars are fully exposed.
🚰 Take a little bag with drinking water in case you’re out longer than you expect.
🤿 Swim with whale sharks
If you are heading to Holbox between June – September then you’re in luck as this whale shark season. During this time, the Yum Balam reserva is the shelter and sanctuary for the biggest concentration of whale sharks in the planet. Tours obviously can’t guarantee you’ll see pods of whale sharks but generally people do because all the tour boats work together to locate these magnificent creatures. The activity is tightly regulated by the authorities to ensure the safety of both the whale sharks and people.
⭐️ MexicoCassie recommended whale shark tour: 8hr small group tour that includes guided swims with whale sharks, fresh ceviche breakfast, beach time and a local knowledgeable guide who will share Holbox secrets as you explore. You may well also see other local wildlife including dolphins, manta rays & sea turtles while at sea.
✨ Bioluminescence
Holbox is a great location for anyone hoping to see the famous bioluminescence plankton. It is generally most prolific over winter and at new moon but it’s also visible at other times of the year.
Warning: even when you plan, show up at the best time things can still go wrong. When I booked to see the bioluminescence in December our tour was cancelled due to high winds (hence my lack of photo).
⭐️ MexicoCassie recommended bioluminescence tour: take a 2 hour night guided kayaking tour to experience the wondrous sea-creatures.
🚣🏾♀️ 3 Island boat tour
This is probably the most popular and most accessible tours available on the island. Pretty much everyone does it, and everyone offers it. This tour takes visitors to see Punta Mosquito, Isla Pasión, Isla Pájaros & Cenote Yalahau, an ojo de agua/cenote that the pirates used to love.
While exploring you’ll see flamingos, pelicans and so many other species of bird (Isla Pájaros alone is apparently home to 35 different species). You’ll swim in the cenote and possibly even see dolphins, manta rays and sea turtles as you explore.
You can either book in advance or wait until you are in Holbox and find someone when you feel like taking this tour
⭐️ MexicoCassie recommended island boat tour: this is a half day tour around the main points of natural beauty on the island that allows you to experience the wonder of the fauna in the region.
Other great Holbox activities
🏄🏽 Take a 2 hr introductory kite surfing class
🛶 Early evening kayak tour of the mangrove forests to watch the sunset over the trees and meet the mangrove animal life.
🐴 Take a guided horseback riding tour along the beach and through the mangroves.
Of course, you’ll also be able to rent paddle boards & kayaks as you walk along the beach.
🎨 As you explore Holbox, be sure to keep an eye out for awesome street art, because the island is really covered in beautiful murals.
Important information when visiting Holbox
🚰 You can’t drink the tap water and many hotels don’t provide drinking water. If this is the case, head to Oxxo or any other small store and pick up the biggest bottle of water you can cary to keep in your hotel room. And of course, bring a water bottle with you.
🏥 There is one health centre (centro de salud) on the island and there are a few pharmacies including Similares, YZA, 2 nationally recognised brands.
💰 Officially there are a couple of ATMs on the island but I wouldn’t expect them to have any cash in them. Most shops, restaurants and hotels will take cards and I even did a bank transfer for my hotel when I was there recently as their card machine wasn’t working. I highly recommend showing up with plenty of cash though.
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➕ Read the MexicoCassie guide to renting cars and driving in Yucatán
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