HOLBOX, MX
Holbox — pronounced "HOLBOSH" for all of you having a hard time pronouncing it. With my comments and generally displayed distaste for Quintana Roo, Holbox stands out as one of the gems in the area. It's a beautiful place and not all that discovered quite yet. Well at least not all that discovered yet if you put it in comparison to the other touristy hubs in the state. Holbox is a barrier island to the north of Cancun at the tip of the peninsula. A beautiful place. Calm water. Crystal clear as crystal clear can be. With piercing white sand beaches and just general perfect Caribbean beauty. The island itself is very charming. In order to get there you have to take a ferry from the mainland. A town called Chiquilá. Getting here by car is impossible. As a result, there are no cars on the island. Just because you have to take a ferry somewhere doesn't mean that there won't be any cars, but here in Holbox that is the case. The no cars aspect is, I would say one of the pillars of the charm of the place. All of the roads, well at least most of them, are dirt. The only vehicles driving around will be scooters, motorcycles and golf carts. Lots of golf carts. Even the taxis are golf carts. To say that Holbox is untouched by tourism would be a lie. It's really westernized. With nice western-style restaurants, food from all over the world, travelers and tourists driving golf carts and walking around with a Corona in hand at 12 o'clock on a Tuesday. But it's not so in a really bad way. It's kind of hard to get to Holbox so it keeps a lot of the bad, solely comfort-driven tourists away. There's a big backpacking community here, and a lot of hostels. A lot of great hostels. The nightlife is good and very active with some awesome bars and clubs. The food is good and not too expensive. It's still a mellow little island paradise. I imagine in years to come it will continue to gentrify and hopefully it doesn't turn into a Tulum, but for now its a really nice place. This is what I say to people when they come to Quintana Roo. I say just go to Holbox and never leave until you leave the state. I really liked it here. It's peaceful, beautiful, and you can find the party if that's what you want. Additionally, one of the other main reasons that people come here is because it's one of the 2 main places in the area people leave to go see the whale sharks. It's gotten horribly touristic here, and I think it's the most gross exploitation of nature that I have ever seen, but it's something to do here. There are plenty of other places to go see this where you won't be surrounded by 100 other boats terrorizing these beautiful creatures. More on that in the 'Sights' section.
Holbox (pronounces Holbosh) is a barrier island located at the northern most Holbox — pronounced "HOLBOSH" for all of you having a hard time pronouncing it. With my comments and generally displayed distaste for Quintana Roo, Holbox stands out as one of the gems in the area. It's a beautiful place and not all that discovered quite yet. Well at least not all that discovered yet if you put it in comparison to the other touristy hubs in the state.
Holbox is a barrier island to the north of Cancun at the tip of the peninsula. A beautiful place. Calm water. Crystal clear as crystal clear can be. With piercing white sand beaches and just general perfect Caribbean beauty. The island itself is very charming. In order to get there you have to take a ferry from the mainland. A town called Chiquilá. Getting here by car is impossible. As a result, there are no cars on the island. Just because you have to take a ferry somewhere doesn't mean that there won't be any cars, but here in Holbox that is the case. The no cars aspect is, I would say one of the pillars of the charm of the place.
All of the roads, well at least most of them, are dirt. The only vehicles driving around will be scooters, motorcycles and golf carts. Lots of golf carts. Even the taxis are golf carts. To say that Holbox is untouched by tourism would be a lie. It's really westernized. With nice western-style restaurants, food from all over the world, travelers and tourists driving golf carts and walking around with a Corona in hand at 12 o'clock on a Tuesday. But it's not so in a really bad way.
It's kind of hard to get to Holbox so it keeps a lot of the bad, solely comfort-driven tourists away. There's a big backpacking community here, and a lot of hostels. A lot of great hostels. The nightlife is good and very active with some awesome bars and clubs. The food is good and not too expensive. It's still a mellow little island paradise. I imagine in years to come it will continue to gentrify and hopefully it doesn't turn into a Tulum, but for now its a really nice place.
This is what I say to people when they come to Quintana Roo. I say just go to Holbox and never leave until you leave the state. I really liked it here. It's peaceful, beautiful, and you can find the party if that's what you want.
Additionally, one of the other main reasons that people come here is because it's one of the 2 main places in the area people leave to go see the whale sharks. It's gotten horribly touristic here, and I think it's the most gross exploitation of nature that I have ever seen, but it's something to do here. There are plenty of other places to go see this where you won't be surrounded by 100 other boats terrorizing these beautiful creatures. More on that in the 'Sights' section. Essentially part of the Yucatan Peninsula. It's in the state of Quintana Roo. It's about a 2-hour drive to the mainland town of Chiquilá where you will take the ferry out to the island. So all said and done it's about 3 hours from Cancun including the ferry and the ground transportation. Holbox itself if a pretty big barrier island. Stretching across along the coast for about 20 miles (35kms or so). However, of the relatively large land mass that is Holbox, not very much of it is inhabited. Holbox town is the center, and practically only part of the island that holds any real civilization. There are a few other places on the island that have small places to visit or little restaurants out in the middle of nowhere, but no real points of civilization. Holbox town itself though is pretty big, and will have everything that you need.
Getting to Holbox isn't really all that difficult compared to a lot of the other places on the Latin American backpacking trail. But it's not the easiest either. There is no airport here, no way to fly in, and in order to get here you will have to take a few forms of transportation at a minimum. Especially considering the fact that it is an island, you will have to get on a ferry, which adds some hiccups to any form of travel.
BUS - There's only one way to get here, and it's pretty straightforward. I am going to assume that you will be coming from Cancun. Most people will at least make cancun a momentary stopover to get on a bus to head out to Holbox. You will need to take an ADO bus to the port town of Chiquilá. The ADO bus from Cancun to Chiquila has six daily departures: 8:30, 9. 11, 1 PM, 3:30 PM. The bus departs from the ADO bus station in downtown Cancun. The bus trip will take roughly 2 hours 30 minutes, and a one-way bus trip from Cancun to Holbox costs about $350-500 pesos ($17-25USD). Prices may seem high to you for this trip. Well with increased tourism in the area, welcome to increased prices for tourism services here in QROO.
There will be cheaper buses, like local transport that you can take, but the journey from Cancun can take up to 4 hours. So if you are looking to budget, then that's your other option.
FERRY - Once you arrive in Chiquila, it's a quick walk from the bus stop to the ferry port. Maybe a few minutes and you can't miss it. I just bought my tickets when I showed up — it's easy enough to do. But if you want to buy tickets beforehand, you can do so here. A ferry ticket is going to cost you 220 MXP or about $13 USD. The ferry won't take more than 25 minutes, and then you will have arrived in Holbox.
WHEN YOU GET TO HOLBOX - When you arrive here you will be heckled at by local taxi drivers. You can certainly take one if you want, but the island is not very big. You should just walk to wherever you go. It's a small enough place that if you don't know where you are going you can just ask someone and they should know where to go. Welcome to Holbox.
HOSTELS, CAMPING, AND HOTELS (IF ANY)
This is the place that I stayed. It's a beautiful hostel, with really nice people working there and filling the halls. They have a great bar, and the location is impossible to beat from a hostel perspective here in Holbox. They have a massive outdoor common area, even a big trampoline kind of thing that people will hang around on and relax. It's located right on the water, and you will be at the beautiful blue ocean in only a few minutes.
I stayed here because it is the best option, but after looking online recently and seeing prices have gone up to $30-37 for a dorm bed per night depending on season, I am not sure anymore. I checked my receipt, when I stayed there in 2021 it was $17 per night. That is a very large price increase in only 2 years.
There's lots of accommodation options here. There's a great and bustling hostel scene. With part hostels, more mellow hostels — some stuff in between. Whatever you want to find. I'll get into a few of my personal favorites below. If you aren't here looking for a hostel there's loads of cool boutique hotels. Or at least they looked really cool from the outside. Also some great Airbnb options if that is what you are looking for.
From a hostel perspective though, nothing is going to be that cheap. A dorm bed is going to run you like $23 for the most part. Which doesn't sound that bad, but it will really add up. Especially after a few days of going out and eating in Holbox. That's a downside of Holbox, and well another downside of QROO — it's not that cheap. Backpackers will slowly be priced out of it. After looking into the hostels these days, I think the pricing out is already well underway. The place I stayed, 'Tribu', is now at least 2x more expensive than only 2 years ago.
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Che is a hostel chain in Quintana Roo. It's not as bad as a Selina or something, but they certainly have a presence throughout the area. There is one in Tulum, Bacalar, Playa Del Carmen, and slowly they are growing outside of the Caribbean as well. This is going to be the definition of a party hostel. Every night there will be some party-themed thing going on. People playing beer pong, spin the bottle, getting naked and jumping in the pool. That sort of thing. It's certainly a good time. If that's what you are looking for, then here is your place. It's a nice place with a pool, but the only downside is I didn't like the location — a bit far from town, and not so close to the beach. You will meet a lot of people here though and probably have some stories to tell after.
Expensive here as well at about $18-27 per bed depending on season.
Cool small little hippy option here. You're definitely going to meet cool people here. It's one of the cheaper options on the island for a hostel, and there's a big component of people camping. So you already know the people will be cool. Accommodation is really basic, there will be no AC or anything, and it's hot here. But there's a communal kitchen and stuff, and it's going to be a really nice time. Lovely common spaces and all, as well.
EATS
The food is pretty good in holbox. There's going to be a lot of really expensive options here though. It wasn't the easiest place to find local food. It's just become pretty westernized in general. Most of the food you will find in the center of town, which is on the opposite end of the island as the ferry on the main street. There are restaurants all over the place there, and I would recommend you just take some time to walk around and find some food. A few recommendations that I had from my time there are below. But like everywhere, I recommend that when you are here you just walk around and explore. Get off the beaten path and you will find some cool local spots, etc.
There are a lot of nicer places to eat, with more expensive food that is in line with the kinds of restaurants you will find in Tulum. I didn't include any of those here. Because that's not what this website is for. Support local as much as you can.
Food Options
One of the few really good taco, or local for that matter, options near the center of town. Delicious tacos and burritos etc., right in the heart of town. A must go here in Holbox.
Nice local food sit-down option. They will be serving up full dinner seafood plates. Not going to be super cheap, but a nice option for good local seafood.
Good local spot for burgers and other little dishes. It's really mellow and down to earth. Good food, good vibes.
The best pizza on the island. In a cool backyard spot as well. Draws a cool crowd. Good spot to come for dinner and drinks.
Great place for breakfast and lunch food, with good vibes.
Cool little spot for a colorful breakfast, right on the main street. Nice little cheap spot for breakfast. Also delicious tacos at night.
and many more...
Go explore. There are restaurants all over the place. Eating your way through a city can be one of the best places to figure it out anyways.
NIGHTLIFE
Bars and Clubs
The nightlife here is great. I actually really enjoyed it. The island is so small, that there aren't really very many options of what to do, so everyone pretty much does the same kinds of things. I guess there are really only a few things to do anyways. The majority of the nightlife will be centered around the center of town. It's not going to be wild clubs and still like you will find in Tulum. It's more mellow. Which I much prefer.
A bar called 'Hot Corner' actually to be precise. People will flood out onto the street drinking here and dancing. It's really fun just drinking here with everyone in the street. Outside of that there are a few other bars that are totally worth visiting and a few small places I like to have a drink during the day. Additionally, the nightlife at the hostels is fun. Heading over to Che for the night or even up to the bar at Tribu, are themselves nights out.
One of the best things to do here also is to just go out there for sunset. The sunsets are beautiful, and practically the whole town comes out to the water to enjoy them. Get a few beers, head down and watch the sun set over the beautiful calm water.
The absolute center of nightlife here in Holbox. Everything revolves around it actually. It's the meeting point, and the whole town will come here at some point in the night to drink at the bar that floods out into the street. They will also have live music and it's a blast. Look no further as to where to start, or end your night.
This is the hostel spot but they also have a really nice bar upstairs. There's frequently live music, sometimes little parties with tattoos and stuff like that. It's a fun spot.
A fancy and trendy and certainly Tulum-ified beach bar. But they do have delicious cocktails, and they will be playing good techno music. Will be one of the better places to get an overpriced cocktail in Holbox.
Che Hostel
A cool, if not a little weirdly designed cocktail bar at the outskirt of town. They have nice drinks, for a good price, and a little rooftop spot as well.
La Palapa
A big beach bar right on the water. Its kind of on the nicer side so things wont be cheap but its still a nice place to get a drink and watch the sunset.
El Chiringuito Zomay
Compared to some of the more fancy beach club options in Holbox this one is really cool and down to earth. Its just to the north along the beach compared to Tribu. It gets crowded with people at sunset and is just a nice vibe in general. Right on the sand with thatch huts and stuff.
Certainly a good place to go and party. It's going to be a pretty young crowd. Very backpacker-y as well. Lots of beer pong, cheap shots, spin the wheel of misfortune kind of thing. But it's a good time, and if you are in the mood to party and just not really care here is a good place to start or just stay in general. Nice big bar, will be full of people.
A great spot on the island. Right on the beach, just a little bit north from Tribu Hostel. It's a great place to get a drink and hang out at a down-to-earth nightclub. It's less fancy-feeling than a lot of the other beach clubs. A great spot to catch sunset as well. People will congregate around here. It's out front of the Zomay hotel.
There's a lot of beach bars to the south of the main road in town. Just take a right, and walk down the beach. There's a bunch of options to explore up and down the price range. Will be open and serving up drinks all day.
SIGHTS
Beautiful and relatively deserted little beach all the way to the north of the island. Take the road or a combination of the beach and the road to the north and you will eventually get there. It's a nice spot, and they even have a little bar out there. It will be significantly less crowded than anywhere else, and just as beautiful.
Holbox is a beautiful place. There's lots to see as it relates to the natural beauty. The water out front is shallow and calm and you can walk out for over a hundred meters and it will still be shallow enough to easily stand. It's really nice. Just chilling on the beach, reading a book and enjoying that white sand and blue water is maybe my favorite part. I also came here to see the whale sharks. But after my experience here, I would not recommend anyone do that here. More on that below.
Some beaches, and other generally enjoyable things to do here are mentioned below.
Was one of my favorite things I did here. Punta Mosquito is to the south end of town. Just walk to the right when you get to the beach in front of town, and just keep walking over the sand and ankle-deep beautiful water until you arrive. It's a stunning walk, and you're in or near the water if you ever need to cool off. It's a pretty far walk, but it's a great one. Bring water, and sunscreen. There won't be any shade, but when you get there you will have seen some beautiful sand bars, and stunning ocean views.
WALK AROUND AND LOOK AT THE MURALS
There's a lot of really beautiful wall artwork throughout the city. Whether it is in the form of murals on walls, or painted dilapidated buildings on the beach — whatever. Just take a walk around the dirt roads in town, and enjoy the artwork all around. A great excuse to explore the place also.
Another positive of going out to Punta Mosquito is the fact that it's also home to Holbox's flamingos. Thats right — the pink birds on one leg. They live out here, and it's a really cool thing to see.
Outside of Holbox, but still along the same barrier island, there are some beautiful beaches to check out where there will be practically no one. A lot of the times, a stop at one of these beaches will be included on the whale shark tour as a stop for lunch, but there are other and cheaper ways to go on tours with just these beaches. 'ISLA Holbox Beach Cabo Catoche' is the name of my favorite one, and it's linked here.
WHALE SHARKS
So probably the most popular thing to do here is to go snorkeling with the whale sharks. I would like to say that it is a pretty amazing thing to do, swim with those majestic animals. But I would like to warn that doing it here is, from my experience, extremely unethical. A short story from my experience. I got on the boat, about a 3-hour journey in the morning to get out to the feeding grounds in between Holbox and Isla Mujeres, and when we arrived there were no less than 100 tourist boats. They were all communicating via radio, and circled around the whale sharks. It was like they were corralling cattle. I found it extremely depressing. Then one by one or sometimes a bunch at a time they would make passes, dropping off people near the sharks to swim with them. The whale sharks seemed scared — confused. At once I even noticed one had been overrun by a boat and its fin chopped off by the rudder of a boat. It was a horrifying and terrible experience.
I will never do this again here. It's just so unbelievably unsustainable. They are feeding them, tracking them, stopping their natural migration patterns. It's terrible. It's happening in other places like the Philippines too, but I only have experience with it here. There are plenty of other places to responsibly swim with Whale Sharks. Like Bahia de Los Angeles in Baja, or Santa Catalina in Panama. Go somewhere else. It's a sad thing that's happening here.
You in the flat flat Caribbean. Nothing happening here.
SURFING