Isla Holbox

Sharks at sunrise and sandbars by noon over four days

Spend your first Holbox day settling in. Arrive on an early ferry from Chiquilá, walk the village grid past the murals on many house walls, and eat lunch near the plaza; in the late afternoon, walk west along the beach toward Punta Cocos, 30 to 45 minutes on foot or 15 by bike, for sunset over the Gulf.

Day two. In season, this is whale-shark day. Boats leave around 08:00 and return by about 14:00. The ride out can take up to two and a half hours over choppy water, often passing dolphins and rays, before you get two short swims with the sharks. Lunch on board is usually ceviche. Rest in a hammock afterwards.

Day three. Take a half-day lagoon tour to Isla Pájaros, a bird sanctuary seen from a viewing platform, Isla de la Pasión and the freshwater spring of Yalahau on the mainland shore, where you can swim. At low tide, Isla de la Pasión can be reached on foot from the western tip of Holbox. In the evening, if there is no moon, join a kayak or walking trip to see the plankton glow at Punta Cocos or Punta Mosquito.

Day four. Cycle east past the hotels toward Punta Mosquito, where sandbars stretch into the shallows and flamingos feed in the lagoon. Return for a late lunch, then catch an afternoon ferry back to the mainland.

Lobster pizza, ceviche and panuchos around the Holbox plaza

Holbox's kitchen begins with its fishing boats, which land lobster, octopus, shrimp and fish. Lobster is the signature, in tacos, grilled whole with garlic butter and, most famously, on lobster pizza, the dish every visitor ends up trying at restaurants around the plaza; ceviche with tostadas is the daily habit.

Ceviche is a daily habit: chopped fish or shrimp cured in lime with onion, tomato, chile and coriander, scooped up with tostadas. Look also for tikin xic, fish rubbed with achiote and bitter orange and cooked in banana leaf, a Yucatecan way with the catch.

For cheap, quick food, the small places just off the northwest corner of the plaza turn out Yucatecan antojitos: panuchos (fried tortillas stuffed with beans and topped with turkey or chicken), salbutes, sopes and tacos, sold by the piece. Las Panchas, near the hotels north of the square, serves big plates of home-style seafood and Mexican dishes, and Los Peleones, on the plaza itself, is a lucha libre-themed spot with a rooftop terrace, seafood and its own beer.

Many restaurants open only for dinner or close one day a week, and some shut in the low season of October and November. Carry cash, as not everywhere takes cards, and expect island prices, since almost everything arrives by boat.

Isla Pájaros, Yalahau and the glowing shallows of Yum Balam

Holbox lies inside the Yum Balam protected area, a large stretch of lagoon, mangrove and coastal forest at the northern tip of Quintana Roo. The best of it lies just beyond the village and needs only a bike, reef shoes or a short boat ride, to the sandbars of Punta Mosquito, the birds of Isla Pájaros or the Yalahau spring.

Walk or cycle east from the village toward Punta Mosquito and the beach gives way to sandbars and tidal pools. At low tide you can wade far out into knee-deep water, and in the lagoon behind the point flamingos often feed alongside herons and spoonbills. Go early, and stay off the marked nesting areas.

To the west, Punta Cocos is the island's darkest corner. On moonless nights the plankton in the shallows glow when disturbed, so every footstep or paddle stroke flashes blue. Kayak tours can be booked through hotels; going on foot is also possible if you bring a torch for the walk back.

By boat, the classic loop takes in Isla Pájaros, where frigate birds, pelicans and cormorants nest and visitors watch from boardwalks, Isla de la Pasión with its sand spits, and the Yalahau spring, a clear freshwater pool fringed by mangroves on the mainland shore. Boats wait on the beach near the village.

Between June and September the open sea north and east of the island is the realm of the whale sharks. Swimmers must stay a set distance away and never touch them.