Holbox Island has become the ideal place for those seeking clean (seaweed free) beaches. This beautiful island of fishermen and bathed by the Caribbean Sea welcomes all visitors willing to walk its streets of sand. Its location north of the Yucatan Peninsula allows it to offer the most beautiful sunsets.
Its privileged location and the protection provided by its marine dunes and mangroves allow to protect the island from the massive arrival of sargassum. Sargassum is not bad, it is home to many species of marine fauna that use its shade as a refuge, it’s also a great filter of CO2 for the planet.
The causes of its arrival to the beaches of the Caribbean, in the amounts observed these months, is absolutely atypical and had not been seen since 2015. According to Dr. Eduardo Adolfo Batllori Sampedro, Yucatán state Secretary of Urban Development and Environment, the greater arrival of sargassum to the coasts is due to an unusual increase in temperatures (global warming), resulting in an increase in water nutrients, which make sargassum grow in an excessive way.
Holbox so far has not been impacted by this natural phenomenon, thanks to the marine currents that throw the sargassum away from its shores, sending it to the highest point of the Gulf of Mexico pushed by the “Loop Current” which has saved Holbox from this threat, allowing visitors to enjoy its beautiful white sand beaches and turquoise blue water.
During the last two decades, Holbox has been growing and today it boasts a good number of ecologic hotels and other types of accommodations, including affordable Airbnb properties (not on the beach though), but fairly close to the ocean.
Holbox is 153 miles east of Mérida (INEGI / Google)
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