Holbox is one of the best tropical islands that I have ever visited. It is a small sandy island on the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. The sand is white and soft. The ocean is calm, and turquoise colour and the water is shallow and super warm.
I was worried that we would not find any vegan food there, but we did! Our initial plan was to enjoy the island for five days, but we extended our stay to nine days because it was so beautiful and relaxing.
OUR FAVOURITE THINGS ABOUT HOLBOX
The best part about Holbox is that there are no cars (except some delivery cars in the morning). You can go around the island with a rented golf cart or take a golf cart taxi.
The best way to explore Holbox is by bike or on foot. It is so small that everything is within walking distance. All roads on Holbox Island are made from sand and that gives the place a true feeling of a tropical paradise.
At the sunset, a lot of people gather at the beach where locals play drums and people dance. It is magical.
If you want to experience something exciting you can take the Guided sunrise kayak tour through Mangrove Reserve.
THINGS YOU HAVE TO KNOW BEFORE VISITING HOLBOX
There are a lot of mosquitos on the island. I am not sure if it is seasonal, but you have to use mosquito spray every evening otherwise they will eat you. There is a lot of standing water on the island and puddles every time it rains so it is a mosquito paradise.
If you are a working nomad Holbox is not the best destination for you. The internet on the island is bad. We had bought local SIM cards, but the signal was terrible.
Most of the restaurants do not have Wi-Fi and the ones that do, the connection is not the best. Even our hotel Wi-Fi was not good. Holbox is a good place to have a social media detox.
WHERE TO STAY ON HOLBOX?
We stayed at Hotel La Palapa, and I am so happy that we did. The location is the best on the island because it is on the beach. Most of the hotels on Holbox have a road between them and the beach or the beach that they are directly at is not so nice.
Everything on the island is within walking distance so you do not have to worry that you will be too far from anything. We stayed in the Top Floor King Room, and we loved it. The room has panoramic windows, and the views are breathtaking.
The hotel has a beachy, island vibe and décor. The bathroom even has shells for faucets, so showering was fun. You can check the availability here.
One thing you get used to on Holbox is the lack of hot water in the shower. But who really needs hot water in tropical weather? What I loved about this hotel is that they made us vegan breakfast!
VEGAN RESTAURANTS ON HOLBOX
KUXTAL MARKET AND CAFE
Kuxtal Cafe is open between 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM every day and is located in the heart of Holbox. It is one of the best places to have breakfast or lunch on the island.
On our travels, we love to visit organic and healthy restaurants so that we can maintain a healthy lifestyle. In Kuxtal Café, they believe that living well begins with eating well, and we love that.
The restaurant is not fully vegan but has a lot of amazing options and some of the dishes are also gluten-free. This is a place where vegan and non-vegan groups of people can all have a delicious breakfast or lunch together.
One of the best things to order is a panini with grilled veggies, vegan cheese, and pesto. You can also have the prettiest avocado toast, a falafel wrap, different types of fresh salads, and one of our favourites: the tofu scramble with quinoa, chaya, and mushrooms.
All the desserts in the cafe are vegan and sugar-free. Even the coffee is organic!
If you need some organic groceries there is also a Kuxtal sustainable market. Every supplier there is carefully selected so the food does not contain any bad ingredients like artificial sweeteners or preservatives, and they also support local farmers.
ARTE SANO VEGAN RESTAURANT
Arte Sano restaurant is one of our favorite vegan lunch spots on the island. They offer many traditional Mexican dishes made in a vegan version. You can have tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, fajitas, and different burgers.
Everything that we tried was delicious! You can check the whole menu Arte Sano restaurant here. They have a cozy outdoor eating area in the back of the restaurant.
BARBA NEGRA
They have the best vegan tacos! I am still dreaming about them because they were so good. When I go back to Holbox this restaurant is my first stop. They offer two types of vegan tacos: Baja-style cauliflower tacos and diabla-style mushroom tacos. The cauliflower ones were the best.
Barba Negra has affordable prices and there is live music playing most of the evenings.
LOS PELEONES HOLBOX
It is a cute restaurant in the centre of Holbox. The staff is really friendly, and they are offering two vegan dishes! You can have caprese which is a tower of vegetables with vegan cheese.
The other option we tried was solferino ravioli stuffed with tofu, jackfruit, and Chaya. They also have two vegan desserts: cheesecake and banana ice cream!
CASA NOSTRA ROOF RESTAURANT
It is a hidden gem on the rooftop of a hotel. The food and service were excellent, and they offered vegan options. The owners were very friendly, and we felt welcomed in this Italian restaurant.
We tried gnocchi with mushrooms and tomato.
EL CRUSTACEO KASCARUDO
It is a restaurant a little bit away from the centre of the town but it is worth the walk. It has a beautiful terrace and one of our favourite dishes on the island. You can have many different types of vegan salads but our top dish there was avocado stuffed with vegetables.
LUUMA
It is a very trendy bar and restaurant in Holbox. They have great cocktails the one we had was smoked with palo santo essence and was one of the most amazing drinks I have ever had.
They have some vegan options, just check with your waiter about the details of every dish. We tried vegan tacos filled with texturized soya over baby lettuce leaves served with pico de gallo.
Other options are bean falafel and vegetables in chickpea tempura.
Right next to the LUUMA restaurant, there is also a designer clothing and accessories store that sells very beautiful and fashionable pieces of clothing.
Holbox is spectacular. We are happy that we have got the chance to travel and experience this island. I think there will be more and more vegan restaurants opening in the future.
Right now, there are a lot of options considering the size of the island. I really cannot express how amazing Holbox is and how badly I would like to go back there in the future years.
If you are visiting Mexico, put Holbox Island on your bucket list!