Whale Shark Season in Holbox Hits 50 Sightings a Day as Tour Occupancy Reaches 70%

Holbox, Quintana Roo — Whale shark sightings in Holbox are running at up to 50 or more a day as the 2026 season reaches its peak, with tour operators reporting boat occupancy of close to 70 percent during the first weekend of August.

Misael Pisté, a local tourism services provider, said the island has seen a steady flow of national and European visitors eager to take part in observation and snorkeling tours with the species. The excursion boats have been operating at nearly full capacity, he said.

According to local captains, the whale sharks have been concentrating significantly closer to the island than in recent years, a phenomenon not seen for some time. The whales’ proximity has reduced fuel costs for fishing and tourism cooperatives by almost half compared with previous seasons, Pisté said.

“The animals haven’t passed this close to the island in years, and boat operators are saving almost half the fuel they spent in previous seasons when they had to go farther out into the Caribbean Sea to find them,” he said.

Pisté said the fact that the whale sharks are being found near the coast suggests that sustainable management practices in the protected area are paying off for marine ecosystem conservation.

The tours operate within the Whale Shark Biosphere Reserve, a protected marine area of approximately 146,000 hectares extending from Isla Contoy to Ascension Bay. In addition to regulated swimming with the world’s largest fish, visitors have reported sightings of other emblematic marine species, including manta rays, dolphins, sea turtles, and jellyfish, supporting expectations of sustained high visitor numbers for the rest of August.