Conditions change fast on Isla Holbox. Weather, tides, sea state, ferry service, and ATM availability can shift within hours. These numbers are model-derived and updated every 15 minutes — always confirm locally with your hotel, operator, or dock-side signage before setting out.
wavesYum Balam Marine Biosphere Reserve
Holbox Now — live island intelligence & conditions
Real-time weather, Chiquilá ferry schedule, tonight’s bioluminescence window, whale-shark season, sargassum baseline, and the 7-day marine forecast. Only live signals — everything else is clearly labeled as model or baseline.
Port conditions (model)
Within normal range
Next ferry (Chiquilá → Holbox)
13:15 · in 13 min
Air · water
26°C · 28.9°C
Bioluminescence tonight
Good · score 60/100
Critical traveler logistics
Ferry operations (Chiquilá ⇄ Holbox)
Combined service by 9 Hermanos and Holbox Express. Schedule verified from operator signage. We do not have a live boarding feed, so arrival timings are projected from the posted timetable.
Port status (derived)
flagOpen
Conditions within normal range
Wave 0.20 m · wind 18 km/h
Next scheduled departure
schedule13:15
9 Hermanos · in 13 min
Main Chiquilá Pier · Dock 1
Headway
sync_altEvery 30 min
Both operators combined — effectively ~15m between crossings.
05:00 → 21:30 daily
Standard one-way fare
confirmation_number300 MXN
25-minute scenic bay crossing.
QRoo residents 180 MXN (ID required)
Upcoming departures from Chiquilá
Atmospheric & nautical sensors
Sea state & sky conditions
Live telemetry via Open-Meteo (ERA5 + ECMWF) and offline SunCalc astronomy. Lagoon water temperature and wave height from the marine model.
Surface air
Light drizzle
26°C
79°F
- Feels like
- 30°C / 86°F
- Humidity
- 89%
- Wind
- 18 km/h
- Cloud
- 87%
Lagoon & gulf waters
Glass-calm conditions
28.9°C
water temp
- Wave height
- 0.20 m
- Craft advice
- SUP, kayak, skiff — ideal
- Boating index (derived)
- 8/10 · Smooth
Sun cycle & UV
High solar exposure
UV 6.5
peak today
- Sunrise
- 6:46 AM
- Sunset
- 6:25 PM
- Daylight
- 11h 39m
Lunar telemetry
Waxing crescent
33%
illuminated
- Moonrise
- 12:07 PM
- Moonset
- 10:05 PM
- Night-sky rating
- 60/100 · Good
Tonight’s bioluminescence potential: Good
Our Holbox-specific index combines moon illumination, live cloud cover, calm-water readings, and seasonal plankton phenology. Scores shift night to night — the clearer and darker the sky, the brighter the glow.
60
/ 100 tonight
Moon darkness
27/40
Waxing crescent
Cloud cover
10/25
Overcast
Season phenology
18/25
Jun–Sep peaks
Calm water
5/10
Breezy
14-day lunar & visibility forecast
Future days use moon + season only — cloud/wind forecasts don’t go that far out.
Tonight
Oct 15
33%
Good
60/100
Fri
Oct 16
42%
Good
61/100
Sat
Oct 17
51%
Good
57/100
Sun
Oct 18
61%
Fair
54/100
Mon
Oct 19
70%
Fair
50/100
Tue
Oct 20
79%
Fair
47/100
Wed
Oct 21
86%
Fair
43/100
Thu
Oct 22
93%
Fair
41/100
Fri
Oct 23
97%
Poor
39/100
Sat
Oct 24
100%
Poor
38/100
Sun
Oct 25
99%
Poor
38/100
Mon
Oct 26
97%
Poor
39/100
Tue
Oct 27
92%
Fair
41/100
Wed
Oct 28
84%
Fair
44/100
ecoNo flash photography, sunscreen in the water, or motorized craft after 20:00 in biolum zones. Guided kayak tours only.
kayakingBrowse biolum tour operatorsMarine wildlife
verifiedCONANP-regulatedWhale shark (Rhincodon typus) season
The annual gathering of filter-feeding giants off Cabo Catoche is strictly licensed. Charters only run inside the official season.
Current status: Off-season
Next milestone — 2027-05-15 · Season reopens 2027
Shoreline baseline
travel_exploreUNAM Cancún referenceSargassum & water-clarity outlook
Holbox is shielded by the Yucatán shelf and Isla Contoy. We publish the monthly baseline from the Sargassum Monitoring Network — not per-beach drone readings, which we don’t source.
Baseline for this month
Low
Sargassum declining as season closes.
October–November typically brings clearing conditions. Beaches recover quickly on this coast.
Weekly reports: Sargassum Monitoring Network (SMN) · UNAM Cancún
Extended outlook
7-day island weather & boating index
High / low from Open-Meteo. The boating index is derived from today’s wave height and wind speed and labeled as model — don’t treat it as an official advisory.
Today
thunderstorm28° / 25°
Thunderstorm
Boating 8/10
Sat
thunderstorm28° / 26°
Thunderstorm
Rain 8.8mm · UV 7
Sun
rainy_heavy29° / 26°
Light showers
Rain 10.7mm · UV 7
Mon
rainy_heavy28° / 25°
Light showers
Rain 9.2mm · UV 7
Tue
thunderstorm28° / 26°
Thunderstorm
Rain 13.2mm · UV 7
Wed
rainy_heavy28° / 25°
Light showers
Rain 12.5mm · UV 7
Thu
rainy_light27° / 26°
Drizzle
Rain 1.2mm · UV 7
Ground intelligence
Island sand roads & cash telemetry
Tide curve from the Open-Meteo marine model, ATM directory from our verified listings, and a derived road-passability band from forecast rainfall. All of these should be sanity-checked with your hotel before you set out.
Punta Mosquito sandbar curve
24h tideNext low tide · 9:00 AM
Low tide opens the walk-out across the Punta Mosquito sandbank; high tide covers it. Negative values are below mean sea level — the lower, the longer the walk.
Model: Open-Meteo marine (sea_level_height_msl). Not an official tide table.
Cash machines on the island
4 spots4 verified ATMs & bank branches
Holbox has no full-service bank branches on the island itself. Carry a backup of MXN pesos — power cuts occasionally take dispensers offline.
Sand road passability (derived)
FloodedExpect pooled water in low-lying streets
Significant rainfall — low-lying streets may hold water for hours. Golf carts fine, foot travel in flip-flops.
- Rain over next 48h
- 26.4 mm
- Island surface
- Compacted sand (no asphalt)
Derived from the forecast model — heavy rain overrides this. Ask a golf-cart driver on arrival.
Methodology
Weather, UV, cloud, and marine data from Open-Meteo (ERA5 + ECMWF, WMO codes). Sun and moon computed offline via SunCalc. Ferry schedule verified from operator signage & official pages (last audited 2026-09). The bioluminescence index combines live moon illumination, live cloud cover, wind-derived calm-water signal, and Holbox-specific seasonal phenology. Sargassum baseline from the Sargassum Monitoring Network (UNAM Cancún) annual summaries — weekly reports via the source link above. Port status and boating index are derived heuristics from wave + wind — not official advisories. Fetched at 1:02 PM Cancún local time.