VIP Holbox - 77310 Holbox

VIP Holbox went above and beyond! Unfortunately the sea was too rough for us to reach the destination to try to see the whale sharks, but I was glad that they kept us safe. They made the right call, if they had gone it would have been a miserable boat ride and we still would not have seen anything. The few boats from other locations in Mexico that did not have to make the reef crossing that we could not safely cross did not get to see any sharks and the sea was really rough. We found that out talking to others that endured that on the same day. Our guide was fantastic! We still had a great day out on the boat getting to talk with our guide who was born and raised on Holbox. Breakfast and lunch were great. I never requested a refund because this type of activity is never a guarantee, but in this instance they initiated a refund. I do not know what criteria they use to make that decision but they had every right not to provide a refund. They are a rare shining example of an honest professional business that are doing their best to provide their customers with a top notch experience. As a side note, after seeing all of the boats heading out, I would feel safest on the VIP Holbox boats. For not getting to see the whale sharks, I can not rave about my experience with VIP Holbox enough. Can't wait to go back and try again.

Willie and Pablo were awesome. They were both from the island and had great knowledge of the history of Holbox. They brought a cooler for our drinks and had waters and Cokes for us. We used hand lines for fishing and caught over a dozen fish that were used to make the best ceviche I've ever had in my life! We stopped at a reef and saw so many fish including a few stingrays! We later docked on a remote shore and relaxed while taking in the beautiful scenery. We rode along the gorgeous shoreline back and had an absolute blast. Highly recommended. Thanks VIP! Update 1-2-21 Willy and Edier made our second visit just as good as the first. I wouldn't recommend any other person for this tour. These guys are the best- best company, best knowledge, best ceviche, best time. Thanks again guys!

Wonderful experience swimming with whale sharks in late June. Will repeat. My wife and I reserved a private boat, cost about $1000 with tip if you book before the season starts. Highly recommend your own boat if you can afford it. Optimizes your chances of an encounter cause you are first in line. 2.5 - 3 hour boat ride to the deep ocean. Our day had some storms and the sea was rough, but that is to be expected in the ocean during the rainy season. Found about 100 whale sharks (day before they had 2, day after 0.) Got to do 14 different jumps and swim for 1-2 minutes each time before the whale shark swam off and I could no longer keep up. Super close, had to move out of its way multiple times. Incredible seeing it so close in clear water. If you go on a group tour you go in pairs into the water and have 4 other pairs to swim before you go a second time. So you may only get 2-3 jumps. The first jump you will be confused and disoriented. Also people who are not strong swimmers and used to potentially rough conditions, and not familiar with how to clear their mask and stuff will have a degraded experience. If you have your own boat, even a weak swimmer can acclimate and have far better odds of a few perfect dives. Saw some turtles on our way back. Cabo catoche was nothing special, in retrospect I would have asked to spend more time with the whale sharks

We did the 3 Islands tour.The boat was clean, well maintained, and comfortable. We were greeted at the dock and shown our boat. Everything was very professional. We did an 8am tour - the benefit to this is that we were the first to the Yalahau Cenote. As we were leaving more boats were pulling up. It gets very busy (especially on the weekend) later in the morning. Our guide Willy Rosado was very knowledgeable and made the tour very interesting. He knows a lot of Isla Holbox's history, he had a lot of information to share on the birds we saw, the mangroves, and other "lore". We never felt rushed from one area to the next. Willy's English was perfect. I just realized I posted this under the wrong account. It should be Courtney Schebler as the reviewer.

Don’t book the whale shark tour!! We spent 2 hours on a boat to get to the Caribbean. When we finally got there, it started getting stormy but we kept going further until the sea really started to get wild. When they finally decided to turn back, the waves were already so high that we almost capsized and could not sail normally anymore which was terrifying! It took us 3 more hours to go back and have lunch on the beach in the rain instead of just heading back when we were already soaking wet. We should never have sailed out on this day. Absolutely irresponsible of the organisation to not cancel the tour when they know they can’t deliver the promised service and charge $200 (!) per person

Whale shark tour experts! We went at the beginning of the season as one of the first tours and we did it! Swimming with whale sharks was incredible as well as the whole tour with VIP, incl. great breakfast (homemade croissant etc), very tasty ceviche and nice guide. Also the price was the cheapest at the island that time!

We had an amazing private boat tour to Isla Passion, Yalahau and Punto Mosquitos. Definitely recommend!

We did the kayaking tour through the Mangroves. We were picked up ontime at our hotel. Our guide was great and spoke perfect English. Unfortunately, we were with another group that didn't know how to kayak and our guide had to basically paddle for 4 people (2 kayaks).