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The tropical island in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula is facing a deep pollution problem. Can tourism be the key to saving it?
Holbox Island (pronounced “hol-bosh”) in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula seems like a tropical paradise: White sands, turquoise waters, and a quaint, car-free town with unpaved roads draw travelers seeking an escape from city life. But this destination is far from pristine.
The island is facing a serious pollution problem fueled by hotels, restaurants, and a rapidly growing tourism industry. Overflowing garbage bins, plastic bottles, and food waste have become common sights along the island’s roads.
The problem extends beyond what residents and visitors leave behind, however. Although several of Holbox’s beaches remain relatively clean, low tides reveal large amounts of garbage carried by ocean currents and deposited on Holbox’s beaches.
To address this issue, Carlos Morales, tour guide, naturalist, and founder of the tour agency Azul Tourquesa Holbox, merged kayak and boat tours with beach cleanups and environmental education, redefining what tourism means for the island.
In 2023, he began organizing cleanup groups, inviting children, locals, tourists, and naturalist guides to collect litter and debris while paddling in a kayak.
These small groups evolved into Kayak Scouts, Azul Tourquesa’s community-based conservation initiative that has recovered around two tons of plastic waste over the years.
Armed with sacks and gloves, the scouts kayak to sandbars near Yum Balam, a nearby protected reserve, and comb the white sands for plastic litter. Among their findings are bottle caps from Guatemala and plastic wrappers from other countries. “We’ve seen plastic bottles from places like Haiti wash up on our shores,” Carlos says. “They mostly come from cruises.”
Once the cleanup is complete, the waste is weighed and cataloged. Materials suitable for recycling are transported by a local environmental organization, ECOCE (Ecología y Compromiso Empresarial), to the PETSTAR facility in central Mexico — the world’s largest polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic recycling plant.
The Kayak Scouts’ monthly cleanups teach locals and travelers how to protect Holbox’s mangroves and beaches and are game-changers for local wildlife, which includes more than 400 bird species and animals such as spiny-tailed iguanas, crocodiles, and bats.
During one outing in December 2025, the Kayak Scouts recovered around 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of PET bottles, ghost fishing nets, plastic bags, and other items.
“The garbage all around the island makes it difficult for both residents and tourists to coexist with the local wildlife,” says Dalí Téllez, a local naturalist. “The garbage attracts raccoons to establishments, and people react badly, poisoning animals and even stray dogs. Improving waste management also means protecting local biodiversity.”
