(upbeat music) - Coming up next on "Islands Without Cars", we travel to a tropical paradise of sensory delights at the tip of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

So join us as we get intimate with our bodies and minds.

(gong sounds) Engage in some heavy petting.

- Jimmy's my boy.

(lip smacks) And search for the largest shark in the world.

Wow, good job.

(upbeat music continues) (upbeat music) Hi, I'm Kira Cook, and it's my great pleasure to be your guide as we search for islands lost in time, places where cars are restricted, and whose inhabitants wouldn't have it any other way.

So come with me on a journey that you won't forget.

(upbeat music continues) (upbeat music) (waves crashing) (cart rattling) (upbeat music continues) Holbox Island is comprised of a series of beaches, a protected nature reserve, and a tiny town dotted with restaurants and shops.

The charm of the island is its undeveloped authenticity.

To get to Isla Holbox, we flew to Cancun and then drove through a jungle, unpaved but bumpy roads for two hours to the town of Chiquila, where we caught a ferry for the final 20 minute transport through six miles of shallow lagoon.

Holbox or Holbox means black hole in Yucatec Mayan.

The island is 26 miles long but only the west side is developed, with a population of only about 1,600.

There are no cars allowed on the island in order to protect the environment.

There's also no pavement, no big chain stores, and no big resorts.

(motorcycle rumbles) (upbeat music continues) The unpaved streets are made of sand, which continues into many of the shops and cafes.

To get around, there is a taxi like system of golf carts, bicycles for rent, and of course, walking.

Ola.

As part of the first protected nature reserve in Mexico, there are regulations in place to help preserve this unique ecosystem.

But because of increasing tourism, the old safeguards are becoming difficult to retain and enforce.

(vehicle engine rumbles) As developers impose their vision on the island, locals and even tourists are worried about losing the undiscovered, relaxed, barefoot vibe of the island.

(upbeat music continues) As you can see, the weather in Holbox in September is wet and hot.

In fact, 6 days of pure sunshine and 21 days of rain are forecasted and here it comes.

(water sloshing) It's the rainy season.

And last week there was a lot of torrential rain.

(engine rumbles) As a result, there's a lot of standing water, which is not fun.

(waves splashing) But we chose to visit at this time of year and even made ourselves vulnerable to hurricanes on purpose, for the chance to swim with the largest sharks in the world.

- So now we are going to navigate around two hours, maybe an hour and a half.

Can be more, can be less.

This is just depend how far the whales are from here.

Sometimes the whale come more close to Holbox and sometimes the whales are where is the Caribbean Sea.

- [Kira] From June to September, the warm surface water and cold undercurrents in this area create perfect conditions for blooms of plankton that become a buffet for the whale sharks that migrate here.

- When we are swimming with the whales, don't touch the whale.

'Cause if we touch the whale, the whales are just like goes down and we cannot keep swimming.

We cannot keep doing the activity.

- [Kira] But I was curious and a little nervous about other kinds of sharks.

You know, the ones I don't wanna run into.

(dramatic music) - Not white sharks.

Not tiger sharks, 'cause we are in the Gulf of Mexico.

In this season we see only one shark, bull shark.

Normally, when they see people are just like going away.

- Reassuring?

Not sure.

- And let's see how it is, okay?

- Okay.

- Let's go.

Vamonos.

(water splashes) (upbeat music) - [Kira] We're in luck.

Two hours on a boat has paid off.

And this is incredible.

At up to 46 feet or twice the size of the carnivorous great white, whale sharks can be pretty intimidating.

But their name is misleading.

Whale sharks are not actually whales.

They're fish as are all sharks.

And while these massive beasts have as many as 3,000 teeth, they pose no threat to humans.

They eat plankton, small fish, and crustaceans, by gulping mouthfuls of these tiny treats and then forcing the water out again through their giant gills.

Wow, good job.

It's impossible to top the thrill of swimming alongside these gentle giants.

But the adventure continues.

Another car free island, Cabo Catoche is 40 miles east of the town on Holbox and is at the exact point where the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico come together.

(leaves rustling) Its beautiful landscapes and pristine beaches are thought to have drawn Spanish explorers when they first landed here in what is now known as Mexico.

It is an idyllic place to relax, (knife chopping) hydrate with water fresh from a coconut.

Bottoms up.

Mmm.

Oh my god, it's so good.

And enjoy our shore lunch of fresh fish ceviche, lovingly prepared by our guides.

(Guide speaking in Spanish) Wow and guacamole, oh my God.

Oh, it's beautiful.

Wow.

Fresh ceviche, fresh squeezed lime.

Mmm.

Oh my god, so good.

So flavorful already.

Hell, yeah.

(chef speaking in Spanish) Back on Holbox, we asked the chef at our hotel to give us a lesson on preparing this regional specialty.

(chef speaking in Spanish) (chef continuing to speak in Spanish) (chef continuing to speak in Spanish) - [Kira] Ceviche is raw seafood, marinated in a mixture of lime or lemon juice and spices.

But the citrus doesn't exactly cook the fish.

The acid starts a process that happens when something is heated and turns fish from soft and translucent to firm and opaque.

Citric acid doesn't kill bacteria like heat does.

So starting with high quality fish and eating promptly after preparing is muy importante.

(upbeat music) And after that beautiful preparation and assembly.

Where is the best place to eat ceviche?

It has got to be here.

Salud.

(upbeat music continues) Holbox was founded by pirates looking for fresh water, many of whom married Mayan people living in the area.

Their descendants, eight original families, still live on the island today.

(waves crashing) Chendo, a fisherman, restaurateur and our new friend, is a proud member of one of those families and equally proud to earn his living in the traditional way.

From the sea.

- [Chendo] Do you wanna try?

- [Kira] Okay.

- Try, try... (fish shuffling) (Kira chuckles) - [Kira] You did it a lot easier.

(Chendo speaking in Spanish) - No?

Okay.

Stop, stop, stop, stop.

You do it.

You fix it, you fix it.

(laughs) And like his Mayan ancestors, Chendo married someone from another part of the world.

His restaurant is right next door to her eponymously named jewelry shop, Noa.

[Speaking In Spanish.]

- [Kira] Although not a pirate, Noa came to the island decades ago and fell in love with Chendo.

So she moved from San Francisco to Holbox and brought her centuries old craft of goldsmithing with her.

Today, Noa owns two upscale original jewelry boutiques and trains islanders in her art and craft.

- Here right now, Juan solder some earrings.

So he has the small silver shells that we've cast out and he's attaching the imported posts findings we call them, to make them into earrings.

- Finding inspiration in the colors and textures of the island.

Noa and her artisans create molds of sea life and shells and then casts them into one of a kind treasures, featuring pearls and gemstones.

(cart rumbles) So you've lived here for over 20 years.

How has the development of the island changed over the years?

- Pretty drastically.

So I think when I first moved here, there was probably five golf carts on the entire island and probably about 10 restaurants, if 10 restaurants.

It used to be all little palapa thatch roof houses.

And now, it's mostly cement.

I think there's a bit of a lack of an organization in the growth and development that can be frustrating.

- [Kira] Yeah.

- [Noa] But it's real.

- Obviously your work is here, but do you consider living anywhere else or this is home forever?

- One of the things I think we fall in love with when we come to Mexico is the way that people live.

And it's so true and it's so colorful and it's so vibrant, which makes the art and the culture amazing.

There's nowhere else I could ever be.

Years ago, I read an article that the Holboxians are perhaps the most content people on the planet.

And I think that's true.

You'll notice around the locals here that nobody's self-conscious.

Everyone is really confident in who they are and if they do make a mistake or do something stupid, they laugh about it.

It's not something to to mull over.

And one of the biggest questions I get from tourists when they will come into my store is, "What should I not miss?"

- Yeah.

- "What should I do?"

- Yeah.

- And Holbox is not a do place, it's a be place.

Just be.

(cultural music) - [Kira] Music in Mexico is an expression of nationalism and so much more.

Particularly in port cities, Mexican music has been influenced by a variety of immigrant cultures, from Europe, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and South America.

Victor Velazquez, or Don Victor as he us known around here, traveled the world playing music and came to Holbox 40 years ago to renew his exhausted body and spirit.

He has been paying his gratitude forward ever since by teaching his students not only how to play instruments, but also how to make them.

Is it all children in your mandolin orchestra?

- [Victor] Well, I got all kind of students.

- Adults and children?

- Old people, little kids, small kids.

I went to school in Italy and I learned to make instruments.

Then I went to Germany and Japan.

Then I came to Mexico and I start to teach the kids to make instruments and they start to teach me how to snorkel, how to kill the lobsters and the octopus and the fish.

- The kids did?

- I get addicted to the bottom of the sea.

I wanted so much to see the bottom of the sea all my life.

So I had the opportunity here.

Very shallow water, you know?

So it's just perfect to snorkel.

- [Kira] So what does Holbox give you and what do you give to Holbox?

- In Europe and the States and Japan, everybody thinks so much about the time.

Time, time, time, time is like such important.

- Yeah.

- And when I came here, nobody cared about the time.

We could talk as much as we wanted.

We could do anything we wanted.

To enjoy life.

(upbeat music) (waves crashing) - [Kira] As we have already seen, part of the experience of an island actually occurs off the island.

To continue our exploration, we found our trusty whale shark guides once again.

This time, for a 30 minute boat ride to go swimming in a cenote, a freshwater phenomenon commonly found throughout the Yucatan Peninsula that are believed to contain the powers of anti-aging.

Cenotes are naturally occurring sinkholes with a pool at the bottom.

400 years ago, pirates of the Caribbean used to come here and use this place for refuge and as a source of fresh water.

According to Mayan legend, swimming in cenotes can take up to 10 years off your life.

So here come my twenties or teens.

(water splashes) Woo, that's cold.

(laughs) Ah.

(water splashes) I don't know if the cold water added to or subtracted from my aging process, but it was exhilarating.

(upbeat music continues) Nearby, the incredible Yalahau Lagoon separates Holbox from the mainland.

It's crystalline water and shallow depth attracts flocks of birds searching for their next meal, including spectacular pink flamingos that migrate here to breed and feed on little red crabs, which by the way color their feathers bright pink.

With the cooler weather of October, these beautiful birds will head to Brazil for the winter.

- People just see the flamingos and try to get like really close and they like flying away and get scared.

So if I see something wrong, I try to be like, "Okay, don't get close."

"Don't do this."

It's like you in your home.

You don't like people all around you and like touching you, you know?

So yeah, that's what we do on this type of tours.

We try to like follow all the rules so we can keep working on this every year.

When people are coming in here, we try to make you a really good trip in Holbox 'cause I can see this every single days, but some people are coming really far away.

So if you are here in this place, I just try to do my best for you to having a great time in here.

(upbeat music) - One of the most unique things about Holbox is the animal sanctuary.

At Refugio Animal, visitors behave like locals by volunteering to take the dogs for walks.

Of course, playing and petting are equally welcome.

(dog barks) (locals talking indistinctly) (Morelia speaking in Spanish) (Morelia continuing to speak in Spanish) (Morelia continuing to speak in Spanish) (Morelia continuing to speak in Spanish) - [Kira] Who supports this organization financially?

(Morelia speaking in Spanish) - [Kira] There's my boy boy.

(Morelia continuing to speak in Spanish) What was your work before you came to Holbox?

(Morelia speaking in Spanish) (Morelia continuing to speak in Spanish) (Morelia continuing to speak in Spanish) - Okay, adios.

- I'll be back.

Come on, Chio.

Even more surprising than the amazing kindness demonstrated at The Refuge For Animals is a carefully curated holistic center designed for physical and spiritual integration.

Casasandra or House of Sandra is the manifestation of a woman who is changing lives, one pampered guest at a time.

(Sandra speaking in Spanish) (Sandra continuing to speak in Spanish) (Sandra continuing to speak in Spanish) (inspirational music) - Sandra recruited an inner circle of seekers and healers who share and further her goals of creating a refuge that would encourage exploration into consciousness.

- I bring to this beautiful space a retreat designed to work with our intimacy, with our minds, and to find through the intimacy a path through inner peace.

We start feeling our feet in the ground.

Bring your attention to your breathing and we start.

This place is the perfect host space to hold people into nature.

Birds, ocean, sunsets, sunrises, everything curated precisely to bring a beautiful and deep transformation for everybody who comes here.

(soothing music) (Sandra speaking in Spanish) (Sandra continuing to speak in Spanish) - And for a moment, let's just close our eyes.

And we're gonna listen to the ocean for a few minutes.

(waves crashing) - I think that's pretty transparent.

As soon as you arrive here, you feel immediately like you're in someone's home.

None of us even like to use the term hotel 'cause this was her home and it grew because she wanted to keep inviting more people here to stay with her.

And this space is, it satisfies all of your senses and everything here is carefully curated by Sandra herself from the food, the books that are on display, everything that you can touch, all your senses.

(gong sounds) - I think when people come here looking to have a touristic experience, they'll be very surprised because this place starts to work on you silently.

The beauty of the place, the activities, they are designed to touch people's hearts silently.

- I think even whether you're looking to reconnect or not, inevitably, you're going to.

(Speaking in Spanish) - [Kira] At Casasandra's holistic center, Juan Miguel takes osteopathy into metaphysical realms by integrating the physical and the psychological.

(Juan Miguel speaking in Spanish) (Juan Miguel continuing to speak in Spanish) - Can you explain osteopathy?

How does the mind body connection work?

(Juan Miguel speaking in Spanish) (Juan Miguel speaking in Spanish) - I do.

(Juan Miguel speaking in Spanish) - [Guest] I do.

(Juan Miguel speaking in Spanish) (guest speaking in Spanish) (Juan Miguel speaking in Spanish) (Juan Miguel continuing to speak in Spanish) (Juan Miguel continuing to speak in Spanish) (meditating music) (Sandra speaking in Spanish) (Sandra continues to speak in Spanish) (Sandra continues to speak in Spanish) (Sandra continues to speak in Spanish) (inspirational music) - [Kira] Because of the people we met, Holbox feels like a sanctuary of kindness and caring for tourists, for nature, for animals, and for each other.

A sanctuary dedicated to raising awareness of as Sandra would say, "Living consciously."

(waves crashing) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) For more information about our series visit our website at islandswithoutcars.com.

(waves crashing) (upbeat tune) (upbeat chimes)