Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve Tours

Visiting the Monarchs in Mexico is an amazing adventure. The sight of over 89 million butterflies will leave you speechless. It’s an easy 3 hour drive to walk through the forest.

It takes 1,000 butterflies to weigh one pound (.45kg), and the branches on this tree were sagging under the weight.

The monarch colony here was quite different than at the more popular El Rosario sanctuary. 40 minutes outside Zitacuaro, near El Capulin, we chartered a couple of tiny mountain horses to take us up the rugged path to view the colony. The monarchs were clustered within a ravine, swirling around a few choice pine trees in search of sunny roosts. Whenever the sun went behind a cloud the butterflies scrambled into the air and back to the safety of the nucleus, knowing that settling down for the night outside the warmth of the colony would mean certain death.

Up to 1 billion monarchs winter in the mountainous pine-oak forests of central Mexico after completing one of the most spectacular migrations on Earth.

From November to March they hibernate here, waking only long enough each day to sip water and gather pollen. As the weather warms they fatten up and mate. The males die quickly, but the pregnant females head north to Texas in search of a milkweed plant on which to lay their eggs.

Four days later each egg hatches into a tiny caterpillar that feeds non-stop for two weeks before molting into a small cocoon-like chrysalis. Hormonal changes lead to the "birth" of the next generation of monarch, which continues the northward migration. Over the course of the spring and summer three successive generations of butterflies repeat this cycle on their northward trek. By the time the fourth generation emerges it is once again time to head south - a journey last undertaken by this generation's great-great-grandparents.

The El Rosario sanctuary is open to visits, but it's a long drive from Zitacuaro and you need to get here early in the day to catch the monarchs when they are active. It also requires some steep hikes at elevations great than 10,000ft (3,000m).

Those are millions of little Monarchs clumped on the threes!

Monarch Migration 🦋
Hands down one of the most special events we have had the pleasure to witness. Millions of Monarch wings fluttering to sound like a huge stream, the swarm of delicate orange overhead. Simply magical. .

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Price found within the past 48 hours. Click for updated prices.

Grand Riviera Princess - All Inclusive

₩2,105,270

per person

Mar 12 - Mar 17

found 24 hours ago

Roundtrip non-stop flight included

Vancouver (YVR) to Cancun (CUN)

8/10 Very Good! (4,367 reviews)

So much under renovation during the stay and we werent informed until after booking. A lot of amenities not available during the stay including the beach front restaurant and pool side snack bar

Reviewed on Feb 1, 2026

Mahekal Beach Front Resort & Spa

Downtown Playa del Carmen

₩3,041,066

per person

Mar 12 - Mar 17

found 20 hours ago

Roundtrip non-stop flight included

Vancouver (YVR) to Cancun (CUN)

8.8/10 Excellent! (1,001 reviews)

My stay at Mahekal was great. The rooms were clean and comfortable with a very tropical vibe. Location is amazing and the staff was friendly and helpful. One negative thing was I had my bose and apple headphones go missing. While there. The staff was very helpful in looking for them.

Reviewed on Feb 4, 2026

Grand Sunset Princess - All Inclusive

₩2,105,814

per person

Mar 12 - Mar 17

found 20 hours ago

Roundtrip non-stop flight included

Vancouver (YVR) to Cancun (CUN)

8.2/10 Very Good! (2,559 reviews)

Room amenties all was good food the only thing we were disappointed was the beach access and dirt everything alse was good

Reviewed on Feb 5, 2026

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