Isla Mujeres combines the beauty of the Caribbean, the dense tropical jungle and the wonderful heritage of the Mayan civilization, a true earthly paradise full of charms. Besides its beaches and impressive architecture of nature carved into its cliffs, Isla Mujeres has archaeological vestiges and marine parks with incredible natural reefs. Arrive at Isla Mujeres is like a dream world where every traveler finds its second home.
Isla Mujeres is the perfect place for your vacation. You can dive, snorkel and observe the varied marine life sharing exceptional moments. This beautiful island is located in the Caribbean Sea just 20 minutes by boat from the Mexican coast Cancun. Isla Mujeres is a peaceful and serene place surrounded by waters with different shades of blue and green tones. Isla Mujeres has an efficient tourist infrastructure. Hotel facilities has from one to five stars and approximately 1,200 rooms. It has a convention center, Casa de la Cultura, travel agencies, banks, hospitals, money exchange, as well as marine services, dive shops, beach clubs, rental bikes, scooters and golf carts.
The locals are fishermen and divers who have lived on the island for generations, islanders who want the island to remain the paradise they knew and loved. The traditional boat rides are a good option for reaching the main points of interest in and around Isla Mujeres. The boats leave throughout the day from cooperatives located on Rueda Medina, Main Avenue of the city center. The golf carts, motorcycles and bicycles are the most common forms of transport and are available for rent. Busiest beaches and highly recommended. they are located on the northern tip of Isla Mujeres, where these are shallow waters are clear, calm and clear, with beautiful coral reefs a short distance from the beaches on the island's attractions are many and varied; Garrafon National Park, the Maya temple. You can visit the Center for the Protection of Tortuga. Several establishments Isla Mujeres offer tours to other island in the vicinity. Contoy, which hosts in your booking more than ninety species of birds and a variety of wildlife enthusiasts for divers are the reefs overseas Farito, Punta Norte and the incomparable Manchones and the Cave of the Sleeping Sharks. At the other end, on a cliff known as Punta Sur, is the building where the Mayans worshiped the goddess Ixchel.
The municipality of Isla Mujeres has a mainland, where are the new tourist development of Costa Women; El Meco, Mayan archaeological site; and Boca Iglesias, where the history of this holiday destination started. In addition, boasts a varied cuisine ranging from traditional restaurants to international cuisine.
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Isla Mujeres, Mexico
Information
Must Know
Just a few kilometres off the easternmost tip of Mexico, Isla Mujeres is substantially mellower than Cancún, drawing people for long stays. A hippie hangout in the 1970s, the tiny island still retains an air of bohemian languor, with wild-haired baby-boomers passing on travel wisdom to a new generation of young backpackers. Physically, however, Mujeres is hardly the desert island it was thirty years ago, and its natural attractions have been developed considerably. Thousands of day-trippers visit from Cancún, and the Garrafón coral reef off the southern tip. The island can still seem a respite to those who’ve slogged across Mexico, or to anyone overwhelmed by Cancún the low wooden buildings and narrow streets have a genuine Caribbean feel. The attractions here are simple: first there’s the beach, then there’s the sea. And when you’ve tired of those, you can cruise around the island to more sea, more beaches and the tiny Maya temple full of female figures that the conquistadors chanced upon, which gave the place its name. But you’ll want to be back under the palms on Playa Norte, the big west-facing beach, by late afternoon: Isla Mujeres is one of the few places along Mexico’s eastern shoreline where you can enjoy a glowing sunset over the water.
Passenger ferries arrive at Isla Mujeres town at two adjacent piers; the car ferry comes in further south on Avenida Medina, just past the edge of town. From the piers, it’s about a twenty-minute walk to the opposite side of the island and the most distant hotels. The best way of getting around the small island is by moped or bicycle. Virtually every other storefront rents out both forms of transport for approximately the same rates. You can also take snorkelling trips with a couple of lancheros cooperatives, which are set up on the piers (2hr). The main day outing, to which scores of touts devote their efforts, is a boat trip to the bird sanctuary of Isla Contoy. You can see colonies of pelicans and cormorants and occasionally more exotic sea birds, as well as a sunken Spanish galleon. The experienced captains at La Isleña Tours, on Morelos one block back from Medina, run a relaxed faux-castaway trip that takes about seven hours, with lunch caught straight from the sea. In recent years, the lancheros have begun offering tours to see the whale sharks that gather off the coast in August and September a trip more commonly taken from Isla Holbox. While every shop touts the trip, only a small number of boats have the permit. Boats usually leave at 8am, and the trip to the sharks takes a couple of hours; there’s lunch and reef snorkelling on the way back.
Isla Mujeres is just 8km long, and even at its widest point is barely a kilometer across. A lone road runs its perimeter, past the dead-calm waters of the landward coast and back along the windswept, rocky eastern shore. The most popular beach, just five minutes’ walk from the town plaza, is Playa Norte curving up and around the northern tip of the island, but protected from the open sea by a promontory on which stands a large resort. If you’ve had enough of the beach and wandering round the main town (the grand tour takes little more than 30min), rent a bike or moped to explore the south of the island, where there are other residential areas and various natural attractions. Heading south from town, about halfway down the length of the island lurk the barely visible remains of the Hacienda Mundaca (daily 9am–5pm), to which scores of romantic pirate legends are attached. The place has been crisscrossed with a few too many concrete paths, and there’s a zoo, but the jungly shade in the back garden makes for a prime picnic spot. Across the roundabout, another road leads to a government-run turtle farm and research centre (daily 9am–5pm), which breeds endangered sea turtles for release in the wild. Entrance helps fund the preservation project. Just south of the roundabout, Playa Lancheros is a small, palm-fringed beach that is virtually deserted except at lunchtime, when the good, very simple restaurant fires up the grill for tikin-xic fish.
At the southern end of the island, the Garrafón reef is enclosed in a nature park (daily 9am–6.30pm) with a zipline and “snuba” (swim underwater with an oxygen line). For snorkelling, you’re better off going on a trip with the lancheros. The entrance to the park is almost at the southern tip of the island beyond, the road continues to the old lighthouse, surrounded by faux-Caribbean houses containing shops and a restaurant. From there you can visit a somewhat gratuitous sculpture park and the Templo de Ixchel, at the southeastern tip (free with Garrafón ticket). It’s not much of a ruin (the fertility figures the Spaniards spotted here have been removed), but it is very dramatically situated on low rocky cliffs. The area along and around Hidalgo between Morelos and Abasolo is lined with restaurants and bars. For inexpensive, basic Mexican food and great fruit salads, head for the loncherías on Guerrero between Mateos and Matamoros. At night, food vendors set up on the main plaza.
There are very strong consequences (legal) about the awareness for nature conservation in Mexico (You don’t want to get involved with the police here) Coral reefs are among the richest and most complex ecosystems on earth, but they are also very fragile. The colonies grow at a rate of only around 5cm per year, so they must be treated with care and respect if they are not to be damaged beyond repair. Follow these simple rules and advise your family to do so as well while you are snorkelling, diving or in a boat. Never touch or stand on corals, as the living polyps on their surface are easily damaged. Avoid disturbing the sand around corals. Quite apart from spoiling visibility, the cloud of sand will settle over the corals and smother them. Don’t remove shells, sponges or other creatures from the reef, and avoid buying reef products from souvenir shops. Do use only biodegradable sunscreen in reef areas; oils in standard formulas are pollutants and will stifle coral growth. Don’t anchor boats on the reef: use the permanently secured buoys instead. Don’t throw litter overboard. Check where you are allowed to go fishing. Review your diving skills before you head out to the reef, especially if you are a new or out-of-practice diver.
Passenger ferries arrive at Isla Mujeres town at two adjacent piers; the car ferry comes in further south on Avenida Medina, just past the edge of town. From the piers, it’s about a twenty-minute walk to the opposite side of the island and the most distant hotels. The best way of getting around the small island is by moped or bicycle. Virtually every other storefront rents out both forms of transport for approximately the same rates. You can also take snorkelling trips with a couple of lancheros cooperatives, which are set up on the piers (2hr). The main day outing, to which scores of touts devote their efforts, is a boat trip to the bird sanctuary of Isla Contoy. You can see colonies of pelicans and cormorants and occasionally more exotic sea birds, as well as a sunken Spanish galleon. The experienced captains at La Isleña Tours, on Morelos one block back from Medina, run a relaxed faux-castaway trip that takes about seven hours, with lunch caught straight from the sea. In recent years, the lancheros have begun offering tours to see the whale sharks that gather off the coast in August and September a trip more commonly taken from Isla Holbox. While every shop touts the trip, only a small number of boats have the permit. Boats usually leave at 8am, and the trip to the sharks takes a couple of hours; there’s lunch and reef snorkelling on the way back.
Isla Mujeres is just 8km long, and even at its widest point is barely a kilometer across. A lone road runs its perimeter, past the dead-calm waters of the landward coast and back along the windswept, rocky eastern shore. The most popular beach, just five minutes’ walk from the town plaza, is Playa Norte curving up and around the northern tip of the island, but protected from the open sea by a promontory on which stands a large resort. If you’ve had enough of the beach and wandering round the main town (the grand tour takes little more than 30min), rent a bike or moped to explore the south of the island, where there are other residential areas and various natural attractions. Heading south from town, about halfway down the length of the island lurk the barely visible remains of the Hacienda Mundaca (daily 9am–5pm), to which scores of romantic pirate legends are attached. The place has been crisscrossed with a few too many concrete paths, and there’s a zoo, but the jungly shade in the back garden makes for a prime picnic spot. Across the roundabout, another road leads to a government-run turtle farm and research centre (daily 9am–5pm), which breeds endangered sea turtles for release in the wild. Entrance helps fund the preservation project. Just south of the roundabout, Playa Lancheros is a small, palm-fringed beach that is virtually deserted except at lunchtime, when the good, very simple restaurant fires up the grill for tikin-xic fish.
At the southern end of the island, the Garrafón reef is enclosed in a nature park (daily 9am–6.30pm) with a zipline and “snuba” (swim underwater with an oxygen line). For snorkelling, you’re better off going on a trip with the lancheros. The entrance to the park is almost at the southern tip of the island beyond, the road continues to the old lighthouse, surrounded by faux-Caribbean houses containing shops and a restaurant. From there you can visit a somewhat gratuitous sculpture park and the Templo de Ixchel, at the southeastern tip (free with Garrafón ticket). It’s not much of a ruin (the fertility figures the Spaniards spotted here have been removed), but it is very dramatically situated on low rocky cliffs. The area along and around Hidalgo between Morelos and Abasolo is lined with restaurants and bars. For inexpensive, basic Mexican food and great fruit salads, head for the loncherías on Guerrero between Mateos and Matamoros. At night, food vendors set up on the main plaza.
There are very strong consequences (legal) about the awareness for nature conservation in Mexico (You don’t want to get involved with the police here) Coral reefs are among the richest and most complex ecosystems on earth, but they are also very fragile. The colonies grow at a rate of only around 5cm per year, so they must be treated with care and respect if they are not to be damaged beyond repair. Follow these simple rules and advise your family to do so as well while you are snorkelling, diving or in a boat. Never touch or stand on corals, as the living polyps on their surface are easily damaged. Avoid disturbing the sand around corals. Quite apart from spoiling visibility, the cloud of sand will settle over the corals and smother them. Don’t remove shells, sponges or other creatures from the reef, and avoid buying reef products from souvenir shops. Do use only biodegradable sunscreen in reef areas; oils in standard formulas are pollutants and will stifle coral growth. Don’t anchor boats on the reef: use the permanently secured buoys instead. Don’t throw litter overboard. Check where you are allowed to go fishing. Review your diving skills before you head out to the reef, especially if you are a new or out-of-practice diver.
Get There
By Road:
By car. From Punta Sam there are ferry services that takes 45 minutes.
There’s also a car ferry (per car with one driver and per extra person), but you don’t need a vehicle, as the island is quite small and has plenty of bicycles and mopeds for rent. The boat leaves from Punta Sam, a few kilometres north of Puerto Juárez.
By air:
The Cancun International Airport receives more than 80 daily flights from Mexico City (1 hour 45 minutes or so) and some major US cities such as New York (4 hour flight, approximately) or Miami (1 hour 30 minutes, approximately).
By sea:
Comfortable in speedboats. From Puerto Juarez leaves every half hour and cover the route in fifteen minutes. In boats that offer accommodation for tourists service. From the Cancun Hotel Zone out at different times and delay 35 minutes.
Passenger ferries (15min) for Isla Mujeres leave from Gran Puerto in Cancún on the mainland and, about 250m further north, Puerto Juárez, every thirty minutes (6.30am–10.30pm). To get to the ferry terminals, catch a bus (“R-13” or “R-1 – Pto Juárez”) heading north from the stop on Tulum opposite the bus station (15min), or take a taxi from Avenida Tulum. There’s also a less frequent ferry service from Playa Tortugas in the zona hotelera (30min).
By car. From Punta Sam there are ferry services that takes 45 minutes.
There’s also a car ferry (per car with one driver and per extra person), but you don’t need a vehicle, as the island is quite small and has plenty of bicycles and mopeds for rent. The boat leaves from Punta Sam, a few kilometres north of Puerto Juárez.
By air:
The Cancun International Airport receives more than 80 daily flights from Mexico City (1 hour 45 minutes or so) and some major US cities such as New York (4 hour flight, approximately) or Miami (1 hour 30 minutes, approximately).
By sea:
Comfortable in speedboats. From Puerto Juarez leaves every half hour and cover the route in fifteen minutes. In boats that offer accommodation for tourists service. From the Cancun Hotel Zone out at different times and delay 35 minutes.
Passenger ferries (15min) for Isla Mujeres leave from Gran Puerto in Cancún on the mainland and, about 250m further north, Puerto Juárez, every thirty minutes (6.30am–10.30pm). To get to the ferry terminals, catch a bus (“R-13” or “R-1 – Pto Juárez”) heading north from the stop on Tulum opposite the bus station (15min), or take a taxi from Avenida Tulum. There’s also a less frequent ferry service from Playa Tortugas in the zona hotelera (30min).
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