Isla Mujeres Review

Overall 4.50 of 5 view all 2 reviews

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mrkstvns
Austin, TX

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Quiet, Traditional Mexican Beach Experience, Yet Near Cancun

love to travel, an avid and frequent traveler, family traveler, interested in cultural experiences, off the beaten path, beach bum

Pros

relaxing, affordable, spectacular beach, traditional Mexican vibe

Cons

none

NOV

2007

The island may lie only a mile or two offshore of hustling, bustling Cancun, but the mood and vibe of Isla Mujeres couldn't be more different. Cancun has big, glitzy hotels, lively nightclubs, and plenty of sand, sun, and party attitude. Isla Mujeres has sand and sun too, and one of the best beaches in the entire Cancun area, yet it moves more like a sleepy, traditional town on its northern end, with quiet villas spread out through lush green tropical settings of its southern end. Isla Mujeres appeals to travelers who appreciate a quieter, gentler vibe.

Tranquility isn't a constant on Isla Mujeres. Every morning, the tour boats from Cancun pull up at the island's main dock, disgorging crowds of day-trippers, though some boats don't even give people a real view of the island, pulling up instead at their own private docks towards the south end of the island.

If your idea of a perfect vacation is just lounging on a classic Caribbean beach, swimming in crystal clear turqoise waters or walking on powdery soft white sandy beaches, then Isla Mujeres is your speed. It's Playa Norte is STUNNINGLY beautiful --- not to mention wider and less populated than most of the already excellent beaches of Cancun. It's a great swimming beach, without dangerous currents, and it's usually fairly gentle, without strong surf.

A lot of people come to Isla Mujeres for the snorkling. Garrafon is a national park area located on Isla Mujeres, and day trippers come for the easy reef snorkling there (though the better snorkling is off-shore, easily reached by hiring a boat down by the docks).

Shopping is fun on Isla Mujeres, especially if you enjoy the easy challenge of bargaining, and there's an excellent variety of merchandise available in the small shops that line the town's narrow streets. While the shopping area does get crowded during the day, the tour boats all return to Cancun by about 3pm, and it's a real joy to stroll the shopping areas after that, when the intensity drops several notches and the crowds drop to nothing. Evening dining is also a real pleasure on Isla Mujeres, and there are quite a few very good places to eat in town, not to mention places on Playa Norte where you can get a fresh grilled fish lunch served to you while you flop into a shaded hammock over at Zizil Ha. Over by the ferry docks are casual, down-to-earth eateries where you can get inexpensive tacos and some of the best sopa de lima in the Yucatan at prices that won't bust anybody's budget.

Budget travelers can do GREAT on Isla Mujeres. There's small hostel-type lodging near the beach where you can stay for as little as US$16 a night, and there's the classic inexpensive family-type hotel, Posada del Mar, which has a great pool and bar (even if some of the rooms could use a serious makeover). There's upscale, romantic boutique hotels, and of course, the villas.

Getting around the island is easy. Just rent a motorbike or a golf cart for a day. They do have taxis, but they're an expensive option compared to a simple golf cart, and since the island is only a few miles long anyway, even a bicycle is a very reasonable way to see the whole place on your own schedule.

Not that there's a lot of real tourism type things to do on the island. After all, the beach is really the thing here....that and the very friendly, unassuming town. There's a turtle farm where you can watch turtles being hatched (and they even have a couple of nurse sharks there, if you want to say you got to touch a real shark. The turtle farm is interesting for a little while, but it's low-key and won't burn much time. There's also a hacienda that was supposedly the domain of a ruthless Caribbean pirate (Hacienda de Mundaca), but it's largely overgrown and won't take much of your time either. I was told that there was a Mayan ruin on the south end of the island --- probabably an ancient lighthouse --- but it looked more like a pile of rubble to my discerning eye, and I was unimpressed compared to the many outstanding Mayan sites lying within easy day-trip distance of Cancun.

Sometimes I really want the big hotels, dynamic nightlife, and broad range of activities that Cancun offers. Other times, I can get great airfares into Cancun, but really feel more in the mood for quiet, mellow, beach-dominated relaxation --- it's these times I take a quick Express Ferry across the bay to Isla Mujeres where I can step into a more traditional Mexican beach community, and I can step into an outstanding bang for my bargain loving traveler's heart.

Isla Mujeres is recommended by mrkstvns

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Comments about mrkstvns’s Review

aprilefisher wrote on Nov 25, 2007 at 1:13PM

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It's been a while since I've been somewhere I could bargain for goods! The Turtle farm sounds really cool too. And the speed (i.e. slow) just my style ;-)