Isla Mujeres, Mexico – On our first day here, spread out beneath the palm trees on Playa del Norte, we saw people leaping off a small ferry anchored beyond the swim buoys and wondered if they were just cooling off during a day cruise.
By the second day of our all-girl getaway, we had it figured out: They were running away from the crush of heat- seeking tourists that jam the beaches of Cancun’s creepily Americanized Hotel Zone.
If they had been clever, they would have jumped with their suitcases wrapped in plastic and stayed on this slip of an island prized for its pristine salt-white beaches and clear blue skies unmolested by noisy planes dragging banners advertising two-for-one drinks.
There is, of course, an easier way to reach Isla Mujeres.
Fast ferries that cost about $3 leave every half-hour from Puerto Juarez, north of the Cancun airport, and put you in port 8 miles across the Bahia de Mujeres about 15 minutes later.
From there it is a short walk or cab ride to the string of funky hotels and cheap cabana complexes that line the shore. For more local color on arrival, hire a pedicab or a golf cart, which seems to be the principal form of tourist conveyance on the island, after feet.
We six women, all in serious need of a little kid-free, man-free, work-free time, walked to our beachside hotel, and then ran to take a quick dip in the brine, even though the locals were griping about the “frigid” 70-degree evening temperature.
From the sea, we moved to the swings that many beach bars substitute for stools, and began to ease into the soothing rhythm of island life with the help of salty-sweet margaritas.
Isla Mujeres, named for the Mayan carved stone idols to the goddess of fertility Ixchel discovered in 1517, is tiny – about 5 miles long and a half-mile wide. And the clear turquoise water and stark white beaches make it plenty tempting to just plop down in the sand and bake.
Try not to give in. Isla may be little, but there is a lot of off-beach exploring to be done, beginning with the charming four-block-wide downtown.
The main shopping area runs six blocks along Avenida Hildalgo, a busy pedestrian street with shops tucked in between and below bustling restaurants and clubs, where cover bands blast mostly American dance music late into the night. You’ll find the typical Mexican and Guatemalan woven goods and ceramics, as well as some interesting locally made jewelry and crafts.
Most merchants are open to bargaining – the ones who aren’t have signs saying so – and the persistent shopper with cash in hand can walk away with a deal. One of our group scored a large piece of amber set in silver for about a third of the marked price by asking to have the chain removed and paying in dollars.
A good meal was easy to find, but mouths watering for blazing hot burritos, rellenos and tamales will have to wait for another trip.
The cuisine of Isla Mujeres tends toward sweet fresh-caught shrimp and fish swimming in tangy lime-and-sour-orange flavors backed with cilantro, onion and tomato and only a hint of jalapeo. We swooned over fish and shrimp tacos at Gomar’s on Hildalgo, loved the fish ceviche at Picus Cockteleria near the ferry, and slurped down sunny margaritas made from ice, fruit, tequila, Cointreau – and nothing else – at El Balcn de Arriba.
We were tempted by a come-on for chocolate crepes that we passed on the way downtown, but twice decided to wind up our meal at a Michoacan Popsicle bar at the southwest corner of the central zcalo. It’s the simplest of treats: ground fruit frozen on a stick.
Make sure to poke around the side streets between Hildalgo and the port. There aren’t a lot of retailers, but we did check out a funky zen bar called Om, and found a juice bar across the street, where a half-liter of freshly squeezed papaya and orange nectar was about $2.
Those side streets also are a feast for the eyes. Isla Mujeres residents freely express devotion to the Virgin Mary by decorating the exterior of their homes and shops with brightly painted, lighted shrines. Some are simple statues perched in a niche; others, like the one we saw inside of an engine repair place, were huge and blazing with color.
You get the same sense of personal devotion at the cemetery on the north edge of downtown. The city’s historic boneyard – guarded by huge iguanas sunning themselves on the protective wall – is populated with hundreds of red, pink, blue and white concrete tombs, some decorated with expertly carved marble statuary, but more often marked with primitive hand-troweled sculpture and elegant hand-lettered white wooden crosses.
But there is more to Isla Mujeres than downtown.
Beat-up cruiser bikes with just enough get-up-and-go to get you to the end of the island and back rent for about $5-$8 for a half day. There is really only one road around the island, so it’s tough to get lost.
We pedaled hard past the Isla Mujeres Turtle Farm and the Hacienda of Mundaca the Pirate, and then took a pass on the overdeveloped Parque El Garrafn, where we could have paid $28 to snorkel and ride a
zipline over the ocean. We kept going until we reached the tip of the island, where paths wind through a modern sculpture garden to an ancient temple honoring the goddess Ixchel that leans out over the sea.
After paying our respects, we headed back north on the east side of the island, keeping a lookout for the famous shell house, a compact, two-story villa in the shape of a conch shell.
Three hours into our ride, we cut back across the island for a very late lunch at Playa Lancheros. There, as the afternoon sun began to dip into the bay, we moved through a big plate of freshly mashed guacamole and a platter of the island’s signature dish, Tikin-Xic, a whole fish rubbed red with achiote and other spices, then barbecued over a wood fire.
On the way home, we marveled at the crashing waves and tide pools that edge the island’s east coast, and wished that we had just one more day with just the girls.
Freelance writer Nancy McLaughlin contributed to this story.
THE DETAILS
Getting there: Frontier and United airlines fly nonstop between Denver and Cancun. The flight takes about 3 1/2 hours.
The most efficient way to travel from the airport to the ferry port for Isla Mujeres is to hire a private van for the 30-minute trip. For our group of six we paid $45 each way. We booked with Luxury Van Transportation ( and there was a driver waiting for us at both ends of the trip.
Getting around: Before we left, we bought an Isla Mujeres Guide/Map from and it was the best $8 investment we could have made. The folding guide has detailed island maps, directions to attractions including off-islandsnorkeling and wildlife trips, and includes detailed reviews of many of the island’s restaurants. Restaurants and attractions do not pay to be included on the map. MapChick also has guides to other Yucatan destinations.
Where to stay: Although hawkers do flutter from the tiny port bar to pitch their rooms to disembarking ferry passengers, it’s best to book your lodging before you fly, especially during high season. The beachside hotel inventory ranges from the Cabaas del Prado, a collection of basic rooms with small kitchens that run about $35 per night, to the swanky Na Balam Suites Beach Hotel at $270 per night. Small downtown hotels run around $50 a night or less during the high season, but drop significantly after March 1. We stayed in the tower section of the Cabaas Maria del Mar and paid $99 a night for rooms right on the beach. For a fairly comprehensive listing of lodging visit .
Staying in touch: If you need to call home, buy a Ladatel phone card at 7-Eleven (the island’s sole U.S. franchise store) and try any of the many TelMex pay phones on the street. Insert the card, wait for the prompt that shows how many minutes you have available, then dial 001, and your area code and number. If that’s too much old-school technology to handle, there’s a tiny Internet calling center, DigaMe, on Avenida Guerrero between Matamoros and Abasolo. Calls run 2.5 pesos (about 25 cents) per minute to the U.S.
Money: Isla Mujeres merchants – even vendors selling bracelets and hammocks on the beach – accept U.S. dollars, but the exchange rate doesn’t favor the customer, so it’s best to withdraw pesos from an ATM or change your dollars or travelers checks at the HSBC bank across the street from the ferry port.
There’s also an ATM in the Super Express San Francisco de Asis grocery store on the north end of the town square. Don’t forget to grab your card at the end the the transaction, though. One of our group lost her card in the HSBC bank ATM and then spent the rest of the week worrying.
– Dana Coffield
