Isla Mujeres: Ferry Ride, Beautiful Beaches, & Underwater Museum
Isla Mujeres Snorkeling Guide
Use our realist Isla Mujeres Guide to plan your next trip to this island. Isla Mujeres is an island off the coast of Cancun and a popular tourist destination. The island’s name is translated from Spanish as a “Women Island“. This name dates back to the 16th century and relates to a Mayan goddess. Isla Mujeres was the last stop during our trip to Mexico.
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Getting to Isla Mujeres
Isla Mujeres is just 8 miles or 13 km from Cancun. Several ferry routes connect the island with the mainland. You have a choice to visit the island from either Gran Puerto/Puerto Juárez, ports of Zona Hotelera, or Punta Sam, with the latter being the only car ferry. Depending on your itinerary you might choose any of these ports but Gran Puerto appeared to offer the most frequent ferry schedule. Coupled with the newer Ultramar boats and facilities, Puerto Juárez was our choice.
Where to Stay
Isla Mujeres has a number of accommodation options directly on the island. However, we recommend that you broaden your search to include mainland properties. By considering Cancun options, inside and outside the Hotel Zone, you can secure the best possible deal. Unless you plan on spending multiple days on the beach, booking in Cancun also provides you with the most flexibility in terms of exploring key Mexican sites, such as Chichen Itza or Tulum.
Entrance Requirements & Passes
The cost of an adult return ticket was about MXN 470 or $23 at the time of writing. The ferry ticket does not cover parking fee. While the parking fee was low, it might still be a relevant consideration for anyone planning on parking the vehicle in port.
Sights & Places of Interest
We arrived at Gran Puerto relatively early to catch a 8:30am ferry. The majority of our fellow passengers on this ferry ride were locals commuting to work from the mainland.
The weather in the morning was quite windy. The Caribbean sea seemed a bit rough for a snorkeling tour, our main adventure for the day.
Fifteen minutes after boarding, the Ultramar ferry brought us to Isla Mujeres ferry terminal. The terminal is located in the northern part of the island.
Snorkeling: Sac Bajo Reef & MUSA
The weather on the Island was more promising. We proceeded directly to book a snorkeling tour. There are several companies that offer snorkeling tours on the island. We chose Cooperativa Isla Mujeres Tours since it had good reviews and affordable prices ($30 per person for a two-hour tour and lunch at the time of the writing). The first tour started at 11am, which provided us with plenty of time to explore the island.
Playa Norte Beach
We headed north to the Playa Norte beach. This beach is commonly considered to be one of the best beaches on the island. It is worth noting that although all beaches in Mexico are public, hotels and resorts often try to obstruct beach access. It could appear a bit confusing when Av Rueda Medina seemingly ends in a “dead end”. Just continue straight to the beach.
The Playa Norte beach is very clean yet somewhat shallow. It attracts many birds, most notably Laughing gulls.
Even though Laughing gulls clearly outnumbered other birds on the beach, we also spotted a different sea gull type, which appeared to be an American herring gull.
After a couple of hours on the beach, it was time for us to head back and start the snorkeling tour. Snorkeling off the shores of Isla Mujeres is not as spectacular as in other places we have been to like Hawaii or Egypt. However, it has its own charm. While Isla Mujeres might not have lots of corals, it offers interesting human made structures, such as the Lighthouse and MUSA, Underwater Museum of Art. The museum has over a thousand underwater sculptures that have been embedded into the ecosystem for over a decade.
The snorkeling tour had a lunch stop close to the MUSA in the southwestern part of Isla Mujeres. This part of the island is closest to Cancún’s Zona Hotelera and offers nice views of Cancun in the distance. If you choose to stay in one of Cancun’s all inclusive you might even be able to see your accommodation from the island.
Takeaways: Isla Mujeres
Isla Mujeres is a nice destination in close proximity to Cancún. If you enjoy beach vacations with snorkeling and other water activities, we would recommend visiting this small island. However, if Mayan sites are the focus of your Yucatan trip, you might find Isla Mujeres to be too commercialized and somewhat boring.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Isla Mujeres is located about 8 miles (13 km) off the coast of Cancun.
You can take a ferry to Isla Mujeres from one of Cancun’s ports.
A return adult ticket is about MXN 470 or $23. The ticket does not cover the parking fee.
The island’s name is translated from Spanish as a “Women Island“, it dates back to the 16th century and relates to a Mayan goddess.
Yes, you can take a car to Isla Mujeres if you take the car ferry from Punta Sam port.
Isla Mujeres is known for pristine beaches and MUSA Underwater Museum you can explore on a snorkeling tour.
Safe realist travels!
