A 20 minute ferry ride away from Cancun is a little slice of paradise called Isla Mujeres. If you are a fan of great beaches, good food, and getting to swim with whale sharks, you will love Isla Mujeres! The island itself is only about 7 miles long and is pretty populated (if you are looking for a more isolated island experience, check out Isla Holbox). But the great thing is that there are plenty of accommodations, restaurants, and things to do in Isla Mujeres to keep you busy for your entire stay! We hope this travel guide will help you plan a great vacation there (we also have guides to Playa del Carmen and Cozumel if you are heading there too)!
Isla Mujeres Attractions & Activities
1. Swim with Whale Sharks in Isla Mujeres
Isla Mujeres is world famous for the whale sharks that come in the summer months to feed on the plankton and fish eggs. If you can only choose one of the many things to do in Isla Mujeres, we highly recommend this! Check out our guide to swimming with whale sharks in Isla Mujeres for all the details.
2. Relax on Isla Mujeres Beaches
The beaches on Isla Mujeres alone are worth the visit. There are several beaches, but because the island is so small (and a good part of the mile long coast is rocky), most of the beaches are right next to each other. Each beach varies slightly, so scope them out and pick your favorite.
Many people rank Playa Norte as one of their favorite beaches in the Carribean. It is the perfect balance of beautiful water, restaurants, and other amenities with an island feel while still being easily accessible. It wasn’t too crowded when we were there in August. But that’s considered off-season. It definitely isn’t a secluded beach, but it has a pretty cool feel with the beach bars on the shore and boats anchored off the coast. It is so calm and shallow that it almost feels like a giant, picture perfect swimming pool. This is the beach we stayed closest to and it was so perfect that we didn’t spend much time on the other beaches, but another popular one is Playa Sol.
3. See the First Sunrise in Mexico at Punta Sur
You can be the first to see the sunrise in Mexico at Punta Sur (the south point of the island) which is a beautiful ocean overlook. You can see the waves crashing into the rocks as you watch Mexico’s first sunrise. If you don’t have time to see the sunrise, Punta Sur is still worth a 7 mile ride to see during the day! It usually has a small entrance fee to go all the way to the point, but when we were there it was under construction and was free.
Em and I woke up at 5:30, packed our bags, and jumped on our moped to go see the sunrise. The only problem was our moped wouldn’t start! (Probably should have spent the extra $5 for the upgraded moped.) Fortunately, there were taxis running at that time and we made it in time to see the sunrise! It was an overcast day, but we still were able to see the sun peek out from behind the clouds. (Just remember if you are visiting in the off-season and take a taxi, there might not be a taxi on a return trip. But you might be lucky enough like us and be able to hitchhike back to town with a nice family! =)
4. Scuba Dive or Snorkel in Isla Mujeres
Two of the most popular things to do in Isla Mujeres are snorkeling and diving. The island is surrounded by crystal clear water and reefs. If you have a good whale shark tour that also stops for snorkeling, there isn’t really a reason to book a second snorkeling tour – but from our online research, it looks like the best place to snorkel for beginners is El Farito. Located to the north of the island, El Farito is shallow and a great place to see schools of colorful fish. At a depth of 35-40 feet, Los Machones is better suited for people who don’t mind deeper water. Garrafon Natural Park is another popular spot and is well advertised online. After our whale shark dive, our boat stopped for some snorkeling near Isla Contoy (so it felt like two tours for the price of one), which we loved! We didn’t go scuba diving on Isla Mujeres, but it looks like there are several awesome locations. We had such a great experience with Sea Hawk Dive Shop for the whale shark tour that I would definitely recommend them for scuba diving as well!
5. Cruise Around the Island on a Moped or Golf Cart
Although the downtown is small and you can pretty much get by with walking and taxis, exploring the island on a moped or golf cart is a lot of fun (see the “Transportation” section of this post for more prices and details). Golf carts rule the road in Isla Mujeres. They are kind of like Isla Mujeres’ version of an island style convertible (except there is a top and no doors =). Rent one for the day and go cruising up the coast to Punta Sur and around the island!
6. See Baby Turtles at a Turtle Sanctuary
Located on Sac Bajo on Isla Mujeres is La Tortuga Granja, hatching grounds for sea turtles! It costs about 30 pesos ($1.50) per person. They focus on hatching and rehabilitation of sea turtles, so depending on when you are there you can see babies to fully grown sea turtles. Our favorite was seeing all of the little guys floating around together!
7. Stroll along Avenida Miguel Hidalgo, a Pedestrian-Only Street
The most popular street on the island is Avenida Miguel Hidalgo. This is one of the things that sets Isla Mujeres apart from other islands in the area. It is a pedestrian-only street lined with shops and restaurants. Even if you aren’t hungry, it is worth a stroll down at night! The street leads into the main city center. On the weekend we were there, they had a performance by a local musician in the city square. It was a lot of fun getting dessert, listening to music, and walking down Avenida Miguel Hidalgo.
8. Get Your Picture at the Isla Mujeres Signs
No touristy trip to a Yucatan Peninsula city would be complete without a picture next to the city sign. Isla Mujeres actually has two popular signs. One on the east and one on the west. The sign on the east is the colorful, iconic city sign that is popular in this area. The sign on the west has a whale shark. So pick your favorite and snap that photo. (Haha we were double touristy and got a photo at both).
9. Go Ziplining
There are two ocean adventure resorts in Isla Mujeres: Garrafon Natural Reef Park and Parque de los Suenos. They have experiences including ziplining, kayaking, swimming with dolphins, snorkeling, and more. We were only on the island for a few days and didn’t look too much into these options, But they are there if you are looking for something more adventurous to do and don’t want to go to the mainland.
10. Eat Delicious Food
For a small island, Isla Mujeres has a ton of restaurants. It seems that breakfast is a big thing on the island. We were always busy in the mornings and weren’t able to try any of the breakfast places, but it sounds like there are several great options. See the food section below for some lunch and dinner recommendations!
Best Restaurants in Isla Mujeres
So you did some activities, chilled on the beach, and now you are hungry and looking for a place to eat. Here are some of the restaurants in Isla Mujeres we either tried or heard good things about!
Madera Food and Art
A place we were recommended to eat for lunch was Madera Food and Art. Located along the rocky coast in the center of the island, this place is worth a visit just for the view. It is a small outdoor atmosphere that also has an art shop attached to it. It’s a great way to escape the busier north end of the island. We had a hamburger and rice bowl which were pretty good. Prices were pretty reasonable and after lunch we crossed the street and sat on the cliffs and watched the waves crashing in.
Reuben’s
For dinner, we ate at Reuben’s Restaurant, which is a pretty budget-friendly Mexican food option. It is downtown, but kind of tucked away from the main street. We were pretty hungry after a hard day of laying out on the beach and riding on the moped =P and were both in the mood for a chimichanga! I got chicken and Em got shrimp and they were amazing! Now I know burritos and chimichangas are more Tex-Mex food, but Reuben’s Restaurant really knows how to make them right!
Taqueria Medina
If you aren’t sure where to eat, just start walking down Avenida Hidalgo and you are bound to find something you like. We didn’t eat here so I can’t vouch for it, but according to the internet, Taqueria Medina has some of the best tacos on the island. One bummer is that when we were there they didn’t open until 7:00 PM.
Food Carts
For a snack, stop at one of the several food vendors in downtown Isla Mujeres. They have the typical Yucatan street food like tacos, tortas, marquesitas (if you don’t know what this is then you have to try it =) and a lot of other delicious food. It is the perfect appetizer (yeah, I eat dessert as an app) before your main meal.
How to Travel Around Isla Mujeres
Mopeds & Golf Carts in Isla Mujeres
The main mode of transportation on the island are golf carts. Golf carts and mopeds are perfect for parking and cruising around on the 7 mile stretch of land. Rental shops are everywhere. However, moped rentals are more scarce and they actually asked if we had a motorcycle license here. Our moped did end up breaking down, but to be fair we did take the cheapest moped that they had to offer.
Prices for the moped were $550 MXN (about $30 USD) for 24 hours. (Again, it was $600 MXN ($35ish USD) for the newer mopeds and probably would have been worth it since ours broke down). I don’t remember the exact golf cart rental prices, but I think it was around $1000 MXN ($50 USD) per day and that price seemed relatively the same from rental shop to rental shop.
Taxis
There are plenty of taxis in the downtown. It cost us 100 pesos ($5 USD) to go from one end of the island to the other (one way). I don’t know if this was standard or marked up (according to this travel site its pretty standard), but it was 5:30 in the morning and our moped just broke down, so we were pretty happy with that price. Just keep in mind to arrange a return taxi if you are riding up to Punta Sur for the sunrise. As I mentioned before, we were there in August and there weren’t any taxis in the morning on the north end of the island. (But hitchhiking is always a great plan B =).
How to Get to Isla Mujeres
But before you can do anything of this, I guess the most important thing is getting there! Ultramar is the ferry to and from Isla Mujeres to Puerto Juarez ferry dock in Cancun. You can buy tickets right there and it’s super easy to catch a ferry every ½ hour from 5:00AM – 9:30PM. An even better option is to book an Isla Mujeres ferry online with Bookaway. Bookaway sells online transportation tickets such as bus, ferry, and trains worldwide – so it’s super easy to book your transportation tickets through them and focus on planning the rest of your trip! The ferry ride goes by very quickly – it took less than 30 minutes from boarding to stepping off in Isla Mujeres. You know that you are getting close to the island when you start seeing pristine blue water. :)
So that’s it! Our guide to our favorite things to do in Isla Mujeres!! If you have any questions feel free to let us know, and if you have other recommendations for what to do in Isla Mujeres feel free to share them. The island is amazing and we were so glad for the opportunity to visit it and swim with whale sharks in Isla Mujeres!
Want more Mexico travel tips? Check out our tips for how to swim with whale sharks in Isla Mujeres, or read our travel guides for Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, best day trips from Playa del Carmen, and other Yucatan Peninsula destinations!
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