Another trip we can organize during our stay in Playa del Carmen is to the beautiful Isla Mujeres, located opposite Cancun. Getting there is not difficult with the means of transport we already mentioned in other articles.
We have to take a rented car, van, taxi or bus to the lodging zone of Cancun, or go to Puerto Juárez or Punta Sam (to find out how to get there, click here) From Puerto Juárez (federal dock) there are rapid motorboats every half an hour that will take 15 minutes to get to the north side of the island (the urban side.) Traveling by ferry takes 40 minutes. We will find many ferry companies and many different schedules.
On the island there are many transportation options: taxi, rented car…, but many travelers who stayed here said that, being a little island, the best is to choose a different means of transport like golf carts, motorbikes or bikes, which can be rented everywhere on the island.
If we decide to spend a night on the island, it would be convenient to book a hotel room, since it only has 1,200 hotel vacancies.
Isla Mujeres is only 4,3 miles long and 0,6 miles wide. For the Mayans it was an important pilgrimage center to adore Ixchel, the goddess of the moon, love and fertility. Young girls who were passing from childhood to adult life specially went there; they took typical offers, little adornments with woman shape; that is why the Spaniards named the island Isla Mujeres after they found hundreds of these adornments there.
For a long time, the island was a shelter for pirates and in the XIX century, little settlements were founded, among which one that can be visited, Hacienda Vista Alegre, belonging to the Spaniard Fermín Mundaca y Marecheaga, an man devoted to farming and stockbreeding according to some sources and a pirate dedicated to the slave traffic, according to others.
At the south end of the island, we can visit the Mayan sanctuary of Ixchel and a lighthouse also built by the Mayans. The municipality of Isla Mujeres also has a continental area where the Mayan ruins of El Meco can be visited; we will explain talk about these ruins in a specific article.
But, without any doubt, the most important attraction of Isla Mujeres is the bath with dolphins; and there are also the usual water activities of the region. When diving, you cannot miss the beautiful reef surrounding the island, and, of course, the famous Cueva de los tiburones dormidos (Cave of the sleeping sharks), which became famous in the 70s, when it was presented to the whole world by the distinguished traveler and sea protector Jacques Cousteau
For nature lovers there are many guided visits to the jungles of the island. These tours can attract all type of tourists since they are very short due to the island’s size. We can also get close from the port to the uninhabited island of Contoy, a bird sanctuary which is the home of marvelous flora and fauna.
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Francisco Cenamor
The Fives USA blog about Playa del Carmen & the Riviera Maya, Mexico
Note: Feel free to visit our sponsor: The Fives Resort & Private Residences in Playa del Carmen
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I was in Isla Mujeres in Feb 2006 and loved it there. Loved so much we’re going back again in 2008.
Gayle