To be honest, Isla Mujeres was of little importance for my planned trip through Yucatán and yet, surprisingly, it became my Mexico highlight 😍

Actually, I really wanted to plan 2-3 days on the island of Holbox in the north. Anyone who knows me knows that I only fully complete a travel plan once I am 1000% satisfied and every piece of the puzzle has its place. However, Isla Holbox gave me a headache in several respects… on the one hand there was the long journey to the island, the partly bad reviews of the accommodations and Sven wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about the idea either. So I started researching again and came across Isla Mujeres. Holbox didn’t run away, maybe it would just fit better in another year 😉

Clearly, the main reason we chose Isla Mujeres is its proximity to Cancun Airport (how to get to the island…I’ll get to that later). When I was planning my trip, with the best will in the world, I could not have imagined that my heart was still beating for this island weeks after our journey home.

However, before I go into more detail about the island, I would like to give you the 3 ways you can explore the island.

• as a day trip through a tour operator (is offered from Cancun and pretty much all hotels in the Riviera Maya)
• on your own by ferry (more information on how to get there can be found at the end)
• or you simply spend the night on the island

We decided on the third variant, which I would recommend to everyone. You can mainly feel the charm of the island when the island is slowly awakening or as soon as the day tourists have left the island again 😉

Sooo… the decision was made. We started our Mexico tour with 3 nights on Isla Mujeres. Since we only landed in Cancun in the evening and were completely exhausted from the overseas flight, we wanted to get a good night’s sleep and replenish our energy reserves.

We didn’t really plan for jetlag 🙈 At 4 a.m. we tossed and turned in our beds. The hunger kept growing. At that time, however, no supermarket was open. And even if it was, it was pitch black and we didn’t have a chance to orientate ourselves on the island. 2 hours later the sun finally rose slowly. I ran out onto the terrace in high spirits and cut my shin by the door 🙈 Thanks to disinfectant, bandages and a Nespresso coffee machine in the room, we were able to really enjoy the sunrise with a good cup of coffee 🤣

Then we threw on our sportswear and started our first exploration tour along the coast.

Our favorite place for breakfast was the North Garden Restaurant. It’s perfect for early risers like us, with hot breakfast served from 7am in a tropical setting. Apart from that, the price-performance ratio is very good.

Around 9 a.m. most shops come to life. The relatively pleasant, cooler morning hours are ideal for a walk in the center of the island, also known as downtown. Don’t worry, it’s very clear and easy to explore on foot.

Before it got really unbearably hot, we looked for a beach club to relax 😊

Most beach clubs work on the same principle. You pay admission… but most of it is credited back to consumption. We decided on our walk along the beach in the morning for the Mayan Beach Club, as the restaurant was very well rated, the beach section (Playa Norte) was very well-kept and the loungers seemed very comfortable to us.

The club charged 100 pesos per lounger and 300 pesos per person minimum consumption – very fair in my opinion. Since we were already starving, we first treated ourselves to a delicious lunch 😋

We then spent the afternoon at the beautiful Playa Norte 😍 What else can I say about this… I’ll just let the pictures sink in for you…

Since our bodies were still adjusted to European time, it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that we were usually the first guests in the restaurant in the evenings. At least we never had a problem getting a good table 🤣

From a romantic candlelit dinner on the beach to a quick bite at a taco stand, anything is possible on the island. Since we spent the whole afternoon on the beach, we felt like going back to the hustle and bustle in the center.

We can recommend these 2 restaurants to you without hesitation 😍

Restaurant Lola Valentina:

Restaurant Ocean’s Isla:

For the perfect end to the day, we strolled through the streets of downtown and ended the evening with a cocktail.

Our personal opinion about Isla Mujeres:

• Mexico feeling away from big all inclusive resorts
• white sandy beach – turquoise sea
• mexican friendliness

Best travel time:

August to October has the most rainfall, so the remaining months are more suitable for a vacation on Isla Mujeres. But still, we would recommend the months from December to mid-April.

However, I would like to mention something about the beach and travel time. Sargassum appear more frequently in the summer months. Then the sea warms up and the algal bloom can grow unhindered. In winter there is basically no or less sargassum on the Riviera Maya. We traveled at the end of April and found that things were getting off to a slow start. However, we were still lucky and the mountains of sargassum could still be managed by the hard-working staff.

Hotel recommendations:

• Lotus Beach Hotel (small boutique hotel on Playa Norte, but relatively expensive)
• Privilege Aluxes Adults Only (was recommended to us and we would probably book next time…)

Restaurant recommendations:

• Restaurant North Garden (breakfast)
• Mayan Beach Club & Restaurant
• Lola Valentina
• Ocean’s Isla
• M7 Beach Food Music

More tips & recommendations:

How to get there: There are 3 ferries to Isla Mujeres. From Puerto Juárez (north of Cancun) and from the two hotel zones Playa Tortugas and Playa Caracol.

You can find the current routes and timetables here:

https://ultramarsales.ultramarferry.com/en/routes-and-departures.html

Getting around the island: The ferry docks in the north of the island. A few meters to the left of the pier you will find a taxi stand that will take you to your accommodation. Otherwise, you can get around relatively easily on foot in the north of the island.

If you want to see more of the island, you should rent bicycles or a golf cart. We like to be sporty and would have planned a bike tour to the southern tip of the island. Good that the bike rental was on strike that day. We wouldn’t have gotten far. The hotel manager later explained to us that the island is very mountainous and with this humidity and the tourist bikes it would have been impossible to arrive in the south 🤣

Unfortunately we didn’t have time to rent a golf cart the next day. But well, you should save a few things for the next visit. This one will definitely follow 😊

Last but not least, there is our YouTube video about Isla Mujeres and our accommodation on the island 😍