A Day Trip Itinerary to Isla Mujeres Mexico
When you are in Cancun and find yourself sick of the hotel and tourist zone, head to Isla Mujeres. Literally named Island of Women, its location is close enough to Cancun for a day trip and can easily be done without the need to book tours through your resorts.
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Getting To Isla Mujeres from Cancun’s Hotel Zone
There are four ferry ports that cater to Isla Mujeres, two of them are the most known and cater to the tourist zone area: Playa Tortugas and Playa Caracol. These are served by the same company: Ultramar, and charge the same price: $19 (USD) for a round-trip fare.
To get either ports from a hotel within the hotel zone, simply take the R1 or R2 bus from any bus stop heading north, and tell the bus driver which playa you are going to. Sit as close to the front as you can and try to look at the street signs: you will know which Playa you are in based on the street signs but also because of the big Ultramar sign on the side of the road and a ferry ticketing desk on the sidewalk.
The bus costs $1 or 12 MXN pesos. Much better if you pay using pesos, but if you are just fresh off the plane the night before, then surely you can spare 1 USD and change your money in Isla Mujeres.
If you are staying in the bigger resorts within the tourist area, no doubt Playa Caracol is closest, but the downside is that the ferry time options going to Isla Mujeres and back are not as consistent as Playa Tortugas. The last ferry from Playa Caracol is at 5.15pm. Not sure if you can take a ferry back from Isla Mujeres to a different playa, but comment below for any additional data points.
Playa Tortugas on the other hand has hourly departures going to Isla Mujeres starting at 9AM, and starts going back to Cancun at around 9:30AM. Our hotel recommended that we go back at the latest, on the 5:30PM ferry, as the ferries after that only depart every hour and 15 minutes.
It is important to note that if you are going to Playa Tortugas, do not go down on the Playa Caracol stop.
Getting Around Isla Mujeres
The ferry is only 25 minutes from Cancun to Isla Mujeres, and the waters are not as choppy so you don’t need to drink any seasickness pills. When you are on an earlier ferry, the Ultramar employees will begin asking if you want to reserve golf carts. We reserved our golf cart this way, so we are guaranteed a golf cart when we arrived. If you are on the earlier ferry, getting golf carts is not that hard, but if you are in the midday ferries then golf carts may sell out.
As you probably would have guessed, golf carts are the main form of transport by tourists on the island. They comfortably seat 4 people with a little bit of space for small bags in the middle. You could also opt to rent a bigger golf cart (for a bigger group) or a motorbike (if there are only two of you).
We would recommend doing the golf cart route as it only costs 700 MXN (around $38), and you can have it for most of the day (in our case we had it from 9:30AM to 3:30PM), and there were 3 of us sharing the golf cart.
You could also opt to do a taxi tour of the island which costs $40 for an hour. If you are an amazing race contestant then this may work for you. You can’t miss the taxis: they are red and have a taxi sign up top. They are very common on the island!
Imagine our surprise when after all this research, we thought there were no other automobiles on the island but golf carts – well, drive carefully my friends, golf carts are definitely not the only transportation available!
And also – don’t fret. Driving the golf cart around Isla Mujeres is chill and fairly simple. Your biggest problem will be finding parking (and the right golf cart) when you leave it parked on a busy beach!
What to do in Isla Mujeres
It is recommended to get a map of the island from your golf cart company to help you get your bearings around the island. While the map is not to scale, it will help you navigate your way back to the rental place when you need to return the cart, and will also help you go around the island by knowing where to turn.
The main downtown area is easily walkable, so if you are not planning to go to the south part of the island, Tortugranja (Turtle Farm), or Dolphin Discovery, then you probably don’t need the golf cart. Plus, parking your golf cart can be a hassle in the downtown area.
Here was our itinerary:
Tortugranja (Turtle Farm)
Saw Dolphin Discovery (from outside)
Went to the south point of the island to see Ixchel and Garrafon (ruins)
Downtown/Playa Centro/Playa Norte
Tortugranja (Turtle Farm)
This is a small place that shows various sea turtle species and has a big clear water opening on the outside. I’m not particularly sure if the turtles here were all born in the farm or were being rehabilitated from the wild, but they do have some interesting species that are worth noting. Thisi s the only place I’ve seen albino turtles, which is something very interesting.
Entrance is $3 (USD) or 30 MXN (less than $2), so it is a good, cheap, way to get up close to turtles. The outside pens have big, interesting sea turtles!
Dolphin Discovery
This is a place where you can swim with dolphins. It does get pretty busy parking-wise! This attraction is the end of the road, so if you are not planning to go in, then head back down the road you came to get back on the road.
There are also nice public piers where you can see a small lagoon near Dolphin Discovery, so park your cart on the side of the road and allot 5 minutes on your short trip.
Ixchel and Garrafon
This is a protected area by the Mexican government which requires a modest 30 MXN to enter (less than $2). It is the easternmost part of Mexico where the sun first rises on the country. There’s plenty of walking trails by the cliff of the island, so you can see the water from underneath you/
Ixchel is a small Mayan ruin dedicated to one of their gods. It is not as impressive as some of the other pyramids you may see on your tour, but it is still an ancient structure nontheless.
You’ll know you’re in the Garrafon area when there is a small turnoff on the right past Garrafon Park and there’s multitudes of golf carts, taxis, and motorbikes in the small parking lot/
There’s also a souvenir shop (that accepts credit cards), and a restaurant facing the water should you get hungry.
Downtown
The downtown area is really bustling and hard to find parking spaces for your golf carts unless you decide to park on the street closest to Playa Norte or Playa Centro. In our case, we decided to return the golf cart after we went around touring the island, and decided to explore downtown by foot.
There’s so many shops crowding the downtown area selling all sorts of trinkets and souvenirs, some are mass produced, some are unique, so you have to find the gem that you can call your own.
Shopping
What is a good vacation without going shopping? Although my frugal self will probably hate me for saying these things, part of the fun things about going abroad is seeing stuff you won’t regularly see at home. Of course you just have to pick it up as a way to remember your trip, right?
There are so many souvenir shops in Isla Mujeres, it is unbelievable. Depending on your budget, you may or may not spend a lot of money. I only ended up buying 2 coin purses, but we ended up eating some ice cream that was made locally. Does that count?
Isla Mujeres is a fun, interesting place to explore
I would definitely recommend going to Isla Mujeres. Some people may complain and say that the island is completely touristy and it is better to go to Isla Holbox instead. However, stop the naysayers. If you are interested in sightseeing and seeing whatever you can, then just go for it!
That’s part of our philosophy: every single destination has its own charms and places to see. Don’t let what others on the internet tell you that a certain destination is boring or not. It is up to you to decide if it is worth pursuing or not.
Have a nice trip and feel free to send in additional ideas on where to go or what to see on the island that we may have missed!
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Ruby Escalona
Ruby is originally from the Philippines, and now lives in Jacksonville, FL with her boy, Alex, and her husband, Peter. She shares her tips and adventures on family travel on this site, as well as traveling solo as a mom. Her focus areas are USA, Europe, and Asia.
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