Mexico, Isla Mujeres – What do we think of the place

We made it to Mexico safe and sound and we chose Isla Mujeres as you first Port of Call

This island is located just off the Mexican mainland coast, with only a short shallow channel separating it from the city of Cancun. The island offers a safe protected anchorage, but still close enough to the mainland to make running about in the city and ruins possible.

Between the harbour anchorage, internal lagoon and multitude of small marinas this island has become a ‘bit of a’ cruisers hang out. With the small village feel combined with the multitude of restaurants and bars, some cruisers do not travel any further south while others have grown roots.

There is a daily net and hailing channel on VHF 13 to help reinforce the strong community spirit and keep you informed of activities and promotions on the island.

The waters here are crystal clear, making it a major diving and snorkeling destination for mainland tourists. Fast catamaran ferries run back and forth to the mainland every hour until well into the night. The majority of visitors rent a golf cart and tour the length of the island taking in a few of the sites, the tiny Mayan ruins and then hit the bars and restaurants.  Others jump on floating ‘booze cruises’ for the multitude of snorkeling sites.   Although there are hotels and restaurants scatter the length of the island the two pedestrian streets that criss cross the town centre hold the highest concentration.

We came to the Isla Mujeres because we heard from other cruisers that the anchorage here offered many benefits:

-Easy check in and out procedures

-Pretty, clean and protected anchorage (Although we are anchored in good sand, we have since heard that many areas in the anchorage have a thinner layer of sand over limestone bottom. Check your anchor.)

-A good place to leave your boat while visiting the mainland. A very low crime rate on the island, compared to the mainland. There are a multitude of small marinas if you are not happy with the anchorage, or the weather turns foul. You can also anchor up in the lagoon, but deep drafted vessels will want a rising tide to find a spot deep enough for them.

-Lots of docks to land ashore, internet access, free water, free rubbish disposal (plastic recycling), local and touristy grocery stores. Restaurants and bars to suit everyone’s budget.

-There are lovely protected beaches for the humans and also a small beach on the Islote Tiburon for me to run about on without a lead. Although most of the small marinas seem to be ‘dog friendly’.

I think we are going to hang out here for a week to get stocked back up. We hear Mexico is the cheapest place to purchase spares before heading south. The humans would also like to see a few mainland Mayan ruins before leaving this section of the coast.

I just need to keep them from growing roots as the season is coming to a close fast!

And we are only starting to get to know the place.