Where is Isla Mujeres?

North of Cancún, in the State of Quintana Roo, Isla Mujeres has positioned itself as a tourist alternative to the Riviera Maya, much more relaxed and allowing you to enjoy the same charms of the Caribbean Sea. Destination for Honeymoons and Honeymoons, Isla Mujeres welcomes travelers with good treatment throughout the year. Locals call Isla Mujeres simply “Island”, and its friendly character invites you to chat with them about the local economy, based on tourism, diving and fishing. As in Cozumel, the French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau was captivated by the seabed and the reef of Isla Mujeres. Guided by local diver Ramón Bravo, Cousteau immortalized underwater fauna and flora, and showed it to the whole world with his unforgettable reports

History of Isla Mujeres

Legends say that the buccaneers left their women here when they went out to sail the sea looking for the Spanish ships that returned to Spain with the plundered “treasures.” Others claim that when the expedition of Francisco Hernández de Córdoba arrived in 1517, he observed that there were numerous sculptures of women that were given as an offering to the Mayan goddess Ixchel, worship of fertility, for which they assigned the name Isla Mujeres.

The Mayan ritual forced girls to go to the island to make an offering to the goddess of Ixchel, who in their transition to adulthood prayed to provide them with fertility.

What to see and do in Isla Mujeres

Its clear, warm, shallow waters full of life are paradise for divers, whether professional or amateur. Therefore, if we like to dive, the possibilities are endless, whether simply snorkeling on our own or with tours that take us by boat to caves and more remote areas of the beaches.

In the north is the most important town, the maritime entry point to Isla Mujeres and where restaurants and craft shops are concentrated, with Hidalgo Street being the axis along which life circulates. The walks along the Malecón and through the cobbled center make us feel in a homely and calm atmosphere.

North Beach comes alive during the day, but the ideal time to go is at dusk, when the sun god bathes in the Caribbean waters, offering a sublime sunset.

Going down the road near Playa Lanchero we see the signs for Hacienda Mundaca. Built by Fermín Mudaca de Marechega, a Basque fortune seeker born in the town of Bermeo who, like several Catalan bourgeois families, made a great fortune from the slave trade from Africa to the haciendas of Cuba. Fleeing, he arrived at Isla Mujeres where his eccentricity was accentuated, living as a hermit, only in contact with the workers of the hacienda, perhaps regretting the life he had led. Already past 50 years old, he fell madly in love with a teenager named Prisca Gómez Pantoja, nicknamed La Trigueña. Her siege was fruitless and she married another, rejecting the estate that Mundaca had built with great effort (and with material from the Mayan temples). Legend says that he did not recover from the rejection and, already ill, he was transferred to Mérida in Yucatán, where he died. His body never returned to Isla Mujeres even though it was his last wish, and that is why his tomb is empty.

Today we can visit the place and learn more about the obviously adulterated legend – to provide it with a romantic ideology – and see the entrance arch that Mundaca baptized “El Paso de la Trigueña”, which sadly for him never saw his intended love pass by.

How to get around Isla Mujeres
The best option is to use the bicycle as a method of transportation, and only leave taxis in cases of great hurry, since the size of the island invites slow rhythms. Even so, you can rent scooters or golf carts that have become an innate element of Isla Mujeres.

How to get to Isla Mujeres

Isla Mujeres has an airport in the southern part of the island with small plane flights especially from the Cancun Airport, which is the most suitable option to arrive from another part of Mexico or the world. The other option is to arrive on the ferries that dock at the dock in the northern part of the island, where the largest population is. The boats leave from Cancun Hotel Zone, Puerto Sam for the car ferry (45 minutes journey), or from Puerto Juárez (there are also speed boats every half hour) with a time of twenty minutes to reach Isla Mujeres.

Near the northern end is the tourist ferry dock, where visitors disembark to enter the main settlement of the island. The city is home to shops, restaurants, bars, brightly painted houses and the Municipal Plaza. Upon arrival you can rent mopeds, golf carts, bicycles and taxis.