Is Isla Mujeres worth a day trip?

Yes, if the day is for the water. Isla Mujeres is a narrow island in the sea north of Cancún, close enough that the Hotel Zone shows on its horizon. The day trip in our catalog goes by catamaran and takes about ten hours, most of them on the sea or beside it.

Across the bay

Tour boats use the pier at Playa Langosta, on the sheltered Bahía de Mujeres between the Hotel Zone and the island. Check where your boat leaves from when you book, and come early, before it pulls out.

The crossing is part of the day rather than a transfer. The sun on open water is strong, so bring sunscreen and something to cover your shoulders. Casa Tortugas, with the ferry across the road, is one of the stays in Hotel Zone or downtown? Where to stay in Cancún.

The island of Ixchel

The Spanish named it the Island of Women for the figurines of Ixchel they found here, offerings to the Maya goddess of the moon. The name stayed, and the island still carries it on its signs.

Its southern point, Punta Sur, is Mexico's easternmost point. From the air the island narrows to rock there, with deep blue water on one side and turquoise shallows on the other.

Isla Mujeres is a day measured in water, not in sights.

The museum under the sea

Off the island lies MUSA, the Museo Subacuático de Arte. The sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor began installing it in 2009, and it now holds hundreds of life-size figures cast in marine concrete, made so that coral can grow on them. The point was conservation: draw divers to the sculptures and give the natural reef room to recover.

One of the best known works is Anthropocene, a life-size cast of a Volkswagen Beetle. Many of the figures were cast from people of the fishing village of Puerto Morelos. The galleries lie a few meters down, at depths that differ from one to the next, and most figures sit within easy reach of snorkelers, and the MUSA snorkel tour in our catalog takes about five hours.

The rest of the island

Away from the rocky point, the island ends in white sand and shallow water, with boats moored off the piers. Choose one thing for your time ashore: a swim, a walk, or lunch by the water.

Is it worth the day?

It is worth it if you want a day on the sea after days on the sand. It is a long day, about ten hours, so give the next day to something close to the hotel. If the reef matters more to you than the island, the MUSA tour is the shorter way to the same water.

Choose the island for the crossing, and the reef for what lies beneath it.

We wrote about the island as part of a week in Cancún for couples, and the catamaran day sits in our free routes for 3 days, 5 days, and 7 days in Cancún.