In this article:

The South Side of Isla Mujeres

The Mayan Ruin at the point of the Island

The Break Down

I’m currently on a bus headed to Merida. But, before I continue with reviews and other trip reports, I wanted to get down and dirty and talk about Isla Mujeres.

Isla Mujeres is a cute, quaint little island off the coast of Cancun. Want to know how to get there? Read my article here.

The island is composed of a major downtown area. That’s where most of the hotels, stores, restaurants, and things you need will be. I stayed in that area. I stayed in Hostel Poc Na.

The buildings were cute, and there seemed to be very few resorts… I mean, they’re all on the beaches, but it’s not like Cancun, where you can’t see the water because it’s giant resort after giant resort.

There’s a main street with shops and restaurants as far as the eye can see. I walked and looked at prices. This is the tourist area. Prices are inflated. A typical dinner or lunch will cost you about $200 pesos per dish, which is about 10 USD. However, if you walk one street over, you will find other restaurants at a cheaper price. I had lunch at a cute little restaurant, Rubens, for a total of $115 (lunch) and $125 (dinner) pesos. That’s just over 5 and 6 USD respectively. It was delicious, cute, inexpensive, and worth it. I recommend it. After lunch, I bought some sunblock at the local XPress Super.

I walked to the beach later that day which is on the north side of the island. The water is as clear as pool water. The sand is white and soft. The water is cool but not cold, which is unfortunate considering it’s so hot!

I swam on the beach for a couple of hours, took a chaise lounge, and put my things on it. I really wasn’t prepared to get in the water, but I had my speedos on. I did not have a towel. Just what was in my pocket and some sunblock.

It’s beautiful out here. After my swim, I wanted to layout and air dry so I could walk back to my hostel. I pushed up the umbrella and immediately got shot down. I was told that I needed to rent the umbrella for $300 Pesos or $15 USD. I asked if any were free, and the gentlemen informed me that none were. I said no thanks and asked if they had towels for hire. for $60 Pesos or 3 USD, they would rent me a towel. I felt totally ripped off. It’s all about making money off tourists. Whatever, I paid, got dry, and walked back to my hostel.

The South Side:

The next day I rented a bicycle for $250 pesos (which was the cheapest mode of transportation). That’s about $13 USD, give or take a few cents. You could rent golf carts, scooters, and bikes.

I rented the bike and decided I would ride all the way to the other side of the island and back. Get some exercise, burn some calories, and perhaps some brain cells from the heat. I quickly learned why I was the only one on a bicycle. It was so fucking hot… so hot it only took 20 min to soak through my t-shirt. The only street that takes you to the south side of the island is like a 3rd world expressway. You share it with cars, trucks, 4×4’s, motorcycles, scooters, golf carts, and other cyclists. It’s mad chaos out there. But everyone swerves around you since you are the slowest. I was scared at first but considering everyone was swerving around me, I felt better. Death was not near. Really.

I rode around a small loop to see the lakes and decided it was too hot to care about a lake I couldn’t use anyway. I turned around and headed to the Mayan Ruin on the south side. I stopped along the way to take pictures of the beautiful walkways, the zip-liners, and the structures. It was all gorgeous! I could not believe it. The downfall?? It costs to be beautiful. If you wanted to enter any walkway, it would cost you. I didn’t do it.

The Mayan Ruin at the point of the Island

I kept riding towards my destination. The Mayan ruin. It took me about an hour and a half to get to the Mayan ruin because I stopped so much. Anyway, I took pictures of everything. It was $30 pesos or $3 USD to get into the “park.” Actually, it’s more like an art gallery. They have lots of industrial sculptures before getting to the actual ruin.

Here is a tip: Many people payed the $3 USD to enter. However, $30 pesos is about $1.5 USD… DONT PAY WITH DOLLARS. Pay with pesos. Its cheaper.

I loved the ruin. It’s small. The size of a house. But love is love. I walked around, saw the sculptures, and found a cave near the left walkway. It was beautiful. Although, I don’t know why I expected all of this to be free. It’s all about making money off the tourists.

Check out the Isla Mujeres Video I made

Let me break it down for you:

It’s cute, but it’s all about making money from tourists. You can do the entire island in a day. I was there for two, which was perfect for me.

$30 pesos for the Mayan ruin is worth it.

Find cheap food.

Don’t pay for an umbrella ($300 pesos! I don’t think so.) I think it’s a rip-off. If you can get away without paying it, that’s good.

Beaches are great. It’s a cute one or two-day trip. Splurge if you want. It’s up to you.

Would I recommend it? I would say go for the day. It’s cute but don’t spend more than 2 days here.