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The best way to get to la Isla is by boat, although there is now
a twice-daily airplane trip. Shuttle, water taxi or ferry
service is available from three locations: the hotel zone, Punta
Sam and Puerto Juárez, a small port city just north of downtown
Cancún. Several boats depart from the hotel zone from a variety
of piers, playas and docks along Paseo Kukulcán, including Playa
Linda, Playa Tortuga, Playa Caracol and the dock at Playa
Langosta.
The less-touristy (and much less expensive) ferry
terminal is in Puerto Juárez. The Puerto Juárez ferry requires a
double bus ride or a taxi. The speed boats run every half-hour
or so. Unless you're patient or just lucky, chances are you'll
get one of the high-speed boats, which depart frequently from
the same dock.
There is also a larger car ferry that leaves
and returns to Punta Sam, only a few miles north of Puerto
Juárez.
To get to either ferry from downtown Cancún, take
a cab or catch a bus marked 'Puerto Juárez' from in front of the
Comercial Mexicana supermarket (look for its Pelican logo) on
Av. Tulum, north of the glorieta (circle) with Av. Uxmal. This
is less than one block north of the busy Tulum shopping area.
When you arrive on Isla Mujeres you'll be docking at a
wooden pier in a quaint harbor - home to fishermen, yachtsmen
and pirates for generations. People mill about the pier as each
boat arrives, some selling handicrafts or offering rides, and
others just hanging out people-watching. Pink Colonial-style
arches straddle the ends of the narrow streets facing the
waterfront. This is the north/west end of town, where all the
shops, the best beaches and most of the hotels are situated.
There's a taxi stand to the right of the pier, although most of
the hotels are within walking distance. If you don't take a
taxi, men with three-wheeled bicyles with open storage areas can
load your luggage in the front - and sometimes you too - and
take them to your hotel. These cleverly designed triciclos are
ubiquitous throughout the Yucatán. Tips are US $1-$2.
The
most common mode of island transportation is by foot; you can
easily walk the entire downtown. But to see the entire island
with the wind in your hair and the sun on your back, rent a
motor bike or a slower golf cart.
WARNING
Wear a
helmet and drive carefully. Accidents are not unheard of. Also
watch out for topes, Mexican speed bumps in the road. Talk about
going bump in the night!
Wave to the policeman directing
non-existent traffic and head south for El Garrafón ('the jug')
National Park, an underwater coral reef. The island's southern
end is less populated and its rolling hills are covered by scrub
brush and punctuated by an occasional house. At the
eastern/southern tip is a working lighthouse. A little farther
toward the cliffs is the rubble of the Maya lighthouse destroyed
after a thousand years in a 1988 hurricane. Bring your camera.
The road loops back along the eastern shore, the windward
side of the island, where large waves crash against the rocky
coastline. This fun drive presents many opportunities to stop
and beachcomb for shells and coral.
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