Isla Mujeres was very tacky and touristy. It was probably our least favorite part of the whole trip, though some parts were pretty. There is not much to do here other than the beach and a few sites on the far southern end of the island.
We stayed one night at the Poc-Na Hostel and another at a nearby hotel. We liked the hotel better, but be careful not to stay too close to any of the tacky tourist streets. One of the bars began playing bad 70’s rock at 10 p.m. and didn’t stop until late. Unfortunately, it was directed right into our room.
We stayed one night at the Poc-Na Hostel and another at a nearby hotel. We liked the hotel better, but be careful not to stay too close to any of the tacky tourist streets. One of the bars began playing bad 70’s rock at 10 p.m. and didn’t stop until late. Unfortunately, it was directed right into our room.
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It's a tiny, beautiful island just offshore from Cancun...you are surprised? Even so, Isla has a lot to recommend it if you're willing to dig a little bit. It was the first landfall Cortez made in contemporary Mexico, down by Punta Sur, and if you're willing to poke around the "backstreets" (such as they are) you'll find quite a bit of regular life playing out. It's not all Playa Norte. If you ever make it back to the Yucatan, I suggest a second visit, but you should also swing by Holbox for a sense of what Isla was like in the 80s.5
"Shake shake shake, shake shake shake, shake your bootie!"Dude that SUX. I go to Cancun approx. once a year or so, and have heard these kind of horror stories. It's also pretty expensive, a box of 5 churchill cohiba's will run you $50USD from the beach vendors on the Isla, same box south end hotel zone beach: $20USD!
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I liked Isla Mujeres, it is tacky, but its a nice little spot, and like any most other beautiful places in the world, it's touristic..i wrote a blog about my travel there, you can read it at: www.bonbontraveltips.com9
I loved Isla Mujeres. I spent five days there last year. I thought it was laid back and atmospheric and had real Mexican feeling to it. I had a lot of good food and people were really nice. The island itself is beautiful. I stayed in a hotel on the north beach and totally enjoyed the white sand and sitting under a palapa with a cold cerveza.10
I agree, OP. Tacky, touristy, street hawkers shouting at you in English to check out their store, shady Guatemalans trying to sell weed that's as overpriced as everything else on the island. I couldn't find any decent food, it was all 'Mexican with an Italian twist' or 'Argentinian steakhouse, Mexican style', and ridiculously priced.By far the least fun I've had in Mexico. The water is pretty though.
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EM_Guero - You have it exactly right. It was a Mexican tourist trap.BonbonTraveltips and CambridgTrav - I know people are allowed to have different opinions, but I think that you are wrong. There are lots of beautiful places in the world that I have been to that aren't overrun with tourists. Plus, Isla Mujeres was not that beautiful. The island was full of these ugly, concrete buildings and we didn't even like the beaches. If you, reader, come across this, if you don't want the Mexican version of Daytona Beach, then just skip Isla Mujeres. However, if you are like CambridgTrav and Mr. Bonbon, I would suggest that you just go to a nice beach in the US, buy a Mexican beer and find an umbrella, because Isla Mujeres is nothing more than that.
Aslukas - I appreciate you trying to redeem Isla Mujeres, but I don't think Isla Mujeres is redeemable. Maybe Cortez did land there, but I didn't find anything to see there. We did poke around in the backstreets, and it was okay. We saw a nice fiesta for the start of the Christmas season, and that was great. But you could see those sorts of things throughout Mexico, and you wouldn't have to put up with the crappiness of Isla Mujeres.
That's why I still think it is fair to say, go somewhere else, unless you and your never-been-out-of-Alabama Grandma are just looking for a lame beach and a half a dozen t-shirt shops, you know, somewhere like Pensacola, FL but where they speak Spanish. If that's what you want, than Isla Mujeres is for you.
PS - Just for the record, all 70's music is bad except for Led Zeppelin.
