Posted by: LuvBonusTime
More info about Isla Mujeres - 11/16/17 05:13 AM
We recently returned from a week long stay at Isla Mujeres. What a wonderful resort and beautiful place to visit. If you like Mexico, the weather, food, culture, beaches, you will fall in love with this island. Although it was still shoulder season in early November there were more people than we expected, as there are many day trippers from Cancun and Playa Del Carmen, etc. During the day the roads are full of tourists in golf carts, small cabs, mopeds…early mornings and evening are more low key and quieter.
The resort itself is a boutique style facility, only 2 level, less than 30 units (reminded us of zihuatenejo). So it’s small, you get to know the staff, it feels very safe and comfortable. The pool is huge with plenty of chairs. There is a swim up bar with a daily happy hour...although the tax is fairly high, like 30%, so that’s something to be aware of when enjoying food & drink as it does increase the bill. TIP: A couple of times we scored on a free afternoon margarita courtesy of the resort from a dispenser that was set up on a bar on the far side of the pool.

There is no beach but there is a marina with yachts/boats connected to the resort, so there is water nearby. The resort area is very clean, quiet, grounds are well kept, no complaints. There were some mosquitoes so it may be wise to pack repellant.
Our room was gorgeous and spacious, a studio hotel king, and it came with a mini fridge and coffee maker. A large bottle of fresh water is also provided. It appears all rooms face towards the grass & pool area. We discovered there is only a single 1 bedroom unit at this resort, so that would be hard to snag!
Here are a few other tips:
TRANSPORTATION – we flew into Cancun and pre-booked a direct shuttle for my husband & I through Cancun Cab for $35 total. We considered using the bus system, but after a red eye we didn’t feel we would want to navigate all of that half asleep! The shuttle took us directly to the Ultra Mar ferry landing, where ferries leave every 30 min to Isla Mujeres. It costs about $8/ea (you can pay with credit card) to travel 1 way, and you receive a small discount if you purchase a RT ticket. The Ultra Mar is a very nice ferry—clean, fast, and well-staffed. You can sit inside and comfortably view the ride over from large windows, or sit in top level seating and enjoy the fresh air. There was even entertainment provided, local musicians who were decent and appreciated tips! Once on the island, we took at cab to the worldmark, it was 50 pesos, or $2.50. (There is a bank across the street from the ferry landing where you can use the ATM to stock up on pesos.) Once at the worldmark, beings that we are active, we mainly used the free worldmark beach cruiser bikes to explore the island, and appreciated having these available. Other options include golf cart, cab, moped – many of the locals ride 3 deep on these machines! Back to the bikes, if you do ride, I recommend you loop the south side of the island to the ruins where there is less traffic (hotel will give you an island map at check in). There is also a little roadside tavern on the south end called THE JOINT that has live music in the afternoons. We also tried a $3 breakfast and $3 bloody mary special one morning, not a bad way to start the day! If you bike into town, we quickly learned it’s better to ride the road on the opposite side of the island from worldmark…in other words cut across the middle of the island and use Jesus Martinez Ross, much less traffic and beautiful ride along the ocean too!
FOOD – so much to eat, so little time! The Green Verde was our restaurant of choice the first night, it’s very handy across the street from worldmark and their food is delicious…reasonably priced, a variety of tasty dishes, excellent margaritas, and free wi fi. Breakfast was also very good, the omelet in particular & fresh juices. We also made a run to the Chedraui store which is an easy walk up the street to grab a few basics and snacks for the room, basically a full sized grocery store. And unfortunately, we discovered that the Mango Cafe is closed for remodeling, which was another restaurant near the resort we wanted to try. Otherwise seafood and Mexican were our primary restaurant destinations. We ate twice at a place downtown called La Lomita, their chile rellenos were to die for…and also twice at Picus (Pee-Koos) Cockleteria, a place to try seafood anything you want near the Ultra Mar ferry landing. A fresh fish fillet dinner was $6, ceviche was excellent, and also seafood/shrimp cocktails. Another favorite downtown was RUBENS….we ate breakfast there (shrimp omelet was AMAZING and totally stuffed with shrimp, and delicious eggs benedict) but they also have a lunch special for 95 pesos (less than $5) which was salad, fish cooked to order, a whole selection of things from which you could choose. I’m sorry we didn’t get to try that too!!
Despite some of the recent US Travel Warnings, we never felt unsafe on the island, people were friendly at the resort and in the community, and it’s a special location we would definitely return to in the future!
The resort itself is a boutique style facility, only 2 level, less than 30 units (reminded us of zihuatenejo). So it’s small, you get to know the staff, it feels very safe and comfortable. The pool is huge with plenty of chairs. There is a swim up bar with a daily happy hour...although the tax is fairly high, like 30%, so that’s something to be aware of when enjoying food & drink as it does increase the bill. TIP: A couple of times we scored on a free afternoon margarita courtesy of the resort from a dispenser that was set up on a bar on the far side of the pool.

There is no beach but there is a marina with yachts/boats connected to the resort, so there is water nearby. The resort area is very clean, quiet, grounds are well kept, no complaints. There were some mosquitoes so it may be wise to pack repellant.
Our room was gorgeous and spacious, a studio hotel king, and it came with a mini fridge and coffee maker. A large bottle of fresh water is also provided. It appears all rooms face towards the grass & pool area. We discovered there is only a single 1 bedroom unit at this resort, so that would be hard to snag!
Here are a few other tips:
TRANSPORTATION – we flew into Cancun and pre-booked a direct shuttle for my husband & I through Cancun Cab for $35 total. We considered using the bus system, but after a red eye we didn’t feel we would want to navigate all of that half asleep! The shuttle took us directly to the Ultra Mar ferry landing, where ferries leave every 30 min to Isla Mujeres. It costs about $8/ea (you can pay with credit card) to travel 1 way, and you receive a small discount if you purchase a RT ticket. The Ultra Mar is a very nice ferry—clean, fast, and well-staffed. You can sit inside and comfortably view the ride over from large windows, or sit in top level seating and enjoy the fresh air. There was even entertainment provided, local musicians who were decent and appreciated tips! Once on the island, we took at cab to the worldmark, it was 50 pesos, or $2.50. (There is a bank across the street from the ferry landing where you can use the ATM to stock up on pesos.) Once at the worldmark, beings that we are active, we mainly used the free worldmark beach cruiser bikes to explore the island, and appreciated having these available. Other options include golf cart, cab, moped – many of the locals ride 3 deep on these machines! Back to the bikes, if you do ride, I recommend you loop the south side of the island to the ruins where there is less traffic (hotel will give you an island map at check in). There is also a little roadside tavern on the south end called THE JOINT that has live music in the afternoons. We also tried a $3 breakfast and $3 bloody mary special one morning, not a bad way to start the day! If you bike into town, we quickly learned it’s better to ride the road on the opposite side of the island from worldmark…in other words cut across the middle of the island and use Jesus Martinez Ross, much less traffic and beautiful ride along the ocean too!
FOOD – so much to eat, so little time! The Green Verde was our restaurant of choice the first night, it’s very handy across the street from worldmark and their food is delicious…reasonably priced, a variety of tasty dishes, excellent margaritas, and free wi fi. Breakfast was also very good, the omelet in particular & fresh juices. We also made a run to the Chedraui store which is an easy walk up the street to grab a few basics and snacks for the room, basically a full sized grocery store. And unfortunately, we discovered that the Mango Cafe is closed for remodeling, which was another restaurant near the resort we wanted to try. Otherwise seafood and Mexican were our primary restaurant destinations. We ate twice at a place downtown called La Lomita, their chile rellenos were to die for…and also twice at Picus (Pee-Koos) Cockleteria, a place to try seafood anything you want near the Ultra Mar ferry landing. A fresh fish fillet dinner was $6, ceviche was excellent, and also seafood/shrimp cocktails. Another favorite downtown was RUBENS….we ate breakfast there (shrimp omelet was AMAZING and totally stuffed with shrimp, and delicious eggs benedict) but they also have a lunch special for 95 pesos (less than $5) which was salad, fish cooked to order, a whole selection of things from which you could choose. I’m sorry we didn’t get to try that too!!
Despite some of the recent US Travel Warnings, we never felt unsafe on the island, people were friendly at the resort and in the community, and it’s a special location we would definitely return to in the future!