Isla Mujeres, aka the Island of Women, has quite a bit going on despite it’s small size. Once upon a time it was the place where Mayan women would make a pilgrimage to the temple of Ixchel, the jaguar goddess of midwifery and medicine. A temple dedicated to Ixchel used to stand on the south end of the island, but a hurricane in the 1980’s reduced it to mostly rubble. These days you’ll find pilgrims of a different sort, day trippers come to take a breather from partying in Cancún, and many, many tourists from all over. And restaurants and bars. And people hassling you about doing their snorkelling or fishing tour as you walk down the street. And buying their souvenirs.. because you absolutely need a hammock! And this dream catcher! Everything is in your face and this is all after you step off the ferry.
Of course, it’s not all hustle and bustle all day everyday. If it was, I don’t think we would have liked it so much. You could certainly stay longer on Isla Mujeres, but Justin and I felt that two days was the perfect amount of time to relax under the sun, enjoy some good food and drinks, go on a snorkeling trip (even if it wasn’t the best), relax some more, explore a little, and use up heaps of our sunscreen stash thanks to the fantastic weather. We even found a microbrewery where they let us try all their beers. Bonus.
If you’ve been on the fence about visiting Isla Mujeres, just do it already! If not, hopefully my photos will inspire you to plan a trip sometime in the near future. With that out if the way… on to the photos!
