My First Trip to Mexico: Isla Mujeres

I didn’t know it was possible to overdose on guacamole. After five days in Mexico, I’m here to testify it’s a real thing. I can’t believe it was my first time visiting Mexico, especially since the flight was only 2 hours. We stayed on the beautiful island, Isla Mujeres, just off the coast of Cancun.

It was quite the trek to get there – airport to ADO bus to taxi to ferry. I’m sure there is a more efficient route, but this worked out.

My number one tip for this trip is to get pesos before you go. Luckily, we were traveling with friends who could cover us until we got to the ATM. I’m not a big ATM user, but the fee was reasonably cheap. We definitely needed cash for some places.

Things to do:

Beaches on beaches: Our hotel had reserved chairs on the Playa Norte beach. So we spent a lot of time lounging by the ocean and then in the pool. Not my typical vacation, but fun to hang out with friends, get a bucket of beer and relax.

Snorkeling: We did a half day snorkeling tour. As far as I can tell, it didn’t matter which vendor you bought from because they use the same guides. We saw quite a few barracuda and a stingray. The tour was only 35 dollars and included a freshly grilled mackerel for lunch. We missed whale shark season, but I think it’d be worth coming back to snorkel with them.

Rent a golf cart: You’ll probably only need the golf cart for two or three hours max, but it was a fun way to explore the rest of the island.

Places to eat:

We stayed at Ixchel Beach Hotel which was right off the main restaurant/tourist drag. It was fun to walk to dinner each night and try a few places. The guys kept ordering jalapeno margaritas.

Lola Valentina: One of the more expensive restaurants on the island, but was worth it. Highly recommend getting the guacamole with fried goat cheese

Bobo’s: A laid-back restaurant with American cuisine. It makes the list because the live music was awesome and best people watching. They also gave us a free shot.

Tiny Gecko: I’m pretty sure my friends thought I was crazy when we started walking to this bar a bit off the main drag.  I found it when I was out exploring earlier in the day and looked like a fun, small joint with an ocean view. We had a blast – maybe because we’d already had a few drinks or the bartender let me DJ. And by DJ I mean play songs off youtube from a phone.

Things to skip:

The turtle farm: Meh. You can buy food to feed the turtles which is fun, but overall just made me sad for the turtles swimming around in tanks.

MUSA Underwater Sculpture Museum: The museum was part of our snorkel tour, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to see it.

Let’s Go to Mexico

Isla Mujeres is definitely worth checking out. I recommend staying a few days instead of the day trip. Honestly, the best part of this trip was traveling with my best friend and her husband. Since we moved to Austin, we don’t get to see them as much. They mean the world to me and I enjoyed exploring a new place with them. May there be many more jalapeno margaritas and guacamole in our future.