Ultimate All-Inclusive Travel

Isla Mujeres

Although it has been discovered by tourists, this sleepy island and fishing village has managed to retain its tranquil atmosphere. Long a haven for divers, anglers, escapists and adventurers, the small (5-miles long by 0.5-mile wide) island lies 8 miles off the northeastern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. You can spot it from some beaches in Cancun. It can be reached by small ferry for a day of snorkeling—outlying coral reefs are teeming with fish—or explored by rented bicycle, motor scooter, or golf cart as its own destination.

Beautiful, white-sand beaches on the northern and western sides of the island are popular hangouts for swimmers and sunbathers, who gather under bright umbrellas. The beaches are lined with palm-thatch restaurants and rental places offering water toys, kayaks and snorkeling gear. The town center is just four blocks by six blocks and boasts a few excellent folk-art boutiques selling high-quality pottery, wood carvings and weavings that surpass those in nearby Cancun. Unlike Cancun, it is really quiet at night—apart from seasonal discos, a few music bars and the rare music festival. This is changing rapidly, however. Already it swells with daytime visitors from nearby Cancun, and new resort developments go up every year.

Those who snorkel (but don't dive) will probably enjoy Garrafon underwater park, at the south end of the island, where several varieties of brightly colored fish swim along a small coral reef. Unfortunately, snorkelers often outnumber sea life. The entrance fee includes use of the pool, sea platforms, kayaks and palapas (thatch-roof huts). Playa Garrafon de Castilla features a snorkeling area and a pen where you can swim with nurse sharks. Experienced divers may enjoy "The Cave of the Sleeping Sharks," a cave 65 ft below the surface where the mixture of salt water and freshwater makes resident nurse sharks groggy and slow.

No one, however, is allowed to swim with the endangered sea turtles, which are cared for by marine biologists at the Isla Mujeres Turtle Farm. Isla Mujeres is a hatching ground for the turtles, who go ashore to lay eggs every May-September. The eggs are kept safe from predators, and newly hatched turtles are placed in tanks until they are released into the sea by local schoolchildren.

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