Exploring Isla Mujeres

Saturday 29 Jan – Thursday 3 Feb, Mexico, days 9-14, Isla Mujeres: Airport pickup and first few guest days.

Saturday
Following the midnight rescue (guy clinging to his upturned dinghy) our sleep continued to be disturbed. The wind kept increasing and by the pitch created as it howls through the rigging I kind of know it’s at least 30kts. We have no problem with our anchor (we have the anchor drag alarm on and set) but I get concerned about other boats possibly dragging down onto us, and it keeps me popping up every hour or so to look around. I need not have worried though. The wind peaked around 4am and by breakfast it was down to 25kts, and no one had dragged.

At midday we head in on the dinghy to pick up Emma from Cancun airport. We anticipate a very wet dinghy ride but luckily, it’s dead up wind and turns out to be more bumpy than wet. It’s only when we go cross wind that we get a good splashing. For the ferry we stay inside for this trip to Cancun, and glad we did when we see spray running down the windows. It must be pretty wet for the singer and audience, up there on the open upper deck.

In the Cancun ferry terminal, a taxi to the airport is locked-in at U$65, whereas we know the proper price for the journey is around 400 pesos. (U$20). Hence, we walk for a few hundred meters, and manage to wave down a taxi for a 500 pesos ride.
And once at the airport we find the same situation. The official fare for our return taxi is U$75. And for a while it seems like we have no choice, until Oana gives them a bit of verbal and manages to get a fare for 900 pesos (US$45). Just goes to show how they abuse the tourists. But milking Glen & Oana ain’t happenin’!

Emma comes out of arrivals about 1 hour after her flight landed. It’s great to see her again. She was last aboard Cloudy Bay in 2017 in Greece. She tells us of a drama on her flight. Apparently, there was a drunk guy who was being so disruptive that the captain started to arrange a diversion to land in the closest USA airport to kick him off. But in the end, it was not needed. However, his final act was go to the washroom, put the plug in the sink then pee in it. Awww, disgusting! And as soon as the plane landed, he was up and rushing to the front to get off first. But the Captain held him back until the “authorities” arrived to deal with him. Pfff just what is wrong with some Brits? I just hope he didn’t get to his hotel anytime soon.

Our trip back over to Isla Mujeres was pretty straight forward. We have a welcome cocktail as the sun sets, then the final dinghy ride is downwind, so no one got wet. After a quick dinner Emma turns in for an early night. She’s pretty pooped from the journey and jet lag.

Sunday
For our guest’s first day we head ashore to walk main beach on the northern end, then the Main Street in town before subjecting her to a taco delight. At the same down-to-earth restaurant, we had found a few days ago. Then another early night.
During the evening we ponder what the best strategy would be for the coming 2 weeks of Emma’s stay. It looks like we are stuck in Isla Mujeres for at least the next 5 days, with strong SE winds. Then we shall try to get to Cozumel. Trouble is, there is no sheltered place to anchor there and for some reason we cannot find any contact details for the Fonatur marina. So, I put out a request for information on the Isla Mujeres Facebook group. This returns with instance responses which are not very encouraging. It seems they are not very friendly there. But at least we have the phone number now.
After Cozumel we will go to El Cid Marina on the mainland and hire a car to see some Mayan ruins and freshwater swim-holes in the jungle. And that, it seems, is about all you can do cruising on this coast of Mexico.

Monday
Today is golf cart day, to tour the rest of Isla Mujeres. We don’t hold much hope of finding too much, but we are pleasantly surprised. Maybe we should have done a bit more research before setting this as our winter destination.

First, we “pay” our dues to park the dinghy by having a coffee at the restaurant who owns the dock. That normally keeps them quiet! Actually, with all the semi abandoned jetties around, we wonder why someone doesn’t make a proper dinghy landing and charge an acceptable amount to dock dinghies for the day. We are sure people would be happy to pay rather than pleading with restaurants like we have been subject too.

We decided yesterday which outlet we wanted to get the golf cart from but this morning their price has miraculously jumped from 850 to 1300 Pesos for the day. We don’t like that sort of thing, so we move onto the next vendor and end up paying 1000 (U$50). Which is still pretty pricy for a beaten-up golf cart for just 6 hours.
First, we head southeast and back up the coast road behind Lake Makax. We’d noted on Google maps several nice hotels and beach clubs along this stretch. We visit them all, and there is quite a variety, depending on the type of people who get attracted to each. The Izla hotel, which we considered the nicest, is surprisingly very quiet. We then settle for a morning coffee at the Zama Beach Club which is very nicely done. We think we will have a day here once the weather warms up again in the coming days.
Then there is a plethora or other venues which for some reason seem to attract the most tourists. All crowded with blaring music. Not for us.

Further south we get attracted into a Jamaican styled street-side restaurant called The Joint. Visually it doesn’t look much but it’s busy with a very nice atmosphere. It turns out to have delicious food and huge drinks. Definitely one to remember.

By midafternoon we get to the southernmost point of Isla Mujeres. Here, the island narrows to a peninsula of weathered limestone cliffs, the raging waves on the east side contrast with calm turquoise water on the west side. On the peninsula tip, there is a Mayan temple, or what is left of it following its destruction by a hurricane some years ago. This whole area is national park, and we enjoy walking the many cliff paths in the cooling breeze.

Back on the cart we head back, but this time up the eastern side of the island, where it’s not at all developed for tourists. But it’s interesting to find the “real” town on Isla Mujeres, where all the locals actually live. Quite different to the tourist jammed northern end where the ferry arrives to. This part has small and colourful buildings, little traffic, and a much more laid-back feeling. Likely most tourists never venture into this area.
By 5pm we need to return the golf cart. From there we walk into the Main Street and settle in for a happy hour on a roof top bar with nice music and very strong margaritas.

At the end of happy hour, we head again to the bar with the amazing Mexican singer, and Oana is immediately dancing. The atmosphere this evening is much improved, with almost a full house watching.
Unfortunately, the day doesn’t end so well for me. I seem to have contracted a stomach bug. It looks like I’ll be spending a good proportion of the night in the bathroom 🙁

Tuesday – Thursday
These few days were not our most exciting unfortunately. I continued to have the effects of a stomach-bug, feeling pretty low on energy. And the strong SE winds made it difficult to do activities like snorkeling or to go anywhere on the dinghy.
But we did spend two relaxing days in the Zama Beach Club which we had discovered during our golf-cart day. It was free to get in, only needing to pay for sunbeds and beverages. Every now and then a catamaran full of people would turn up, but their clientele was whisked off to the other end of the club for their lunch, leaving our part very peaceful.
Most of these tourist catamarans show evidence of having been ex-charter boats. For instance, letters showing: “Dream Yacht Charters” on the sail cover. We wonder how many of these were purchased from the charter fleet wrecks caused by Hurricane Irma and Maria back in 2017?

In between our 2 days at Zama, we also had a pleasant day by the pool in some hotel on North Beach. We had searched the beach for nice sun beds with shade, but all the best ones were already taken. We then spotted this pool with no one around it. So, in we went, sat down and made ourselves comfortable! It turned out they actually had no problem with our gate-crashing, as long as we ordered food and drinks. Sometimes you’ve just got to be bold … and a little bit cheeky!