How to Get Around Isla Mujeres: 5 Best Ways
Are you planning to visit Isla Mujeres? And curious how to get around Isla Mujeres? This guide covers the five best ways for getting around Isla Mujeres.
Isla Mujeres isn’t a large island by any means, and most things are located in the northern part of the island, including many restaurants, bars, hotels, and the island’s primary beach shoreline. In this part of the island, everything is within walking distance of between 5 and 15 minutes.
But if you’d like to visit attractions like Punta Sur, Garrafon Park, and other parts of the island in the middle to the southern part of Isla Mujeres, you’ll need to use transportation.
Or perhaps you’re staying at a hotel in the middle or south, looking to visit the north; for both scenarios, you’ll want to know how to get around Isla Mujeres!
Taxi
The best and easiest way to get around in Isla Mujeres is by hailing one of the many dark red taxis driving around the island. You’ll often even spot a taxi waiting for passengers on busy streets.
Prices vary on your destination on the island; expect to pay anywhere from 40 to 150 Mexican pesos, which is about $2.50 to 8.75 US per ride. Don’t expect your taxi driver to use a meter in Isla Mujeres, it’s not a common practice with taxis in Mexico.
If you’re south of the island, with fewer taxis around, and you’re looking to go north of Isla Mujeres in the evening hours, you can expect to pay slightly more for your taxi then. Taxi drivers raise trip costs in this scenario because it’s dark out, and there aren’t many taxis in the area then.
Isla Mujeres is only about 5 miles long, so you should never pay too much for a taxi on the island.
Taxi Tip: Many times, taxi drivers suggest higher prices on the island, and you should negotiate with them for a fair price / Watch out for taxi scams in Isla Mujeres!
Golf Cart Rental
The most popular way to get around Isla Mujeres on your own is by renting a golf cart and exploring the island on your own.
As soon as you arrive at Isla Mujeres, you’ll spot many tourists riding around the island in a golf cart, exploring many parts of Isla Mujeres. These golf carts average a speed of 30 MPH.
Many shops offer golf cart rentals in Isla Mujeres; typical prices you should expect to pay are the following:
Per Hour: $20 US
Day Rate (6-9 hours): $40 US
Per Day (24 hours): $75 US
It’s just fun, the sea breeze blowing in your direction as you admire the remarkable coastlines of Isla Mujeres. But as you can see from the above prices, golf cart rentals in Isla Mujeres aren’t cheap, and shops know there’s a high demand for them on the island.
While I recommend getting a golf cart and exploring the island for a few hours or a day, price-wise, it’s quite expensive to rent a golf cart for many days, especially when it’s cheaper to take a taxi.
Here are a few things you should be mindful of when renting a golf cart from any shop:
Beware of golf cart rental scams, inspect the condition of your golf cart before riding off with it, and I’d recommend you take a simple video of the golf cart to have with you to prove the state of the golf cart in which you rented it.
Just in case a shop owner tries to pull the typical rental scam and accuses you of a scratch or damage once you’ve returned the golf cart and asks for money to repair it when you’ve done nothing!
Don’t drive and drive a golf cart in Isla Mujeres; many tourists visiting Isla Mujeres assume golf carts aren’t accounted for as an actual vehicle on the island, well it is. There are many cops on the island looking to stop and fine tourists for drinking/driving a golf cart.
RELATED: 5 Best Resorts in Isla Mujeres
Guided Tour
Another excellent way to get around Isla Mujeres is to attend one of the many great tours on the island that offer transportation while you’re on the tour.
Snorkeling trips, tipsy days on a catamaran sailboat, island hopping, bar crawls, and so much more; there are plenty of excellent tours in Isla Mujeres to attend during your visit!
Most tours depart from the main Centro part of the island, the northern part of Isla Mujeres.
Most of the hotels in Isla Mujeres are located there, so you can walk within minutes to your tour’s departure location without needing transportation!
Bicycle Rental
An excellent way to explore the entire island, which is also cost-effective, is by renting a bicycle in Isla Mujeres and riding around!
Many shops around the island offer bike rentals for the day; some also offer bicycle rentals by the hour. But it tends to be cheaper if you just rent a bicycle for the entire day. You can even rent tricycles like the one pictured below, perfect to put your beach bag on!
The cost to rent a bicycle in Isla Mujeres is around 170 to 250 Mexican pesos, around $10 to $14.50 US per day. Depending on the rental shop and the style of the bike.
Bicycle rentals should include a helmet and a lock for your bicycle, so make sure the rental shop provides this.
Walk
Last but not least, walking around Isla Mujeres is completely possible because of the island’s size.
As stated previously, most things are in the northern part of the island, including most hotels, bars, restaurants, shops, and the two main beaches: Playa Norte and Playa Centro.
You can walk anywhere on the northern part of Isla Mujeres in under 15 minutes, and most walks from the beach to your hotel, restaurant, etc, will be around 5 to 10 minutes.
If you choose to visit Isla Mujeres and prefer not to use any transportation, you could easily do so!
But if you’re looking to leave the northern part of the island and head to the middle/southern part, it’s quite a long walk!
To the middle of the island from the north is around 50 minutes, and to the southern part of the island, where the famous Punta Sur is, it’s almost a 2-hour walk.
How to Get Around Isla Mujeres — Final Thoughts
Those are all the best ways for how to get around Isla Mujeres, debate which of the many options works best for you when visiting Isla Mujeres!
First, consider who you’re visiting the island with; if you’re solo, the options will vary for transportation. But again, don’t forget, Isla Mujeres is very walkable, so you can always visit without using transportation on the island!
Many visiting Cancun often do day trips to Isla Mujeres, considering it’s only 20 minutes by ferry off of Cancun’s shores.
If you’re visiting Isla Mujeres for a day trip, consider the ferry schedule so you can catch your ferry back to Cancun, otherwise you’ll be stuck in Isla Mujeres for the night.
Many ferries go back and forth from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM, departing roughly every hour.
By the way, if you’re reading this article and currently in Cancun, debating wheather you should visit Isla Mujeres, there’s nothing to think about, you absolutely must-visit Isla Mujeres, the island is absolutely stunning and different than Cancun!
Cozumel is another Island in Mexico I recommend visiting not too far from Isla Mujeres!
What is the best way to get around Isla Mujeres?
The best way to get around Isla Mujeres is by taxi, you’ll spot many around the island, they’re dark red, taxis on the island will cost you around $2.50 to 8.75 US per ride.
Can you walk around Isla Mujeres?
Yes you can, the northern part of Isla Mujeres, also known as Centro (the islands downtown area), is very walkable. You can walk anywhere in this part of Isla Mujeres in around 5 to 15 minutes.
If you’d like to visit the middle and southern parts of the island, it’s best to use transportation; walking there would take around 1 to 2 hours.
Are there taxis on Isla Mujeres?
Yes, there are plenty of taxis on Isla Mujeres. The taxis here are dark red with four doors; you’ll spot them everywhere, especially on the busy streets on the island.
Can you go to Isla Mujeres without a tour?
Yes you can, there are four ferry docks in Cancun that offer ferry services to Isla Mujeres daily, take the ferry from one of them to reach Isla Mujeres and explore the island on your own!
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