Isla Mujeres

Isla Mujeres is a strip of limestone about eight kilometres long lying just off Cancún, and it offers the same Caribbean water with a fraction of the high-rise. Playa Norte at its northern end is exceptional: shallow, calm and turquoise for a long way out, with sand you can stand in waist-deep well offshore, and it faces west so the sunsets land straight down the beach. At the southern tip the land rises into low cliffs at Punta Sur, where a sculpture park and the remains of a Maya temple to Ixchel look out over the sea. Golf carts are the standard transport. From summer, whale sharks gather in the waters north of the island in numbers, and licensed boats take snorkellers out to swim alongside them.

What you actually see

• Playa Norte - the shallow calm turquoise beach at the northern tip.
• Punta Sur - the cliffs, sculpture park and Maya temple at the southern end.
• Whale sharks - swimming alongside them offshore from June to September.
• Golf-cart circuit - the standard way to loop the island in an afternoon.

When to go

November to April is the dry season with the calmest sea; whale sharks gather roughly June to September, which is also hotter and wetter with a hurricane risk. Day-trippers from Cancún arrive mid-morning and leave late afternoon, so early and evening are the island's quiet hours.

Honest expectations

The island fills with Cancún day-trippers in the middle of the day, and Playa Norte can be shoulder to shoulder by noon; staying overnight buys you the island at dawn and dusk. Whale-shark trips involve a long, often rough boat ride, and boats can crowd the animals, so choose an operator that limits numbers and enforces distance.

Nearby

Cancún is twenty minutes by ferry; Isla Contoy's bird reserve is a further boat trip north.