ISLA MUJERES SNORKEL SCENE

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ISLA MUJERES SNORKLE SCENE
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THE ISLAND OF WOMEN

Isla Mujeres is one of those charmed little places that manages to strike a happy balance between international tourism and laid-back small-town charm. And, being essentially a piece of rock reef way out in the Caribbean water, it has plenty of access to fine diving Read more

TOOFER ONE

Sometimes everybody gets what they want, in spite of themselves.
Story by "El Gallo" Read it here

LOCAL WEATHER

here.

ISLA MUJERES LINKS

Links to dive shops, outfitters, and places of interest to snorklers. Just click here.

THE ISLAND OF WOMEN
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Isla Mujeres is one of those charmed little places that manages to strike a happy balance between international tourism and laid-back small-town charm. You can get a little of the flavor from the Collected Works of "El Gallo". Lanquid, topless beaches, just enough nightlife to entertain without being obnoxious, a very international set, and good, friendly people. AND, being essentially a piece of rock reef way out in the Caribbean water, it has plenty of access to fine diving. Unfortunately the most famous, the most visited, the most "diven", if you will, site on Isla is the extremely disappointing Garrafon "Natural" Park. They should have a sign, "Over ! Million Disappointed". Which is a bummer for Cancun day trippers, but of no importance to serious explorers, who have a choice of two ways to dive the Isla waters, by hired boat or by just walking into the water. The presence of many walk-in sites is one of the great things about diving on Isla, and they offer lots of varied, inexpensive, all-day dunking.

ISLA MUJERES LINX
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General Isla Websites Isla Mujeres Net My Isla Two private sites with popular Bulletin Boards for sharing or questions. Dive Tour Operators Captain Tony Garcia The hot ticket for snorkeling and fishing trips. Mundaca Divers SeaHawk Divers Coral Divers(eMail) Cool TV screens!!!! SeaHawk(eMail) High-priced gear, snorkel trips Businesses Mundaca Real Estate Get it before it goes outta style. Café Cueva THE gathering spot for cool people of all ages--and the best coffee on Isla. Odyssey Ice Cream Italian-made, natural ice cream, the best around. Try the tiramisu! Cosmic Cosas Book Store Books in English! Other languages! Used books! Diving books! A nexus for islanders. Café Selva Smoothies! And BAGELS!!!! no less. Oy vey! Loncheria La Lomita Repeatedly voted "Best Economical Eats on the Island" Ferry Schedules???? Hotels??????? Model

GARRAFON "NATURAL" PARK
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SHORE SCENE Shore Scene Getting There Dive Spots The "Natural Park" thing, which you're probably not supposed to notice, is because Garrafon used to be a National Park until it was farmed to the same company that sort of privatized Xel-Ha and Xcaret into eco-Disney theme parks. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, all told. The reef at Garrafon, a really nice situation where a real coral reef happened to be tucked in right on shore amid some pretty cliffs and highway access, had been deteriorated (some would say, "killed off") by the impact of tourists unrestrained by the feeble Parks budget. The Xcaret folks, after buying in, shut the park down for a year to regroup and used some clever techniques, such as importing sea urchins as bottom cleaners, to start turning the poor little reef around. The results have been gratifying, but the reef is still badly damaged. The company also installed rope-offs to keep people from stomping around on the reef, and a whole shmear of other goodies like a beautiful overpriced restaurant, a swimming pool, truly gracious and romantic lounging areas, kayaks, and an aerial slide over the water. In addition to docks that deboard a jillion teeming, twisted tourists every day. Who immediately jump in the water, after putting on the compulsory life jackets. Already this is probably sounding to you like a very nice, romantic place to spend a day with your sweetheart, or to bring some kids for a first, tame taste of underwater--but a lousy place to have any fun underwater. And that's the way it is. DOWN UNDER THE SEA Shore Scene Getting There Dive Spots The main reef area is kind of nice, but the ropes keep you away from it, it's like a swim-by aquarium. For an experienced diver, it would be more fun to swim south, out of the roped area, and poke along the cliffs towards South Point. At the point things get interesting right away: there are suddenly waves from the windward side sweeping around the point, and big rock promontories to get them thrashing and surging. Swimming around the point is huge fun and, although the Park is said to frown on it, there isn't a hell of a lot they can do about it. South Point can be a pretty dangerous area, not least because of powerful, sneaky currents. See a discussion of the area elsewhere. So if you're the kind of person who is just looking for diving, not a charming little shore park (or a cheapskate who balks at the $10 U.S. entry fee to Garrafon) the hot set up is to go, instead, to Garrafon's little next-door neighbor, the Garrafon de Castillo Beach Club. Less swanky than the name might hint, but a very nice spot with a sliver of beach, lounge chairs and hammocks, a bar and restaurant (though there's a better place to eat across the road at "El Pueblito"), showers, lockers, and access to the Garrafon Park--all for $20 pesos a day, around two bucks at the moment. You can just drop your pack, kick back, rent gear if you don't have yours with, and jump in. If you jump inside the cement wall, you'll find yourself staring into the baleful eyes of their tame, if not exactly ecstatic Nurse Shark. Thrilled to pose for your adventure film. Otherwise, the water at the Club is fine, and probably more packed with pretty fish than the Park next door (maybe fish also hates throngs of tourists). A good place for kids, safe, shallow, lots to do, and lots of fishies close in. And you can just swim south, under the dock, into Garrafon. You don't even have to wear a life jacket. (Although they sometimes try to tell you that you do.) It's best to keep a low profile in the park--don't swim inside the rope around the reef, for instance. You can swim through to South Point, about a quarter mile.) This is the way the locals do it, and the Beach Club is a great place to while away the afternoon, especially on days (many, unfortunately) when winds and rough seas are thrashing the windward side of Isla. The Garrafon/Castillo Club area is sheltered from all that. HOW TO GET THERE Shore Scene Getting There Dive Spots If you got roped onto a tour from Cancun, just step oFf the boat onto the Garrafon Dock and there you are. If you took the ferry over from Cancun/Puerto Juarez just walk off the dock to the street and there will be a bunch of little red cabs that will take you right to Garrafon for under four dollars. That should be per carload, but make sure you get it straight up front. Or you can rent a golf cart and putt down there. In fact, the trick on Isla is AVOIDING renting a golf cart--don't worry about finding one, they'll find you. There are also little moto scooters you can rent to blitz around the island. Just keep driving south and you'll get there. Or, if you're more eco/healthy than most, there are bicycle rentals a block north (left) of the ferry dock. Or you could even walk--the whole island's only eight kilometers long. Get to the Garrafon Castillo Beach Club the same way, except once you're on your way to Garrafon, say "Castillo" and watch for the sign on the road. If you arrive at Garrafon anyway, no big: the Beach Club is only a hundred yards back up the road. And on the way you'll pass El Pueblito, an extremely pleasant open-air restaurant.
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WALK-IN SNORKELING SITES
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One of the great things about Isla Mujeres is that it's not like all those places that are extolled for great snorkeling, but you find out it's only available by hiring boats, which costs money, limits both the time and scope of your enjoyment, and often put you in the company of blithering idiots. As some snorkelers have mentioned, "If I wanted to dive out of those cattle boats, I'd get SCUBA certified." So it's nice to find places where you can just walk in and swim off, spend your whole day exploring at your own risk and behest. And Isla has a lot of that. The "Natural Park" at Garrafon (and better yet, the Beach Club next door) is a wade-in site--less than wonderful, but not totally chopped liver, either. But the sites worth writing home about are listed here: South Point (no, NOT, "South Park"), Play Norte and Cadena Reef, and the stretch of beaches along the rough, rocky Windward Shore. PLAY NORTE/CADENA REEF South Point Playa Norte\Cadena Reef Windward Beaches Playa Norte is probably what you had in mind when you figured out that "Isla Mujers" means "Island of Women". SOUTH POINT South Point Playa Norte\Cadena Reef Windward Beaches South Point is technically part of Garrafon Park (the jurisdiction of the water off the point is under dispute). It's also the southern most tip of the Isla, and one of the main places to visit, if for no other reason than to climb the lighthouse, take a picture beside the ruins of an old Mayan sun temple, roam the cliff-carved paths among weird lace rock, and just watch the waves pile into the cliffs and promontories below. On days to stormy for good diving, this is a GREAT place to come and watch the ocean shudder stone. It's a quarter mile from Garrafon, very accessible by taxi. WINDWARD REACH South Point Playa Norte\Cadena Reef Windward Beaches Stay the fuck away from these, you bastards!!!!!!!!

SNORKELING FROM BOATS
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Any of the snorkeling tour operators listed here will take you out on the standard tour. We especially recommend Captain Garcia (he got promoted from Sergeant after Zorro retired) because he's a great guy, he speaks English, and he charges less. He also takes all-day tours to Contoy, which not everybody does. Manchones Reef BACK TO ARTICLE		BACK TO TOP

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