Isla Mujeres (Island Week 5)

Wednesday, 29th September 2010 by

Cozumel may be the best-known island off the coast of the Yucatán, but Isla Mujeres rivals—if not surpasses—the beauty of that vacation destination.

As this sign will tell you, Isla Mujeres is the easternmost point of Mexico. In fact, it's fewer than 140 kilometres to Cuba.

Isla Mujeres is a long, skinny island. In places it's less than 100 metres wide. Here's a fellow working on some resort property at the very northern tip of the island.

Almost every picture of Isla Mujeres includes one moped scooter or golf cart. There are 1500 scooters on the island and over 500 golf carts, which make for easier navigation of the tiny island.

If the busy life of Isla Mujeres is too much for you and you need to get away to go scuba diving, bird watching, or fishing, head off for the even smaller Isla Contoy. Contoy is about an hour away and a popular day trip from Isla Mujeres (and 3 sq km total). Some day, perhaps, Google Street View will make it there, too.

There's not much else to say about Isla Mujeres besides the fact that it's one of the most stunningly gorgeous places the Street View car or trike has ever visited: white sandy beaches, picture-perfect palm trees, and glassy blue water. Click some of these images below and see for yourself!

Overall, not a bad way to spend your holiday: