Traveling the Yucatan - Day 3 - Isla Mujeres

There is an island off the coast of Cancun called Isla de Mujeres and one day we took an excursion over there.  For 250 pesos each we boarded a ferry with a bunch of other people and were given all the pineapple or orange juice we cared to drink while they took us over to the island.  Once we arrived there we were able to get a snack in a buffet line which was really like a lunch.  There were hotdogs, nachos, beans and some other stuff as well.  All quite tasty.  You could then spend the day there on their private beach and kayak or go on a walk to see the sea turtles.

Heidi really wanted to drink coconut milk from a coconut and for 20 pesos she was able to do that here.  It made her really happy.  Emma got one too and they carried their coconuts around with them everywhere that day.

We chose to walk out to the road and catch a taxi to Dolphin Discovery where we had booked a dolphin encounter for each of the girls.  We had been told by some friends that this was a highlight of one of their trips and that if we ever had the chance we should do it.  So we did.  I felt like it was a lot of money paid ($79 per person) for the 30 minutes they got in the water with the dolphin.  There were about 12 people in their group and they each got to give the dolphin a kiss and let the dolphin jump up to touch their hand.  They also got to toss the ball around with the dolphin.  The girls enjoyed it and I guess they can say that they got to "swim with dolphins" but I thought it was extremely overpriced for what we got, the girls agreed.

After the Dolphin Encounter we hopped back in a taxi to go back to our ferry's beach area for lunch.  Lunch was included in the price of our excursion and was quite good with an assortment of mexican dishes including fish which I really enjoyed.

Then it was back on the ferry where they took us to the shopping section of the island.  We got off here and headed to the point of the island where we found a nice beach to swim in.  It was pretty crowded here and we only ended up having about 20 minutes in the water before we had to be back on the boat to depart for Cancun.

This day was Heidi's favorite day of the whole trip.  It was probably my least favorite day because I didn't feel like I got to experience the island.  We are not prepay excursion people but when traveling with a group of people you have to be flexible and go with the flow.  We did that and although it wasn't a total waste of time we would have enjoyed it better doing it a different way.

How would I do it differently you ask?  Well, I would take the speed boat over to the island and then rent a golf cart for $45 for the day.  That would get me wherever I wanted to go. I'd go find the beach that is famous for it's sea glass. I would not swim with dolphins and I'd find some good local food on the streets and then just spend time on the beach.  I'd spend all day and then take the car ferry back which leaves at 9 p.m., costs $3 per person and star gaze all the way back. That's how I'd do it differently.