Isla Mujeres is an island located 10 km off the coast of Cancun. Although this distance is relative, since there are several ports, depending on the one you choose to go from Cancun to Isla Mujeres, the distance can be 6 km, 8 km or even 10 km.

It should be noted that there are some areas of Isla Mujeres that can be reached through a road trip from Cancun and are known as the mainland areas of Isla Mujeres. These places are Isla Blanca, Costa Mujeres and Playa Mujeres.

How to get to Isla Mujeres

It may be a lot to process or understand, but don’t worry keep reading because right now we will explain how to get to Isla Mujeres from Cancun or from Cancun airport.

How to get to Isla Mujeres

Isla Mujeres is a paradisiacal island that is part of the Mexican Caribbean and the Riviera Maya. Although as such, many only know «La Isla», they leave out other areas that are part of it, such as Costa Mujeres, Playa Mujeres and Isla Blanca.

How to get to Isla Mujeres from cancun from cancun

For the purposes of this article, we will show you how to get to Isla Mujeres (The Island) from Cancun airport, from Cancun or from other points such as Puerto Morelos, Playa del Carmen and Tulum.

But before we start, it is necessary to mention that in order to go to Isla Mujeres from any part of Cancun or the Riviera Maya, it is necessary to take a road trip first.

The purpose of the road trip is to get to one of the maritime terminals for ferry transfers to Isla Mujeres, being the maritime terminal of Puerto Juarez the busiest one.

Puerto Juarez maritime terminal

Puerto Juárez maritime terminal to go to isla mujeres

The Puerto Juarez marine terminal is located 5.6 km away from downtown Cancun and 22 km away from the Cancun airport and is one of the busiest points in Puerto Juarez, due to the fact that it is the «closest port» to the Isla Mujeres marine terminal.

In addition, the ferry transfer costs are much cheaper than in other ports in Cancun, the schedules are more flexible (Ferries leave almost every 30 minutes) and the travel time by sea, usually lasts between 20 to 25 minutes.

What is the cost of the ferry to Isla Mujeres?

If you are a local person (resident of the state of Quintana Roo) the cost of the round trip to Isla Mujeres is 155.00 MXN per adult and 90.00 MXN per child. These prices change a lot if you are a national or foreign tourist, because in both cases the round trip ferry ticket to Isla Mujeres is 450.00 MXN for adults and 345.00 MXN for minors.

What are the ferry schedules?

As we mentioned above: There are several maritime terminals from where you can take the ferry to Isla Mujeres, however the busiest terminal is the Puerto Juarez terminal. Here are the departure times from this terminal.

Cancun to Isla Mujeres Isla Mujeres to Cancun
5:30 am 6:00 am
6:30 am 7:00 am
7:00 am 8:00 am
8:00 am 9:00 am
8:30 am 10:00 am
9:00 am 11:00 am
9:30 am 11:30 am
11:00 am 12:00 pm
11:30 am 1:00 pm
12:00 pm 1:30 pm
12:30 pm 2:00 pm
1:00 pm 3:00 pm pm
1:30 pm 4:00 pm
2:00 pm 4:30 pm
2:30 pm 5:00 pm
3:00 pm 5:30 pm
4:00 pm 6:00 pm
5:00 pm 6:30 pm
5:30 pm 7:00 pm
6:00 pm 7:30 pm
7:00 pm 8:00 pm
8:00 pm 8:30 pm
9:00 pm 9:00 pm
10:00 pm 10:00 pm
11:00 pm 11:00 pm
12:00 pm

 

Cancun to Isla Mujeres

To get to Isla Mujeres from Cancun, we have to consider two different scenarios: The first scenario is Cancun airport and the second scenario is Cancun city.

Cancun Airport to Isla Mujeres

If you come to the city of Cancun through a flight, your first stop is the Cancun International Airport and from here, you have the following options to get to Isla Mujeres: Private Transfer, Taxi, ADO

Private Transfer

If you choose the private transfer service, it has to be booked in advance to avoid waiting or paying more. You can check our list of private transfer companies in Cancun by clicking here.

This service is one of the most recommended to come and go from anywhere in Cancun and the Riviera Maya. As its name suggests, it is a private service that picks you up at the hotel, area or place where you are and takes you comfortably, safely and quietly to your final destination.

It is best to book your private transfer service before your flight to Cancun and the cost of this service is approximately 30 USD to 35 USD.

Private Transfer isla mujeres

Cab

Cab services can be taken from the Cancun airport. They are small Tsuru type units and have a maximum capacity of 4 passengers, but it is necessary to mention that they should not have much luggage.

The cost of this service ranges from 800 MXN to 1,200 MXN or even more. As such, it does not have a standard «tariff» for the cost of the transfer like private transportation.

It is worth mentioning that just like the previous options: This service would drop you off at the door of the Puerto Juarez maritime terminal.

cab

ADO

If you are looking to save money, you can choose to buy a ticket to board the bus or vans of the ADO transportation service. The cost of the ticket can be from 55 MXN to 98.00 MXN (It varies in those prices).

As such, this means of transportation departs every 30 minutes to 1 hour, therefore you will have to wait for the bus to depart. The final destination of the bus is the ADO terminal in downtown Cancun and from here you have to take 2 more public transportation buses.

The first bus, you have to take it in front of the ADO, on Tulum Avenue and tell the driver to allow you to get off on Lopez Portillo Avenue.

On López Portillo Avenue, you have to take another bus to Puerto Juárez and get off at the maritime terminal. The cost of both public transportation buses is 10.00 MXN per person and each one.

ADO

Cancun Downtown to Isla Mujeres

If you are in Cancun (downtown or hotel zone) you have the private transfer service to Puerto Juarez, cab and public transportation service to Isla Mujeres.

Private transfer

As we mentioned before, the private transfer service is the best option to go to the maritime terminal of Isla Mujeres and in case you are in downtown or in the hotel zone, this type of transportation will go for you to the door of your hotel and will take you to the maritime terminal without any problems.

Remember that you can see our list of the best transfer companies in Cancun by clicking here.

Cab

In this case, the cab is optional: If you are in the hotel zone it is not advisable to take a cab, because the costs are very expensive and you can be charged up to 1,200.00 MXN.

If you are in downtown Cancun, the cab is a very good option since the cost can be from 200.00 MXN to 500.00 MXN. It is worth mentioning that most of the cabs in downtown Cancun are not equipped with air conditioning or in good condition.

Public transportation

If you are in the hotel zone and are looking to save money, you can take public transportation to downtown Cancun. This transportation is a bus and costs 12.00 MXN.

In downtown Cancun, you have to take another bus to Lopez Portilla Avenue and this one has a cost of 10.00 MXN and in Lopez Portillo Avenue, you have to take another bus to Puerto Juarez which has a cost of 10.00 MXN.

Public transportation

Puerto Morelos to Isla Mujeres

Are you in Puerto Morelos and want to visit Isla Mujeres? Puerto Morelos is located 40 km away from the maritime terminal of Puerto Juarez. Remember that this is the busiest and favorite terminal to take the ferry to Isla Mujeres.

Therefore, to get from Puerto Morelos to Isla Mujeres, we can choose to do it through a private transfer or the shared transportation service of Playa Express.

Private Transfer

The private transfer service can pick you up at your hotel in Puerto Morelos and take you without problems, delays and complications to the ferry to Isla Mujeres.  This is the best option if you are looking for «less hassle» in travel logistics.

Playa Express

If you are looking to save as much as possible on expenses, you can choose to take the Playa Express van. To do so, your first step is to get to the Cancun – Tulum Federal Highway. As a reference, you will see a bridge.

Well, under this bridge there is a small terminal where you have to stay and wait for the Playa Express van to go to downtown Cancun. The cost of the van is from 45.00 MXN to 55.00 MXN.

The final destination of the vans is downtown Cancun and from there, you just have to take a bus that costs 10.00 MXN to Lopez Portillo Avenue and then another bus with a similar cost to Puerto Juarez.

This way, you will be able to find the maritime terminal and get to Isla Mujeres to visit the island, stay a few days or enjoy a tour.

Playa Express

Playa del Carmen to Isla Mujeres

Are you in Playa del Carmen? Playa del Carmen is located 85 km from Isla Mujeres. Let’s remember that of these 85 km, about 6 km correspond to the trip by sea. How can I get from Playa del Carmen to Isla Mujeres?

On this occasion we have the ADO and the Playa Express vans, but why don’t we mention the private transfer service?

Most of the private transfer companies are based in the city of Cancun, therefore: the cost of the transfer from Cancun to Playa del Carmen is much cheaper than the cost from Playa del Carmen to Isla Mujeres.

Since as such you would be charged the cost from Cancun to Playa, from Playa to Cancun and from Cancun to Isla Mujeres. Which can be very high, so we do not have this option. But we will explain the other options.

ADO

On the fifth avenue of Playa del Carmen, we can locate the ADO terminal from where we can buy a ticket to travel from Playa del Carmen to Cancun. The cost is usually between 150.00 MXN to 250.00 MXN.

Playa Express

Playa Express is a «semi-private» and shared transportation service. It is based very close to 5th avenue and departs every 30 minutes to downtown Cancun. The cost of the trip is usually 45.00 MXN to 55.00 MXN.

However. Both means of transportation have downtown Cancun as their end point, to be more exact: The ADO terminal.

From the ADO terminal, we have to locate Tulum Avenue and from this avenue take a cab to the maritime terminal of Puerto Juarez or take a bus to Lopez Portillo Avenue and from there, take another bus to Puerto Juarez. It should be noted that the cost of the cab can be from 200.00 MXN to 400.00 MXN and the cost of public transportation is 10.00 MXN.

Tulum to Isla Mujeres

If you are staying or are in the city of Tulum, I have to tell you that this is located at a distance of 153 km from Isla Mujeres, so to get from the city of Tulum to Isla Mujeres, you have the service of ADO and shared vans Tulum / Playa Express.

ADO

Our first option is simply to find the ADO terminal in downtown Tulum and buy our respective ADO bus ticket. Remember, the ADO bus has downtown Cancun as its destination and from here, getting to Isla Mujeres is much easier.

Buses

In case you want to economize as much as possible, you can take the colectivos of the «transportation service to Tulum». As such, this colectivo can be taken from downtown Tulum and its destination is Playa del Carmen.

Very close to its base, you can find the base of the Playa Express shuttle service. Then, from here you take the Playa Express colectivo to downtown Cancun.

Each of these colectivos has an average cost of 55.00 MXN, thus: You would be paying 110.00 MXN to get from Tulum to Cancun.

Let’s not forget that in downtown Cancun, we have to take a cab or a public transfer bus to get to Puerto Juarez. And our last step is to take the ferry to Isla Mujeres.

Conclusion

As you can see, from Cancun to Isla Mujeres you have many more options than from other destinations. Although, the private transfer service to Isla Mujeres can be taken from Playa del Carmen or Tulum, you just have to consider that the costs will be very high.

However, whichever way and means you choose to get to Isla Mujeres, do not hesitate to turn it into an adventure and travel anecdote, maybe you get lost and maybe not, but this is the beauty of traveling. Happy travel to Isla Mujeres!