Isla Mujeres
Encyclopedia
Isla Mujeres is one of the ten municipalities
of the Mexican
state of Quintana Roo
. The municipality, located in the northeastern corner of the state is mostly on the mainland and has a municipal seat of the same name; Isla Mujeres. The municipal seat 21°13′56"N 86°43′54"W is a small island
town a short distance off the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula
in the Caribbean Sea
about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) northeast of Cancún
. It is the easternmost municipal seat in Mexico. The island is some 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) long and 650 metres (2,132.5 ft) wide. In the 2010 census, the town had a population of 12,642 inhabitants.
or golf car
ts and moped scooters
. As of 2005 there were 121 taxis, 500 golf carts, and 1500 moped scooters. There's also a Bus service that runs from the Downtown to the different neighborhoods, called "Colonias" in Spanish (where most of locals live).
times the island was sacred to the Mayan
goddess of childbirth and medicine, Ix Chel. When the Spanish
arrived in the 16th century they named it "Isla Mujeres" because of the many cult image
s of goddesses. The first information available about Isla Mujeres is from the period between 564 - 1516 AC, when it was part of the Mayan province called Ekab. There were 4 Mayan provinces in what is today the State of Quintana Roo
. The Mayan also exploited the salt that the island produced in the "salinas" (small interior lagoons). The salt was used not only for the conservation of food and medicine but also has a generally accepted currency for commerce of goods along the whole Mayan region. The Mayan goddess Ixchel had a temple in what is today the Hacienda Mundaca (Mundaca's Plantation House).
A small Mayan temple
was once located on the southern tip of the island. However in 1988 Hurricane Gilbert
caused extensive damage, leaving most of the foundation but only a very small portion of the temple. Since the 1970s, along with close-by Cancún
, there has been substantial tourist
development in Isla Mujeres.
Ferry
boat
s run from the island and Puerto Juárez
or Gran Puerto on the mainland. The island is popular with day trip
pers, but activity quiets down in the evening after the tour groups leave. There are numerous places to eat fresh seafood
cooked with local and traditional delicious recipes, also many other types of food are available at restaurants on the island such as: black angus steaks, Mexican, yucatecan, Italian, caribbean, mediterranean, Hebrew, French, thai, Cuban & maya. Hotel
prices vary from cheap to very expensive at the resorts on the southwest end such as Hotel Villa Rolandi, and Playa Norte Ixchel Beach Hotel. On the east is the Caribbean Sea
with a strong surf
and rocky
coast, and on the west the skyline
of Cancún is seen across the clear waters. On the north end is El Centro (downtown), whose central axis, Hidalgo Street, is the main dining and entertainment area. Also located on the north end is a famous beach called Playa Norte, which has recovered quickly since Hurricane Wilma
hit the area in 2005. Besides this several amenities, swimming with dolphins can also be experienced at the Island via Dolphin Discovery.
The island of Isla Mujeres is located close to one of many coral reef
s such as the one located in Garrafon Park, which is an area popular for its snorkeling
and scuba diving
. The Cancun underwater museum
, created by English sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor, is located off the western coast of Isla Mujeres. Isla Mujeres is also home to a population of sea turtle
s. Because of the recent endangerment
of sea turtles in the area, a facility was set up on the southern end of the island for the rehabilitation and breeding of them. This facility is open to the public.
The island's relative proximity to Cuba
has made it one of the favorite stepping stones of Cubans
trying to reach the United States
in recent years.
Municipalities of Quintana Roo
The Mexican State of Quintana Roo is made up of 10 municipalities : Tulum and Bacalar are the newest municipalities. The state was created from the Quintana Roo Territory in 1974 with seven municipios. Solidaridad was formed in 1993 by act of the Congress of Quintana Roo. Tulum was split off from...
of the Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
state of Quintana Roo
Quintana Roo
Quintana Roo officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 10 municipalities and its capital city is Chetumal....
. The municipality, located in the northeastern corner of the state is mostly on the mainland and has a municipal seat of the same name; Isla Mujeres. The municipal seat 21°13′56"N 86°43′54"W is a small island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
town a short distance off the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula
Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel...
in the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) northeast of Cancún
Cancún
Cancún is a city of international tourism development certified by the UNWTO . Located on the northeast coast of Quintana Roo in southern Mexico, more than 1,700 km from Mexico City, the Project began operations in 1974 as Integrally Planned Center, a pioneer of FONATUR Cancún is a city of...
. It is the easternmost municipal seat in Mexico. The island is some 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) long and 650 metres (2,132.5 ft) wide. In the 2010 census, the town had a population of 12,642 inhabitants.
Towns and villages
The largest localities (cities, towns, and villages) are:| Name | 2010 Census Population |
|---|---|
| Isla Mujeres | 12,642 |
| Zona Urbana Ejido Isla Mujeres | 2,653 |
| Francisco May | 223 |
| Total Municipality | 16,203 |
Transportation
Transportation on the island of Isla Mujeres consists primarily of taxisTaxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
or golf car
Golf car
A golf cart or golf buggy is a small vehicle designed originally to carry two golfers and their golf clubs around a golf course or on desert trails with less effort than walking.Golf cars come in a wide range of formats and are more generally used to convey small numbers of passengers short...
ts and moped scooters
Moped
Mopeds are a type of low-powered motorcycle designed to provide economical and relatively safe transport with minimal licensing requirements.Mopeds were once all equipped with bicycle-like pedals , but moped has been increasingly applied by governments to vehicles without pedals, based on their...
. As of 2005 there were 121 taxis, 500 golf carts, and 1500 moped scooters. There's also a Bus service that runs from the Downtown to the different neighborhoods, called "Colonias" in Spanish (where most of locals live).
Mayan History
In Pre-ColumbianPre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
times the island was sacred to the Mayan
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
goddess of childbirth and medicine, Ix Chel. When the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
arrived in the 16th century they named it "Isla Mujeres" because of the many cult image
Cult image
In the practice of religion, a cult image is a human-made object that is venerated for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents...
s of goddesses. The first information available about Isla Mujeres is from the period between 564 - 1516 AC, when it was part of the Mayan province called Ekab. There were 4 Mayan provinces in what is today the State of Quintana Roo
Quintana Roo
Quintana Roo officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 10 municipalities and its capital city is Chetumal....
. The Mayan also exploited the salt that the island produced in the "salinas" (small interior lagoons). The salt was used not only for the conservation of food and medicine but also has a generally accepted currency for commerce of goods along the whole Mayan region. The Mayan goddess Ixchel had a temple in what is today the Hacienda Mundaca (Mundaca's Plantation House).
A small Mayan temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
was once located on the southern tip of the island. However in 1988 Hurricane Gilbert
Hurricane Gilbert
Hurricane Gilbert was an extremely powerful Cape Verde-type hurricane that formed during the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season and created widespread destruction in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It is the second most intense hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic basin behind only...
caused extensive damage, leaving most of the foundation but only a very small portion of the temple. Since the 1970s, along with close-by Cancún
Cancún
Cancún is a city of international tourism development certified by the UNWTO . Located on the northeast coast of Quintana Roo in southern Mexico, more than 1,700 km from Mexico City, the Project began operations in 1974 as Integrally Planned Center, a pioneer of FONATUR Cancún is a city of...
, there has been substantial tourist
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
development in Isla Mujeres.
Island connectivity to the mainland
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
boat
Boat
A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed to be operated from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is a...
s run from the island and Puerto Juárez
Puerto Juárez
Puerto Juárez is a town in Benito Juárez municipality, in the Mexican state of Quintana Rooat .It is in the north-east of the Yucatán Peninsula, on the shore of the Caribbean Sea, 2 km from Cancún. A regular ferry service runs to nearby Cancún and to Isla Mujeres....
or Gran Puerto on the mainland. The island is popular with day trip
Day Trip
Day Trip is the studio album of jazz guitarist Pat Metheny along with Christian McBride and Antonio Sanchez.It was released by Nonesuch Records on January 29, 2008.-Track listing:-Personnel:* Pat Metheny - Guitar* Christian McBride - Bass...
pers, but activity quiets down in the evening after the tour groups leave. There are numerous places to eat fresh seafood
Seafood
Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...
cooked with local and traditional delicious recipes, also many other types of food are available at restaurants on the island such as: black angus steaks, Mexican, yucatecan, Italian, caribbean, mediterranean, Hebrew, French, thai, Cuban & maya. Hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
prices vary from cheap to very expensive at the resorts on the southwest end such as Hotel Villa Rolandi, and Playa Norte Ixchel Beach Hotel. On the east is the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
with a strong surf
Ocean surface wave
In fluid dynamics, wind waves or, more precisely, wind-generated waves are surface waves that occur on the free surface of oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, and canals or even on small puddles and ponds. They usually result from the wind blowing over a vast enough stretch of fluid surface. Waves in the...
and rocky
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
coast, and on the west the skyline
Skyline
A skyline is the overall or partial view of a city's tall buildings and structures consisting of many skyscrapers in front of the sky in the background. It can also be described as the artificial horizon that a city's overall structure creates. Skylines serve as a kind of fingerprint of a city, as...
of Cancún is seen across the clear waters. On the north end is El Centro (downtown), whose central axis, Hidalgo Street, is the main dining and entertainment area. Also located on the north end is a famous beach called Playa Norte, which has recovered quickly since Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Wilma was the twenty-second storm , thirteenth hurricane, sixth major hurricane, and fourth Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 season...
hit the area in 2005. Besides this several amenities, swimming with dolphins can also be experienced at the Island via Dolphin Discovery.
The island of Isla Mujeres is located close to one of many coral reef
Coral reef
Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...
s such as the one located in Garrafon Park, which is an area popular for its snorkeling
Snorkeling
Snorkeling is the practice of swimming on or through a body of water while equipped with a diving mask, a shaped tube called a snorkel, and usually swimfins. In cooler waters, a wetsuit may also be worn...
and scuba diving
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
. The Cancun underwater museum
Cancun underwater museum
Cancun Underwater Museum is a series of sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor placed underwater off the coast of Isla de Mujeres and Cancún, Mexico...
, created by English sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor, is located off the western coast of Isla Mujeres. Isla Mujeres is also home to a population of sea turtle
Sea turtle
Sea turtles are marine reptiles that inhabit all of the world's oceans except the Arctic.-Distribution:...
s. Because of the recent endangerment
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
of sea turtles in the area, a facility was set up on the southern end of the island for the rehabilitation and breeding of them. This facility is open to the public.
The island's relative proximity to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
has made it one of the favorite stepping stones of Cubans
Cubans
Cubans or Cuban people are the inhabitants or citizens of Cuba. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
trying to reach the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in recent years.
External links
- Fideicomiso de Promoción Turística de Isla Mujeres Official tourism website