Hotel Zone
Cancun's Hotel Zone has a length of 22 km and along this distance you can find several marinas and ports from where you can take the different options of boats to get to Isla Mujeres.
Generally the most preferred option for locals and visitors is the overseas ferry. This maritime transportation line can be found at km 6 (Tortugas Beach Port) and km 9 (Caracol Beach Port). It should be noted that departure times are somewhat limited, so you have to check availability.
Another option that can be taken from the hotel zone is the XCARET group ferry line. This is the newest line in the hotel zone and has a much more affordable cost than the overseas line. It is worth mentioning that it has more varied schedules and its maritime terminal is located at km 4.5 of the hotel zone or at the "Embarcadero".
Finally, we cannot forget that from the other existing ports you can rent yachts, boats or take a day tour to visit the most popular areas of Isla Mujeres.
Puerto Juarez
The maritime terminals in Cancun's hotel zone, as you can see, have "limited schedules", which is precisely why most locals and visitors prefer the Puerto Juarez maritime terminal.
The maritime terminal of Puerto Juarez has more accessible costs for people who are residents of the state of Quintana Roo. In fact the price of a single transfer for adults is 80.00 MXN and for children is 47.00 MXN and the cost of the transfer for tourists and foreigners is 231.00 MXN for adults and 176.00 MXN for children.
As you can see, the costs of the single (and round trip) are much cheaper and the schedules are more frequent: The first schedule from Cancun to Isla Mujeres is at 5:30 am and the last schedule is at 11:00 pm, meanwhile the first schedule of the Isla Mujeres to Cancun route is from 6 am and the last schedule is at 12:00 pm.
This transportation route to Isla Mujeres is preferred by all private cab transfer companies and also, this line is operated by one of the best maritime transportation services in the Riviera Maya: Ultramar.
How to get to the Puerto Juarez marine terminal?
If you are staying in Isla Mujeres for a weekend, 3 days, a week or just want to tour Isla Mujeres on your own, then you will have to first arrive at the Puerto Juarez marine terminal.
As we have noticed throughout this article: This is the terminal that has the most departure times for the Ferry to the Island.
Likewise, we have noticed that the transfer costs are much cheaper than the other terminals in the hotel zone and as if this were not enough, the Puerto Juarez terminal starts operations at 5:30 am.
So, how can I get to the Puerto Juarez terminal? Well, it all depends a lot on where you are and now we are going to explain it to you.
Cancun Airport
If your first stop in the Mexican Caribbean is the Cancun airport, the easiest, most feasible, fastest and safest way to get from the airport to the Puerto Juarez maritime terminal is through a private transfer service.
You can book this service online and this way you don't have to pay a single peso more and best of all: When you book it online, the transportation team will be waiting for you at the Cancun airport and you won't have to wait a minute longer.
This means of transportation is private, has capacity for up to 8 passengers and in the same way: We offer transportation for groups of up to 50 people and you can book it right here.
Another much cheaper and faster option is the cab service. There are two types of cab services: Private cabs and cabs operating inside the airport.
Private cabs can be booked online and that way you won't have to wait in line to take a conventional cab. It should be noted that this means of transportation is perfect if you are traveling with little luggage and less than 3 people.
Our next option is to use the ADO shared transportation service. This service as such is very economical and the approximate cost is 100.00 MXN per person or 5 USD. It should be noted that this shuttle would only drop you off in downtown Cancun and from downtown Cancun, you have to take another public transportation to Puerto Juarez.
Downtown Cancun
We call Cancun downtown the areas near Plaza Las Americas and also the Palapas Park and the areas near the ADO terminal.
Well, if you are in any of the above mentioned areas, you can take public transportation which is usually a bus.
This bus as such you can take it on Avenida Tulum and its destination is the intersection between Avenida Lopez Portillo and Tulum.
You have to get off at that point and from there, take another public transportation to Puerto Juarez. It is worth mentioning that from downtown Cancun you can take a cab or hire a private transportation service.
Hotel Zone
The Hotel Zone is the beach area of Cancun and where you will find the best hotels in the region. From here we do not advise you to take a cab, as they tend to be very, very expensive.
What you can do is to take a public transportation to downtown Cancun, which costs 12.00 MXN.
And once in downtown Cancun you just have to find Tulum Avenue and from there you can take the public transportation to Lopez Portillo Avenue and from Lopez Portillo Avenue you can take another public transportation to Puerto Juarez.
It should be noted that from the hotel zone you can hire a private transfer service to Puerto Juarez and which will be completely cheaper than the cab.
How to get around Isla Mujeres
Isla Mujeres is a small island, but as such it has different types of transportation services and ways to "move" from one point to another.
You can use the cab service, which can cost approximately 100.00 MXN, but if what you want is "freedom" to go around the island at your own pace, you can rent a golf cart that can cost 400.00 MXN approximately or rent a motorcycle.
If you are looking for another means of transportation to move around the island and much more economical: You can rent a bicycle.
Remember that the island is really small and you can even walk around it, so do not limit yourself in the different options that the island has to explore and enjoy each of its corners.
