I attempted to write this post at Christmas, clearly it didn’t work. #FlashbackFriday!

It has been some time since we spent Christmas in the home land (Thunder Bay, Ontario). The last time we were there, records were broken when the temperatures dropped to -52 celsius (-61 fahrenheit for any Americans, which really reads – really f*ckin cold.) We said never again. Needless to say, it’s been a while since we had Christmas with my mom.

This was the year I convinced her to get away for Christmas and I don’t think she was disappointed.

Isla Mujeres is a tiny island in Mexico in the province of Quintana Roo off the coast of Cancun. It’s 7km long and just over half a kilometre wide. Greg and I had visited previously and decided it would be a great beach getaway to share with some family!

We landed in Cancun a day before my mom and step-dad John arrived. Once they made it in, we packed into our airport transportation and headed to the Puerto Juarez ferry terminal (as mentioned, Isla Mujeres is an island, you need to take a ferry to get there).

Once we hit the island, we decided to walk to our rental house, hey according to Google Maps it was only a 7 minute walk. *Note – Google Maps lies.

The roads are a lot of cobble stone, with bumps and uneven ground, mix that with the heat,  suitcases and getting a little lost – it makes for a LONG 7 minutes (read more like 20 minutes – we got it down after that though and the walk became much shorter).

Our rental was great, there were two separate apartments in one home so we all had our own space. We stayed in the Aeropuerto neighbourhood which was on the East side of the island. We used Isla Beckons both times for our apartment rental and would use them again.

From Isla-Mujeres.net

It was nice and central, more quiet than North Beach and Downtown (and much cheaper!)

Sunrise view from our balcony.

Mom relaxing by the ocean.

You won’t see many cars on the island that aren’t driven by the locals. There are cabs, which is a good way to get around (tip – negotiate your rate BEFORE the cab starts driving). What you will see a lot of are golf carts. They are the best way to tour the island. We rented one for most of our trip and it was fantastic, as with most of our trips, we were driving to the grocery store nearly every day. We also spent one day just driving around the island. 

Our trusty golf cart.

Island wildlife.

We didn’t plan much for this trip as it was meant to just kick back and relax.

Our sand man!

Snorkelling at North Beach.

The last time we were there, we sought out some one to take us fishing. Sure there are tour operators and such, but all you really have to do is head down to the pier and ask around. We found Captain Blacky and went with his crew each time we were there. You can do the deep sea fishing, but we chose to just go trolling. Last time we were there, we only caught one fish, but man WHAT a fish. Greg managed to land a 34lb barracuda – it was the biggest fish caught on the pier that season.

Greg’s big catch.

This time, they weren’t so big, but they were plentiful! The crew will clean your fish for you (the smaller ones that are safe to eat, and also we didn’t go during red tide so no worries, no one got ciguatera – we just had delicious fish. We took some home, and brought some up to the restaurant on the pier for the chef there to cook. This was great as our boat crew got to sit down and enjoy it with us.

Our charter.

Greg doing his thing.

John, Greg and the crew showing off our catches of the day!

The seafood in Isla is delicious and plentiful. If you are planning on cooking for yourself, I recommend heading down to the fisherman’c cooperative. You can buy fresh caught fish direct from the fisherman! John was bound and determined to eat all the seafood we could find, so him and Greg set out to find it. They came home with fresh caught lobster and red snapper.

A home cooked meal.

One day as we sat on our balcony, we watched someone diving in the water (this was NOT swimmable water, the East side of the island is very rough) but this guy seemed to know what he was doing. When he eventually came out, he had a bucket of lobster with him! He was a local man who dove for lobster in his free time to sell. Clearly we bought some – how often do you get to have fresh lobster caught right in your back yard!?

Does not get fresher than that!

As is our general travel destination – we went on a search for local beer. Isla Brewing Company is the only craft brewery on the island. It did not disappoint. I recommend Cruda Ayuda which is their ginger beer. Very refreshing on a hot day at the beach.

Isla Brewing, highly recommended

This was a great holiday, relaxing, fun and good people.

Me and my mom!

Team Berrison.

Sunsets in Isla.

Adiós!