Things to do
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Isla Mujeres
Ferries take under half an hour from Puerto Juárez to an island a few kilometres long, where golf carts serve as taxis. Playa Norte at one end is shallow, flat and sheltered; Punta Sur at the other is limestone cliff, a ruined shrine to the Maya goddess Ixchel and a sculpture walk. Whale sharks gather offshore in summer, and boats go out to snorkel beside them.
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Playa Delfines
The last wide stretch of open sand in the hotel zone, with no hotel wall behind it: just a dune, a car park and the giant painted letters spelling the town's name. Waves break hard here and the undertow is real, so watch the flags. A viewpoint on the road above looks down the whole coast. El Rey stands opposite.
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El Rey Archaeological Zone
Across the road from the beach, a low Maya settlement of platforms, a small pyramid and two plazas along a short ceremonial street, occupied late by fishers and traders on the lagoon shore. Iguanas bask in dozens on the stonework and barely move. Half an hour covers it, with almost no shade, which argues for early or late. The name came from a burial found here.
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Isla Contoy
A national park island north of Isla Mujeres, uninhabited and closed to all but licensed boats, with a daily cap on visitors. Frigatebirds, pelicans and cormorants nest in thousands; turtles come ashore to lay in the warm months. Trips include a walk on marked paths, a climb up the observation tower and a snorkel on the reef at the southern tip. Half-day sailings from Cancún.
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Museo Subacuático de Arte
Hundreds of concrete figures stand on the sea floor between Cancún and Isla Mujeres, cast from local volunteers and set down to grow coral and take diving pressure off the living reef. Two galleries: the deeper one at Manchones is for divers, the shallow one at Punta Nizuc within reach of a snorkel. Visibility decides everything, and the sculptures blur further under algae each year.