When not to visit Isla Mujeres

Naturally you can visit Isla Mujeres any time of the year, and the sun will be shining and it will be somewhere between warm and hot. The reason some people avoid the summer is because of the hurricane season, which in theory runs from June to November. This is probably a mistake, as we have not seen a hurricane in June or November. There was one hurricane that came quite early one year, but that was  very unusual; otherwise, if there is a hurricane, it will generally be in the months of September or October. If you wanted to be ultra careful, you would avoid visiting Isla Mujeres in those two months, but the rest of the year, one should not worry about hurricanes.

The reason September and October can be hurricane months is because the sea heats up during the summer months and reaches its peak towards the end of the summer; once it reaches 28 degrees, that's a guaranteed hurricane. Then it's a matter of where it goes. Most hurricanes seem to head for Cuba and Jamaica. When the hurricane Wilmer struck Isla Mujeres in 2005, it was 21 October, and it was considered a late hurricane. We had  Isla Mujeres vacation rental properties at the time, and it was our first hurricane, but we suffered no damage whatsoever. That is the benefit of having solid construction.

The island holds the record for the highest rainfall ever recorded in one day during Wilmer, which was, 1633.98 millimeters. It caught people unaware.  People had forgotten about hurricanes because the island had enjoyed eighteen years without a hurricane. The previous hurricane was Gilberto in 1988. Dr Greta the English doctor who still practices here on the island, came here to help treat the island people after Gilberto.  We have now been twenty years since Wilmer and thirty-eight years with just two hurricanes. Compare that with other Caribbean islands, and we are doing very well indeed. Anyway, always better to have a hurricane than an earthquake; with a hurricane you generally just stay inside, and with an earthquake you definitely don't stay inside.

  Apart from the summer months, we are very busy the rest of the year. We have four luxury Isla Mujeres rental properties, and whilst we do have bookings during the summer months, perhaps two per property per month, the bulk of the bookings are during the winter months There is another reason apart from the hurricanes why people tend stay away during the summer months, and that is the mosquitoes. In Chedraui, the supermarket, they have an organic mosquito spray, especially good for children. As  long as you use it at peak times (between 5 and 7 PM) and occasionally when needed, you need not worry about mosquitos and shouldn't let that put you off.

For those who are planning on visiting Isla Mujeres it is really worth having a note of Dr Greta's the English doctor's number: +52 998 402 6874, she is very experienced, she runs her practice rather like a charity; she charges visitors the equivalent of $26 for a consultation and  local people far less, or not at all, depending on their circumstances.