Where to find a quiet beach on Isla Mujeres?

The beaches at the northern end of Isla Mujeres ( where the ferry arrives) are nice, very nice but very crowded, particularly at weekends, not crowded with those who pay good money to vacation on Isla Mujeres, but largely by day trippers who contribute little to the island's economy; they generally bring their own beers and food, fill the beaches during the day and invariably leave their empty beer cans and food wrappers behind.

Whilst the beaches should probably be occupied by those on vacation and local people, they find themselves being pushed out. So what is the answer? We have isla Mujeres luxury rental homes at the southern end of the island and fortunately, our guests do not have to go all the way to the north beach to enjoy a nice relaxing day by the beach, and let's face it, whatever the north beach is, it is not relaxing; sun beds are crammed together, so those on them feel like sardines. Some of the sunbed owners are now charging by the hour. And god help anyone who wants to have a nice sleep in the sun, the music noise can be overwhelming.

Our Isla Mujeres rental homes all have private pools, so a relaxing day can be spent by the pool, but that's not the only option; guests can step out of our properties onto an unmade road without traffic and walk two minutes down to Garrafon de Castilla. Garrafon de Castilla is a beach club, not perhaps what one would expect of a modern beach club; it's not flashy or a place where people go to be seen, it was built sometime in the 1960s, it's relaxed and laid back. There is a wonderful array of fish to be seen; the snorkeling is perfect there. The entrance fee is inexpensive, and you can also inexpensively hire flippers and goggles if you don't have them. Many of our Isla Mujeres rental clients, especially those with children, love Garrafon de Castilla and visit it every day.

There are two other beach clubs further north (in the direction of the center), Indio’s and Zaza, we tend not to recommend. At Zaza the music is loud and whilst it has sand, it is like quicksand, you find yourself sinking into it. We visited Indios; it and it could be a great place to relax and enjoy a drink. It's a lovely location, but the music was blaring out of enormous speakers at maximum volume, what some people would call head banger music. Whilst we were there, an elderly couple arrived in a golf cart. When they heard the music, they did a rapid about turn.

A five-minute walk from Punta Sur, where our properties are located is Loretta’s Beach club, pictured here in this article. This is a great place to spend the day. It's a lovely location, with excellent food and service. They have a range of natural fruit juices on offer; towels, if you require them, are 100 pesos. Now we have an excellent restaurant, Ulan and a beach club close to our Isla Mujeres luxury rental homes. Going into the centre is now purely a question of choice.