Isla Mujeres & Cancún

Ferry

We finished up our Yucatán adventure with some more beach time — taking the Ultramar ferry from Cancún to Isla Mujeres.     21.1837, -86.8072 

Isla Mujeres

Ixchel Beach Hotel

We splurged with a stay at the fancy beachfront Ixchel Beach Hotel.     21.2592, -86.7512 

Beach

Lyra loved preparing us meals with the plastic fruit centerpiece.

Lyra's Birthday!

The cleaning staff would leave these curious "security reports" in our room, listing the valuables we left out rather than hiding them in our room safe.

Exploring by Golf Cart

Most people on Isla Mujeres drive golf carts (or scooters) instead of cars. We rented a golf cart for the day to explore the island.

Dolphin Discovery

Our first stop was Dolphin Discovery , a swim-with-the-dolphins place. We selected the basic package, which involved 25 customers standing in a water pen, each person waiting his or her turn to perform some scripted interactions with a dolphin — including petting and kissing the animals. We have no photos of this process (customer photography was prohibited, but expensive photos could be purchased from the official photographer). The photo below shows Lyra on a trampoline. The guy running the ride let Lyra bounce & bounce for ten minutes (we think he would have let her bounce forever, but we adults eventually got impatient and hungry).     21.2343, -86.7410 

Cliff of the Dawn

The southeastern tip of Isla Mujeres is a park called Cliff of the Dawn, with sculptures, caves, and a small ruin. Windy! This is the easternmost point in Mexico.     21.2033, -86.7128 

Tortugranja

We visited the Tortugranja turtle sanctuary, where we could feed sea turtles in tanks. An enthusiastic staff member rushed in and out of the back room, bringing creature after creature for us to hold, including baby turtles, crabs, and a giant sea snail.     21.2215, -86.7320 

Cancún

We spent our last night in Mexico in downtown Cancún. There was plenty of activity in the square at Parque de las Palapas, the same spot where Lyra had "driven" her first car at age 1 .     21.1610, -86.8275 

We had dinner at the Labná restaurant, which was tasty but depressingly empty.

Night time — more car driving, some painting, a creepy fortune teller, and one last paleta!