My friend came out to join me in mexico and we took a day trip to Isla Blanca from our hotel in down town cancun. She is a pretty seasoned traveller so although it was her first time in mexico she knows how to find deals and get around cheaply. We had been relying on taxis on the most part but she helped me learn how to use the local bus service called the collectivo. It鈥檚 only 50 pesos, which is the equivalent of 拢1.71. If your staying in mexico a while you really need to learn how to make use of the public transport even though it can be a bit hard to get your head around at first.
Finding it is somewhat difficult as there isn鈥檛 a bus stop, per say, for the collectivo and you just have to wait outside a meeting place. When we got there a few locals directed us to the right place and it was just outside this shop, I鈥檝e inserted a map of close to where it is too.
The journey from down town cancun is only around 30 minutes but the last part of it when you get close to Isla Blanca is all potholes and Increadibly bumpy. There are two morning buses one at 7 am ish and one at 11 am, that we got.
Isla blanca isn鈥檛 actually an island but rather a peninsula running between the Caribbean Sea and Chacmuchuc Lagoon. It鈥檚 very quiet and secluded and because Its somewhat difficult to get to mostly frequented by locals. I found it to be very friendly and a guy actually came up to check we knew how to get the bus back etc. I鈥檓 so used to people trying to rip me off as a tourist here I was just expecting him to be trying to sell me a taxi ride by pretending there was no bus home but he was actually just being purely friendly and restored my faith a little in Mexican people.
When you enter there are two paths, one side is to the lagoon and on the other side the ocean.
The beach is stunningly beautiful with white sands and turquoise sparkly water. There was a lot of sea weed but that is an issue across mexico right now. It bothered my friend a bit but I didn鈥檛 mind as it鈥檚 just nature.
There isn鈥檛 much there, which is what adds to its vibe as relaxed and peaceful. There is just a toilet that costs 10 pesos and a small restaurant that sells young coconuts. They do this amazing thing that after you drank the juice they cut up the flesh and squeeze lime on it and put chilli on. It is so delicious I had it three times. I鈥檝e been trying to re create it now I鈥檓 back home but so far not made it taste anything like the same.
We decided to go for an adventure and walk all the way along the beach. The thicker beach came to an end after about 25 minutes walking and there was a very thin strip with rocks and then a lot more grass and land. Where the bus drops you off is the thinnest point of the peninsula with just lagoon, a slither or sand and the ocean.
Just before this is a small coconut grove with lots of fallen coconuts and an old deserted beach hut. I found a green coconut still full and not eaten by birds on the floor which, got us inspired to pick a couple and open them. There is nothing but like getting your own coconut water and doing every part of the process.
You can see my post about collecting and cracking open the coconuts here:
@ultravioletmag/how-i-know-i-would-survive-on-a-desert-island
To get home you need to get the collectivo from the same place it dropped you off at 4:50 pm. This is the only one that goes back and if you miss it it鈥檚 a really really long walk back to the road you can get a taxi... so don鈥檛 miss it. There are only a couple of hotels there and they are pretty expensive I believe.
The bus makes quite a lot of stops and soon fills up. For someone from a country where driving without a seatbelt is illegal ita kind of crazy seeing the mini bus driving now with the door open and someone sat right next to it not holding on 馃ぃ
Here is a video I made of the day :)
