This was a very different vacation for me. We took two trips to Cancun to get stuff for the apartment and the weather pretty much sucked most of the time. Anyone who knows me knows that I love to sit on the beach and soak up the sun. I can do that for 8 hours a day, day after day. Well not so this trip. I can count on one hand the number of really good beach days over the last 16 days that I spent on the island. Even some days when the sky was blue the wind was too fierce to go to the beach.
For the Isleanos there was hope that this holiday would be the high, high season to make up some for the previous really slow months. I have spent the holidays on Isla for the last six years and have never had this kind of cold weather long-term or seen it so quiet.
There have been very few daytrippers coming over from Cancun the last several days. Golf carts and motos are sitting unrented, restaurants and bars are suffering from lack of business, especially those along the waterfront on Medina.
I leave tomorrow as the next cold front moves in. For a lot of visitors this is their once a year trip to Isla and they won’t be back until next year. Unfortunately some may write off Isla and not return at all after their experience. I will be back maybe as soon as March and then a couple more time this year. I am one of the lucky ones.
Updated 1/15:
True story… I shared a van to the airport with a couple who stayed at Privilege Aluxes. This was their first trip to Isla. They said they enjoyed themselves and did not have a bad meal or poor service anywhere. They asked me a lot of questions about Isla. When I asked them if they would return to Isla they said probably not since they didn’t feel the whole island vibe because the weather was so cold. They “didn’t get” the island so I didn’t try to persuade them otherwise to return.
Things I did that I don’t usually do:
- Wear long pants out to dinner
- Wear a long sleeve sweatshirt out to dinner and during the day while driving around in the golf cart
- Shop in Cancun and the hated Walmart twice, Telebodego and Chedarui
- Eat breakfast in several mornings. I usually love to go eat breakfast out but I cooked eggs and bacon and had toast or bagels several mornings
Things I didn’t do that I usually do:
- Spend every day at the beach
- Spend a day or two at Villa Vera enjoying the pool
- Eat dinner out every night. We ate home cooked meals and leftovers several nights
This was sunset yesterday 1/13. It was gorgeous.
Filed under: beaches, Holidays, Isla Mujeres, Mexico, Sunsets, Travel, vacations | Tagged: beach, Isla Mujeres, Mexico, vacation |
Jackie, sorry the weather was so bad during your vacation. we are going down tomorrow & I have repacked a little to add more warm clothes……and a deck of cards and a few games since we may be forced to be inside more than usual! I feel bad, not for us, but we convinced some friends to come this year for the 1st time…They’ve been in FL for the last month so they know how chilly it’s been, but still! Hopefully at least the sun will be out some days–for us it will still be much warmer than it’s been in CT
Ann,
Hopefully the temps will warm up. It’s the locals that I feel sorry for losing much business this time of year.
Wow I barely missed you. I flew home from Isla (Cancun) on the 29th as you were arriving. We had great weather but it was getting cold when I left. I’m glad you are getting to go back soon. I wish I could say I was going back in March.