This Beautiful & Remote Isle Sits Only 12 Miles Outside Cancun

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Isla Blanca And What Makes It Such A Beautiful Destination

Activities And Attractions At Isla Blanca

How To Get To Isla Blanca

In what could barely be considered a drive, 12 miles north of Cancun is a location totally unlike the popular Mexican beach city. With miles of beaches on either side and with much of it scarcely populated, Isla Blanca is a great escape to take during a trip to Cancun.

Whether travelers enjoy relaxing on white sand beaches, kite surfing, fly-fishing, or surfing, there will be something for them to experience during a visit to Isla Blanca. It's hard to believe this beautiful and remote Isle sits only 12 miles outside of Cancun.

Isla Blanca And What Makes It Such A Beautiful Destination

Just 12.4 miles (20km) north of Cancun, Isla Blanca feels like a vastly different destination. The busy hotel-laden hustle and bustle of Cancun’s shores are a far cry from this narrow stretch of land where on one side, there is the Laguna Chacmuchuch, and to the other is the vibrant Caribbean. This untouched peninsula is an aesthetic natural gem within reach during a visit to Cancun.

The draw to Isla Blanca is vastly different from that of most of Cancun. There is no traffic here. There aren’t any towering hotels or nightclubs packed with people. All travelers visiting Isla Blanca will find white sand beaches to one side and a shallow lagoon to the other. Stead winds make the lagoon popular with kite borders. Fly fishers will likely also be spotted. There are a few old beach clubs and occasionally a beachcomber. But other than that, this is a remote and ideal location to simply relax.

Isla Blanca may mean “White Sand,” but in reality, it isn’t an island. Being a peninsula makes it a bit easier to access. Though, during some storms, the tide rises over the narrower sections making a genuine island out of it.

Activities And Attractions At Isla Blanca

With an incredible stretch of both lagoon and ocean waterfront, Isla Blanca offers quite a variety to those who visit. Travelers can simply enjoy the white sand beaches which the peninsula is named from. Or perhaps they explore the lagoon. All of this is possible at Isla Blanca.

Isla Blanca beaches

With over 12 miles (20 km) of Caribbean beaches, it would take travelers as long, if not longer, to walk along all of them than to walk back to Cancun. Though to access some beaches isn’t as easy as others as stretches of fenced or barbed-wired land separate the beaches from access points. The Beaches are all public, though, so as long as travelers can access them without crossing private property, they are found. Accessing the beaches by the water is one way to do this. Some parking lots are available and will charge 1.5 USD to 2.5 USD. A lot of these more remote beaches are wonderfully secluded and have more of a wild feel to them.

If travelers want to continue on-road north to a beautiful narrow stretch where the lagoon and ocean are accessible on either side, then they will have to pay a toll. The Cielito Lindo Restaurant has a stretch of fence blocking the road. If travelers want to pass, they need to pay what will likely be between 2.5 USD and 5 USD to pass. They will also be allowed to park on the restaurant's property.

Beaches - Public but private lands occasionally create barricades
Park Cost - 1.5 to 2.5 USD
The Cielito Lindo Toll - 2.5 to 5 USD

Kite Surfing

Kite surfing fanatics should be excited to check out the incredible conditions of the vast saltwater lagoon. Laguna Chacmuchuch enjoys consistently strong winds from November through June and has few natural obstacles making it ideal for kite surfing. The lagoon is also fairly flat in shallow. It never gets much deeper than waist-high. It is a safe place for beginners and offers winds strong enough to enable skilled kite surfers to have some fun.

Ikarus is of the area’s best places for kite surfing rentals and lessons. Travelers looking to kite surf during a visit to Isla Blanca.

Ikarus - Google Maps

Fly-Fishing

If travelers have ever dreamed of fly-fishing through endless little islands, mangrove channels, and flats to explore, they should visit Isla Blanca. This 58 square mile (150 square kilometers) lagoon is home to a vast variety of fish species all year. This is also a great location for anglers to attempt to land a grand slam in a single day. A grand slam includes catching a Permit, Tarpon, Snook, and Bonefish and is incredibly possible from May to September.

There are fishing trips here that leave from Cancun. They will run for $425 a day and include an experienced local fisherman as a guide, amongst other accommodations.

Fly Fish Isla Blanca - Fishing Tour

How To Get To Isla Blanca

Reaching Isla Blanca from Cancun’s airport is quite easy, and there are a few choices. Travelers can bus in easily enough. It is cheap and just takes 28 minutes. If travelers are accessing the bus from terminal two, that will take about 51 minutes. Taxing, driving, shuttling, or taking a town car in are all options too.