The shallow lagoon on the mainland side was a good place for sailors to sit out major storms, careen their hulls and trade for salt.

Mundaca lived on the island for quite some time, building a large hacienda with which he hoped to entice a local beauty, Martiniana (Prisca) Gómez Pantoja, into marriage.

[6] Like much of the rest of the tourism industry, Isla Mujeres was economically devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic, although case numbers remained relatively low on the island itself.

There are numerous places to eat fresh seafood cooked with local and traditional recipes, and other restaurants offer Mexican, Yucatecan, Italian, Caribbean, Mediterranean, Israeli, French, Thai, Cuban, and Maya cuisine, among others.

[citation needed] In the north is El Centro (downtown), whose central axis, Hidalgo Street, is the main dining and entertainment area.

The Cancún Underwater Museum, created by English sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor, is located off the western coast of Isla Mujeres.

Because of the recent endangerment of sea turtles in the area, a facility named Tortugranja was set up on the southern end of the island for their rehabilitation and breeding.

[16] The island's relative proximity to Cuba has made it a popular stepping stone for Cubans trying to reach the United States in recent years.

Shopping on the island for residents was limited for many decades, leading day trips to Cancún (sometimes on a specialized ferry for automobiles and shipping trucks) to be a common necessity to purchase items such as a television or foods not stocked at one of the many minisupers (locally run convenience stores) or the downtown supermercado (supermarket) located in the city square.

As the tourism industry increased in the later part of the 2000s, businesses such as Chedraui[19] began to establish a presence, providing residents with less need for repeated trips to Cancún.

By the early '00s, technologies such as cable television, the arcade cabinet (most commonly an original or repurposed Neo Geo) and cellular phones were beginning to become commonplace with local households.