Isla Contoy Visitors Guide
How to Get There, Things to Do & More
Updated October 2023
Welcome to Isla Contoy Mexico
Isla Contoy is one of the most enchanting day trips you can take when you visit the Mexican Caribbean. The island is home to over 150 tropical bird species and four types of endangered sea turtles. These animals and a handful of scientists are the only full time inhabitants on this heavily protected island. Since the island has strict regulations, there are a few logistical things you need to plan for ahead of time. Here is everything you should know before visiting Isla Contoy!
Contents
Where is Isla Contoy?

Isla Contoy is a small island in the northeast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. This untouched natural wonder is just a few miles off the coast of Cancun and near to Isla Mujeres. Isla Contoy is widely considered one of the best and most unique of the Yucatan islands. Located on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef (the second-longest coral reef system in the world), Isla Contoy is in a perfect spot for turquoise Caribbean waters, white sand beaches, and world-class diving and snorkeling. This is DEFINITELY the island life!
How to Get to Isla Contoy
You can only visit Isla Contoy through a boat tour as there is no way of reaching the island on your own. To preserve the island’s lush natural habitat, it has a limit of 200 guests per day. Most tours offer roughly the same package, so you can choose the one that is most convenient for you.
Generally, a tour to Isla Contoy:
What You Need To Know
Before going on the trip, you should review your tour’s information and guidelines. Some important general information that you should know includes:
Just wanted to write and say that I love all of these visitors guides. These take a lot of the guess work out of planning for a Mexico vacation. Thank you for these.
You are most welcome. We love helping people experience this beautiful part of the world.
We took a tour here a while ago, pre-covid. It really gave off tropical island vibes – we had the most amazing lunch with local foods and saw the beautiful sea life and that really impressed the kids.
I came across this visitor guide while researching things to do on our last trip to Mexico. My family ended up booking one of the boat tours suggested here, and we highly recommend it. We all had such an amazing time.
This is great. We can’t wait to visit Isla Contoy when we get to Cancun.
Thank you for the helpful information. We cant wait to visit Isla Contoy when we visit Mexico in June!
This post is great! Thank you for putting this together, I will definitely be visiting Isla Contoy now. It just sounds magical.
Isla Contoy was the best part of our trip to the Yucatan. HIGHLY recommended. Thanks!
Thank you for your extensive information on Isla Contoy.. Looking forward to experience the beauty of the island.
Isla Contoy looks like such a change of pace from Cancun and Playa. We appreciate your helpful information and will visit next time we are in the area. I love sea turtles!
We will be in Playa Del Carmen in April. We hope to see this island.