Round Ferry Transfer From Tortugas To Isla Mujeres

What should have been an enjoyable day trip turned into one of the most frustrating and disappointing travel experiences I’ve ever had. We purchased two adult and one child round-trip tickets in advance, only to be told upon arrival that my niece required an adult ticket because she exceeded a supposed “height limit” that was never clearly disclosed during booking. Absolutely ridiculous and misleading! The customer service was ATROCIOUS. Sandy was unpleasant and dismissive, while Wendy was downright nasty, confrontational, and shockingly unprofessional. Her disgraceful attitude and handling of the situation nearly caused us to miss our ferry. As someone who works in hospitality, I was appalled by the blatant disrespect shown to paying customers. Unfortunately, Isla Mujeres was equally disappointing. Store owners relentlessly hounded us to come inside and spend money. The entire island felt like one giant tourist trap, with virtually nonexistent hospitality. We felt like walking wallets rather than welcomed visitors. Between Ultramar’s misleading ticketing practices, disgraceful employees, and the island’s aggressive vendors, this excursion was a complete waste of time and money. I will NEVER use Ultramar again or recommend Isla Mujeres to anyone. An absolute embarrassment to the hospitality industry. HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT!

You have to take your TripAdvisor booking and go get an exchange into an ultamar ticket. When you find the building, it takes 15 minutes for TripAdvisor to give you okay for them to print it. We missed our ferry because of this 15 minutes. And had to wait an hour and 15 minutes for the next one. Also, the Us website for ultamar isn't working. It's hard to find the ferry schedule.

Way overpriced ticket for tourist A regular price for a round trip for the ferry is 13 usd. Do your own research and don't buy from the terminal or the so called oficial site that they gave you.

As far as I'm concerned this service is more for taking locals and staff to and from the island. Tourists are secondary and targeted by scammers. Buying tickets was the first scam. A guy in the office tells us we can get on a boat in 10 minutes if we pay extra for Premium Plus to get in the fast line; or we can wait 45 minutes. We were fine paying extra. We proceed to pay for the 'fast pass' aka Premium Plus for $35, only to find out we were in the basic line anyway. What a crock. The locals are let on first and they pay $7 compared to our $35 ticket. If there's room, the tourists are then allowed on. There's nothing premium about this. We wait in line with everyone and get the same seats as everyone, so why is it so much more expensive for tourists? The second scam is the friendly local who chats you up on the boat and tells you to go to his store on the island. Don't fall for this. His name was Tony, but that was probably fake too. He's very charismatic and tells you to be wary of scammers who will target you because they see your hotel bracelet. Turns out he was warning us about himself. He encourages you to stop in his store when you are out shopping. You can't miss it...its directly across from the gas station, he says. He's not pushy, just friendly. He seems kind and genuine, talking about his grandmas shop, his family, etc. So you think...lets check out his store when we wander by. When you go to his store, that's where the pressure begins. He and his employees work really hard to sell you tequila (sugary junk) and jewelry. It looks legit...but its all FAKE. Tequila fake. Jewelry fake. They will claim the jewelry is quality metals and stones (palladium, tanzanite, sapphires, etc.) Its sterling silver and glass. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS.

Wasn’t hard to purchase tickets at the desk. We even booked our golf cart there before even going to the island. Price was fairly reasonable.

Just know if you buy tickets for this ferry off of Viator they won’t work when you go to board the ferry. They’ll send you to a different place to get actual tickets and you’ll be charged for a deposite to exhchange for actual tickets. By that time it’ll be too late because the ferry only docks for 5 minutes.

So I have a two part to this experience. The Ferry ride was nice, but to get the tickets was horrible! You had to get them from like the currency exchange and the lady working did not speak English and I don't speak Spanish. So she kept ignoring me and helping everyone else. We missed 3 ferrys until someone who spoke spanish assisted me.

Didn't go because you didn't send the money to them and had to pay out of pocket for something I already paid for

We bought our tickets online with our friends. When we arrived at the entrance, we were asked to pay an additional 170 pesos in cash. I asked why we had to pay extra, because we had already purchased our tickets online. They simply told us that it was an additional fee. Honestly, I feel like we were taken advantage of. I have no idea where that money went, and it made me feel like we were being scammed. I’m a visitor in your country, and I believe this kind of thing should not happen. Tourists should not be made to pay unexpected fees without a clear explanation. It is not right, and I am very disappointed with this experience.

UltraMar ferry was a great experience. Easy to book, great amenities on board (A/C on multiple decks, live music, drinks & snacks, outside seating and smooth sailing) 20 minutes sailing time, definitely worth the approximate $17USD each way price we paid! Definitely recommended

first off August is a horrible time to go to the island. It’s extremely hot. It’s overcrowded and the aggressive vendors make it feel like a tourist trap. Ultramar does not help. The ferry has two prices, one for mexican residence and the other one for people visiting from out of the country . I booked online and it came out to 104 for myself, my wife and my nine-year-old. when we got there, we were told my nine-year-old had to have an adult ticket. fine 10 bucks more. then we were told that we had to wait an hour and 40 minutes because it was all booked up and if we paid $33 more cash they could get us on. This is direct from an Ultramar representative. So for two adults and a kid it’s about $150 but felt like a scam. I wish I would’ve booked a catamaran from one of the smaller places…seemed like a better deal. The ferry was fast but air-conditioning went out mid trip. honestly, I live near the beach in Southern California and really could’ve gone without seeing the island. Felt more like a tourist trap. All the restaurants we went to on the beach wanted to charge a minimum of $90 to use credit card. All thechairs on the beach were for sale but required you buy drinks in food. so it was a good $350 to go to an hot over crowded beach with some bad food. i wouldn’t do it again.

Had a hiccup. They had me wait about 40 minutes to print my tickets. They said they had to get verification and the person who had access to viator was not available/responding. I was very understanding but this should be taken care of before i arrive as i did have to “reserve” the day. I had to leave on the next ferry due to this issue and was stressful to wait on someone all because it was a third party purchase

Our family of six had a deeply distressing experience with Ultramar Cancun during our trip to Isla Mujeres. What should have been a pleasant family outing was completely ruined by gross incompetence, poor communication, and blatant bias from a gate staff member identified as Claudia De La Mora. When purchasing our tickets at the counter, the agent processed our order—which included one child ticket for my daughter—without any issue or mention of height restrictions. After waiting an hour to board, Claudia De La Mora stopped us at the boarding gate, measured my daughter, and demanded we purchase an adult ticket. Though frustrated this wasn't caught at the counter, I agreed to pay the difference so my family wouldn't miss the ferry. I told her to let my wife and children board while I stayed behind to settle the payment with the counter agent, Omar Valverde who walked over with a mobile terminal. Ticketing agent, Omar Valverde assured me that the boat will not leave until I make a payment. What followed was a complete display of hostility and discrimination. My wife wears a veil, and Claudia De La Mora targeted us with evident prejudice. Even though the counter agent assured me the boat would wait while we resolved the transaction, and even though the ship's captain explicitly instructed her to let my family board, Claudia refused to let them on. She actively went after my family, overruled the captain, and barred them from boarding. To make matters worse, the payment delay was entirely Ultramar’s fault—the counter agent's card terminal wasn't working due to lack of Wi-Fi. Only after he tethered the machine to his personal phone did the transaction go through. By the time I paid, my family had been stranded on the dock, forced to wait another hour and a half for the next boat, all because Claudia De La Mora made a deliberate effort to ruin our experience. When we sought help, there was zero consideration, no empathy, and absolutely no assistance from the company. Every single staff member refused to take action. They refused to offer a refund for our tickets or make any attempt to rectify the situation. Their only response was an indifferent instruction to sit and wait for the next ferry. The situation was severe enough that we had to involve the Tourism Police. After evaluating what occurred, the police cited that Claudia De La Mora acted completely inappropriately and that the issue was caused by gross miscommunication and misconduct on Ultramar's end. Management needs to take immediate action regarding Claudia De La Mora's discriminatory conduct and complete disregard for customer service and leadership instructions. To fellow travelers: exercise extreme caution when booking with Ultramar. Until management addresses staff discipline, refund policies, and basic payment equipment, this company cannot be recommended.

We had a terrible experience at boarding. The traffic agent who supervisesthe tickets for boarding the ferry was extremely rude. Her name is CLAUDIA DE LA MORA. She didn’t want us to board saying we had discounted rate tickets (quintanarroenses fare). She called the person who sell us the tickets, and even was rude to her. We showed our ID to prove that the fare was right and even then she didn’t let us board. She said she had to take pictures of our ID, we didn’t want her to take a photo since these are official documents, but finally agreed. She said she was the person in charge, was very rude and yelling at us that the company was making us a favor because we had a discounted rate for locals and had us waiting for everyone on the line to pass and finally let us board last. This was at Playa Tortugas ferry , today Sunday July 26, 2026 at 10:00 am ferry to Isla Mujeres.

I time and quick. Boarding coming back as very busy as expected. The wait to return was very hot as they have you in lines in building with no breezy made for a very uncomfortable wait.

Worst service ever going back to Cancun. Took the ferry on Friday according to the times I was told on Thursday and they were different from the ones I was given on Thursday. Then going back to Cancun on Friday, we were told the hours going back and after being in a huge line for a half an hour where they told us to stand at the time we were given the ferry woild leave , once we were going to board they told us as well as other people in the same line to go to another line completely in a different area and that ferry would leave u til 5:30 pm. After speaking to the staff about it they still had the nerve to talk back to me and tell me to calm down but when a bigger group did the same the staff did not say anything to them like they did to me. I will never use this company ever again.

It is a waste of time in very long lines, no A/C, no fans, no place to rest, just hours standing in the heat. Ultramar does not respect the schedule announced on the website. Don't trust their schedule. It is exhausting. Since then I will always take only Ferry Xailing

No bueno! Paid extra to sit n the AC section and it was very hot, it was cooler outside. Plus they say 18 min, our trip was 30.

Fantastic, friendly and helpful. very professional operators. Booked my ticket directly and online.

Don’t use this service, save yourself the headache and the hassle, just go to the place and get the tickets. Worst experience I’ve had in a long time, just glad that it wasn’t a lot of money. I purchased ferry tickets a day of my birthday so we would have them ready ahead of time. Just to be told that the tickets will not work at the ferry terminal. And when trying to contact you guys, get no response. I hope that I can stop at least one person from using your scam service, if so then I will be happy!!!!!

Saxo ferry entertainment wow 10/10 The guy that not only sang / played the flute and played the guitar amazing !!

Booked on line the day before, as it was sold out for our original plan to go to the island and try to by tickets on the same day. Friendly people always there to assist with questions, look for the booth with the yellow shirts once you arrive, they will print you off a ticket ( due not lose as you will require to have it scanned and also for a return trip). They take a picture with a “ ship wheel” before you board and while on the Ferry as you if you would like to purchase it for I believe $200MX. There is also entertainment for the 25min ride ( man playing a guitar and singing on the top deck) no pressure to tip but it is diff appreciated. On the way back from Isla Mujeres more entertainment and someone selling snacks ….beer, juice, candy …etc. Overall the experience was decent, be prepared for ppl on both sides trying you to buy their merchandise and also saying they know you from your hotels ( recommend flipping your bracelet or coving it) can be a little overwhelming.

Very roomy and spacious ferry to get back-and-forth from the island.

Fast ride to Isla mujeres . Comfortable seating. Bathroom available on the boat. Buy tickets in advance online.

Staff was rude and was allowing local people to board and did not allow us to board and asked to wait for next ferry. We begged we have children ,but looks they prioritize locals..

It was an excellent journey over and back they had entertainment took about 2025 minutes to get over there from where we were staying

I encountered the nastiest employees trying to find the correct ferry queue line in Isla Mujeres. Two employees (in uniforms,) a man and woman, were at the beginning of several queue lines for the ferry. I excused myself and asked which was the correct line and the woman turned her back to me. I said "disculpe" again and repeated my question. The woman turned around and shook her head no. I said I was looking for the correct queue and just needed to know which line was the correct one. The woman shook her head and pointed to a group of other people wearing different uniforms. I was confused and asked if those employees worked for the ferry and then the male employee screamed at me that this was Mexico and I should speak Spanish. I was asking my questions half in english and half in Spanish since I did not know all the correct words. I guess they forgot that Cancun and Isla Mujeres were created in the 70's for tourism. Neither one of them should be working around people - they obviously hate their jobs and hate tourists - especially those who don't speak Spanish perfectly.

We travelled as a family of 3 with our 3 year old and saw someone on TikTok who recommended the ferry. I am so glad we chose this option to get to Isla mujeres as it was so quick and easy and a lot cheaper than paying for a day trip excursion. I liked that it meant we could stay as long as we liked too. The staff were very friendly and helped us to book a ticket which you can do online also. The boat was spacious with some live music on both journeys. The ferry was frequent and it was a really smooth journey. Definitely recommend!

As I was leaving the ferry a staff worker would not allow me to use the bathroom. Abrupt and rude, and blocking bathroom use for no apparent reason. Bathroom had been used by other people so I know it wasn’t out of order.

The whole process was disappointing I bought my ticket online when I arrived at dock they couldn't verify my online purchase. Eventually after about 20 min they let me board. After trying to get me to pay more money, a so called environmental fee.

A quick, easy and cost effective way to get to IM. We chose over a boat trip as we wanted more time on the island. It worked a treat and boats seemed to be every 30 minutes or so

They over sell tickets and don’t advertise that if the ferry gets full you need to wait 2 hours standing up, they don’t get another boat and don’t tell people anything I won’t recommend this ferry to anyone

These people suck !! Show up for first ferry with our baby . States online when buying tickets that babies are free. But when we get to the front they need a printed ticket. But they won’t print a ticket unless you buy a ticket. Just another Cancún scam . Never coming here again. Cancún pretty much sucks ass. Way better spots to go in Mexico than Cancun Corporate greed has ruined this place!!

worst experience ever, they sold us tickets when they knew that there was no space on the ferry. More tourists were arriving after us and they sold them tickets too even though they were not allowing us and people ahead of us to board. The ferry was packed to the gills, standing room only. The tickets were non-refundable and the staff were uncaring and unwilling to find a solution. We didnt end up going to Isla Mujeres mostly because we had lost all trust in the company and were afraid to be left on the island with no way home. Totally no one to talk to.

The ferry is nice and efficient, the staff is polite, however, last night, there was a musician playing music so loud that people were covering their ears and complaining, he would ignore everyone, and when he finally stopped, we approached politely to say that his music was nice but too loud, he got so upset and responded aggressively. He told us to go downstairs where there was no music because he did not care about people complaining. His name is Ivan. He really ruined the experience. Then he asked everyone for tips, the nerve!

Don't belive the one hour each way schedule between Tortugas and Isla mujeres They are not reliable. They have a separate schedule at the actual port

We took the second ferry of the day out. I wish they could put the departure and arrival timings on the web (or I couldn't find it). The playa tortugas ferry point is literally right next to a bus stop - making it easy to reach. For us, it was 2 min walk from Casa Tortuga hotel. You have to pay a local tax of 40-50 pesos (not too much). The ride was ~25 min and you dock at Isla mujeres. There was a live music performance on the ride - it looked like a local artist. So, mostly Mexican music. We loved the one our way back than the one onwards. Gets your travel need serviced.

RUN AWAY!!! Five of us waited over two hours to get on the ferry then they told us it broke down and we had to drive downtown to catch a different boat. We didn’t have time to do that so we tried to get our money back, but they refused. Now I’m disputing the $150 usd charge with Visa. DO NOT USE the Ultramar ferry!

We booked a return trip from Playa Caracoles to Isla Mujeres, the outward voyage was fine but on the return we were forced to get off the ferry at the first stop and were told the ferry was not going to our stop. They blamed sea conditions but as we had already crossed the roughest part and the remainder was along the coast, this was obviously not true. We assume that as there were only 6 of us they felt it was not worth taking us. We had to pay for a taxi back to our hotels - They just didn’t care! I understand this is not the first time this has happened!

We would not recommend booking this ferry through trip advisor. Even though we showed up half an hour in advance of the 9:00 a.m. ferry - the tour company didn't get confirmation from Trip Advisor or the Ultra Mar Ferry company didn't get confirmation from Trip Advisor... regardless they wouldn't let us on and we lost an hour of our time on Isla Mujeres. Although slightly cheaper on Trip Advisor - we had to cough up the environmental charge at Ultra Mar terminal anyway. Ultimately - Zero savings and much more hassle with ZERO assistance from Trip Advisor when in this bind. Book at the ferry terminal!

Cool boat, convenient sailing times. One VERY rude staff member who literally YELLED at me in front of everyone "bags in the back". HUH? There are no signs, no information and I tried to contact this company multiple times with a question on how to use my ticket and they never got back to me. Not very professionally run.

Great man who helped my friend and I navigate to our ferry! We couldn't have done it without him! Gracias amigo Apolonio Martinez

Ride was great. We were traveling with my older mother and they made sure we were all on the below as it was so hot at that time of year. Ride was smooth, AC was fantastic.

We had an excellent experience with the Ultramar Ferry traveling from Cancun to Isla Mujeres. The entire process was smooth and well-organized. The staff at the ticket desk were outstanding—especially the lady who assisted us. She went above and beyond by providing us with a ticket we could use later during our trip for another route (Playa del Carmen to Cozumel), which was incredibly helpful. Overall, it was a fantastic experience, and we highly recommend Ultramar for anyone traveling between these destinations.

We booked our return tickets online to travel from Playa Caracol to Isla Mujeres. The ticket was open for six months, so once booked it was a case of turning up at the Port on the day we wanted to travel, thirty minutes before the sailing. Monday 28th October we turned up at Playa Caracol hoping to catch the 10.45 ferry. However, as the pier was damaged the ferry way unable to leave from Playa Caracol. We along with other passengers had to catch the local bus to board the ferry from Playa Tortugas. It got a bit confusing, those passengers who had booked their tickets from kiosk at the Port, the company paid their bus fare. As we had booked online we had to pay our own fare, only 12 Pesos, roughly 50 pence, for the fifteen minute ride. On arrival at Playa Tortugas we boarded rather full ferry, we got on and got seated on the top deck, so no worries. The ferry smoothly glided away from the Pier at 10.50. It was a calm crossing to the Island where we arrived at 11.20, thirty minute sailing. Our return sailing was due to depart at 14.15, there was a slight delay and we departed 14.25 arriving at Playa Tortugas at 14.55 The total return fare for the two of us was $60.44 US Dollars (roughly £47), this included the taxes of Environmental Sanitation Rights and Overseas Assistance. In general the service was efficient, smooth and the ferries were clean, modern and well maintained. However, there were a few issues that sort of took the shine off things. There was a lady walking up and down the deck selling snacks and cold drinks. Thought $10 USD for a can of beer and a packet of chips (crisps) was rather over priced. As we walked along the jetty, there was an old ship's wheel, where passengers could pose and have an official photograph taken. Two ladies then attempted to sell the photos, during the sailing, these were $8 USD each. During the sailing the was a guy singing on the upper deck, he was not very good and then expected a tip. Thankfully there was no singing on the return trip. Found the extras to be a bit money grabbing.

We were leaving out of playa Tortugas to Isla Mujeres and we have always taking UltraMar!! And even though it has gotta expensive like 45 bux round trip it was ok!! Comfortable trip to the island !! We hear xcaret has a new ship doing this now!! But I’m sure it’s around same price!! We will be back

Great quick ride to IM. Inside was nice with bathroom and A/C or you can sit outside on deck and catch all the pretty views.

We took a ferry to Isla Mujeres return. It was organised, delightful and entertaining. There was a guy on the ferry singing. Views on the open top were lovely. You can sit downstairs in the air con area. You can buy tickets online and present a QR code or buy there and then. It was around £30pp return. So worth it!

Bought tickets from ticketoffice by the ferry at 11.45 am for departure with 12 ferry from playa tortuga. The ticket office did not mention that the 12 pm ferry was full (long que) and the next ferry is at 1.30 pm. We needed to stay 1,5 hours in que waiting for the next ferry. They did not give us refund…. Apparently ticket office get commision for sales and don’t get paid for good service…