The Little Devils of Isla Mujeres

Delivering vegetables to Hidalgo Avenue

“Bicycle?” he asks with a smile, pointing at his specialized vehicle a diablito (little devil).  It’s a combination of a cart and a bicycle welded together in an ingenious fashion.   

The maleteros, bellboys, or bicycle-couriers are a hard working bunch of guys who meet all of the arriving and departing passenger boats.  They offer their portage services to everyone.   

On this particular day two of the maleteros have been hired by a local restaurant owner to cart his heavy purchases from the passenger boat a few blocks to his restaurant on Hidalgo Avenue.  Boxes of ripe tomatoes and aromatic peppers are stacked on top of sturdy cartons of supplies.  Sacks of green cabbage heads and crisp white onions are balanced to one side – the bright red diablitos are loaded and ready to go.  Both maleteros are wearing the sponsored t-shirt of the day, this one from Casa España.  It’s a clever way to identify the legitimate porters.

Bellboys (porters) loading packages on UltraMar

On the other side of the bay at the UltraMar docks in Puerto Juarez, the white porters’ tunics with navy trim, and “Bellboy” embroidered over the pocket strive to create a hotel-resort atmosphere.  This subtle visual reference is presumably designed to ease the concerns of tourists as most travellers will have encountered a bellboy in a safe and familiar hotel situation.  

Puerto Juarez - hotel-style uniforms for porters

To complete the resort illusion the porters use a traditional hotel cart to move packages, not the bicycle-cart diablito.  They will offer to transport heavy bags and purchases down to the docks, stacking luggage in piles for easy loading onto the boats. 

Embarking passengers wait sheltered under large canvas sunshades – chatting amiably with friends if they are familiar with the routine, or eyeing their luggage fearfully if they are new to the island. On the Isla Mujeres side of the water, the procedure is similar, but we have noticed that people are less worried about their possessions on the return trip now that they know the system.

Passengers waiting to board at Puerto Juarez docks

It is always a bit amusing to see a tourist react with suspicion at the suggestion that they turn over their precious baggage to a stranger.  Although to be fair, the first time we arrived on Isla we didn’t feel comfortable enough to let someone walk off with our suitcases.  

Now, we are so accustomed to the service, we gladly let someone else cart our heavy items.  Disembarking on Isla, we hand over our goods, describe in Spanglish where our vehicle is parked and part company.  We walk out the passenger exit, while the maletero must go around to an exit for the diablito.  We meet up again a few blocks down the street where we indicated the golf cart was parked.  For just a few dollars it’s a nice treat, especially for my shoulder and knee joints! 

Diablitos - bicycle/cart combination 

On Isla there is the added service of the bicycle-couriers transporting heavy items directly to hotels in centro, or the customers’ place of business, or to a near-by vehicle.  

And as with every form of transportation on Isla, people become very inventive on what will fit on a diablito: 50-inch TV, propane tanks, groceries, large pails of paint, pet carriers, lumber, mattresses, and of course suitcases.  Some enterprising operators also use their diablito to transport family members when it is not being used to earn a living.  Mom and the kids pile in the cart portion and papa provides the pedal power on the bicycle.

Maleteros - use  hand carts as well as diablitos

Maleteros, bellboys, and bicycle-couriers work for tips.  Be generous.  It’s a hot and physical job.

Hasta Luego 

Lynda and Lawrie

“My only worry - is the tide gonna reach my chair?”

Living on the edge of the sweet blue ocean, watching the tide, and listening to Zac Brown's music – it just doesn’t get any better.

Lawrie and I have had boats of various forms most of our lives: rowboats, speed boats, work boats, and even some beautiful big cruising boats.  

We know about tides and tide tables; that’s the handy-dandy information that tells you when the sea level is due to rise to high tide and six hours later when it will recede to low tide.  In, out, higher, lower; every six hours, every day of every year, into infinity. 

Lawrie on our Sealander in BC

So imagine our surprise when we first discovered that the tides on Isla Mujeres are minimal.  It’s one of the quirks of living closer to the equator where tide-change is almost non-existent.  

In the Vancouver area, we frequently experienced dramatic tidal differences of ten, twelve, or fifteen feet (5 meters) between the high tide and low tide.  Here on Isla, if I look at the tide tables the difference between high tide and low tide is just a few inches. 

In the tropics wharves and docks are stationary, fixed to their pilings.  In Vancouver, all the wharves and docks have various mechanisms that allow the floating platforms to rise higher or drop down depending on the tides.  

BC the ramp at mid-tide.  It gets very steep!

Ramps for accessing the docks on some days can be very steep, slippery affairs necessitating a firm grip on the handrails to prevent you from sliding down and landing in an ungainly heap on the dock.  

Here on Isla, things are level.  If there happens to be a slightly higher tide due to a storm surge, well your feet get wet.  Too bad, but at least you won’t slip and spill your beer.

Passenger boats loading for Isla 

In areas of big tidal swings the loading and unloading of cargo takes on new dimensions.  Heavy crates are lugged up the steep ramps.  The cargo going down the ramps has to be controlled otherwise it could slide and tumble, scattering across the docks when it thumps onto the floating dock.  In coastal British Columbia ambulance stretchers take a lot of careful maneuvering to ensure the patient stays on the stretcher and is not deposited in the ocean for an unscheduled swim.  On an icy winter night, with a big tide differential, this can be an exciting adventure.  We know.  We were volunteer ambulance attendants for several years on a similarly-sized Canadian island, Bowen Island.

 

Tourists heading back from Isla to Cancun

Here in the tropics, the ambulance attendants are able to wheel the stretchers directly to the boarding ramp and hoist the patient across the railings of the boat and into the cabin.  For commercial cargo and tourists’ suitcases the Isla Mujeres bicycle porters “Maleteros” gather dockside, load up the cargo, and then pedal off to their destinations.

British Columbia - skipper made a mistake

A few years ago when we still lived in Vancouver we saw the dramatic results of a commercial fisherman who either hadn’t paid attention to the changing tides, or he fell asleep after an exhausting night of working the nets.  His boat was well and truly jammed up on sharp rocks, awaiting the next high tide.  Embarrassingly for him, the next really high tide, high enough to free the boat was not for another eighteen hours. 

Isla Mujeres - Capt. Nephi sinking.

In the meantime, when boats are run aground here on Isla Mujeres, it is usually for emergencies, or to make repairs.  Two years ago the skipper of the Capt. Nephi had to ground his boat on the west side of the island.  He was taking on water at sea.  The navy cruiser rescued the crew and boat, pulling it to safety and leaving it in shallow waters.  It was a dramatic end to his day, but not nearly as dramatic as the skipper who tried to steer his boat over the rocks in British Columbia. 

Beautiful water of Isla Mujeres

So this whole musing on tides, water, and boats started because Lawrie had been looking for a small boat, one we could use to poke around in paradise.