Isla Mujeres, the "Island of Women", is a small narrow island in the Caribbean, just outside of Cancun. It's fairly easy to get to using buses and a ferry from Cancun airport, which is well connected with the entire world. The island is lovely and in my opinion strongly preferable over the ritzy resorts of Playa del Carmen. It's easy to get around by foot or bike, or as the elderly tourists do, by golf cart. Beyond BTCMaps I used BTC Isla Map to find businesses that accept sats.

The island is very touristy and suffers from the same logistical problems as most other parts of Mexico: Tourists no longer bring cash with them. Credit card processing fees are usually passed on to the consumer, so there often is a 3-5% surcharge on the bill when paying with card. On top of that, you will typically get hit with the "foreign exchange rate scam," where the payment terminal will prompt you to pay in the currency of your card, instead of pesos. This will cost you an additional 10% in fees, some of it seems to go to the merchants, as they love that feature and will often confirm this for you on the screen if you don't pay close enough attention. Getting cash is expensive too, there is a 5% fee for exchanging USD at a forex broker, and higher for other currencies. Withdrawing cash from a bank ATM isn't always straight forward as there aren't many, they may be empty or out of service, and there is typically a US$10-20 flat fee.

It is no surprise that Bitcoin payments are taking hold on the island. The Bitcoin Isla project is spearheaded by Isabella Santons (Stacker News AMA here). Together with Claudio she runs Mayakita, a nice hotel in the middle of the island, right by the coast.

🚕There's a taxi dispatch service on the island that takes Bitcoin. You can message +529981038449 on Whatsapp and fetch a ride, typically for about 150-200 pesos. I myself only took one taxi during my time there, precisely to try it out, but my driver did not accept Bitcoin even after I specified that I wanted to pay over Lightning at the dispatch. But I do know it works because I meet other people who succeed.

🏖️At Mayakita there is a small restaurant with a bar and rooftop cafe, a few single rooms and villas with living rooms, kitchens and multiple bedrooms. There are rooftops with great views over the ocean, tubs and a small swimming pool. It's all very inviting and I'm enjoying my stay. On my first day, I decide to have lunch around the area, because I see a few places around me on the map, but some of them might not exist, and others aren't open. So I have lunch at Mayakita. There are Bitcoin signs and stickers all around, and the staff are wearing Bitcoin-themed uniforms. I order the Shrimp Cevice and a coke, which comes to a total of about US$26. More expensive than back home, but we are on a remote island, afterall. I ask to pay with Bitcoin and am directed to the counter, where I'm shown my bill. It includes some suggested tipping amounts. I choose the lowest, but then the cashier enters the original amount into the Coinos web app and selects the 10% tipping option. Coinos has been difficult for me to reach recently, with Lightning Network fees up to 0.5% percent. In this payment I pay 0.3% in fees, which I find quite high.

🛒There's a small convenience store nearby. I want to get a bottle of water, and I ask to pay with Bitcoin. The cashier asks the manager, who directs them to an app on their phone that I don't recognize. She shows me an onchain address, but we cannot find Lightning in the app. We give up and I leave the store without buying anything.

🍳I have breakfast at Bistro Isla. The manager is quite chatty and tells me right away he doesn't accept Bitcoin, only the owner does. He finds it too difficult and he doesn't see the point. Card processing fees don't seem to bother him, and he doesn't charge a premium over cash payments. He tells of an English couple that came the day before that was also disappointed he didn't accept Bitcoin. He says that if he had a dedicated Bitcoin POS, he would accept it, because it is easy, but he doesn't like to navigate to some website on his phone.

💸There is a "Cryptobox" ATM at the Bitcoin Cafe, and another one at Bistro Isla. At first I fail to use either because the verification SMS never arrive, but eventually I ask a local for help, and I am able to "invest" in Mexican pesos. The delivery of the one-time code might be smoother if you use a phone number associated with a WhatsApp account, and have the message sent to the app instead. With only the phone number as verification, I can only withdraw either 500 or 1000 pesos. (US$29-58). I assume there are some limits on how many times per day or week I can use the machine, but I do not find out. For comparison, at the ferry pier you can exchange up to US$980 at a time without showing ID. The ATM accepts Lightning payments, which of course I make use of. The rate is quite competitive, I calculate a 3.2% fee on top of the mid-market exchange rate. That's a better rate than at the fiat ATM or the currency changers. An American or Canadian tourist would definitely be better off using this machine with their Cash App/Strike/Shakepay Account over other methods. It takes my node over a minute to find a route to the destination, as the recipient node is difficult to reach and "hidden" behind Kraken, which themselves is hard to reach. I pay 0.32% in Lightning routing fees, which seems unnecessarily high.

🍊Mini Super Go is a small and welcoming little store by the main road towards the middle of the island. I ask to pay with Bitcoin and the owner happily says yes. He localizes his Bitcoin POS under the counter, but the battery seems empty. Even after plugging the charger in, he cannot get it to work, so he opens his phone instead and gives me an invoice through Wallet of Satoshi. He says that only one person ever pays with Bitcoin, la "Bitcoin chica." As I come back another time a different person is behind the counter. The PoS terminal is charged now but she doesn't know which app to select. I can see a few familiar logos on the screen but don't say anything. She goes to the back room and comes back giving me an invoice through Wallet of Satoshi, and I show her the 'Point of Sale' feature of the app in the hope that it feels easier and more professional in the future.

🍻The town at the northern end of the island is the lively part of town. This is the most walkable and convenient part of Isla Mujeres. On the eastern shore, which is always windy, is a beautiful walk right along the water. Here I find Tiny Gecko, a pub with cheesy live music. I buy a beer and ask to pay with Bitcoin, and the manager immediately agrees. I get him to download Wallet of Satoshi and pay for my drink, plus a "welcome
to Bitcoin tip." As I return for another beer later I am told that the owner of the place does not want to accept Bitcoin payments, as he doesn't know how to convert it.

🌮Tacos Toro is a street food cart near the center of town. They specialize in Tacos, and as I ask to pay with Bitcoin the owner pulls out Blink and gives me an invoice over the amount. No questions, no extra fees, no prompts for tips, a great experience. The taco itself is good, too.

🍒Right next do the taco stand is a neat little place to get dessert. You can get Marquesitas, sweet pancakes, and Churros, deep fried dough sticks. The manager uses Blink to collect my payment, which goes through promptly.

☕Neko Coffee is on the far northern side of the main town. They also make fresh sandwiches and have a wide variety of coffee. There's a large Bitcoin sign by the counter, giving me confidence my sats will be accepted, but when it comes to paying the server apologizes and says it's currently unavailable. I excuse myself and am about to ride off as the manager arrives, ready to take my payment through Blink wallet.

🍔Isla Burger is affiliated with Bistro Isla, where I didn't have any luck with Bitcoin payments. But here everything goes smoothly. There's a Bitcoin sticker at the door, staff is familiar with the system, and I am able to remind them to charge their Bitcoinize machine ahead of time, because of course it isn't.

🐟The best meal I had on Isla Mujeres was definitely at Fuego de Mar, not far from the Bitcoin Cafe. As I walk in and ask to pay with Bitcoin I am enthusiastically welcomed. The manager even brings her Bitcoinize machine to show she is prepared. I order the "catch of the day," a black grouper, baked in almonds. It tastes wonderful. I have a lava cake for dessert and a sangria, all recommendations of the waiter. As it comes to payment, of course the Bitcoinize turns out to be out of battery. Instead the manager pulls out her phone and gives me an invoice, at first denominated in U.S. dollar, not pesos. We change the currency and I get the right invoice, and I notice I am the first one to make a payment to her Wallet of Satoshi account.

Isla Mujeres is easy to get to, especially from large cities in North America. It's definitely worth the trip, especially to hang out at the Bitcoin Cafe and spend some sats around town. The shops could definitely use a few more people spending sats, and that should give them a better deal than exchanging cash or using a credit card. The island seems ripe for Bitcoin adoption, but the pieces are not yet fully in place. People I talked to didn't always know how to use their apps, and were worried about not being able to pay their bills with Bitcoin, or get local currency. I was wondering how many of the American tourists around me had Cash App. It would be advantageous for them too, to pay and withdraw cash over the Lightning Network. But there are no currency changers that swap sats, and no Bitcoin ATMs in the busy part of town. And who will tell them?

View from the Bitcoin cafe.

Tacos from Taco Toro

Breakfast from Neko Cafe

Bitcoin Accepted stickers at Burger Isla

The churros cart