Isla Contoy Rules 2026: Visitor Cap, Sunscreen Ban and What to Bring

⭐ The short answer: No, not in practice. Isla Contoy is a federal national park with no ferry, no hotels and no residents, and only operators with a park permit may land visitors. The park holds visits to about 200 people a day, so the only realistic way in is a licensed boat trip from Cancún, Isla Mujeres or the Riviera Maya.

That answer surprises people who have taken the public ferry to Isla Mujeres and assume the next island north works the same way. It does not. Isla Contoy has been a national park since 1998, and Riviera Maya News summed up the access rule in May 2025: visitors "must obtain authorization and join an approved tour." Reference sources describe the same system, with only a few authorized companies allowed to bring people over. You cannot hire a fisherman in Isla Mujeres to drop you off for the day, and a private yacht would still need park authorization before anyone stepped ashore.

So the main Isla Contoy rules start before you leave the dock: pick a licensed operator, carry the cash fee they ask for, and leave the sunscreen in your bag. If you have not picked a boat yet, our guide to the Isla Contoy tour from Cancún compares the day trips, their prices and what each one includes. This page covers what you can and cannot do once you are there.

The park's rules come from its management program, the 2025 management plan for the island's turtle-nesting beaches and the conditions each licensed operator sets. Where they differ, we give you the stricter version, because the crew on your boat applies the stricter one.

ℹ️ Rules checked against SEMARNAT's 2025 management plan for the Isla Contoy beach sanctuary, Mexican press from 2023 to 2026 and the published conditions of the licensed operators on October 26, 2026. Ask your crew on the day: rangers can tighten the rules during nesting season or bad weather.

The Isla Contoy daily visitor limit is 200 people. That number has held for years, and it was tested in 2023: Yucatán newspaper Por Esto reported in October 2023 that a request to raise the island's capacity was rejected, that "only 200 daily visitors will be allowed", and that the park's management program had not changed. Some operators had pushed for 250 a day. The same report admitted the cap had often been exceeded in earlier years, with boats rated for 10 passengers carrying 15.

How busy does it really get? In March 2026 Por Esto reported that the park recorded 56,918 visitors in 2025. Spread across the year, that is an average of about 156 people a day, below the cap but close enough that busy days fill up. When we checked live availability on October 26, 2026, the most-reviewed shared trip was sold out for that day.

What the cap means for your trip

• Book ahead in high season. December to April and the summer holidays are when dates go first. A few days' notice is usually enough outside those weeks.
• The island feels empty. One guest last November counted "not more than 20 persons" on the beach with her group. You share it with a few boats, not a cruise-ship crowd.
• No walk-up option. If your date is full, you cannot buy a place at the dock or in Isla Mujeres. Pick another day or a different trip.

Two other limits apply on top of the park cap. Ocean Tours' shared trip takes up to 50 guests per boat and 14 per booking, and it does not run on Thursdays (it runs the other six days). The private version runs daily for up to 12 adults and 4 children.

This is the rule that catches the most people, because the sources disagree. Here is where each one stands as of October 2026:

• Ocean Tours, the operator with the most guest reviews, lists in its conditions that "it is not allowed to use Sunblock or Mosquito repelent in Contoy Island". It also asks guests to put even biodegradable sunscreen only on exposed skin at the hotel and after the water activities.
• Mexico Desconocido's visitor guide lists biodegradable sunscreen as mandatory and says non-biodegradable sunblock is banned.
• A 2025 Mexican travel roundup lists the rule simply as "do not use sunscreen" and recommends beachwear that covers you from the sun.

The safe reading is the strictest one: assume no sunscreen and no repellent on Isla Contoy or in the water at Ixlaché. Your operator can refuse to let you snorkel or go ashore if you turn up greasy, and the reef and nesting beaches are the reason the rule exists.

A guest on an Ocean Tours trip this August put the practical side best: "bring a swim shirt because no sunscreen until after snorkeling which is hours after you get picked up." On that departure the snorkel came after the island, so the first chance to put sunscreen on was on the way to Isla Mujeres.

How to stay protected without sunscreen

• A long-sleeved rash guard or UPF swim shirt, worn from the start of the boat ride.
• A wide-brim hat and sunglasses with a strap for the speedboat.
• Light long trousers or leggings for the trail, which also deal with mosquitoes in the mangrove section.
• If you burn easily, apply mineral (zinc oxide) sunscreen at the hotel before pickup on skin you will not cover, and let it soak in for an hour. Check with your operator first.

Our take: Treat the swim shirt as the most important thing you pack. You are on open water and a white-sand beach for most of a day with no shade structure, and the people who have a bad day on Contoy are almost always the ones who planned to rely on sunscreen.

For what to bring to Isla Contoy, pack for a full day on a boat and an island with nothing for sale: a long-sleeved swim shirt and hat instead of sunscreen, a reusable water bottle, water shoes, a towel and dry clothes, and cash for the park fee your operator collects. Leave plastic bottles, repellent and drones at the hotel.

One guest this March described the cost of not knowing this: their group "would not have access to water or any other drinks for several hours" once they left the lunch area, because they had not been told that plastic bottles could not go ashore. They said they would have brought reusable bottles if they had known. Pack one and fill it before pickup.

What not to bring

Sunscreen and repellent (or keep them sealed in your bag), single-use plastic bottles and bags, drones, fishing gear, speakers and anything you plan to leave behind. There are no bins for visitors to fill: what comes ashore with you leaves with you.

Swimming

Yes. Swimming at the beach in front of the visitor area is a normal part of the day, and the shallow, clear water on the sheltered western side is what most guests remember. Ocean Tours describes the island's "clear shallow water perfect for snorkeling, swimming and just relaxing". The windward eastern shore is closed to visitors: it is both a turtle-nesting coast and unsafe surf. Stay where your guide puts you.

Snorkeling at Ixlaché reef

Ixlaché is the reef off the southern end of Isla Contoy where most boats stop for a guided snorkel of about 30 to 45 minutes. Ocean Tours schedules 45 minutes there, weather and sea permitting, and says that if conditions are bad it adds more time on the islands instead. The rules:

• Snorkel only with your operator's guide, in the area they choose.
• Wear the life vest if your operator requires one; most do.
• No touching, kicking or standing on coral. Mexico Desconocido advises staying at least 2.5 metres away from the reef.
• No sunscreen in the water (see above).

Expect the stop to move or disappear. A guest in March 2026 had "both snorkelling opportunities" cancelled because the sea was too rough, and another this year skipped it after judging the water too choppy for a first-timer. Several boats now do the island first and snorkel on the way to Isla Mujeres. If snorkeling is the main reason you are going, our guide to snorkeling in Isla Mujeres covers shorter, calmer trips, and our scuba vs snorkeling in Cancún guide helps if you are deciding between the two.

Staying overnight

No. There is no hotel, campsite or lodging for visitors, and Riviera Maya News noted in May 2025 that "no overnight stays are allowed". The 2025 management plan for the island's beaches limits camping to environmental monitoring and research. Operators once proposed an overnight bungalow for up to 20 guests; Por Esto reported in 2023 that it was never approved. Everyone leaves on the same boat they arrived on.

Every visitor pays a national park fee on top of the tour price, and it is almost never included in the booking. Two numbers are in circulation for 2026:

• 225 pesos per visitor (about $12 USD) is the federal park fee for 2026, according to Por Esto in March 2026, after increases in 2024 and 2025.
• $20 USD in cash is what operators collect at the dock. Ocean Tours lists a $20 extra charge for "government fees", and a guest in August 2026 called it "the mandatory $20 marine conservation fee". Operators typically bundle dock and port charges into that figure; none we checked publishes the breakdown.

Bring $20 USD per person in cash, separate from your spending money. Our Isla Contoy tour guide shows what each trip includes and excludes.

We found no full closure of Isla Contoy announced for 2025 or 2026, and licensed trips are running in October 2026. But the island is never "open" the way a beach club is, and three things can stop your trip:

• Port closures for wind and storms. The harbor master closes small-boat navigation when the sea is dangerous. Mexico Desconocido warns that January in particular can bring port closures from the winter north winds (nortes), and hurricane season runs from June to November. If the port is closed, no boat goes, whatever you booked.
• Turtle-nesting season. The island's beaches were declared a sea turtle sanctuary in 2022, and its 2025 management plan sets restricted zones where nests are protected. Nesting runs roughly April to November. Visits continue in those months, but rangers can close stretches of beach and keep you on the marked areas.
• Sold-out days. With the visitor cap, a fully booked date works like a closure for anyone who has not booked.

Ocean Tours' listing includes cancellation for bad weather, with a full refund if you cancel at least 24 hours ahead. If the crossing is called off on the day, you are offered another date or a refund. Leave a spare day in your trip if Contoy is a priority, and if Contoy is sold out, the shorter reef trips around Isla Mujeres shown here are the simplest backup.

Hours for visitors run roughly 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, weather permitting, according to Mexican travel guides. In practice your boat sets your time on the island, usually about three hours.

Isla Contoy can be visited all year, and the best months depend on what you want from it:

• May to early August: the calmest, warmest water for the Ixlaché snorkel, and the start of turtle-nesting season. It is hot, so the no-sunscreen rule bites hardest.
• November to April: drier and cooler, with good light for birdwatching, but the north winds can make the crossing rough and close the port on some days, especially in January.
• September and October: the peak of hurricane season. Trips run on most days, but have a backup date.

Whatever the month, go early in the week if you can and keep the day after free in case the weather moves you. Our best time to visit Cancún guide covers the sea and weather month by month.

• Ask your operator two questions when you book: what the cash fee is, and whether you snorkel before or after the island. The second tells you when you can use sunscreen.
• Eat a proper breakfast. Ocean Tours serves a light snack on the boat and lunch on the island, but you cannot buy anything in between.
• Take the guided walk. One guest this March was the only person in her group who chose the island walk, and said it was worth it. It is where you see the mangrove lagoon and the bird colonies up close.
• Plan the Isla Mujeres stop. Most trips give you about an hour there on the way back. Our guide to things to do in Isla Mujeres helps you choose between Playa Norte and the town, and you can always come back for a full day with a golf cart rental on Isla Mujeres.
• Expect a photographer. Some crews sell photo packages at the end of the day. They are optional.
• Visiting in whale shark season? The same northern waters host whale sharks from June to mid-September, and those trips leave from Isla Mujeres and Cancún. See our guide to whale shark tours from Isla Mujeres.

Nine trips, all rated 4.5 or higher with at least 50 reviews and recent guest feedback. The first two are the only licensed Isla Contoy trips that met those standards when we checked: Ocean Tours' shared and private departures. The other seven are reef snorkels and catamaran days around Isla Mujeres, the backup plan when Contoy is full or you want a shorter, cheaper day on the water. Marine park and dock fees are extra on most of them.

For a longer stay on the island next door, see our guide to Playa Norte in Isla Mujeres, and for the rest of your trip, our guide to the best things to do in Cancún.

Isla Contoy is one of several protected sites with strict rules on this coast. If you are planning more, see our Akumal turtle snorkeling rules, our Rio Secreto rules and our Chichén Itzá rules.

We built the rules on this page from official and dated sources first: SEMARNAT's 2025 management plan for the Isla Contoy beach sanctuary, published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación, and Mexican press from 2023 to 2026 (Por Esto on the 200-visitor cap and the 2026 park fee, Riviera Maya News on access and overnight rules). Where official sources are silent, such as sunscreen, repellent and plastic, we used the published conditions of the licensed operators and say so in the text, and we flag where sources disagree.

For the on-the-ground detail (when sunscreen is possible, the plastic rule, snorkel cancellations, the fee collected at the dock) we read 150 recent guest reviews of the most-reviewed Isla Contoy trip, posted between late 2025 and October 2026. Tour ratings, prices and schedules come from live listing data checked on October 26, 2026, and every tour shown has a rating of 4.5 or more, at least 50 reviews and reviews from the last six months. Park rules change, so confirm anything critical with your operator before you go.

Staying in Cancún or planning a trip? Here are three well-reviewed hotels, with live prices from our booking system. Rooms at the best-rated hotels are usually the first to go, especially in peak season and over holidays, so it's worth locking in your stay before availability fills up.