Isla Mujeres Sea-View Cemetery

Mini mausoleums and simple crosses represent all walks of Isla Mujeres life. linkogecko (Atlas Obscura User)

While islands are well-known for their shortages of space, leading to creative solutions for the placement of graveyards, this Isla Mujeres sun-bleached plot—along with the Santa María Magdalena Cemetery in San Juan, Puerto Rico— is one of the few cases where the tombs’ ocean view overlooks the famed hues of the Caribbean.

While the Yucatán Peninsula is characterized by being mostly pancake-like in a geological sense, places like Isla Mujeres do happen to have a few small, dramatic cliffs. The Sea-View Cemetery rises atop one of these, providing it with a privileged vantage point of the Caribbean Atlantic.

Among the living denizens of the cemetery, you will find the occasional iguana, cat, or dog basking in the sun. The architecture is as eclectic as that of most Mexican cemeteries, with white tombs and crosses being perhaps a bit more prevalent than bright-colored ones due to the tropical location. Some tombs are marked with little more than a wooden cross, while others have full miniature cement replicas of Mexican church architecture and large statues of angels and saints.

Know Before You Go

The cemetery is located on the corner of Paseo de los Peces and Payo Obispo streets. Payo Obispo is the main street on the southeast of the island and leads to the well-known Conch House farther south. The easiest means of transportation on the island is golf carts although full-size cars are available for rental.

Not to be confused with the more transited Municipal Cemetery in the Playa Norte tourism hub, this cemetery is located about 90 minutes south of this area on foot.

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