Permit· Isla Isabela· Mexico

Isla Isabela Park Rules (CONANP)

21° 50.8′ N · 105° 53.0′ W

Isla Isabela is a federal national park run by CONANP. Since January 2024 the 31,696 ha of sea around it is a second national park, Zona Marina de la Isla Isabel. Anchoring, landing, trail use, fees and conduct are all regulated, and the rules are stricter than most cruisers expect.

Practical

From the CONANP management program's administrative rules (DOF, June 16, 2006). Anchoring: the anchoring area for ships, sailboats and yachts is off Bahía Tiburoneros on the south side (Rule 40). Landing: only at Bahía Tiburoneros. Landing on Playa de Las Monas is prohibited. Fees: everyone visiting for recreation must pay the protected-area fee under Article 198 of the Ley Federal de Derechos and hand the original receipt to park staff. A 2025 report gives MXN 120 per person (verify locally). Tour visitors pay through their operator. Limits: no more than 30 people overnight and 60 day visitors (Rule 17). Trails: groups of 8 at most including the guide, an hour apart. Trails in the restricted zone may be walked only with park-authorized guides. No recreation off the public-use zone or the authorized trails. Prohibited: landing pets or any domestic animal, alcohol and drugs, firearms, smoking on the trails, loudspeakers, camping outside the public-use zone, fires except at signed sites, feeding or disturbing birds and nests, collecting anything, open-air defecation, flying over the park below 500 m within 2 km without authorization (this covers drones; a 2025 report also lists drones as banned), and cleaning, repairing or fueling boats. Discharging sewage, oil, fuel or trash is banned. Divers may run low-horsepower compressors only from 11 am to 1 pm and 4 pm to 6 pm, at sites the park chooses. The 2024 marine-park decree allows navigation and anchoring only at authorized anchoring sites. Use a mooring buoy where one exists. Otherwise anchor without damaging the seabed or coral. The decree also bans hull cleaning, major maintenance and pumping bilges or ballast except in emergencies. The CONANP-reviewed WILDCOAST guide (2022) adds: no anchoring on coral, no fixed-buoy use by boats over 15 m (49 ft), life jackets for snorkeling and kayaking, stay 2 m from coral, and no oxybenzone or octinoxate sunscreen. Wikivoyage says only CONANP-licensed operators may carry passengers to the island, so check with the park office in San Blas before you go. Coordinate is the OpenStreetMap Isla Isabel island node.

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Knowing the rules before anchoring and landing at Isla Isabela

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