Venue Guide
Your Wedding at
Zama Beach Club
Isla Mujeres
Zama Beach Club is a private beachfront restaurant and beach club on Isla Mujeres, a short ferry from Cancun, where couples build a custom wedding around the sand, the dock and the palapa instead of buying a resort package.
Check your dateWhat couples ask first
5 figures, each with the caveat that comes with it.
- 1.1Outside photographers
- Zama is a private event venue rather than an all inclusive resort, so photography is booked independently.
- 1.2Capacity
- The venue publishes no capacity figure.
- 1.3Wedding packages
- Quoted, not publishedNo public price we could source. Expect a proposal.
- 1.4Best months
- November through April carries the lowest rain risk, and October to December is the corridor's sweet spot for clear skies, cooler evenings and thinner crowds.
- 1.5Airport transfer
- Fly into Cancun (CUN), transfer to the Puerto Juarez ferry pier, then a roughly 20 minute Ultramar crossing.
What couples choose it for
- 2.1
The club sits on the western shore of Isla Mujeres, so the sun sets over the water directly in front of the venue, and the property markets that sunset as its signature moment.
- 2.2
It is a private event venue rather than an all inclusive resort, so the day is built to order: custom packages, and separate spaces for a ceremony, a reception and a welcome dinner.
- 2.3
Catering comes from the club's own kitchen, which trades year round on sushi, seafood and signature cocktails rather than on banquet food.
- 2.4
Guests cross by ferry, move around by golf cart, and the cliffs of Punta Sur sit a short ride from the reception.
- 2.5
The property has a long wedding track record with independent island planners, and real weddings there have been published by The Knot, by Destination I Do and by working destination photographers.
- 2.6
Published weddings at Zama run from intimate groups of around 40 up to a celebration of 135 guests.
Where you would actually get married
Ceremony
3.1The beach
The club's own stretch of sand, used for barefoot ceremonies facing the water.
3.2The dock
A wooden pier running out over the water.
Reception
3.3The pool deck
Tiered pools set just above the sand.
3.4The palapa restaurant and bar
Large open sided thatched structures covering the restaurant and bar.
When another venue fits better
Every point is drawn from the venue's own published terms and documented weddings. None of it makes this a bad venue.
- You want guests to arrive without a crossing in the plan.Every guest and every vendor arrives by ferry, which shapes the timeline. The crossing has to be built into arrival times, and it is taxis and golf carts rather than resort shuttles once on the island.
- You want guests housed where the party is.There are no guest rooms on site. Couples in published Zama weddings housed guests and got ready at island hotels including Privilege Aluxes, Ixchel Beach Hotel, Izla and Mia Reef.
- You want a printed package to compare against a resort.Zama publishes no wedding packages or prices. Costs are quoted on enquiry and are generally built around a food and beverage minimum, so what that minimum covers has to be established before any comparison holds.
- You want to book a named ceremony site off a floor plan.The property does not publish named ceremony or reception sites, so which of the beach, the dock, the pool deck and the palapa areas your date includes has to be confirmed on a venue tour.
- You want the venue to yourselves all day.It runs as a public beach club through the day, so a wedding here is typically an evening event on a property that has been busy all afternoon.
- You need a rain plan that fully closes.The rain plan is the covered restaurant and bar rather than a ballroom: open sided thatched structures that keep the natural light but will not stop wind driven rain coming off the water.
The honest considerations
- No guest rooms on site; published Zama weddings housed guests at island hotels Privilege Aluxes, Ixchel Beach Hotel, Izla and Mia Reef.
- Guests and vendors arrive by ferry, so build the crossing into arrival times; expect taxis and golf carts, not resort shuttles, on the island.
- Zama publishes no packages or prices; costs are quoted on enquiry around a food and beverage minimum, so confirm coverage before comparing to a resort package.
- No named ceremony or reception sites are published; confirm on a venue tour which of the beach, dock, pool deck and palapa are included.
- It's a public beach club by day, 10am to 6pm, sushi bar until 10pm, so a wedding here is typically an evening event after a busy afternoon.
- The rain plan is the covered restaurant and bar, not a ballroom; open sided thatched structures keep natural light but won't stop wind driven rain.
Arrival, and where you get ready
- 6.1Fly into
- Cancun International (CUN).
- 6.2Then transfer
- Drive to the Puerto Juarez ferry pier, then a roughly 20 minute Ultramar crossing.
- 6.3Arriving at
- Isla Mujeres. Taxis and golf carts cover the island, and there are no resort shuttles.
- 6.4Tell guests
- Book a room on the island. Couples married here have used Privilege Aluxes, Ixchel Beach Hotel, Izla and Mia Reef.
- 6.5At the airport
- Ignore anyone offering a ride between the arrivals door and the curb, however official they look. Only pre-arranged and federally authorized transport may pick up at the terminal, and the walk-up offers are where the overcharge stories come from. Ride-hailing apps work for the trip back to the airport but are unreliable for arrivals, so do not plan a pickup around one.
- 6.6Book the drive before you fly
- Reserve a private transfer in advance: the driver meets you with a name sign, at a fixed price agreed up front, and tracks your flight if it runs late. We use Private Driver Cancun, WhatsApp +52 984 132 3989, mixofcultures.com. USA Transfers and eTransfers are two long-established operators for larger guest lists.
What to ask the wedding office
- 6.7
What's our food and beverage minimum and exactly what does it cover, since no wedding package price is published?
- 6.8
Which areas does our booking include, since no named ceremony or reception sites are published?
- 6.9
When does the club close to the public on our wedding day, and from what point is the space ours?
- 6.10
What's the external vendor fee for our date? A published guide notes one may apply but Zama publishes no policy of its own.
How the light works at Zama Beach Club
Zama faces west across the channel toward the mainland, which is the single most useful thing to know about light here: the sun sets over the water in front of the club rather than behind it, and the property markets that sunset as its signature. That argues for placing the ceremony roughly ninety minutes before sunset, so vows land in warm side light and portraits fall into the last half hour on the sand or out on the dock. The palapa structures are open sided and thatched, which gives bright diffused shade through the hottest part of the afternoon and shelter that does not cost you daylight if a squall passes through. Published galleries from the property show lanterns, candles and pool light after dark, so plan the reception as a flash and ambient job rather than an available light one.
The best time to start your ceremony
Arch's own rule for this coast is to begin the ceremony about 90 minutes before sunset, which leaves the vows in soft light and still keeps time for portraits afterwards. Start times are rounded down to the half hour. Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo. UTC-5 all year: the state left daylight saving in 2015. Times are town level, so they run within a couple of minutes of the property.
- 4:30 pm
- January, October, November, December
Sunset around 6:00 pm - 5:00 pm
- February, March, September
Sunset around 6:30 pm - 5:30 pm
- April, May, June, August
Sunset around 7:00 pm - 6:00 pm
- July
Sunset around 7:30 pm
Planning a wedding at Zama Beach Club?
We are based in Playa del Carmen, so there is no travel fee anywhere in Cancun or the Riviera Maya.