Notes from Mexico’s Doll Island

The tiny island is so popular that it is responsible for the spawning of at least eight other copycat doll islands

Besides holding the title of the scariest place in all of Mexico City, Isla del las Muñecas, which is Spanish for ‘Island of the Dolls’, is also excruciatingly difficult to get to. It is located 18 miles south of Mexico City in Xochimilco, a suburb famous for its floating, man-made islands of reed called chinampas that were built by the Aztecs.

The tiny island is so popular that it is responsible for the spawning of at least eight other copycat doll islands. Fakes, that cunning trajinera boat captains are only too happy to convince you into visiting.

Luckily for me, I have a local Mexican friend along who manages to find a captain ready to take us to the real island, which is a good two hours away from Embarcadero Cuemanco, one of the nine boat landings dotted along the canals of Xochimilco.