Renting car, going it alone, HELP!

[JessiMommy]

My family & I are thinking about renting a car & doing some exploring in Cozumel on our own. There are 7 of us so we may need 2 cars. Anyone have any pro's or con's to doing this? Tips to share? We range in age from late 50's, 30's to 4. Thanks! :) (Oh & one pregnant woman ;) )

[98Charlie]

Have been to Cozumel four times in past two years. DH & I have never had the urge to rent a car there, even though DH has driven the blessed autobahns of Europe many times and inched through the tiny European streets via auto.

 

San Miguel's streets seem to be in constant state of construction and reconstruction. :eek: Island has hundreds of taxis, truly, hundreds, and their rates are low.

 

Dianne

[jgmpuma]

If you just want to go downtown and shop, or spend the day at a destination like Paradise Beach, take a cab. It will be cheaper that renting a car, and you won't have to worry about traffic and parking.

 

A few years ago, we discovered the eastern side of Coz. It has spectacular beaches (mostly deserted) and several small, uncrowded bars and restaurants. No electricity, no phones, and very little traffic. We have hopped the bars and eaten lunch at Chen Rio and Coconuts. Both were excellent and inexpensive.

 

The only downside is that there are currents and undertows on the east side which can make swimming dangerous. Chen Rio has an area of beach protected by a rock jetty, and it is safe to swim there.

[PelicanBill]

If you want to explore, then by all means rent a car or cars. I think the taxis are expensive compared to other places, especially since you can't get a taxi for a few hours at a decent rate. You'll easily reach the cost of a car rental with just a few taxi rides. (But heed the warning about downtown - hard to drive and park there.)

 

I am renting from AVIS but booked through cozumelinsider.com to use their secure booking page. It is $44 for a day plus tax and insurance which means it will come to around $60. Get the insurance, it would be a real hassle if you have a problem. Could not get a secure online page anywhere else. I won't send my credit card by email and phone orders often get messed up.

 

Also go order the cozumel map from cancunmap.com -- after looking it over I'm excited about exploring on my own.

[jgmpuma]

You can get that map at

 

http://www.cozumelmap.com

 

It is full of useful information. You order it online, they mail it to you and then you send them payment.

[bruce-r]

You can rent a mini-van so you only need to get one vehicle. I would not rent a car to explore the town of San Migel. Parking is awful and it isn't that easy to drive around because of street construction. A taxi is the best choice for a visit to town. A car is best to explore the rest of the island. You do really need a good map and the best one is the cozumelmap mentioned above, but a better link to it is http://www.cancunmap.com/cozumel_map.html It will be the best $8 you can spend preparing for a visit to Cozumel.

[Orgirl69]

Best friend and I were on Coz in 9/03. Rented a VW convertible from LessPay for $25 for the whole day (Jeeps ran about $40) Spent daylight at Mescalito's and Coconut's on the east side of the island, I would highly recommend this! NO crowds, NO vendors, CHEAP beers, GREAT grilled shrimp and didn't see ANYONE else from our ship at all!!! Mescalito's sits right on the beach and the water was awesome, Coconut's sits on a coral bluff overlooking the ocean and the views were terrific, but there was no swimming. Plus, on the drive over (15 minutes, maybe) we discovered that the further you went from town, the cheaper the souvenirs were. That $10 blanket in town was down to $2 by the time we hit the other side. We were in Coz until midnight, found out the hard way that LessPay is only open until 9 PM, but we parked close by and put our keys in the drop box with no problems or extra fees. Walked about 3 blocks to Carlos and Charlie's to end our evening. Taxi from downtown to the international pier (where the ship was docked) was about 6 bucks each way and both times the drivers spoke excellent English.

 

All in all, we avoided town like the plague and seemed to have more fun than anyone else we talked to later that night. Another note, we are both early 30-something females that were there without our men and never felt unsafe or threatened the whole time we were there.

[scsagh]

So if we want to go to Dzul Ha and Paradise Beach for a family of 4, are we better off with taxis or a rental car? Everyone says to avoid downtown. Do we have to go through there to where we want to go?

[addicted to cruising]

Find CozSally on another thread, she lives in Cozumel and just recommended to a family that they should rent a car. I responded to her asking if you rented a car, where would you go. Sounds like there is plenty of sun, sand and quiet on the other side of the island. Im curious now. I was in Coz 10yrs ago and there is plenty to do near the boats. The beaches are a taxi ride away and shopping is just a good walk or taxi ride as one ie expecting!! Again think about renting a van or large SUV it will most likely be cheaper, stick with major rental company and see the car before signing. My husband and I learned this in Aruba when we rented a junker of a jeep. Good luck on your journey.

My family & I are thinking about renting a car & doing some exploring in Cozumel on our own. There are 7 of us so we may need 2 cars. Anyone have any pro's or con's to doing this? Tips to share? We range in age from late 50's, 30's to 4. Thanks! :) (Oh & one pregnant woman ;) )

[CozInsiderJacq]

Jessimommy-I would put a reservation in early for a minivan- that way you don't have to worry about trying to follow each other and if you spend any time downtown there will only be 1 parking place (if you can even find that) instead of 2. There are several threads with maps offered...I would order one ahead of time and do some reseach on the places you want to stop so you can plan your day ahead of time. It's easy to get around and you really can't get lost (at least not for long). It's safe- one tip though...if you are going to spend any time on the other side of the island you may want to bring some toilet paper along especially if you have a pregnant one with you....some of the bathrooms over there are a little primitive since they don't have city water.

[CozInsiderJacq]

scagh- If those are the only 2 places you are going- I would just take a taxi. Dzul Ha is only about 10 minutes or less from the South Piers and then Paradise Beach is about 10 minutes further by taxi. Downtown is North of there so you won't have to go through it, however don't be scared away from a trip downtown. With all the road construction - a lot of it is closed to cars so you can just walk down the streets with even more room.

[CozSally]

I agree with Jacq on this. The choice of whether or not to rent a car depends entirely on where you want to go. If you are thinking about the other side of the island, rent a car. If not, it depends on how many stops you want to make. With just a trip from your ship to Dzul Ha then to PB and back to the ship, hop in a taxi and leave the driving (and parking) to others!

 

Enjoy!

[lrunion]

We were there last year 3/12/04 and rented from Smart. Had no trouble and got to see the eastern side of the island. Almost deserted. While we spent time in town shopping, the prices were much better out of town. We are headed back on 3/12/05 with the kids, 13 and 15 and we'll do it all over again, except I am gonna try to get to Paradise Beach.

 

Until Sensation 3/12/05

 

lrunion

[peterp]

We would like to go to a beach (probably PB) plus see at least one ruin should we rent a car or take a taxi.

 

peterp