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hiring a driver for the day

tyson

By tyson,
in Cozumel

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riofriotex

riofriotex

Posted
Posted
Thanks so much for your post! This is exactly what I am looking for. I want to travel over to the beach side of the island and have lunch at one of the seafood restaurants.

I looked up Tours Plaza and sent them an email.

I hope this works out!!

 

Please let us know after you get back from your cruise!

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chong67

chong67

Posted
Posted

Our first time on cruise we didnt even get to the east side of the island. We walk to downtown from the Int pier. Go shopping and went to a department store call Mega and when to a supermarket.

 

I see a few bicyclist. Next time i will rent a bicycle and do the east coast. If you done it, let me know.

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luvincruzen

luvincruzen

Posted
Posted

Just returned from cruise today. Pino was our driver with Tours Plaza. He was great, very personable ,informative and accomodating. The only downside was the tequela tasting tour. While I enjoyed the history lesson and demonstration, I felt like I was there to be pressured into purchasing a very good but overpriced product. It was a hard sell and I ALMOST felt guilty at not buying. One of our party was going to buy but did not bring enough cash so they set it up for her to use a credit card back at the pier with someone to meet her there to run a card. That did not happen and then they wanted to take her elsewhere to use a card scanner plus said they DID'NT take the card they originally said that they would take, so she cancelled the whole thing. Also there were tons of bees flying in the tequela tasting area, after the sweet mix. They did not bother us, we just brushed them aside, but it would be a big problem for someone who was allergic or frightened of them! Lunch at Coconuts was good but about 30 minutes of the drive continuing around the wild side of the island was boring landscape that looked a lot like the interior of Florida!

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pr0pel

pr0pel

Posted
Posted (edited)

What's the driver doing when you guys are eating lunch? Are we expected to buy for him too? We're taking a tour with one of the company that is mentioned here in a few months and just want to know what to expect

Edited by pr0pel
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familycruzer

familycruzer

Posted
Posted

We ate lunch with our driver and paid for his meal. It was great sitting down with him and learning about Cozumel. You are not required to though. He would most likely just stay at the car or hang with the locals at the restaurant.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...
AirGorilla

AirGorilla

Posted
Posted

We were in Cozumel on 1/9/16, on the Brilliance of the Seas. We were four people, and were scheduled with Aldo of TP for a tour using a sedan. Unfortunately, Also was ill that day, and we had Antonio (who had a van). Antonio was great ... we visited some historical sites/statues, the Antigua tequila factory, and had a great fresh seafood lunch at a beach restaurant/bar. I would use their services again without any qualms!

 

AG

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copper6606

copper6606

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Posted
Has anyone used Black Hat Cozumel lately?

 

Our Group of 11 are using Black Hat Tours in 2 weeks... Very easy to get along with and very willing to "Go with the Flow" with what we want to do/see... We of course want to hear what he has to suggest to us as far as what we see. He is the expert and we trust that he will make to Tour great. We want to have a few impromptu stops along the way as well....;)

 

I'll let you know when we get back - how we made out.

We are all looking forward to this Excursion in Cozumel.:)

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  • 4 months later...
WhereShouldWeGoNext

WhereShouldWeGoNext

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We used Tours Plaza in May 2016 because we wanted to plan our own adventure. Because of things we read on Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor, we asked for Aldo. We were VERY happy with our day at Cozumel. ToursPlaza even keeps track of which ships use local time and which use Ship’s Time, so the passenger does not have that worry.

 

Our cruise on NCL Dawn included the port of Cozumel. We arrived at the designated meeting place near the pier a bit early, so we headed for a nearby coffee shop. Another person heading toward the same coffee shop had a clipboard with our name on it. So meeting with Aldo was really easy. We used the coffee shop time to plan our day. We wanted to see historic sites, scenic byways, visit neighborhoods where locals and North American ex-pats co-exist together. We also wanted a little trip thru business regions.

 

We now understand why so many US and Canadian citizens are relocating to Mexico for retirement. Some professionals such as doctors are finding Mexico a great place to live and work.

 

We wanted no time for shopping. We didn’t need to visit the Mayan Ruins nor the eco-park. (We have done this on the Mexico mainland.) We were in the car ready to go minutes before the originally scheduled meeting time. He took out one map, showed us a route that met all of our requirements. Occasionally he would refer back to the map so we could keep track of our progress.

 

He also had maps for people who wanted to bird watch, maps for people who wanted extra time to play on a beach or visit the eco park or Mayan Ruins. Aldo’s family goes back for generations in Cozumel. He was happy to share the culture, the history and the beauty of his homeland – but adjusts the conversation to meet the needs of travelers. He also has trips that take people on the ferry to the mainland for the extensive beauty and history of mainland Quintana Roo.

 

When it was time for lunch, we found ourselves at a beautiful outdoor restaurant on the ocean beach. We never saw a menu. We asked Aldo to order lunch - which was served family style at our table. The owners shared samples of the best the chef had to offer that day. The only question to us was spicy or mild? If you want private time during lunch, tour guides have a little corner of the restaurant where they can visit with each other without ever losing sight of their guests.

 

By all means dine with your driver. This tells the owners and wait staff that you are there to learn about the culture and customs. Several stopped by to share a personal story with us. The little stories shared during lunch by restaurant staff may have been the highlight of our tour.

 

We returned to the cruise port at exactly the time we said when we first met in the coffee shop. Tours Plaza is a well-run business that communicates quickly by phone or email. Their drivers appear to all have a plan that is adjusted to meet the needs of the consumer.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Justmekaren918

Justmekaren918

Posted
Posted
Black hat Cozumel is very good with big groups you can find him on Facebook.

We used Black Hat Tours. They were absolutely amazing. The driver with his black hat was waiting at the bottom of the stairs with a nice sign, so easily spotted and a relief to me traveling with 2 low mobility parents on scooters in that chaos. They had big great ac vans that could handle a big group and it handled the 2 scooters. He drove the husband around to take pix's and they came back to Nachi CoCom for lunch and back to the ship; the parents were done.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

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robinlbe

robinlbe

Posted
Posted

We, too, hired our driver through toursplaza.com

We had Gerry - who had actually been our driver back in 2008, when last we were on Cozumel.

 

He had given us such an excellent tour back then, it was hard to know what we had missed. He gave us suggestions, and we gave him our suggestions.

 

All in all, we had a great time....

 

Am writing a separate review....:)

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Ready2Cruise2016

Ready2Cruise2016

Posted
Posted

I'm looking forward to reading through this thread (or at least the comments from 2016). I'm seriously considering this option for us while in Cozumel. There are 9 of us however, and I'm trying not to bust the bank doing it. LOL Also will be looking for definite "don't miss" spots.

 

I'm sure I'll be back with questions. :)

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Justmekaren918

Justmekaren918

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Posted
I'm looking forward to reading through this thread (or at least the comments from 2016). I'm seriously considering this option for us while in Cozumel. There are 9 of us however, and I'm trying not to bust the bank doing it. LOL Also will be looking for definite "don't miss" spots.

 

I'm sure I'll be back with questions. :)

Good luck! I know that Back Hat Tours had big vans, real ac, would take you where you would like to go and $150 I believe for 5 hours. I am sure the driver could suggest get places to eat for not much money. The office was great.

 

Have a fab time on the cruise and Cozumel.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

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Ready2Cruise2016

Ready2Cruise2016

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Posted
Good luck! I know that Back Hat Tours had big vans, real ac, would take you where you would like to go and $150 I believe for 5 hours. I am sure the driver could suggest get places to eat for not much money. The office was great.

 

Have a fab time on the cruise and Cozumel.

 

 

That sounds perfect!! I've already sent them an email. :) Thanks!

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Ready2Cruise2016

Ready2Cruise2016

Posted
Posted

Love your picture! I hope they get back with me quickly to confirm prices, etc.. I'm also going to email toursplaza to see if they have vans large enough (and roomy enough) for 9. Until I hear back from everyone, I'll research places to go. It's hard when there are so many of us, and I'm left with the task of making sure everyone is going places they will love.

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  • 2 weeks later...
NayaSantaFe

NayaSantaFe

Posted
Posted
We used Black Hat Tours. They were absolutely amazing. The driver with his black hat was waiting at the bottom of the stairs with a nice sign, so easily spotted and a relief to me traveling with 2 low mobility parents on scooters in that chaos. They had big great ac vans that could handle a big group and it handled the 2 scooters. He drove the husband around to take pix's and they came back to Nachi CoCom for lunch and back to the ship; the parents were done.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

How can I contact Black Hat Tours?

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