Beware of Scooters in Coz!

[robbcayman]

Two years ago I stayed at the Hotel El Cozumeleno. Anyways, as I was leaving from there via a cab we pull up to a vicious accident with a sheet draped over 2 dead bodies. Our cab driver talks to the police, and they inform him two American's got in a wreck with a cab and lost their lives.

The weird thing is a day prior I forced my wife to ride one with me. After 20 minutes of riding she said something was wrong, and she wanted me to take the scooter back asap. I was a little mad, but I've learned to trust a woman's intuition. After seeing the wreck she gave me this I told you so look, but we're too much in shock to say something like that. Bottom line, I won't rent another scooter there after that event.

 

[Gdog]

My wife and I agree with you totally Christi, in fact, the only thing we will rent is a jeep. Otherwise, taxi's for these gringos. We witnessed a crash between a scooter and a local car at the intersection at La Choza and Deep Blue....Car 1, scooter 0. And with that, the ugly loud american thing..which pisses me off to no end. My wife is worse...i thought i was gonna have to peel her off one such american one evening.
Sorry about the language...

 

[sealskin98]

I think I'll rent one next time.

Wonder what kinda height I could get on one going full throttle over the speed bump in front of Fiesta Americana?

Evil Knieval was my hero.

Sorry, just kidding.

When ya rent a car be sure to watch out for the families on the scooters and people on the bicycles.

 

[eelpout]

If you are on one of my trips, you won't be riding a scooter. In 1991 we had to air evac a lady (non diver) who was on our trip. She and her boyfirned arrived a day before our official trip group arrived . She rented a scooter, and proceeded to smash the scooter and herself up in less than 30 minutes. The boyfriend was pretty embarrased because he was the one that forced the issue. We get on the island and before I could even leave the airport we to get to the hotel, we had to arrange her evac. Thanks to DAN Insurance (Assist America) it was no hassle getting her home.

I grew up in SE Asia. We ride scooters all over the place. The traffic in Cozumel isn't that bad compared to Manila or Bangkok. I have seen the island of Cozumel change so much in the last 25 years. It was fine to ride the old Honda 50 in 1979. The only taxis back then were old 1970's vintage gas guzzlers that cost a $1 to get from the old Cantarell hotel to Carlos and Charlies. I rode a scooter back then because it was fun and there was no traffic.

There is more traffic, more taxis, more people, more cruise ships, more drunks, and more scooters. Take a cab, it is cheaper and safer. We (my co trip leaders and I) will not spend another minute waiting for any of our people to get our of the on the island. We have been fortunate that over the years that we had accidents we always had a nurse or doctor in our group.

There is no reason to ride a scooter down there if youare a tourist or a traveler. Get a cab, or stay closer to town and walk.

Jim

 

[ams511]

I read the original post and kept trying to figure out what kind of coral or rock or what they had run into while scootering . . . Of course, I'm thinking of UNDERWATER scooters!

I thought the same.

 

[Jarrett]

That's what I was thinking - how fast were these people going that they both didn't see the reef.

LOL, me too. And where can I rent one of those fast underwater scooters

 

[Shepman]

I'm a "no scooter person" all the way.

Everyone has done a good job of summing up the drawbacks with scooter travel on Coz. There are a few other gotcha's with that mode of travel.

If you go to the East side of the Island, there is a thin layer sand over the pavement in many locations. I saw two scooters lose it on the curve by the Raggae bar. They both hit some thick sand on the curve and just tipped sideways, with the back end going in front of the steering wheel. The female hit some thicker sand and was basically unhurt. The male stayed in the main roadway and got more scraped up with some road rash. They patched themselves up and went happily on their way down the road.

The other big hazard is wet road. It rains in the later afternoon a lot on Coz, turning your pleasant scooter experience into a nightmare. I was doing cocktails by an intersection right after the afternoon shower. A guy in a scooter tried to take the corner WAY too fast and went skidding UNDER a locals car. At first it looked like the scooter dude was dead, but he made it with a broken leg souvenir. It was an Asian guy, and he was polite and nice & humble towards the guy he hit, but his vacation was definitely ruined.

When you add pot holes and other drivers, I just don't think scooters add up to anything sensible to do in Coz.

 

[Scram Bulleggs]

Rented one for the week a couple of years back. Found it to be a great way to travel about in the evenings. Would have much prefered an actual motorcycle better yet an enduro to go play on the wild side. I will say one of the funniest and most scary things to watch is the cruisers heading for lift off (read topaz). You know whats gonna happen yet you have to watch anyway. We were way down on the south side so it beat the heck out of walking.

 

[halocline]

Slight hijack; does anyone know what happened to a bike shop called Isla bicicletta? I used to rent a bicycle there, usually for the whole week. If they're gone, any suggestions on where to rent a decent bicycle?

 

[bgi]

Got back from Coz a couple of days ago. While on the way to do some horseback riding during the high winds, we saw an elderly lady strapped to a stretcher after wiping out on a scooter. The first question we asked ourselves was, "What the heck was she thinking?" It was amazing the number of people, tourists included, zipping around on them without helmets. We saw many residents carrying infants on them.

BTW: b4 you ask, we do know how to ride horses...