Cozumel: van or bus to Playa

[jubjang]

Will be in Cancun/ Cozumel in November. Can anyone tell me if I should take the minivan or the express bus from Cancun airport to Playa Del Carmen. In Travelnotes, it shows same traveling time.

Also think about All Inclusive or EP. If plan to have 2 tanks AM dive, should I go with AI or EP?

Thank you all.

 

[Wristshot]

jubjang,

I have done the fly-bus-ferry route to Cozumel twice now. I have used the bus both times. It typically cost $8 from the Airport to Playa, and 65 pesos for the return trip. The bus took about 45 minutes each time. There were usually movies or TV playing in the bus and that helped pass the time. There are very well air conditioned.

I believe that the vans are faster, but I can't prove it. The buses do get passed by a lot of vehicles. I doubt that the vans drive quite as slowly as the buses.

There are usually some guys on the street trying to get you to take their van for the return from the ferry pier to the Cancun Airport. We had a couple follow our group and trying to negotiate a deal with us. They almost got the price down low enough for us to bite, but that was when there were 5 or 6 of us. When there were only 2 of us once, it was not even close to being competitive on price. However, we never really did try to haggle in earnest.

I don't know if the vans are "legitimate" or not. I am sure that there are some that are established businesses, but there may also be some privateers. Enter at your own risk.

Sorry to show my ignorance, but not sure what EP is.

From what I have heard, AI is great for:
People with kids / families, especially teens that eat a TON.
Non-Diving Significant Others.
People with limited mobility.
People with limited spirit of adventure or motivation.
People with a previously destroyed sense of taste.

I have read MANY reviews on this board arguing the benefits / down sides of All Inclusive and restaurant hopping. In general, it seems like more people prefer to go eat on their own, including many that paid for All Inclusive.

I like to explore, I like to stay in town, I like to wander a bit and I have found some great restaurants. (There have been numerous threads and one recent poll about restaurants in Cozumel.) My buddy didn't like to walk as much as I do, and he is not a huge fan of Mexican food, so he was not as thrilled as I was. He had to hit MacDonald's one night (I watched, but didn't eat). To each his own.

Go with the right attitude, and have a great time!


Wristshot

 

[sharky60]

Never done the Cancun commute so can't help there. We've always flown directly to the island.

We have done both European plan and All-Inclusive, We prefer not going AI just because we have so many favorite restaurants downtown we MUST visit.
We did AI last September because we went with some friends from home and that's what they wanted to do. We had had a bad experience with AI in the past and weren't very exited about it. This time was much more enjoyable.

We stayed at the Occidental Grand, I must say I was very impressed. Very good food for all meals, not the same thing day in and day out. the grounds are beautiful and very well maintained. the room was spacious and very nice. We may stay there again this Sept. if we go down with our friends again.

The plus to staying that far south was that we didn't get picked up for diving until a little later than we do when we stay at La Ceiba, our usual haunt, because it takes the dive boat some time to get down there. We dive with Dive with Martin and they pick us up at 7:30 at La Ceiba and didn't get down to OC until 8:15 or so. So we had a liitle more time in the morning for breakfast and all.
Also once we were on the boat the reef was right there, just 5-10 min. max and we were diving, other than the day we went all the way down to Punta Sur for the Devil's Throat.

The drawback of course is...being so far south... if you do want to go to town it's an almost $20 cab fare one way. we rented a jeep a couple of days while we were there and got our downtown fix that way.
The draw back to diving that far south is that you won't be able to do any of the dive sites further north like Chankanab and Paradise, but that doesn't matter to me that much, it's all the ocean!

As far as AI to EP for diving convienence, I don't really see any difference, it seems to take about the same amount of time to eat breakfast either way, i think most of the resorts have breakfast buffets regardless if they are AI or not.

have a great trip and let us know how it went.

 

[azsilver]

Will be in Cancun/ Cozumel in November. Can anyone tell me if I should take the minivan or the express bus from Cancun airport to Playa Del Carmen. In Travelnotes, it shows same traveling time.

Also think about All Inclusive or EP. If plan to have 2 tanks AM dive, should I go with AI or EP?

Thank you all.

If you want to spend a lot more money go with the van....if you want a nice comfortable trip with AC and a free movie take the modern Rivera bus and spend much less money. Both the Van and the Bus will drop you off at the same location in Playa del Carmen.

The public Rivera bus is what the Cozumel locals take when they travel (both nationals and Ex-Patriots) from Cancun to Playa Del Carmen. Met a fellow SB diver last year in Cozumel, LouDives and his wife who are from Chicago who do the Cancun via Playa del Carmen to Cozumel on all their many trips to Cozumel....flys to Cancun takes the Bus to Playa del Carmen and the ferry across to Cozumel...he gave us instructions and it was just as he said not too hard to do. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopi...us-k166640-i66-Cozumel_Yucatan_Peninsula.html Which is the same information that we gave you in the Cozumel tripadvisor forum yesterday.

Have a good trip...We were also concerned about doing the Cancun to Cozumel thing too...but it worked out!

And as far as AI vs EP, go with the EP if you like great food or if great food is not important go AI! Either way Cozumel is a great place to dive! Have fun!

AZdivers

 

[D_O_H]

Just to even things out a bit, if your group is big enough or if saving a few dollars isn't important, the van can be great. We took the van this February with a group of 6. It was only a few bucks more per person, was faster than the bus and allowed us to stop and get some ice cold coronas and chips to enjoy on our trip to the ferry.

I think it was around $100 for the van, though it might be cheaper for fewer people.

 

[Cheryl M.]

Will be in Cancun/ Cozumel in November. Can anyone tell me if I should take the minivan or the express bus from Cancun airport to Playa Del Carmen. In Travelnotes, it shows same traveling time.

Also think about All Inclusive or EP. If plan to have 2 tanks AM dive, should I go with AI or EP?

Thank you all.

We flew into Cancun for our trip to Cozumel at the end of May, and took a van to the ferry at Playa Del Carmen. Having not taken the bus I can't compare the two for you, but I will say that if you take a van make sure they will take you directly to the ferry. We had others van passengers staying at resorts in Cancun that were dropped off first. That took about an hour and a half, and caused us to miss our 3p.m. ferry. Since the 4p.m. was canceled, it made for a long travel day.
As for the question of AI vs. EP (Europeon Plan- I had to think for a while on that one,too ), I have in the past steered away from AI's, but our dive buddies like them and after a good experience in Curacao last year tried one again in Cozumel. I strongly agree with Sharky, we also had a very good experience at the Grand Occidental. Found it to be much more luxurious than expected. The food was very good, except for the beef dishes at the reservation grille place. I expected to want to take taxi's into town for dinner, but didn't feel the need once there. One note on taxi's from southern resorts, we found out at the end of our stay that there is a bus into town for $2.00/person.
Have a great trip! Cheryl M.

 

[mike_s]

AI or EP?

Depends on what comes with it and what it costs.

Examples:
I've been to places that were AI and included almost everything. Food, alcohol, watersports, some tours, diving, admission to other places, etc.

However most AI plans include only food and beverages and "non motorized" wastersports (kayaks, floats, etc).

Some AI plans also limit items you can order off the menu or certain brands
of beer/liquour. Some places have AI plans thare are the "basic" which
is the one just stated, or the "advanced" which cost a little more and
includes all menu items.

It also depends on the island you go to as to whether you want AI or not.
In Jamacia, I'd say usually to get it because in most places you don't
leave the resort much, so you eat and drink there.

In Aruba though, the resorts are all "open" and you wander all over the place.
They have great restuarants though, so I wouldnt reccomend AI there, unless
it's "cheap".

So.. it depends on where you are, what you get, and what it costs.

 

[richhagelin]

Will be in Cancun/ Cozumel in November. Can anyone tell me if I should take the minivan or the express bus from Cancun airport to Playa Del Carmen. In Travelnotes, it shows same traveling time.

Also think about All Inclusive or EP. If plan to have 2 tanks AM dive, should I go with AI or EP?

Thank you all.

I have done the Cancun-Cozumel two step many times. If the Riviera Bus schedule fits with your arrival time (it runs most hours, but check schedule to be sure), it is the best way to go. Costs less than the vans/taxis, air conditioned, and drops you off at the same place as the vans do (about 2 blocks from the ferry).

If you have 6 or more people, the collectivo vans are probably a decent alternative since you will be able to make them leave when you get there since they will be "full".

If your arrival time means you just missed one of the Riviera Busses and you are in a hurry (make sure to check the latest ferry schedule to see how much of a "hurry" you really are to leave the CUN airport), then pay the extra to take the collectivo van.

If you get to Playa and have to wait for the ferry (could be up to 2 hours if you just missed a ferry and the next hour is one of the gaps in the schedule), there are quite a few good places to wait near the ferry dock (Senior Frogs, etc, etc).

As far as the AI vs EP options: I have done it both ways and have found the AI to be best for me (having some non-divers in the party). However, most of the people posting on tis board seem to think that the AI is a waste of a lot of decent restaurants in COZ.

Rich Hagelin