Sight seeing on the island

[ggunn]

We were there last week and took our "first time on Cozumel friend" on an afternoon island tour. We just booked a taxi (van) for the three of us for the afternoon. We stopped at the ruins for an hour and a half, checked out some nice beaches, the arches, the blow holes, etc. with the taxi driver as our guide. Depending on the amount of daylight you have left, you can also hit one of the beach clubs.

The taxi driver was happy for the half day gig and the included guide (driver) being a local can't be beat.

Yeah, I stopped being the designated driver several years ago.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

We were there last week and took our "first time on Cozumel friend" on an afternoon island tour. We just booked a taxi (van) for the three of us for the afternoon. We stopped at the ruins for an hour and a half, checked out some nice beaches, the arches, the blow holes, etc. with the taxi driver as our guide. Depending on the amount of daylight you have left, you can also hit one of the beach clubs.

The taxi driver was happy for the half day gig and the included guide (driver) being a local can't be beat.

If you don't mind me asking, how much did he charge you?

 

[WoodyLompoc]

If you don't mind me asking, how much did he charge you?

$80 for up to five hours.

 

[Kenderson]

$80 for up to five hours.

That's a pretty good price. How did you find a driver that would do that?

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

That's a pretty good price. How did you find a driver that would do that?

I imagine one could just walk up and down the que at the ferry and find someone. Sounds like a great way to see the island and make a new friend. I was going to rent one of those convertible bugs but this seems like a better idea. Thank you.

 

[ggunn]

I imagine one could just walk up and down the que at the ferry and find someone. Sounds like a great way to see the island and make a new friend. I was going to rent one of those convertible bugs but this seems like a better idea. Thank you.

We usually have a larger group, like 8 or 10, so we need a taxi grande to go anywhere all together. After a couple of days of flagging them on the street and at taxi stands we will pick one whose English is pretty good and who seems like a nice guy, and we will ask him about hiring him for the day to take us around the island. We have never encountered a driver who did not agree immediately. The going rate for a group our size seems to be about US$15/person; we usually tip another $5 each or so.

The experience has always been excellent; the driver takes us to all our favorite spots - Mescalito's/Senor Iguana's, Coconuts, Punta Morena, Chen Rio, El Mirador, Rasta's, etc. - and patiently waits for us until we are ready to move on. We have never been pressured to leave any of these places before we are ready to go. When we offered to buy lunch for the driver, we found that the place we had stopped was already feeding him for free, which apparently is the norm.

We do it this way every time now, and the best thing for me is that I no longer have to deal with renting a van and being the designated driver. We have phone numbers and cab numbers for a couple of these guys and they get repeat business from us.

 

[DandyDon]

Oops, nevamind.

 

[WoodyLompoc]

That's a pretty good price. How did you find a driver that would do that?

We just asked for a price from 1) The taxi we took from the airport. 2) The taxi we took when we went to town. 3) The taxi we took back from town. 4) The bellman at the hotel, who asked the waiting taxi drivers.

We took the "death trap" VW Beetles in the past, for the price and comfort, this was a better deal (for us). We would have missed the arches and blow holes if we had gone on our own.

Remember, prices go up for more than three passengers.

 

[ggunn]

We would have missed the arches and blow holes if we had gone on our own.

El Mirador. We discovered El Mirador on our first visit in 1978 when there was nothing there but a battered sign on the side of the road. We make a pilgrimage there on every trip. Heavy sigh...

 

[DandyDon]

We would have missed the arches and blow holes if we had gone on our own.

There was a champagne glass feature until H.Gilbert in 1988 or so the story goes. That was twenty years before my first visit to the island, I don't think I have been to that location. Maybe Gordon remembers? Cozumel Mexico Beaches El Mirador (The Looking Glass).