getting to Cozumel with bags

[Ron Lee]

There used to be a shared van that went to Playa. Many years ago it was around $19 a person one way. I would expect it to be $25 or so now.

 

[cvchief]

or $50 for a private van....

 

[mstevens]

There used to be a shared van that went to Playa. Many years ago it was around $19 a person one way. I would expect it to be $25 or so now.

or $50 for a private van....

I think the price goes up when it's early in the morning and other options aren't available yet, when one didn't arrange anything ahead of time due to assuming ADO would be running, and when one absolutely must be on the island before the INM office closes at 1 or waste an entire 3-day trip.

 

[mediumone]

There used to be a shared van that went to Playa. Many years ago it was around $19 a person one way. I would expect it to be $25 or so now.

or $50 for a private van....

I think the price goes up when it's early in the morning and other options aren't available yet, when one didn't arrange anything ahead of time due to assuming ADO would be running, and when one absolutely must be on the island before the INM office closes at 1 or waste an entire 3-day trip.

I think the best you'll do is $45.00 per person, if reservations are made in advance. No reservations, and early in the morning ---- well, beggars can't be choosers.

If I had any time at all, I'd go around the terminal to see if I could find a Playa cab unloading, and see what sort of a deal I could negotiate. Make sure it's a Playa cab though, and be very discreet. I'd start out at $300.00 pesos, and stop at $450.00

 

[Ron Lee]

Ugh. I was just in Cancun Friday morning at 0800 trying to get to Cozumel. It turns out that the ADO windows was closed and the earliest bus wasn't until 0915 according to their website. I'd been hoping to get to the ferry by 9. There were no actual taxis around, but Yellow Transfers offered to get my wife and me there for USD$100 (or 1000 pesos when it turned out we didn't have dollars with us) but for some reason claimed there was no way they could get us to the Playa del Carmen ferry in an hour. I think they were holding out for me to offer them a bonus if they could do it. Even pointing out that the bus doesn't take a full hour and that I've driven it myself several times didn't sway them.

We eventually got there with a private shuttle that was just sitting there. He asked for the same 1000 pesos so I went online to his website and arranged it for USD$60 to be paid as 850 pesos. I still think that was too much.

The upshot is that if you're arriving at an odd time, it's probably best to have transportation arranged ahead of time and not to assume that the bus runs as early as flights arrive!

By now you realize that you made a planning mistake. The ADO bus schedule is well known. Other than the possible shared vans, your options are the Yellow Transfer "taxi" and one of many private services such as usa-transfers.com.

Since you have two people, that puts the private service comparable to what I think the shared vans (if they still exist) cost so you should have arranged a private service prior to arriving in Cancun.

 

[mstevens]

you should have arranged a private service prior to arriving in Cancun.

Absolutely, and I should have known better. I was posting primarily to underscore that point for anyone reading the thread who might benefit from reading about my blunder.

 

[betsyinczm]

I once arrived at the CUN airport late at night and knew I would not make the last ferry and of course the buses were done for the day. The fares I was getting were WAY too expensive for me and so I sat down on the bench where the taxis/vans would be and planned on dozing there until the am.....in those days there was a 5am departure from PDC to CZM. I had taxista guys and van drivers bothering me (in a good way) every 15 minutes saying I shouldn't stay there but heck, it was warm and a beautiful night....and I was close to home. Around midnight a guy told me he had a group going to Playa and I could ride along for free........whoopee!.......I sat in the front and made a new friend.........got to Playa around 1am, lugged my GIANT bag to close to the ferry (no wheels on bag!--the olden days when I was carting back TONS of stuff that couldn't be found on the island).....and dozed there instead and made the 5am departure to CZM........seemed silly to pay for a hotel for 3 hours.


Sorry for the hijack but I was reminded of a quite nice experience!

 

[jodylynn007]

The United Airlines letter posted on the first page for ease of viewing:

Dear Mr. Jones:

Thank you for contacting United Airlines.

Allow me to give you the link to united.com where it talks about scuba bags as checked baggage.
https://www.united.com/web/en-US/co...ports.aspx?camp=virtual_expert#ScubaEquipment
Scroll down and click on scuba equipment.

Basically, it states that there is no weight limit as long as the bag contains "only" scuba equipment. If anything else as added to the bag then the maximum weight limit is 50 lbs.

Dive tanks or rebreather tanks have a separate charge and is noted in the website information.

Be sure to look at that link. There is a lot of additional information you will probably want to know.

Not long ago United changed its baggage policy to Mexico. The first checked bag is now $25 and a second bag is $40. The scuba bag would be your first or second bag, etc. Any tanks are charged a flat fee as noted on united.com.

You can be assured that this is the correct information.

Please know that we appreciate your business and look forward to welcoming you on board a future United Airlines flight.

Regards,

Steven Henry