Cozumel Custom Private Jeep and Snorkel Excursion with Lunch by ShoreExcursioneer

[beachydreams]

(n)DO NOT BOOK THIS EXCURSION!!!!!

I did thorough research on this excursion before booking itand am beyond disappointed at our experience. We booked this because thedescription made it seem as if we would be in charge of our day and spelled outmany interesting and exciting options on how to customize our tour. We werevery excited about this tour and figured it would be the best excursion of thecruise. We were so WRONG! I will go through our experience chronologically.

1. The initial meeting place was fine, but then we had towalk about 6 blocks to get to the jeep. (My 84 year old mother wasn't expectingthis). This is billed as an open air or convertible jeep. We had to ask theguide to take the top down for us, which they did reluctantly, so that tookabout 10 minutes. Then the guide told us what we were doing. I said that Ithought this was a customized tour and that my daughter (21) was interested inthe ATV and horseback riding options. We also said we don't like the"tourist trap" places so could they take us to an authentic areawhere locals live and shop. They didn't accommodate either request. They (theguide and the guy from the tour office) were less than accommodating. They saidthey didn't know where those options (ATV and horseback) were available andtalked amongst themselves that maybe "Ponchos" had those options??When I asked about the cost of these extras they did not know that either. Theyestimated about $50 for 15 minutes on horseback! The guide said he would stopat this "Ponchos" place during our trip, but that never happened.They conveniently never mentioned it again or made any effort to try to findwhere we could partake in those activities. These two options were the mainreasons my daughter chose this excursion over many others. What adisappointment. Don't advertise it if you don't even know where on the islandit is offered or for how much!!

The tour description says: "You can choose thesuggested itinerary below or customize your very own private Cozumel Jeepexcursion with your guide. Remember, this is your private guide and jeep forthe day! Try an informative visit to the Chocolate Factory or maybe a stop atOcean Beach Club (no extra entrance cost for either). Or maybe ... a relaxinghorseback ride and fun ATV excursion (available at an additional cost - optionsto discuss with your guide)."

Also, "You have the options to customize your excursionwith a stop at El Cedral."

We said we were interested in El Cedral and were told itwould also be an additional cost and it was quite clear they had no interest ingoing there. The tour description says nothing about it being an extra cost. Wealso told them we definitely wanted to go to the snorkeling site.

When my mom asked about the Chocolate Factory tour they saidthat would be an additional $17 per person! In the description it says it isincluded at no extra cost. But the description doesn't say anything about theTequila tour. (see below). We weren't able to customize anything. They told uswhat we were going to do, even if we had no interest in it.

The jeep was in HORRIBLE and UNSAFE condition. At one point,the speedometer didn't work for at least 5 minutes. I am posting pictures ofthe jeep. The driver's seat belt was rusted out and not useable, Instrumentpanels and knobs were missing. The gear shift was completely rusted. We feltvery unsafe in this jeep.

We were also under the impression that we would follow theguide's jeep, but the guide rode in our jeep the whole time. He was niceenough, but it wasn't what we had expected. He did not give us any informationabout Cozumel while we were driving so there were many awkward silences. Theonly time I got info was when I asked the questions. He did however talk abouthis investment businesses and try to sell us on them.

The description also says "Your Private Cozumel JeepExcursion guide will show you the best picture spots along the road - don'tforget your camera!" My hobby is photography so I was looking forward tothat. However, we were never once pointed out any good photo spots, nor did westop at any locations to get out and take pictures. And, the only photo ourguide took of us was at the lighthouse.

2. Our first stop was a Tequila distillery tour. We said weweren't interested, but they insisted it was part of the tour. So much for itbeing customized to our interests! However, this is NOT a distillery. It is asmall bar with a back yard with a couple "stations" which have a fewagave plants, a stone crushing wheel (which does not turn), a closed woodenbarrel and some pictures hung on a wooden fence. Then they take you in for thetasting. The tequila was fine. But then came the HARD sell. We weren't asked IFyou were interested in buying a bottle. We were asked WHICH bottle we wanted tobuy. The prices ranged from $59 for straight white tequila to $179. They didn'tgive you any privacy to discuss anything so I finally asked if we could have amoment to discuss. We chose not to buy anything and then she told us where toleave our tip when we left and then we were approached by another person whohad insisted on taking our picture when we entered, to buy this picture for$20! This entire stop was a complete strong-arm to buy this over-pricedtequila. And, like other reviewers mentioned, we were also told we couldn't getthis tequila in the USA, which is untrue. And the tasting person kept referringto us as "mi familia" It was very disingenuous. My opinion is thatthis Tequila place and the tour operator are in cahoots and there is monetaryincentive to the tour operator to bring tourists here. This took up and wastedan entire hour of our day.

3. We then drove for a while to a beach called Playa SanMartin, where our guide said we would stay for an hour. We had no interest inlaying on the beach, we wanted to tour the island. However, that is where hetook us. He said we would have an umbrella for shade and lounge chairs.Instead, there was nothing for us. We waited about 5 minutes for him toscrounge up a couple cheap plastic chairs (the stackable kind you buy atWalMart -- not lounges) and put those in the sand and pointed to an umbrellaand lounge chairs that were being used and said that when those people left, wecould have them. After about 30 minutes, the people did get up and leave, butanother couple came and grabbed them away from us, saying the restaurant saidthey could have them. When we said we were promised these by our guide theyrudely disregarded my 84-year old mother and pushed their way into the loungechairs with a functioning umbrella. We finally found a broken umbrella on ourown, under which we could barely fit one of the plastic chairs for my mother.Shortly afterward, a rude waitress came up to my mom and asked her "Didyou pay for that umbrella?" We said our tour guide told us we were able touse it as part of the tour we were on. She then stormed off. During this entiretime, our tour guide was nowhere to be found. He went and hung out somewhereelse until the hour was up.

3. Our guide offered ONE small (8 ounce) size bottle ofwater for the 3 of us after this beach stop. There were no snacks. By this timeit is 2 pm. So much for the description of "Complimentary snacks anddrinks in guide's Jeep!"

4. We then drove to Punta Sur Eco Beach Park where we wentup to the top of the lighthouse. Good thing my mother opted not to go to thetop because the stairs were very narrow and spiral all the way up and peoplewere going up and down at the same time. However, our guide didn't give us anyinformation on what to expect of the stairs. Luckily, she made a wise choice onher own. The view from the top was nice but to get onto the outside balconyaround the top of the lighthouse, you have to duck and crawl beneath an openingthat is only 3 feet tall. We weren't told about that either. Luckily, mydaughter and I are agile enough to do this, but there is no way my mother couldhave done that. Then we walked through the little museum, where our guide hadno information to share with us, and around the outside before we took offagain.

5. It wasn't until later that I realized this was supposedto be our snorkel spot. Snorkeling was NEVER offered, even though we had ourown masks and fins with us. I wrongly assumed we were still going to head tothe advertised snorkel spot. We love to snorkel and figured this tour wouldallow us to do that AND tour the island. We were wrong again. The tourdescription says: "As part of the regular Private Jeep Cruise Excursion inCozumel, you will stop for a 45 minute guided snorkel tour at Punta Sur (keepin mind, you can chose the itinerary and activities during this private shoreexcursion). The reef is shallow and easy to access, ideal even for beginnersnorkelers to feel comfortable and safe at all times. All necessary snorkelequipment will be provided. You may spot parrot fish, yellow-ribbon fish,Sargent mayor fish and sea turtles among other local Cozumel marine life."

6. By this time it was about 3:30 pm and we still had nothad a bite to eat or a snack. I don't need to eat on a regular schedule, but my84 year old mother cannot go all day without eating, she needs at least asnack. Luckily she brought some of her own crackers and ate those since nosnacks were offered by our guide.

7. From there, we drove some more and our guide said we weregoing to a turtle beach where the turtle nests are marked by flags in the sand.Well, we ended up at the TORTUGA (turtle) restaurant. There was only one othertable of patrons there. Everything else associated with the "resort"had already been put away. There were no turtle nests, only hundreds of emptylounge chairs belonging to the beach clubs, and almost no areas of open sand orbeach.

8. At this point it is 4:45 pm and we are finally told we aregoing to have the LUNCH which was included as part of the tour! We were given amenu with three items from which to choose -- tacos, quesadillas and fajitas.We asked our guide if he was eating and he said yes, but he eats off adifferent menu! Our food was about as bland as any I have ever had. Obviously a"gringo menu" for the tour participants and a real menu for everyoneelse. After "lunch" it was 5:30 and we left to drive back to theport.

On our cruise we had 4 ports of call and with the exceptionof this one, they were all wonderful. This review may come across as if I am achronic complainer, but that is absolutely not the case. The description ofthis excursion sounded so terrific and we were very excited to be able tochoose our agenda. Instead, it was chosen for us. We did not get to do any ofthe things we said were important to us such as getting an authentic feel forthe island away from the tourist traps, snorkeling, going to El Cidral, goingATVing or horseback riding. Our guide said we would drive through the center ofthe island and also go to the North Lighthouse. We didn't do either of thosethings. Instead we drove back to port the same way we came, instead of makingthe loop through the island back to San Miguel. So in essence, we took the sameroad to and from San Miguel to the Southern lighthouse. We did not see any ofthe eastern side of the island or of the center of the island.

In conclusion, we did NOT have a nice tour. Our Jeep was NOTsafe, we did NOT get to customize our tour, we did NOT get to do anything thatwe had expressed interest in, we did NOT eat lunch till 4:45 pm, we were NOTprovided any snacks by our guide, our guide did NOT give us any info on theisland as we were driving, but he did spend a lot of time talking about how heinvests in crypto-currency and tried to get us interested in his internetmarketing business!

Everything in quotes is taken directly from their description on their website: https://www.shoreexcursioneer.com/cozumel/private-jeep.html#Restrictions

[overama]

So, what I am getting out of your post is that your thorough research was reading their website. If so, lesson learned. If not, sux you had a bad time

 

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