has anyone rented a car in cozumel?

[jeraboa]

Wondering if it would be easier and more cost effective to rent a car in Cozumel to go to the other side of the island. Is there a car rental place near the pier and does anyone know prices?

Thanks!

[jdfloyd]

We rented cars on both of our cruises to Cozumel..(Sensation & Paradise).

 

For our Sensation cruise there were two rental places at the end of the pier. My husband is Spanish, not Mexican, and he speaks the language fluently. The one rental place wanted to charge us $75.00 because we were "gringo's" or so he thought...my husband told him..in spanish..no way..the other rental place gave us a deal at $35.00 ..$77.00with insurance..which is mandatory..even if you have proof of you own insurance in the states..this was for a Chevy tracker.

 

On the Paradise we were at the huge port downtown. The car rental place is upstairs in the mall..I think it was Budget..with insurance again was $88.00. This too was for a tracker.

 

Be sure if you rent a car to get a map of downtown as you MUST fill up the gas tank before returning the vehicles. This was one of the highlights of our trip. First off the gas station is hard to find...lots of one way streets...you'll get whistled at and called a few choice names if you go the wrong way. Also the gas station attendents supposedly don't speak English..know you $$ conversions as they try to rip you off.. Also the gas prices are in peso's and liters not gallons..

 

The island is real easy to get around. This is the ONLY way we see Cozumel and will continue to rent a car in any future visits.

 

Have fun!!!

[kristikae]

I booked mine through Cozumelinsider.com. It was $55 for the day and that included insurance. It was very easy to do and I feel confident recommending them.

[palmtre2]

We rented a Jeep at the pier for $50.00 and didn't put gas in it - we got back from Paradise beach sooo late that the didn't charge us for the fill up!!!

[elvisillusions]

We (20 adults) rented 5 jeeps, it was great. Coz is beautiful and you can see it at your own pace, go where you want to go.

 

NOTE: The above poster mentioned THE GAS STATION... take the single tense seroiusly, if there's more than one, we never saw it. We drove right past one very crowded station and couldn't find another one... ended up paying extra to the rental company to fill up 5 jeeps for us :(

[jgmpuma]

We have done both, and renting a car rather than relying on cabs is a much better choice. The eastern side of Coz is beautiful: miles of beach and few cars or signs of civilization, just some great places to sit under a palapa and have a beer or eat seafood.

 

Cab fare to the places on the east side run about $25 per cab each way. The (potential) problem is that most of the places on the eastern side have no phones you can use to call another cab to pick you up, and you have to rely on the cab that took you there to return. It worked for us, but was a little uncomfortable.

 

The second time we rented a car from Alamo at the Puerto Maya pier. It cost about $60 including gas and full insurance. You can probably find a better deal, but we knew the rental would be cheaper than using cabs, so we didn't sweat it. It was just great fun to hop from place to place along the beach.

 

Lunch the first time was at Chen Rio, and the second was at Coconuts. Both were very good, and inexpensive. Chen Rio is right on the beach. Coconuts is on a bluff above the beach.

[Terre]

We rented a car a few years ago and drove around the island. Not sure if the place is still there we rented from, but it was right on the main street down from Carlos & Charlies. It was cheap, a gutted VW, with no air, but it got us around the island and it was very beautiful on "the other side". At that time it was not built up yet and very beautiful.

[jeraboa]

Thanks to everyone for you input! It helps a lot!!!!!

[Augcruise]

We just rented a VW from Alamo (last week) - I was disappointed because we did not trust the car to get all the way arounf the island! We stopped in Paradise Beach and San Francisco Beach (right next to each other) and then went downntown. It would have been cheaper to take cabs. If you could get a jeep from Executive - they looked better but they were sold out.

[bombero]

Wondering if it would be easier and more cost effective to rent a car in Cozumel to go to the other side of the island. Is there a car rental place near the pier and does anyone know prices?

Thanks!

 

Try. carsmart@cozumel.com . We've used them twice.. once for a VW Beetle and the next time a scooter.. Think we paid $28. for the car, and $23 for the scooter... They used to have a coupon you could print and bring with you that would give you about 30% off.. Hope this will help... Bombero

[cruisingchic]

We were there in January this year. We rented from Executive from the Puerta Maya Pier. It was a VW convertable, which looked lovely. However, it was a different matter to drive! It seemed to have a mind of its own and wanted to drive on the opposite side of the road! Hence we named it "Herbie"! We thought the engine sounded like it had been round the clock more than a few times too. We paid approx $77 dollars all in too.

 

It depends what you want to do in Cozumel, we hired it to drive around to see the Island (but we were dissapointed with the drive around as there seemed to be one long straight road) and then to finish up at one of the beaches, Mr Sanchos or Paradise beach, (can't remember which one we ended up at, but there were 2 parrots just inside the entrance gate?) Anyway, we had a fab time there, great food on the beach, a wonderful massage, plus some shopping for silver jewelry. Have now found out that we could have taken a taxi for $10 each way!

 

We are going again this January, so will do the taxi thing this time. If anyone can tell me which beach we were at it would help tremendously. Thanks!

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Sailing on the Miracle 1/16/2005

[Karried]

One word of caution - You'll stand out like a sore thumb to the Federales - at least we and many others did in Puerto Vallarte where we got pulled over for a supposed 'stop sign' violation - purely fabricated of course.

 

I have heard many horror stories of tourists renting vehicles in Mexico since this happened to us and being asked to pay cash for their 'tickets' - we were threatened with Prison (this being with my husband, myself and my 5 and 10 year olds in the jeep).

 

Just be careful, make sure you have your license, insurance and about $50.00 bucks or more to pay off the Federales.... :eek:

[mcg653]

We rented a jeep on our last cruise to cozumel... besides it having no gas ( that we had to go get )..... it was a wonderful experience.... we drove all over the island with no problems....

 

Mark

[dream2much]

Good News! There is finally another gas station in Cozumel. It's right across the street from the shopping village at the pier (not the downtown pier). It's new and it's big.

 

I've rented a jeep in Cozumel twice. The most recent time was this past May. We got it from Executive, very near the taxi station at the end of the pier, for $55. I had pre-reserved one from Alamo (or ws it Avis) only to find they were at the pier in town. So, I showed my papers to Executive and they matched the price. My travel insurance covered vehicle rentals so I didn't bother purchasing the extra insurance when I rented the jeep.

 

Four of us split the cost of the rental and we had a great day touring the island, stopping at various watering holes on the less crowded side of the island.

[mexicobob]

If you rent a car anywhere in Mexico make VERY sure you get Mexican insurance. If you have a wreck or other problems you will need a Mexican insurance company to help you out and keep you out of jail. Also, if you are not familiar with Mexican traffic laws it would be better if you did not drive in my opinion. Not worth the risk.

 

MexicoBob

[Travelitis]

We rented from a place at the pier and got a convertible VW that was certainly gutted and of questionable mechanical soundness. Next time we're going online with a major company even if it costs a bit more. The contract they gave us was all in Spanish with no English translation. I made sure they saw the dents and dings in the car and that they knew I was going to videotape it to show existing damage. We also want a Jeep next time.

 

There's a gas station very close to where we rented, but we also found a large station in San Miguel before we got to the main street. We saw mainly locals there, and that's where we stopped for gas.

 

We paid partially in cash and partially by credit card,(they had some rule that you could pay by credit up to a certain dollar amount) but they would've liked us to pay strictly by cash and didn't offer the option of credit cards. We spent about $55-$65 including insurance.

 

Renting a car in Cozumel is a great way to see the island, but, call me nuts, I prefer a contract I can actually read.

[retiredldo]

Yes a couple of times and actually it is cheaper if you rent them ahead of them from here in the states and then bring the paperwork with you. Enterprise and alamo are near by but you can save some money booking sooner than at the pier

[betsyrossapk]

I'm hoping someone can be encouraging about car rental in Cozumel. The one poster advised about the Federales, but that was in Puerto Vallerta. Is there a police problem toward tourists that anyone is aware of in Cozumel? My husband & I are pretty brave when it comes to exploring new places that we visit & we would really like to rent a car in Cozumel. We would not be drinking & driving & we would be sticking to the main road. I would like to rent a car while we are there, does this sound like a good plan or not?