Did you try Cozumel on your own? What problems did you have there? We were thinking of renting a car and driving around.
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Yes, that is exactly what we did.
We made one huge mistake, we went for the cheaper car rental place which looked to be only a couple of blocks from Punta Lagosta but those were loooooong blocks, it was easily over a mile -maybe 2- walk (with in our case a baby, stroller, several bags of towels changes of clothes, snorkeling gear, etc.) And then when we got there they said they wouldn't take a credit card even though it even said they were accepted on our reservation (which we had printed out and had right there to show her
). Wish I could remember who they were...Alamo? Anyway after waiting for the clerk there to talk to the manager over the phone, etc. it was still a no go (we did have some cash but didn't want to use it ont he rental b/c we wanted to have some onhand just in case we ended up having issues....) BUT there was another company right across the street (Executive or Enterprise, and we went with them with no problem. I am so sorry I don't recall the exact names!) Anyway the moral of this story is to just go with the place right at the Pier. It costs a few pesos more (lol, actually more like dinieros!) but it is so worth it to not have made that ridiculous trek.
You may have already read this but I think it is a great resource for doing-it-yourself rentals in Cozumel:
Cozumel Rental Cars: The Inside Scoop I would totally print this out and take it with you, I wish I had. We also bought a great map, it came in very handy. It gets rave reviews on cruise critic..only costs about $8...I thought it was worth it, you can find that
HERE.
They did try the gas scam on DH when he took it to fill up, they tried to charge him $18 USD when it should have been $8 USD (8000 Pesos or whatever) but he knew the conversion and saw what they are doing and said "No, it should be $8" and they were suprised he was onto them, LOL, but took the $8 with no trouble!
As for the trip itself, we did have a blast and really enjoyed getting to see all that the beautiful island has to offer. We really enjoyed El Mirador (the bluffs, which is neato rock formations on the beach) and the Blowhole on the east side. We had lunch and extremely strong drinks at Coconuts...we had to sit there and chill out for an hour or so as the drinks were so strong we were afraid to drive (very strict DUI laws and we wanted no interaction with the federales!
) We stopped at some of the beautiful beach resorts on the west side, it was raining at Punta Sur so we just drove by. The route we took was south from the pier along the west coast on the main road and across the southern tip by Punta Sur then back up the east coast and traveled back to downtown vis Tranversal Rd.
The only other thing we did not really like is how agressive they are at the downtown shops. As you walk past, each and every shop has about three guys or gals standing outside pleading with you to come in. "Rich American, come in here" Etc. I was not touched although I have read some of them will touch or grab your arm. I advise to wear sunglasses and look straight ahead when walking. They also talk to your kids and try to get your kids to come look at stuff which is very frustrating IMO. This is worst at the pier shopping complex and the streets in the inmmediate port area downtown. The further away you get the more that kind of annyong behavior subsides. In fact waaaaay over by the car rental place there was a lovely shop with a very nice lady who let the kids sit in her chairs and she was very sweet and not agressive at all. I wish I had bought my stuff there, cause we never did end up going into another shop, it was just too much with the honchos following people around. Ugh.
Anyway I don't want to be a downer, we did have a great time and we are glad we did it. We probably won't do Cozumel on our own again, although now we have a better idea what to expect.
I hope this helps you a bit...I have not gotten to the Cozumel part in my TR yet (but I am almost there!). The link is in my signature, be sure to check back in a couple of weeks or so as I will post a very detailed play by play of our day with a whole lot of pictures.
Have a great cruise!!!
We had such a great experience that we are planning a trip back to there...Hope this helped.
