Cozumel review- expensive taxis, paradise beach great!

[Brianinidaho]

I posted a review of the Carnival Miracle on this review part of this site and included in the following information about Cozumel, which I hope might be of interest to you.

 

 

Thursday we pulled into the south pier (out of three) at Cozumel. A few words… this ain’t the cheap part of Mexico! To get to shore you have to walk through a very long shopping mall, then get mobbed by taxi drivers. I heard people looking at booze in the store say the prices were higher than on the ship! The taxis are very expensive… more than we have paid in New York and other major US Citites. The taxi driver told me they have one taxi company there…he called it a syndication... it sounded more like a monopoly. To take 6 of us about 4 miles to a beach and then return was over $50! (Compared to $20 from the ship to the airport in Tampa, about 3 times further time wise!)

 

 

There were lots of options for beaches in Cozumel and we chose the older and popular San Francisco beach. All the taxi drivers really pushed us to go to the next one down for just $6 more, Mr. Nacho’s beach. We got the impression that the drivers got a kick back from Mr. Nacho’s as they pushed over and over.

 

 

There are two “businesses” at San Francisco beach. Both are bar and grills with beach chairs. The north side’s price was $5 per person for the use of the chairs. South side was free, but they wanted you to buy drinks, food, etc. It was called Paradise Beach and very well kept. Water was $2, sandwiches $6-9, etc. They also had a $5 activity wrist band which you could purchase which my kids liked. They had a floating trampoline, a 20 foot climbing wall out in the water, and plastic kayaks. We had a really good time here, and weather was warm and sunny. The restrooms were some of the best kept and cleaned ones we have seen at any beach.

 

 

This is the only port where they asked for picture ID to return to the ship. All other ports just wanted to see your sign and sail cards. We did not bring ID, but after a second they let us on through anyway

[aggieastrosfan]

This is the only port where they asked for picture ID to return to the ship. All other ports just wanted to see your sign and sail cards. We did not bring ID, but after a second they let us on through anyway

Very good point about the photo ID. I didn't realize that until just now.

[Cozumel_Tom]

Brianinidaho...thanx for the nice review, glad you had a great time at PB!

[Brianinidaho]

Tom-

You run a 1st class operation at Paradise Beach. A few questions we walked away with I was hoping to have answered.

1. Was the taxi fare posted on the sign out front ($12) to the pier.. that is per car... in US dollars, right? Someone said we overpaid, that that was in Pesos.

2. The guys next to you, as I wrote, to the north, charge $5 to sit in their beach chairs, while you are free, right?

3. The taxi drivers are getting a kickback from Mr. NAchos', right? They pushed us to go there the whole ride down to your place. I can't imagine Mr. NAchos was any better than what you offered. And I suspect they were overcrowded, where yours was just right.

 

Any responses to the above?

[Cozumel_Tom]

Thanx for the compliment!

1.- The $12 is in USD. This is a one way fare, per cab for UP TO 4 people. They can usually squeeze in a 5th person for 2-3 dollars more.

 

2.- Right. San Fransisco beach next door charges $5USD per chair, though I have heard that certain chairs are free. I think it´s a battle between the owner and the GM over there. There´s also new management coming in to add to the confusion.

 

3.- All beach clubs give the cabbies the same amount of kickback. It´s the cost of doing business with the very powerful taxi union. The reason they push Mr. Sancho´s or clubs further south of us is that for an extra 2-3 minutes of driving, they can charge an additional 2-3 dollars.

 

Hasta la vista!

[mojo2rusty]

Our cab ride to PB Was $17 one way for 5 people. On the way back we had 7 people for the same price.

[cali-croozer]

Whenever you take a taxi anywhere, confirm the price before you get in. We didn't have any problems in Cozumel and I liked that the prices were posted........we did, however, confirm before getting into the taxi. Brianinidaho, it does seem that you overpaid if you paid $50 US, but there's nothing you can do about it now. Just look at it as a learning experience for next time. Also, it could have been because you had more than 4 people.....did you take 2 taxis?

[Brianinidaho]

Whenever you take a taxi anywhere, confirm the price before you get in. We didn't have any problems in Cozumel and I liked that the prices were posted........we did, however, confirm before getting into the taxi. Brianinidaho, it does seem that you overpaid if you paid $50 US, but there's nothing you can do about it now. Just look at it as a learning experience for next time. Also, it could have been because you had more than 4 people.....did you take 2 taxis?

Here is the scoop:

The signs at the pier say that each cab can only take 3 passangers and their insurance only covers 3. To Paradise Beach was $12 for a cab on way, and a van that carried more was $26. We had 6, which was 2 cabs.. the van came down to $24. So $24 each way and a $2 tip made the total to get to Paradise Beach and back $52... a bit pricey.. and this was in US dollars. They said these were the consortuims prices. I guess you can negiotate anything..but the big painted signs made it sound like they were regulated like in the states.. If we were taken here, so be it, perhaps future cruisers can say $52, huh, how bout $10! LOL