I have a feeling that little of that cash collected at the kiosk finds it's way to the government.
Bag-Drag updates?
- Thread starter dberry
- Start date
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Came to Coz on Tuesday. First time doing the bag drag. I used the automated side for immigration which scans your passport, takes a photo and prints out your entry document. It was quick.
My checked bag came just a couple minutes later. And then straight out. It was Terminal 3 which I guess is where US and Canada flights usually arrive. I walked past everyone selling stuff in the terminal and the first bit outside. When you got to the road in front of the terminal, I could see an ADO bus and its little stand to the right. Both are bright red. The ticket is 255 pesos which should be USD 12.50, but if you pay with dollars they ask for $18 which kind of sucks but is still objectively a good deal. I'm not sure what they do with credit cards.
The bus is nice and the trip was uneventful. WiFi worked. The only electric charging option on my bus was USB-A. The bus station in PdC is only a few blocks from the pier. There was a money changing place in the building next to where the bus parked with a decent rate and no fees, so I changed some money.
Walk south on 5th Avenue (Quinta Avenida) until you hit the mall. Turn left and go as far as you can before you get to the 2 story pier building where you have to go up the stairs or escalator to catch the ferry. At the end of the street before you reach the pier building are the three offices of the ferry operators. They all show the time of their next ferry. Get a one way ticket for the one that's going next. I paid the extra 2 bucks for "first class" which did give me a comfy seat in the air conditioned lounge at the front of the boat. Then head up the escalator to wait until they check your ticket and let you go down the ramp to the pier.
If you want to keep your big bags with you at the ferry, the magic word is "electronics". I'm sure "frágil" will work as well.
I'll try to remember to get pictures of all this on the way back next week.
My checked bag came just a couple minutes later. And then straight out. It was Terminal 3 which I guess is where US and Canada flights usually arrive. I walked past everyone selling stuff in the terminal and the first bit outside. When you got to the road in front of the terminal, I could see an ADO bus and its little stand to the right. Both are bright red. The ticket is 255 pesos which should be USD 12.50, but if you pay with dollars they ask for $18 which kind of sucks but is still objectively a good deal. I'm not sure what they do with credit cards.
The bus is nice and the trip was uneventful. WiFi worked. The only electric charging option on my bus was USB-A. The bus station in PdC is only a few blocks from the pier. There was a money changing place in the building next to where the bus parked with a decent rate and no fees, so I changed some money.
Walk south on 5th Avenue (Quinta Avenida) until you hit the mall. Turn left and go as far as you can before you get to the 2 story pier building where you have to go up the stairs or escalator to catch the ferry. At the end of the street before you reach the pier building are the three offices of the ferry operators. They all show the time of their next ferry. Get a one way ticket for the one that's going next. I paid the extra 2 bucks for "first class" which did give me a comfy seat in the air conditioned lounge at the front of the boat. Then head up the escalator to wait until they check your ticket and let you go down the ramp to the pier.
If you want to keep your big bags with you at the ferry, the magic word is "electronics". I'm sure "frágil" will work as well.
I'll try to remember to get pictures of all this on the way back next week.
OP
I was the OP, but forgot to follow up after I got home. @lowwall gave a good description of the current bag-drag and I'll just add a couple of things.
The only really negative thing was my arrival into Cancun ca. 2pm on a Saturday. Immigration was a nightmare, with no electronic kiosks running and many planes arriving at about the same time. There were 3 sets of switchbacks leading to the immigration officials, but there was NO control leading into the start of the switchbacks. Picture literally hundreds of people pushing an shuffling towards the entrances to the rope lines. Once inside the switchbacks it moved fairly smoothly, but overall it took about 1h 45min to get to the immigration officials, then 1 question and done. Customs was trivial - our bags had been taken off the carousels an hour earlier and we could just grab our bags and walk out.
There was some talk that the immigration process was intentionally slowed down in response to new US immigration rules going from Mexico into the US, but no one could verify that.
(I was REALLY concerned CUN airport would be just as bad going home, but there were no big crowds or slow downs on the return.)
The ADO bus process was very easy and comfortable and dropped us ca. 10-15 min walk from the ferry.
NOTE. I was trying to hurry to make the 5:30 Ferry (Xcaret) and made the mistake of buying a ticket from the first guy I saw with an Xcaret sign. I was rushed and didn't realize he charged a premium and I should have just walked another 200 yards and bought the ticket at the actual ferry terminal from the Xcaret desk. Lesson learned.
FYI, Xcaret seems to run on the half-hour and the other companies run on the hour. The friendly people at the Xcaret desk at the Coz ferry offered excellent advice on which ferry and ADO bus to take to get to the CUN airport with plenty of time. There were no crowds at American Airlines at CUN on the way back and I was there far too early for my flight.
Now just don't ask me about the condition of the coral in Coz...
(except the deeper dives, where it was ok.)
The only really negative thing was my arrival into Cancun ca. 2pm on a Saturday. Immigration was a nightmare, with no electronic kiosks running and many planes arriving at about the same time. There were 3 sets of switchbacks leading to the immigration officials, but there was NO control leading into the start of the switchbacks. Picture literally hundreds of people pushing an shuffling towards the entrances to the rope lines. Once inside the switchbacks it moved fairly smoothly, but overall it took about 1h 45min to get to the immigration officials, then 1 question and done. Customs was trivial - our bags had been taken off the carousels an hour earlier and we could just grab our bags and walk out.
There was some talk that the immigration process was intentionally slowed down in response to new US immigration rules going from Mexico into the US, but no one could verify that.
(I was REALLY concerned CUN airport would be just as bad going home, but there were no big crowds or slow downs on the return.)
The ADO bus process was very easy and comfortable and dropped us ca. 10-15 min walk from the ferry.
NOTE. I was trying to hurry to make the 5:30 Ferry (Xcaret) and made the mistake of buying a ticket from the first guy I saw with an Xcaret sign. I was rushed and didn't realize he charged a premium and I should have just walked another 200 yards and bought the ticket at the actual ferry terminal from the Xcaret desk. Lesson learned.
FYI, Xcaret seems to run on the half-hour and the other companies run on the hour. The friendly people at the Xcaret desk at the Coz ferry offered excellent advice on which ferry and ADO bus to take to get to the CUN airport with plenty of time. There were no crowds at American Airlines at CUN on the way back and I was there far too early for my flight.
Now just don't ask me about the condition of the coral in Coz...
(except the deeper dives, where it was ok.)
Exactly.
This is my fourth time here. I think the first was in 2004. The coral has declined a lot and sea life a noticeable amount and the cruise ship industry is a blight although thankfully mostly avoidable. But a lot of the good stuff hasn't changed: food (selection, quality and prices), friendly people, easy access from the States, great dive ops and housing options, cool reef structures, fun drift diving, warm water (and getting warmer).
The current runs south to north. The cruise ships may have some impact, but I think it's the southern resorts that pump their sewage into the ground with it seeping out into the water that are the true culprits. I've noticed my rash guard stinking to holy heck the day after a dive, even after rinsing it after the dive. I didn't have that problem in September of 2020 when the southern resorts were all closed due to COVID. The reef had a dramatic improvement that year as well.
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