Car rental in Cozumel
- Thread starter jsavannah
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not really worth it. where are you going to drive to? there are plenty of taxis.
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I would only rent a car to get over to the east side of the island which is, IMHO a must do. Driving in town is pretty hectic so I would avoid it as much as possible.jsavannah:
To do the east side I'd rent from a place just south of town like Hertz and skirt town to hit the road that goes across the island and follow it bar/beach hopping all the way around to the south and back up the west side highway to drop off. This will put the new and not-so-crowded gas station at the south cruise ship peer close to your drop off point.
James
James Goddard:
Thanks for your response! Do you think I should reserve prior to going out there? (I'm headed to Cozumel May 12-19.) There's a few things I want to do and it seems like I should make reservations but at the same time, I'd like to feel like my whole week isn't already planned out...
mediakzar
Contributor
jsavannah:
Taxis are relatively inexpensive and not hard to find and you can certainly have a good trip without a rental car but we still rent a car every time we go to Cozumel. We stay in our house in Corpus Christi and it's just so much easier to be able to hop in a car to go to the store or meet our dive boat at Caleta if necesary or go to local restaurants back in the neighborhoods or a whole range of places.
As far as being "safe", the answer is basically yes. The cars some local places rent are in pretty rough shape but in general, the larger company's rent relatively new cars. The stop light patterns are a little different than they are at home but nothing you can't figure out.
If you do decide to go the all-taxi route, I agree with the posters who suggest you should rent a car for at least a day to drive to the ocean side of the island. Make a day of it.
JK
http://www.mxtravel.com/cozumel/santa_fe.html
We rent a jeep for a day or so when we stay in condos on the north end or stay at FA on the south end. We are staying at Casa Mexicana in May and this will be our first time staying so close to town and we won't need a jeep for anything really. Taxi's are everywhere as mentioned but if you have a vehicle, parking can be a real pain.
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No, you don't need to make reservations. I've always just walked up and got a car that day. If they place you go is out (which hasn't happened to me) you can walk a block and try the next place.jsavannah:
I should also say that if your way down south like the Reef Club you should probably consider renting one for the week. It can be real pricy for cab rides. As long as you are north of the southern cruise ship peer I'd just get it for the island tour.
Kat
Contributor
To get the best price book it online w/ Avis, Hertz etc. You can do a walk up rental, but you will pay ALOT more. My jeep would have been an extra $30 a day if I hadn't booked it online-almost double. Make sure you have a print out of the total price & your res # There is no downside to booking online, as you do not need to prepay or even give a credit card number to hold the car. Usually a one day rental is all most people really need.
glbirch
Contributor
Shouldn't need reservations, but for better choices rent earlier in the day before all the locusts..er.. cruise ship passengers start moving around. Doing the island circuit is a good way to spend the day, especially a Wednesday or Thursday when there are five or so cruise ships docked.
