Keep reminding people: Don't rent scooters and don't dive without DAN accident insurance!

[rmssetc]

I dunno... my buddy and I rented a couple scooters on our last trip to Cozumel on a day when the harbour was closed so there was no diving. I'd never been on one before in my life, nor have I ever been on a motorcycle.

We drove the road all around the entire island, stopping for food or to take pictures at some of the souvenir stops/outcroppings on the east side of the island. I was actually surprised at the speed you could achieve on these things on an open road. I never felt unsafe or in danger; the only time I really had any uncertainty with the machine was when I tried to park it amidst the line of other scooters on a downtown side street.

Then again, I'm a relatively responsible 54- year-old man who can make his own risk-assessments and life choices.

As a relatively responsible 5x-year-old man who's been an extremely active motorcyclist for the past 35+ years, I take your observation about riding a scooter in the same way as experienced divers would react to a post like this:

My buddy and I rented a couple of tanks on our last trip to Cozumel on a day when we weren't motorcycling. I'd never been SCUBA diving before in my life.​

​

We took off on our own and dove around an entire reef. I was actually surprised at the speed that you ascend and descend when diving in open water. I never felt unsafe or in danger; the only time I really had any uncertainty with diving was when I tried to get out of the water.​

As a novice motorcyclist (or scooter driver), you know so little that your assessment of what is 'unsafe' is of little value, and hopefully will not influence other people who are deciding whether to ride.

Just as most people would not advise diving without instruction, I do not advise learning to ride a scooter or motorcycle in Cozumel.

 

[rmssetc]

How would they know? I give my dive op information on my dive and trip insurance both, but if I have an incident and arrive unconscious, how would they know. My daughter's phone number is on my dog tag, I hope that they'd call her, and she'd remember where she put the email I sent her describing my coverage. I guess I should carry my trip insurance card in my billfold as I'm sure that they are going to search that. Anyone got better ideas?

I have a laminated card zip-tied to my BCD. The visible side is bold yellow with diagonal black stripes and reads "Emergency Info". The reverse has basic info (name, DAN #, blood type, allergies, emergency contact info). If you see it attached to my BCD in CZM in Dec, say "hello".

The first card survived ~175 dives.

I have additional cards, with the same info, zip-tied to the outside of my motorcycling suits.

 

[ggunn]

As a relatively responsible 5x-year-old man who's been an extremely active motorcyclist for the past 35+ years, I take your observation about riding a scooter in the same way as someone saying:

My buddy and I rented a couple of tanks on our last trip to Cozumel on a day when we wen't motorcycling. I'd never been SCUBA diving before in my life.​

​

We dove around an entire reef. I was actually surprised at the speed that you ascend and descend when diving in open water. I never felt unsafe or in danger; the only time I really had any uncertainty with diving was when I tried to get out of the water.​

Imagine the reaction here to a post like the story above, and you'll begin to understand how your description of scootering around Cozumel is greeted by experienced motorcyclists.

As a novice motorcyclist (or scooter driver), you know so little that your assessment of what is 'unsafe' is of little value, and hopefully will not influence other people who are deciding whether to ride.

As an experienced motorcycle driver your perspective is completely different from that of most tourists who have never been on a scooter; my advice obviously does not apply to experienced moto drivers such as yourself. In the ER and by friends of ours who live on the island we have been told that scooter accidents are far and away the most common reason for ER visits by gringo tourists. In addition to the story I told, we have had three friends injured on rented two wheelers in Mexico, and another (my dentist) was killed on one.

Diving Cozumel is not at all the same; we divers are all trained in how to dive safely. We are just going to have to agree to disagree on this one.

EDIT: Rereading your post and responding to your PM, perhaps we do not disagree.

 

[ChuckP]

As a relatively responsible 5x-year-old man who's been an extremely active motorcyclist for the past 35+ years, I take your observation about riding a scooter in the same way as someone saying:

My buddy and I rented a couple of tanks on our last trip to Cozumel on a day when we wen't motorcycling. I'd never been SCUBA diving before in my life.​

​

We dove around an entire reef. I was actually surprised at the speed that you ascend and descend when diving in open water. I never felt unsafe or in danger; the only time I really had any uncertainty with diving was when I tried to get out of the water.​

Imagine the reaction here to a post like the story above, and you'll begin to understand how your description of scootering around Cozumel is greeted by experienced motorcyclists.

As a novice motorcyclist (or scooter driver), you know so little that your assessment of what is 'unsafe' is of little value, and hopefully will not influence other people who are deciding whether to ride.

I disagree totally with that and I think it's you don't know what you don't know kinda thing.

I own a motorcycle and scooter here. They drive completely different - I drive the motorcycle every day and the scooter maybe once a month. You steer a scooter much more than a motorcycle and there isn't no brakes for your right foot. I don't have a big bike but getting on the scooter is almost like getting on a toy, very weird different feeling. Does a guy that rides real bikes have an advantage over a non rider, certainly but check your confidence at the rental counter because the first corner you turn will be different and your natural instincts won't work in an emergency.

Talk about the driving here - all real bike riders do drive defensively but dude, here, you gotta walk defensively. People turn left to turn right, cars park in the driving lanes, you can't assume the guy in the go straight lane will go straight - he has all options, straight, left or right. Add to that the local moto drivers weaving in and out of traffic. People drunk driving make it even worse. The little false sense of security of weaving in and out of traffic comes up and bites you when someone opens their door or the car in the left lane decides to turn right. Add all that into being a tourist in a new place and gazing around at things and not paying 110% attention needed here....

If you wreck one, the odds of a hospital trip are pretty good and that gets into the whole mess how are you paying for it?

It's a very poor comparison big real bike verses Honda Dio...........

 

[Cio]

Ride the scooter. Coz drivers are not anywhere near as bad as this thread makes it out to be.

And of course, scooters account for the most ER visits. What else on the island is injuring people? That's like saying the most ER visits for burns are on 4th of July.

 

[Dan Diego]

Yeah, I travel quite a bit and enjoy renting scooters when I’m on Island Time.

Not gonna stop just because it might be ”dangerous.”

Most of my hobbies have associated risks…and they’re the best hobbies.

 

[Dan Diego]

This is my worry. How many of you have placed a medical claim with travel insurance and had it honored? How many placed a claim and it was not honored?

I had a claim denied by RoamRight after a little issue in India earlier this year.

Was very disappointed in that group and will not recommend them to anyone, as far as travel insurance is concerned.

 

[Billg68bg]

Dune buggies and atvs.

 

[ggunn]

Ride the scooter. Coz drivers are not anywhere near as bad as this thread makes it out to be.

And of course, scooters account for the most ER visits. What else on the island is injuring people? That's like saying the most ER visits for burns are on 4th of July.

Ride them at your own risk; I stand by my advice.

 

[Rob9876]

As a relatively responsible 5x-year-old man who's been an extremely active motorcyclist for the past 35+ years, I take your observation about riding a scooter in the same way as someone saying:

My buddy and I rented a couple of tanks on our last trip to Cozumel on a day when we wen't motorcycling. I'd never been SCUBA diving before in my life.​

​

We dove around an entire reef. I was actually surprised at the speed that you ascend and descend when diving in open water. I never felt unsafe or in danger; the only time I really had any uncertainty with diving was when I tried to get out of the water.​

Imagine the reaction here to a post like the story above, and you'll begin to understand how your description of scootering around Cozumel is greeted by experienced motorcyclists.

As a novice motorcyclist (or scooter driver), you know so little that your assessment of what is 'unsafe' is of little value, and hopefully will not influence other people who are deciding whether to ride.

Somehow I think some people here misunderstood the analogy in the post above, i.e., that riding a scooter on Cozumel without any prior motorbiking experience is about the same as scuba diving on your own without prior education = quite ill advised.

As mentioned in my post earlier in this thread, I very much agree that Cozumel is not a good place for inexperienced riders. For those with experience, it can be a glorious place to ride -- but like everything in life it comes with some risks also. Most experienced riders take those risks into account every time they throw a leg over a bike.