New ferry service

[Shawn C]

This feels like the endgame IMO

Suck even more cruise ship passengers off the island and over to the mainland to the Xcaret parks

Maybe. Or they see the sargassum issue as something that's only going to continue to get worse and know that more and more people will want to come over to Cozumel to getaway from it. They recognize a cash cow when they see one and have the resources and connections to take on Ultramar & Winjet.

 

[Wanderlust1985]

Hello Everyone. I wanted to revive this thread to find out what the latest situation is.

Can i sleep on cozumel and get back to Cancun airport to make an 11:15am domestic flight? My reading online is that there is an Xcaret ferry at 6:30am and then a Winjet/Ultramar ferry at 7am.

Is there any risk of those ferries selling out? I looked to buy online but i couldn't nominate the time of the trip i wanted, only the date. Even if i catch those early ferries, will i make it to the airport by 9am to give me two hours to check in for the domestic flight?

 

[keesmon]

Hello Everyone. I wanted to revive this thread to find out what the latest situation is.

Can i sleep on cozumel and get back to Cancun airport to make an 11:15am domestic flight? My reading online is that there is an Xcaret ferry at 6:30am and then a Winjet/Ultramar ferry at 7am.

Is there any risk of those ferries selling out? I looked to buy online but i couldn't nominate the time of the trip i wanted, only the date. Even if i catch those early ferries, will i make it to the airport by 9am to give me two hours to check in for the domestic flight?

I just did what you are doing last week for a 10:50AM flight and it worked fine. I took the 7AM Ultramar (didn't know about the 6:30AM XCaret until I saw it leave as I got near the terminal). There were maybe 50 people on a ferry that holds 100's. My mistake was not pre booking the ADO bus for 8:00AM or 8:25AM. There is a ticket office on Ave 2N in Cozumel, but I couldn't decide which bus to book. When I got to the bus terminal in Playa they told me the next bus with space was 9:25AM, so I grabbed a shared taxi at 440 pesos per person and got to the CUN airport before 9AM. Plenty of time for the 10:50AM flight. The 8AM bus would have been fine as well, as would the 8:25AM. In over a dozen trips to the CUN airport it's never taken me more than 15 minutes from being dropped off to getting through security. They don't even post the gate until an hour prior to departure, so there's not much reason to be there hours in advance.

 

[Wanderlust1985]

I just did what you are doing last week for a 10:50AM flight and it worked fine. I took the 7AM Ultramar (didn't know about the 6:30AM XCaret until I saw it leave as I got near the terminal). There were maybe 50 people on a ferry that holds 100's. My mistake was not pre booking the ADO bus for 8:00AM or 8:25AM. There is a ticket office on Ave 2N in Cozumel, but I couldn't decide which bus to book. When I got to the bus terminal in Playa they told me the next bus with space was 9:25AM, so I grabbed a shared taxi at 440 pesos per person and got to the CUN airport before 9AM. Plenty of time for the 10:50AM flight. The 8AM bus would have been fine as well, as would the 8:25AM. In over a dozen trips to the CUN airport it's never taken me more than 15 minutes from being dropped off to getting through security. They don't even post the gate until an hour prior to departure, so there's not much reason to be there hours in advance.

Thanks that's reassuring. I'm flying one way from Cancun to Los Cabos and in hindsight wish I'd booked the ticket out of Cozumel. My original Quintana Roo plan was to spend all my time in PDC doing cenote diving, however i decided last minute for a few days in Coz at the end. I've got Socorro and an orca safari lined up in Baja. going to be a fun but expensive trip

 

[keesmon]

Thanks that's reassuring. I'm flying one way from Cancun to Los Cabos and in hindsight wish I'd booked the ticket out of Cozumel. My original Quintana Roo plan was to spend all my time in PDC doing cenote diving, however i decided last minute for a few days in Coz at the end. I've got Socorro and an orca safari lined up in Baja. going to be a fun but expensive trip

I think you made the right choice. I am choosing the 11AM departure out of CUN going forward if possible. I'm up at 6-6:30 every morning to go diving. Why not do it on getaway day too and get home at a reasonable hour? Enjoy the rest of your trip.

 

[JFS]

I just did what you are doing last week for a 10:50AM flight and it worked fine. I took the 7AM Ultramar (didn't know about the 6:30AM XCaret until I saw it leave as I got near the terminal). There were maybe 50 people on a ferry that holds 100's. My mistake was not pre booking the ADO bus for 8:00AM or 8:25AM. There is a ticket office on Ave 2N in Cozumel, but I couldn't decide which bus to book. When I got to the bus terminal in Playa they told me the next bus with space was 9:25AM, so I grabbed a shared taxi at 440 pesos per person and got to the CUN airport before 9AM. Plenty of time for the 10:50AM flight. The 8AM bus would have been fine as well, as would the 8:25AM. In over a dozen trips to the CUN airport it's never taken me more than 15 minutes from being dropped off to getting through security. They don't even post the gate until an hour prior to departure, so there's not much reason to be there hours in advance.

You want to give yourself as much time as possible. I travel the road from Playa to Cancun every day during June to Sept whale shark season. There is often delays due to accidents on that highway. People drive like they are at Daytona.

 

[springsboy]

I just did what you are doing last week for a 10:50AM flight and it worked fine. I took the 7AM Ultramar (didn't know about the 6:30AM XCaret until I saw it leave as I got near the terminal). There were maybe 50 people on a ferry that holds 100's. My mistake was not pre booking the ADO bus for 8:00AM or 8:25AM. There is a ticket office on Ave 2N in Cozumel, but I couldn't decide which bus to book. When I got to the bus terminal in Playa they told me the next bus with space was 9:25AM, so I grabbed a shared taxi at 440 pesos per person and got to the CUN airport before 9AM. Plenty of time for the 10:50AM flight. The 8AM bus would have been fine as well, as would the 8:25AM. In over a dozen trips to the CUN airport it's never taken me more than 15 minutes from being dropped off to getting through security. They don't even post the gate until an hour prior to departure, so there's not much reason to be there hours in advance.

How does one book a bus? I had a similar experience, easy peasy to PDC and then the buses to CUN are full.

 

[gopbroek]

How does one book a bus? I had a similar experience, easy peasy to PDC and then the buses to CUN are full.

https://www.ado.com.mx/

 

[gopbroek]

Hello Everyone. I wanted to revive this thread to find out what the latest situation is.

Can i sleep on cozumel and get back to Cancun airport to make an 11:15am domestic flight? My reading online is that there is an Xcaret ferry at 6:30am and then a Winjet/Ultramar ferry at 7am.

Is there any risk of those ferries selling out? I looked to buy online but i couldn't nominate the time of the trip i wanted, only the date. Even if i catch those early ferries, will i make it to the airport by 9am to give me two hours to check in for the domestic flight?

I realize you stated you wish to sleep in Cozumel but in the past in low season when AA didn't have a return flight on my return day (Tuesday) or it was booked full I would take the 10:30 AM out of Cancun. I have left Cozumel on the first ferry and left the previous night and overnighted in downtown Cancun. Of the two, overnighting in Cancun seemed less stressful.
The Centro ADO bus station is a block and half up from city hall and two blocks from the very nice 'Artisan' park that is full of food vendors and often has concerts and activities (lots of families with kids so it's a safe area). Across the street from the bus terminal is a nice budget (2*) hotel, Hotel Caribe, with decent pool and restaurant, around $50 a night. Busses from Centro to the airport are frequent and cheap. It is a very relaxed way and you don't have to stress over construction delays between Playa and the airport. Last I heard Hiway 307 is being rebuilt due to the damage incurred hauling the materials for the Maya train project.

 

[Wanderlust1985]

I realize you stated you wish to sleep in Cozumel but in the past in low season when AA didn't have a return flight on my return day (Tuesday) or it was booked full I would take the 10:30 AM out of Cancun. I have left Cozumel on the first ferry and left the previous night and overnighted in downtown Cancun. Of the two, overnighting in Cancun seemed less stressful.
The Centro ADO bus station is a block and half up from city hall and two blocks from the very nice 'Artisan' park that is full of food vendors and often has concerts and activities (lots of families with kids so it's a safe area). Across the street from the bus terminal is a nice budget (2*) hotel, Hotel Caribe, with decent pool and restaurant, around $50 a night. Busses from Centro to the airport are frequent and cheap. It is a very relaxed way and you don't have to stress over construction delays between Playa and the airport. Last I heard Hiway 307 is being rebuilt due to the damage incurred hauling the materials for the Maya train project.

Yep that was going to be my backup plan. I've already booked the night before the flight in Coz so i could retain access to my room for the full day. I'll make an assessment of how brave i'm feeling when i'm on the ground and i can leave the night before and head up to Cancun if i want to be sure