Planning a trip to Cozumel - Advice?

[ggunn]

Sorry about that. We have dove on Cozumel many times with different operators, some big, some small, and find Mau to be the best. He and his staff are professional, safe and always fun. they will always be diligent about safety but also let you do your own thing, They will accommodate different sized groups with different skill levels. They are willing to take you pretty much wherever you want to go, weather permitting. The DM's and instructors are top notch. they have quality rental gear (we never rent). They use small, fast boats. Did I mention they are a lot of fun?

The good news is that on all points you could be talking about any of a large number of dive ops on the island.

 

[Snoweman]

The good news is that on all points you could be talking about any of a large number of dive ops on the island.

Damn it! You beat me to saying the same thing!

 

[Ripple in still water]

This affected us the one time we rented from Isis. We got a beat up bug that had all sorts of problems, but we got by for the 24 hours we rented it. When we returned it, though, they claimed there was a scratch that wasn't there before. We didn't put it there, and they didn't charge us much to fix it (might have been $50), but I would never rent from them again if there are otherwise good places that offer full CDW.

We are heading back to Coz after a couple of years, and I see Thrifty (especially Thrifty at the airport) recommended here and on TA as a good Isis alternative, so we'll give them a try.

The insurance at Isis requires the renter to be responsible for a 10% deductable. So if you total a car worth $25.000, you will need to pay $2,500 even though you had the "complete" insurance. I rented a few weeks ago from thrifty/dollar at the airport. I reserved on orbitz for $4.00 a day and paid $25.00 per day for complete coverage. With tax it was about $36.00 per day for a new car with everything working.
Isis is more expensive, leaves the renter financially responsible for damages and most of the cars are old.
The agent at thrifty gave me his personal cell phone number to call 24/7 if I had any problems.

 

[Streydog]

I rented a scooter last year from Isis one afternoon to go to the East side. Price was great but when I brought it back this guy asked me if I had laid t down pointing out this tiny little mark on the fairing. I told him nope and he asked if I was sure. That was enough for them to lose any future business from me.

 

[ChuckP]

I rented a scooter last year from Isis one afternoon to go to the East side. Price was great but when I brought it back this guy asked me if I had laid t down pointing out this tiny little mark on the fairing. I told him nope and he asked if I was sure. That was enough for them to lose any future business from me.

See Francisco right across from Aldora, he's a good fair dude, I rented one for a few weeks from him/them. Big plus is he lets you park it there while you're diving or whatever, no worries about security.

Car rental - I've heard all these horror stories but maybe we've been lucky with Thrifty at the airport, super guys and never a hint of a problem.

 

[Rob9876]

We've rented from Isis several times, and never had a problem like that. However, I am usually extra careful when renting vehicles and I make them mark down every scuff on the pre-rental inspection sheet. I do that with about every rental place in every country, because if you don't note it ahead of time, it's hard to argue later that it was already there.

I will say that last time the Isis vehicles were getting a bit decrepit. My 14 year old son thought it was part of the adventure to have to trade vehicles several times (I like his attitude!), but my wife wants to try Thrifty next time.

 

[horn34]

Do some of you people not own smart phones? Every car rental I've made in the last 6+ years starts at the rental place with a 1-2 minute video walkthrough of the car, the rental guy and me signing off on the car's condition. I've never once had to pay for magically appearing dents or scrapes.

This is part of one from Isis:

 

[Streydog]

I have rented a scooter from the guys across from Aldora's shop as well as from the guys by Alberto's close to Mega. They were a little more expensive but didn't attempt to ding me. So that glass thing on the back of my phone is a camera?

 

[Snoweman]

Do some of you people not own smart phones? Every car rental I've made in the last 6+ years starts at the rental place with a 1-2 minute video walkthrough of the car, the rental guy and me signing off on the car's condition. I've never once had to pay for magically appearing dents or scrapes.

This is part of one from Isis:

I take about 8-10 pictures of the car outside and more on the inside if I see something wrong when I rent it. I take more pictures than that when I return it. The rental agencies seem to take more notice if I use my DSLR for the pictures instead of my phone.

 

[DiverN2H2O]

I’ve rented from ISIS for 18-20 years .
Had a license plate stolen once and had someone scrape the side one other time,
Both times Margarita was so nice and told us not to worry.
See had the estimate for the scrape when we were ready to leave. In the US it would have been a 3-4 k repair cost me $125
More than fair .

I’ll throw out this about dive operators in Cozumel. I think you will have a hard time finding a bad one!
They all do a great job, you’ll probably return more than once so enjoy.