Renting a Car in Cozumel

[scubahiro]

Can anyone advise as to the best and cheapest way to rent a car in Coz for 5 days?

Thanks,

scubahiro

 

[outlaws]

I rented a Jeep on one day I was in Cozumel and it cost right at a $100 bucks with insurance. The Taxis were only $4.00 each way to town so with tip it cost me $10.00 and I didn't have to worry about parking which can present a problem. Even a cheap car is going to be $30.00 a day so if you are just wanting to drive and fight traffic and parking it will still cost more than a taxi.
just my $.02
I rented with Avis and I read here that if you rent online before you leave it will be cheaper.
Dive & Drive Safe,
Butch :scubadive

 

[Pez de Diablo]

I would stay away from the hassle of renting a car and stick to the taxis. It's a small island and the taxi rates are reasonable.

 

[scottfiji]

The best price I found for an automatic with air-con was at the Hertz near the barracuda hotel (the other hertz in central downtown was $10 more). It was $49 per day, including taxes. I said no to the optional insurance. (some other places say its mandatory, they didn't). The car was great. I'd imagine you could get a discount for 5 days.

However, I hadn't tried on-line. Hope this helps.

It was great to drive around the island for a day.

 

[ggunn]

Can anyone advise as to the best and cheapest way to rent a car in Coz for 5 days?

Renting a car on Cozumel makes sense if you are staying way south and want to go to and from town more than once or twice a day. Otherwise, I'd say to take taxis and rent the car only for the day when you take the around-the-island excursion (which is a must-do). As you have seen from many of us, renting a "mo-ped" (which means a scooter with very small wheels) is not a good idea if you are not an experienced motorcyclist. I've been told by Coz residents that mo-ped wrecks are the single largest contributor to the injury of gringos on Cozumel. Give gringos on motos a wide berth; most of 'em are close to the edge of control.

 

[scubahiro]

Thanks all,

Am staying north or town and will be sharing the car--two of us will be going south to town to dive, two will be going further north to the golf course each day. We were hoping to split the car. Hmmmm. Thank again for the thoughts,

Scubahiro

 

[calvinnhobbs61]

Hey there, Just back from Coz and here are my .02 worth in regards to Car rentals. We stayed In town for the first three days and didn't need one, even walking to Plaza Las Glorias (PLG) for our dive pick ups. However, we moved to Playa Azul way up north for the last 5 days of our Coz adventures and rented a Very cool little convertible VW from Tony @ CP rentals (http://www.cometocozumel.com/english/rentacar.asp) on Ave 5 norte between Calle 2 and 4 norte, near the main square. He has internet specials where, for the length of time you're asking about, I believe you'd get it for 50% off his posted daily rate. We were able to get the car for $40 a day including liability insurance AND the 10% tax. You may be able to do better than that by booking it ahead of time, online. One thing to note though, that rate we got Only by paying cash as apparently there's a tremendous surcharge handed down to merchants accepting bankcards.

Now granted, it's not got AC or power steering or even a Radio but all we wanted was a way to control the when and where portion of our travel. As for parking hassles? Park a couple blocks off the main, ocean front street and it's easy.
When you hear about Calle 5, 10 and 15,(the East / West runnings streets) they're actually just a block apart.... the same with the Avenidas or avenues (the north / west running streets)

As with all threads here, it's all a matter of personal perspective and having your wants, best met. Hope this helps and feel free to ask more from those of us lucky enough to have 'been there'...

 

[Shader]

What about the Mexican Harleys(scooters)? The island is small and that's all we needed when we wanted to scoot to the east side of the island for some layed back private beaches. Do watch out for the speed bumps though. They tend to put the signs at the speed bump and not before.

 

[ggunn]

What about the Mexican Harleys(scooters)? The island is small and that's all we needed when we wanted to scoot to the east side of the island for some layed back private beaches. Do watch out for the speed bumps though. They tend to put the signs at the speed bump and not before.

I do not recommend the renting of scooters on Cozumel by folks who are not experienced motorcyclists, especially if drinking a few beers figures in their plans. Scooter mishaps there are a frequent occurrence, and such incidents are the leading cause of injury to vacationing gringos on Cozumel. My dentist (who was also a friend and who had the "touch" for dentistry) was killed in a scooter crash in Mexico.

FWIW, FYI, and BTW, there are warning signs both before and right at the speed bumps. Patches of sand on the east side road are more insidious.

 

[richhagelin]

We're going to be staying at Occidental Grand (south part of zoned). We want to rent a car for one day in the middle of the week to take in the other side of the island and perhaps the ruins.

Does anyone know if there is a rental place down south. Is it ridiculously expensive? What are my best options?

Rich Hagelin