nothing in comparison to taxi prices in chicago....
Taxi Fare Increase is now official :(
- Thread starter Christi
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dougr52
Contributor
you should have mentioned the other great advice we get here, don't stay at AI resorts, because you may get hit on by time share salsmen..stay at ( nice Boutique Style / non AI hotels )..Then you can go eat at the resturants in town and spend for 1 meal, lets see,
2 cabs @ $5 =$10
1 meal x 2 people @ $10 = 20
2 drinks each X 2 people = 4 x $4 = $16
skip the cake ??
skip the appetizers, cost too much!!
tax $3.24
tip $5
Total cost 1 meal 2 people = $54.24
cost to stay at the Sabor per nite 2 people $80 AI...
wmperry
Contributor
I just stay in town and walk everywhere. 
And if it costs you $53 for two to eat well on the island you should head away from the waterfront/5th. My wife, teenage son, and I ate out most days for less than $15 for dinner and still had fantastic food. A really nice dinner was spendier than that, but I don't eat like that at home every night either.
Of course I was in Cozumel for a long time, and could spread my fancy meals out over a couple of months.
And if it costs you $53 for two to eat well on the island you should head away from the waterfront/5th. My wife, teenage son, and I ate out most days for less than $15 for dinner and still had fantastic food. A really nice dinner was spendier than that, but I don't eat like that at home every night either.
Of course I was in Cozumel for a long time, and could spread my fancy meals out over a couple of months.
Sideways
Contributor
As far as the taxi fare increase, no biggie to me. It won't add much to my overall vacation cost. As far as the AI breakdown above, let's see...
1. Cab fare... I'm going to town regardless, so it's going to be spent. To Eat, shop, see friends, and sometimes run errands. We could eat at or around the Blue Angel every night, but we like diversity.
2. Meals- Suffice to say, for me I'm fine with a good taqueria most nights which definitly doesn't cost me $10 per person. Even if it did, I'd still do it over the lack of food quality in the A.I.'s I've experienced. One of them, Aventura Spa Palace is rated at VERY good quality food, but we thought it was pretty bad and after 2 nights were going into Playa every night to eat.
3. Cost - The $80 A.I. mentioned above has got to be the cheapest AI I have ever heard of in the Riviera Maya, ones I have been to have been above $2000 for 2 people for 1 week. Even so, our style of vacationing is more boutique style hotels like the Blue Angel where you get personalized service, and everyone knows you and caters too any special needs. Also, when all is said and done we spend less compared to the AI's we've been too. A.I's make sense for some folks and families, but for just the 2 of us? No.
/threadjack off
1. Cab fare... I'm going to town regardless, so it's going to be spent. To Eat, shop, see friends, and sometimes run errands. We could eat at or around the Blue Angel every night, but we like diversity.
2. Meals- Suffice to say, for me I'm fine with a good taqueria most nights which definitly doesn't cost me $10 per person. Even if it did, I'd still do it over the lack of food quality in the A.I.'s I've experienced. One of them, Aventura Spa Palace is rated at VERY good quality food, but we thought it was pretty bad and after 2 nights were going into Playa every night to eat.
3. Cost - The $80 A.I. mentioned above has got to be the cheapest AI I have ever heard of in the Riviera Maya, ones I have been to have been above $2000 for 2 people for 1 week. Even so, our style of vacationing is more boutique style hotels like the Blue Angel where you get personalized service, and everyone knows you and caters too any special needs. Also, when all is said and done we spend less compared to the AI's we've been too. A.I's make sense for some folks and families, but for just the 2 of us? No.
/threadjack off
fishi
Contributor
My wife and I stayed at the Blue Angel until we realized that we could get a oceanfront room with a car and food included for the same price at Sabor. That was in 08. Six trips later and we're still at Sabor. This year it was $10 more a night. It would be foolish for us to book BA for $10 less with no car and just breakfast for food.
Taxi fare doesn't affect us we drive anywhere we want on the island for free! I added that to keep the post on topic
DjDiverDan
Contributor
Since the scooter issue has come up, I'll add my own personal take. I rented a scooter on Cozumel on January 1, 2000. I was not a newbie - I had owned and driven motorcycles from the time I was 18, so I thought I knew what I was doing. But scooters have a much higher center of gravity, are much less stable, the roads on Cozumel are bad, and the other drivers either don't see you or ignore you. Coming back from Mezcalitos on the cross island road, I hit a hidden pothole, went head over handle bars, broke 7 ribs, punctured a lung and a spleen, had to be flown by air ambulance back to the states, and spent 11 days in a hospital. I'll have back pain every day for the rest of my life. I had to give up golf, because making a full backswing is now impossible. But I'm a lucky man - I didn't join the hundreds of people (at least 12-14 every year) that return from their Cozumel vacations in a body bag because of scooter accidents. Go ahead, rent a scooter. If your life and safety mean so little to you, why should I care?
---------- Post Merged at 08:46 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:36 PM ----------
One more point on the Taxi fares. Christi mentioned that you should bring lots of $1s. But, at least as of July, Cozumel taxi drivers were still only exchanging dollars at 10 pesos per dollar, so an 80 peso fare was $8. But you can get close to 13 pesos per dollar at current exchange rates (the dollar has gotten weaker - it was almost 14 pesos per dollar in early July), so paying in pesos gives you a discount of almost 30%. If you are going to use taxis, exchange your dollars for pesos, at a bank if possible, and pay in pesos.
---------- Post Merged at 08:46 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:36 PM ----------
One more point on the Taxi fares. Christi mentioned that you should bring lots of $1s. But, at least as of July, Cozumel taxi drivers were still only exchanging dollars at 10 pesos per dollar, so an 80 peso fare was $8. But you can get close to 13 pesos per dollar at current exchange rates (the dollar has gotten weaker - it was almost 14 pesos per dollar in early July), so paying in pesos gives you a discount of almost 30%. If you are going to use taxis, exchange your dollars for pesos, at a bank if possible, and pay in pesos.
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Wow, Dan - rough scooter story, but glad you can tell it. I hope I can find your post & quote it every time this comes up here.
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Mike
Contributor
How about we rent scooters and don't drive over pot holes?
Unless the danger or renting scooters is because other drivers run you over indiscriminately; all the problems I've read all return to the same issue - driver error, driving too fast for the conditions, driving too fast to pay attention to the road hazards.
Cozumel seems to have at least double to triple the number of taxis it really needs, no wonder they need more fares.
Driving scooters safely shouldn't be any different than what it takes to drive a car. If it's dry and clear you can safely do 85mph, if it turns into hard down pouring rain you must slow down. On a straight open road you can drive faster, on a curvy narrow one you must slow down. Speed bumps every 100 yards, sand on the road, possibility of rain at any time of the day which creates slick roads, poor road conditions, holes, cracks, un-even pavement, pot holes, animals darting across the road, unfamiliar traffic patterns .... slow down. and don't drink and drive. One golden rule I've always lived by is no alcohol at all when driving a motorcycle, not a single beer, nothing.
No golf carts on Cozumel right? How come nobody rents golf carts? Isla Mujeres, that's all you can rent. They are big, slow and safe.
Taxi rates - did they raise all the rates. even the local rates too? This has got to be financially harder on the locals than the tourists. If the rates are too aggressive the tourists will find alternatives to taxis and the money will move around to cheap car rentals, but for locals this seems a bigger hardship.
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