The Cozumel taxi rates are not priced just by zone. It would make more sense if they were, but, as everyone knows, Cozumel marches to its own drumbeat. The original pricing was based on a “point to point” basis; one fixed price from the (at the time, the
only) taxi stand at the
muelle fiscal (passenger ferry pier) to El President Hotel, another fixed price from the
muelle fiscal to Hotel Playa Azul, another fixed price for a trip to El Clavado in Chankanaab, etc. Trips anywhere in town (which included all the way to the dirt road that later would become Av. 35 to the dirt road that would become Av. 11 where the General Hospital was finally built) were all the same price. As hotels, parks, and
fraccionamientos were built farther and farther out, more “point to point” prices were added; so much to the Mayan Plaza, so much for Rasta’s, so much for San Gervasio, etc. Later, as the avenues and streets grew, a system of zones (now, comprising zones 1-8) were used for San Miguel.
There is a schedule of rates for “zone to zone” rides within the city, but nobody uses it; instead, they just charge the price listed for the destination zone. It comes out about the same.
The official Taxi syndicate exchange rate is 13 pesos to the US dollar. That is not a very favorable rate, but you can pay in pesos, since the official rates are set in pesos.
The rates for the downtown zones are getting ready to change for the first time since December 2012. They are not published yet, but they will probably be increased by less than 15%. Currently (March 20, 2016) the downtown zone rates are:
Zone 1 = 22 pesos
Zone 2 = 22 pesos
Zone 3 = 26 pesos
Zone 4 = 22 pesos
Zone 5 = 24 pesos
Zone 6 = 26 pesos
Zone 7 = 30 pesos
Zone 8 = 35 pesos
Usually, the fare is rounded off to 25 pesos in Zones 1 through 6, but it is not the official fare. A map of the zones 1 through 8 is at the end of this post.
Rides from the
muelle fiscal (passenger ferry pier) or from anywhere else downtown to as far as km 5 of the
carretera transversal (the extension of Av. Juarez that goes across the island) is 42 pesos.
There is also a list of fare prices for rides “in town,” but outside of zones 1 through 8 and near the Zona Industrial:
To Superior 30 pesos
To Modelo 36 pesos
To Uniper 36 pesos
To the new cemetery 42 pesos
To the jail 42 pesos
To CFE 42 pesos
To
huertos familiares (and humane society) 42 pesos
To any of the above listed places from the
muelle fiscal, 48 pesos
There is a point-to-point list with a per-passenger price. From one to four passengers is the same price. 5 passengers cause a slight increase, as does 6-to 8 passengers, but I am not going to list those. The point-to-point price list for one to four passengers is:
Downtown hotels to anywhere downtown is 40 pesos
Downtown to Condumel, hotels Turquesa, Cantamar and the Puerto de Abrigo is 50 pesos
Downtown to hotels Coral Princess, B, Las Brisas, and Palma Real is 60 pesos
Downtown to hotels, Cozumeleño, Buccanos, Playa Azul and Melia is 80 pesos
Downtown to the golf course is 90 pesos
Downtown to Playa Barracuda is 120 pesos
Downtown to Isla de la Pasión pier is 200 pesos
Going south, the rates for up to 4 passengers are:
Downtown to El Cantil, Palace, Dophinarium, Scuba Club Cozumel, & Hotel Cozumel is 60 pesos
Downtown to Blue Angel or Villablanca is 70 pesos
Downtown to Casa del Mar, Park Royal and El Cid is 80 pesos
Downtown to Presidente or Money Bar is 90 pesos
Downtown to Fiesta Americana is 100 pesos
Downtown to Sabor is 150 pesos
Downtown to Allegro or Occidental Grand is 180 pesos
Downtown to Iberostar is 220 pesos
Downtown to Chankanaab is 120 pesos
Downtown to Playa Corona or Sky Reef is 130 pesos
Downtown to Carlos and Charlies Beach, Playa San Francisco and paradise Beach is 140 pesos
Downtown to Playa Mia, Mr. Sanchos and Nachi Cocom is 170 pesos
Downtown to Paso del Cedral is 180 pesos
Downtown to Playa Palancar s 250 pesos
Going to the east side from downtown, the prices for up to 4 passengers are:
Mezcalitos 150 pesos
Punta Morena 170 pesos
Ventanas al Mar and Coconuts 180 pesos
Chen Rio 200 pesos
Playa San Martin 220 pesos
Playa Bonita 240 pesos
Rancho Buenavista 350 pesos
Rasta’s 300 pesos
San Gervasio with two hours waiting is 600 pesos
Trip around the island for up to 4 passengers (3 hours max) is 700 pesos
Trip around the island including San Gervasio for up to 4 passengers (5 hours max) 1,000 pesos
From the downtown hotels to the airport for up to 4 passengers is 85 pesos
From the hotels in the northern hotel zone to the airport for up to 4 passengers 170 pesos
From the southern hotels (Cantil through Presidente) for up to 4 passengers is 170 pesos
Wait time anywhere on the island is 150 pesos per hour
The official hourly service rate for anywhere on the island is 180 pesos per hour, but I doubt you will find anybody willing.
After midnight there is a small extra charge.
There are some glitches to this system. The “zone” prices don’t always work with today’s expanded network of streets and avenues. For example: From the
muelle fiscal to the corner of calle 65 and Av 39 sur (the Naval Hospital) the zone price is 42 pesos, but the price from the
muelle fiscal to the (now closed) Restaurante Tio Jose’s at the
caletita next to the car ferry pier is 80 pesos. However, if you get in a taxi at the
muelle fiscal to go to the Naval hospital, the taxi driver will most likely take you the fastest way; down Av. Rafael Melgar south to the car ferry pier, the turn east for 13 blocks and then right on Av. 65 to the hospital. According to the point to point rates, this fast route is 80 pesos for the first leg, plus 42 pesos for the second leg, but in real life they only charge 80. However, if you
insisted on taking Av. Melgar from the
muelle fiscal to Av. 11 (now known as Av. Quintana Roo) and then east to Av. 65 and then south on Av. 65, the total fare would only be 42 pesos.
Another example of the incongruity in this “point to point” tariff is the difference in the cost of riding to Chedraui supermarket from somewhere downtown (22 pesos) or to Hotel El Cantil (just across the street from Chedraui) from somewhere downtown (60 pesos).
There are surcharges added to a taxi fare when you get in a taxi at the
sitio (taxi stand) or have one come to your house as opposed to flagging one down. For example, a ride to somewhere downtown in zone 1, 2, or 4 from the
sitio at the
muelle fiscal is 42 pesos, but if you go a block away, say to second street, and flag one down it is only 22 pesos to any of those zones.
As far as taxi drivers who do not adhere to the official rates, pretend they don’t have change, quote only in dollars, etc., sure… there are plenty of those. But, the percentage of bad apples is probably not that large. Cozumel has 702 taxi plates right now. Another 30 plates were just awarded and those new taxis will hit the streets in May. Each taxi plate can have up to three drivers driving the car in shifts, but usually there are just two, with the car resting during the graveyard shift. That means there are at least 1,500 different taxi drivers on the road every day in Cozumel. They aren’t all bad, but the bad ones color the rest.
The way the plate system works is when the issuance of a new lot of taxi plates is authorized by the governor and you have been on the taxi syndicate’s waiting list long enough, you get to buy one of the plates. (I know of one driver who has been on the waiting list for 27 years.) Once you have the plate, you rent it out to a couple of shift-drivers for a fixed daily rate. They have to pay that rate regardless of how much they collect in fares. Consequently, they are scrambling every day to make enough to cover the plate rental and hope there is enough extra left over to make a living. They aren’t getting rich at the job, by any means.
San Miguel Zones 1 through 8 below:
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