Worst of Cozumel.

[ggunn]

We have wanted to try staying in town but we always stay at the "all inclusives" south... as our biggest peeve is when we venture into town... the constant sales pitch from every business going really makes walking around frustrating. We have even tried removing our resort bracelets. Does it get any better as the business owners get to reconize you or is it a constant battle you just suck up?

This is a very often raised point, but frankly, I don't see what the big deal is. I either avoid eye contact or smile and say "no, gracias" and continue on my way. It just doesn't bother me. YMMV.

 

[cvchief]

We have wanted to try staying in town but we always stay at the "all inclusives" south... as our biggest peeve is when we venture into town... the constant sales pitch from every business going really makes walking around frustrating. We have even tried removing our resort bracelets. Does it get any better as the business owners get to reconize you or is it a constant battle you just suck up?

Gun makes a good point, you get a little accustomed to it after a bit. It can be troubling at first because you really have a hard time ignoring someone who speaks to you or saying no and turning them down.

That being said, after a couple days strolling down 5th Ave, they get better. Of course my striking picture of sartorial perfection is memorable. The restaurants seem to always continue though, and several times I have said, eh, ok, lets stop for a marg and snack.

In some ways though, I like going to Coz because it is different. I try to soak in the differences even if they can be annoying, like hawking vendors. If it was the same, it wouldn't be any kind of adventure.

 

[tridacna]

I hate being forced into the communal taxis when arriving at the airport. Pisses me off every time while waiting for them to fill up.

 

[Mossman]

In some ways though, I like going to Coz because it is different. I try to soak in the differences even if they can be annoying, like hawking vendors. If it was the same, it wouldn't be any kind of adventure.

Aggressive vending is hardly unique to Cozumel. Fortunately Cozumel doesn't suffer from having decent beaches. At Mexican resorts with good beaches, you're constantly being pestered by vendors walking la playa. In Cozumel, they at least keep to the street.

I found Bali to be one of the worst at annoying tourists. Every time our van would stop at a serene spot like a rice paddy overlook or an ancient temple, we'd be mobbed by kids wanting to sell us sarongs, postcards, and colored pencils. The sarongs and postcards I could understand, but colored pencils?

---------- Post added September 1st, 2013 at 11:29 AM ----------

I hate being forced into the communal taxis when arriving at the airport. Pisses me off every time while waiting for them to fill up.

On my last trip, I enjoyed the wait. After getting security checked twice even though I got a green light, I was cranky and sweaty from lugging my bags back and forth. As a solo traveler, I ended up taking the shotgun seat and sitting in a comfy seat with the A/C blasting on me while I waited a few minutes was just fine and dandy.

 

[DjDiverDan]

This is a very often raised point, but frankly, I don't see what the big deal is. I either avoid eye contact or smile and say "no, gracias" and continue on my way. It just doesn't bother me. YMMV.

I'm the same way - I try once to be polite, say "no, gracias", and keep walking, and if they are persistent, I quickly turn very rude. Maybe it's from a lifetime of practicing law - I'm paid to be an *******, I'm good at it, and it really doesn't bother me. You should hear me on the phone with a telephone solicitor that I don't want to talk to. It doesn't take much to make the solicitors back off & leave you alone.

---------- Post added September 1st, 2013 at 04:11 PM ----------

Aggressive vending is hardly unique to Cozumel. Fortunately Cozumel doesn't suffer from having decent beaches. At Mexican resorts with good beaches, you're constantly being pestered by vendors walking la playa. In Cozumel, they at least keep to the street.

I found Bali to be one of the worst at annoying tourists. Every time our van would stop at a serene spot like a rice paddy overlook or an ancient temple, we'd be mobbed by kids wanting to sell us sarongs, postcards, and colored pencils. The sarongs and postcards I could understand, but colored pencils?

Mossman makes a great point - Cozumel is really pretty tame as far as obnoxious hawkers go. My first trip to Puerta Vallarta, any walk on the beach involved me, my girlfriend, and a small army of street urchins and old ladies vying to sell one or both of us garlic, beads, seashells, necklaces or bracelets, and all other sorts of small nicknacks; getting rid of just one or two at a time in Cozumel is child's play. And on the one Cruise I ever took, I remember getting off the boat in Roatan -- after making it through the fenced enclosure in which only Cruise-Sanctioned hawkers were allowed, I exited the gate and had to navigate a real gauntlet, a veritable sea of peddlers, beggars, and timeshare hawkers, all crowding in, all talking louder and louder to be heard over the din. That experience tested my willingness to be rude; it's easy (and, for me at least, a bit of a rush) to be rude to obnoxious adults, but I felt a pang of guilt brushing off the 6, 7 and 8 year old kids begging me for a dollar or trying to sell me crap.

 

[cutty]

Thanks for the honesty folks but I see even the seasoned pros get it consistently... I guess it is back to the south AI this November where the only hassle might be how many "a la cartes" we fancy.

 

[ggunn]

I hate being forced into the communal taxis when arriving at the airport. Pisses me off every time while waiting for them to fill up.

That's another thing that doesn't bother me. If they had to load up all those people when three planes come in at once into individual taxis that little parking lot would be bedlam. It's never taken me more than about 15 minutes to be in a shuttle on the road to the hotel from the time I clear customs, anyway. I'm not in that much of a hurry; I'm on island time from the minute I check my bags in Austin.

You can always schlep your equipaje out to the street and hail a cab if the shuttles are too much for you.

---------- Post added September 1st, 2013 at 05:31 PM ----------

Thanks for the honesty folks but I see even the seasoned pros get it consistently... I guess it is back to the south AI this November where the only hassle might be how many "a la cartes" we fancy.

Suit yourself, but I would never let my reaction to street hawkers determine my hotel choice. As for them getting aggressive to the point where it necessitated a rude response from me, in 35 years of going to Cozumel at least once a year it's never happened, and I go into town a lot when I am on the island.

Sometimes I have a little fun with them. A couple of years ago when one of them was a little more persistent than usual, I wheeled on him and said loudly, "Hey, do I look like a tourist to you???" After a couple of seconds of stunned silence, he (and I) busted out laughing. I was wearing shorts, sandals, sunglasses, a wide brimmed hat, and a Hawaiian shirt.

Another time when a teenager was pestering me to let him give me a tour of the island, I told him that I have been coming to Cozumel since long before he was born; did he want me to give him a tour of the island? After that, every time I saw him around the square he just smiled and waved.

It's a different culture, and the reason the hawkers exist is that we Americans bring a lot of money to the island and throw it around. I try not to be too hard on those guys.

 

[cvchief]

If they had to load up all those people when three planes come in at once into individual taxis that little parking lot would be bedlam.

Yea, jeez, taxis could never handle it. It would be almost as bad as a couple thousand people on a cruise ship.

...

wait a minute.......

---------- Post added September 1st, 2013 at 08:51 PM ----------

It's a different culture, and the reason the hawkers exist is that we Americans bring a lot of money to the island and throw it around. I try not to be too hard on those guys.

Exactly my feeling. No sense getting mad at them. Its their thing. So some hawkers or living in a compound? I gotta say having done both I like the gritty citty.

Man less than two weeks and I have a phantom taste of esquites going on....

 

[Mike]

Well, it's still here.

LOL, you're like 4 for 5 in this thread so far. You missed Fred's post, please post the antidote so we are 5 for 5. Thanks in advance for your time.

 

[ggunn]

Yea, jeez, taxis could never handle it. It would be almost as bad as a couple thousand people on a cruise ship.

...

wait a minute.......

---------- Post added September 1st, 2013 at 08:51 PM ----------

And have you seen the cluster F that occurs along Melgar when that happens? IMO the shuttles are way more efficient.

---------- Post added September 1st, 2013 at 08:36 PM ----------

LOL, you're like 4 for 5 in this thread so far. You missed Fred's post, please post the antidote so we are 5 for 5. Thanks in advance for your time.

I don't know what you mean by that, but the thread is still here and it has not been removed for having negative things to say about Cozumel. That has never happened to my knowledge; if you have evidence to the contrary, show it.

Mods trim threads when folks get abusive of each other, which is a good thing IMO.