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Joined: Nov 2004
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Arrival
* Toronto to Cancun, landing at 09:20.
* ADO express bus from airport to Playa del Carmen, taxi between terminals and onward to Chetumal.
* Overnight in Chetumal (Holiday Inn?).
* Transfer service (Menzies?) to facilitate border crossing.
* Tropic Air - Corozal to San Pedro.

Departure
* Tropic Air - SP to Corozal.
* Belize taxi to bus terminal in Chetumal.
* ADO bus to Playa del Carmen.
* Overnight (should we make it 2 or 3 nights?) in PdC (Luna Blue?)
* Taxi (are there airport shuttle services available in PdC?)to CUN for departure @ 10:40.

The mister's Spanish is horrible and mine is merely awful. Will that be an issue for us?
Should we buy some MX$ (not really easy at our bank in Nowheresville, Ontario) or will we be able to use US$ and/or MasterCard for our itinerary?

Thanks in advance for any help offered. smile




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Why not take the water taxi from Chet to SP to save the border crossing ride and the flight (and the costs)?

I usually stay at Hotel Costa Del Mar in Playa: http://www.hotelcostadelmar.com/index.htm

You can change money at the airport on the way out the door.

I'm not sure but a taxi from Playa to Cancun sounds very expensive. Better to check the bus schedule and bus it.

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Thanks so much Simon! Look out...hugs coming your way!

That hotel looks amazing and we will definitely check it out for our dates!

...the water taxi...we can't make the 15:00 on the first day and we don't want to wait around until 15:00 the next day. For the return trip, it will likely be a consideration.

As far as a taxi, shuttle or bus from PdC to CUN...we'll have to leave our accommodation around 07:00 (after 6 weeks on vacation) so I'm not at all confident we'll have enough personal responsibility to catch a bus at that ungodly hour. Can you sympathise? smile


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* ADO express bus from airport to Playa del Carmen, taxi between terminals and onward to Chetumal.
Sometimes the airport shuttle bus stops at the "Alterna" terminal (where you get the bus to Chetumal) on the way to the 5th Avenue terminal. Is you Spanish good enough to be able to ask the ticket seller or driver if he'll stop at "Alterna"? It will save you a taxi fare.

* Overnight in Chetumal (Holiday Inn?).
During low season, the Inn was offering a special rate of MX$900 a night -- don't know what the regular rate is.

Here are a couple of cheaper options.
Around the north corner from the Holiday Inn is
Hotel Gandhi, Av. Mahatma Gandhi No. 166
Phone: (983) 285 3269, 285 3270
Email (last year): [email protected]
New hotel (opened in late 2007), clean, modern, a/c, hot water, cable TV, phone, wireless internet.
Single: MX$400, Double: MX$500, Mini-suite: MX$600. Sometimes during the low season, the rate drops to MX$399.

Across the street from Holiday Inn is
Hotel Villa Fontana, Av. Heroes 181
Tel: (983) 129 2003, 129 2004
Email: [email protected]
Clean, a/c, fan, hot water, cable TV, and recently had a make-over.
Before the make-over, rates were MX$350 to $480 depending on the number and size of beds.

* Transfer service (Menzies?) to facilitate border crossing.
Good idea; avoids all the hassles with buses, taxis, etc.
Here are 3 I know of -- see which one has the best rate:
a) Belize VIP Transfer Service: http://www.belizetransfers.com
b) George & Esther Moralez Travel Service:
http://www.gettransfers.com
c) Gibson's Tours and Transfers:
http://www.gibsonstoursandtransfers.com/index.html

Departure
* Tropic Air - SP to Corozal.
* Belize taxi to bus terminal in Chetumal.

Do you know about the morning water taxi from San Pedro to Chetumal?

* Taxi (are there airport shuttle services available in PdC?)to CUN for departure @ 10:40.
I don't think the ADO Riviera shuttle buses start running until 9 or 10 am. You can check the schedule on either the ADO or the ticketbus site.
There are minibuses that wait beside the 5th Avenue bus terminal; they go to Cancun city -- not sure about the airport, but probably do.
I think the taxi fare was posted recently on the Lonely Planet Mexico forum.

The mister's Spanish is horrible and mine is merely awful. Will that be an issue for us?
Probably not much of an issue in Cancun or Playa. Less English spoken in Chetumal, but at the hotels I've mentioned, you should survive. Some of the higher priced restaurants in Chetumal have menus printed in Spanish & English.

Should we buy some MX$ (not really easy at our bank in Nowheresville, Ontario) or will we be able to use US$ and/or MasterCard for our itinerary?
As soon as you exit customs at Cancun airport, there is a money exchange -- change some loonies and get enough pesos to pay cash for the buses, maybe some food and contingencies. There might be an ATM in the airport (I've never looked). I've never had much success spending US currency in Mexico (never tried in Playa though).
In Chetumal, there is an ATM right beside the entrance to the Holiday Inn. Several others scattered along the main street.
In Belize, you can spend US$.

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* ADO express bus from airport to Playa del Carmen, taxi between terminals and onward to Chetumal.

When you arrive at the 5th Avenue terminal in Playa, you can buy the Playa-to-Chetumal ticket at that terminal. The advantage is that the staff at the 5th Ave terminal usually speak English.

Then go outside and get the taxi to the Alterna terminal.

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One of the higher priced hotels in Chetumal -- Hotel Los Cocos a couple of block down from the Holiday Inn.

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Just an FYI.... went to Mexico a week or so ago, and talked to Henry. Apparently getting from Belize into anywhere in Mexico is still fine, but they are having problems picking up people in Mexico and driving them into Belize. Some people have recently had to take a Mexico taxi to the border and then be picked up by Menzies....

We took the water taxi so didn't have the issues, but I did check with Henry before we left and this is what he told me.


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We usually use Jorge Morales. We usually take a taxi from the bus station to Burger King and he picks us up there. Saves taking the taxi all the way to the border. Perhaps Henry would do the same thing.


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Thanks everyone for your suggestions. We are staying overnight in Chetumal and will want the transfer service to pick us up at our hotel (probably the Holiday Inn) so there will be no problem avoiding conflict at the bus station.

I'm a little concerned that I can't find the bus that I need from Playa del Carmen to Chetumal on January 1st...although I must admit, with my lack of Spanish, I am not finding the website at all intuitive frown I will keep trying.


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Hon, you can buy them ahead online. www.ticketbus.com.mx

You can print out your boarding pass after you buy the ticket. Be sure to choose the one with the shortest time/fewest stops. If you are planning to get a taxi through to Corozal airstrip, you may have to take a Mexican taxi to the border. If you are going via the water taxi, tell them to take you to the "bahia"

Also, if you have to stay in Chetumal, they almost always have someone at the front desk of Los Cocos that speaks English...they have a great restaurant too!

Last edited by shuffles; 11/26/10 02:01 PM. Reason: add info

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