Desire Resort Forums

My husband and I are considering renting a car and doing some touring on our own. I heard the roads are fine and renting a car is like $80 a week inclusive.

Has anyone ever done this? What was your experience? What company did you use?

Thanks!!

We have rented a car twice at the resort from Carlos, who rents cars in the booth next to the pool. He reserves through Platinum Car Rental and accepts Master Card and American Express. Carlos may or may not have a car on the premises the day you want it. We reserved a car the day before we wanted it and it was delivered to the resort the next morning. Although the rental rate was $80 per day for a subcompact, the exchange rate made the price slightly higher, because they charge in pesos. We had to bring the car back with the same amount of gas. Carlos inspected the car before we left and after we got back. Before we returned, we stopped and got gas at the station on the main road outside the resort. Since both times the car was not full when we left the resort, we had to figure how much we needed to spend in gas--pesos per liter, so the car would have the same amount of gas as when we left. By the way, the gas station attendants usually don't speak English. If you're not filling the car up with gas, show the attendant in pesos how much you want to spend. If you don't, he may just fill it up. That happened to us one time in Cabo when we stayed at Desire Los Cabos. The gas stations--Pemex--are all the same and owned by the Mexican government. You can buy pesos at the resort, but make sure you get them in advance. One time the resort ran out of pesos. Thankfully, I was able to buy pesos from the jewelry store in the lobby.

In 2008, we went to Tulum, which is about 1 1/2 hours south of the resort, and on the way back stopped in Playa del Carmen, shopped and did some sightseeing. The next year we drove to Playa del Carmen and went to Xcaret. The roads are good and in many places on the main highway very good. There are plenty of gas stations along the way, as well as policemen. Even if you can't speak Spanish, the signs are fairly easy to figure out. If you rent a car, I suggest you don't speed and obey the traffic signs. Carlos, if he is still there, will do a good job of showing you a map of the area and sights to see.

We always felt safe when we left the resort.

We have rented several times and driven over most of the Yucatan, never any problem, good roads, mostly courtious other drivers; but stick to the speed limits.
You can use the internet to compare rates, use Carlos or, up until recently anyway, you could rent from the resort just down the beach to the south.