It ain’t easy! Driving a golf cart on Isla Mujeres

A spectacular day on Isla Mujeres.      

It sounds easy: tour around Isla Mujeres on a golf cart. Just point the front end, stomp the gas pedal, and off you go.

Caritos de golf aren’t fast and are relatively easy to steer, depending on the overall condition of the vehicle. Uneven pavement, unmarked pot holes, or the numerous speed bumps, called topes, can jostle a poorly maintained vehicle around.

Richard and Lawrie, our island vehicle

A typical golf cart is very basic. It comes equipped with four wheels, a steering wheel, seats front and back, and a one-cylinder, seven-horsepower gas engine. 

They don’t have turn signals, brake lights, windshield wipers, and of course, no seatbelts, airbags, or baby seats. In the slightly upgraded models, a horn is included, and if you are lucky, it might actually work. 

Your arms are the turn signals. (Although it seems drivers born after 1980 were never taught how to use hand signals.)

Accident in front of our house

When driving on Isla, indicate your movements, lane changes, and direction changes clearly, or you will find yourself being driven in a cop car to the police station. There you will pay for the damages to the vehicle that you hit, damages to the vehicle that you were driving, the other person’s medical bills, your medical bills, and several vague traffic ‘fines’ that can mount up to several hundred dollars.

Busy streets on Isla Mujeres

The whole process of straightening out your accident can burn up several hours of your vacation time.  We know from personal experience after helping other folks deal with the situation. 

And please, don’t think about leaving the island without paying for the damages. You are a long way from home, and Mexican jails won’t win any TripAdvisor Awards for Excellence. 

(Prisoners must make their own arrangements for food to be brought to them.)

Move over. We're coming through! 

But the most important accessory on a carito de golf is the rearview mirror.  Make sure your rental vehicle has one, and check it frequently. Motos, motorcycles, and scooters will pass on either side of you. 

Drive as far to the right-hand side of the lane as you safely can because other vehicles will pass on corners, hills, or wherever there is a little bit of space. 

For a taxi driver, time is money. If you are hogging the lane, the taxi drivers will become impatient and pass you, expecting you to move over and make room for their vehicle to squeeze by.

Vacationers. Let's go to Isla and rent a golf cart!

When families are on vacation, watch out for young children steering a golf cart. 

It’s illegal, but for some reason folks think that the streets on Isla are quiet little country lanes with a few golf carts puttering along, and that it’s a cute idea to teach a youngster how to aim a vehicle on a busy road. 

Look again, folks. There are ambulances, fire trucks, police vehicles, propane trucks, or tractor-trailer units, over a thousand rental golf carts, plus hundreds of taxis, motorcycles, and bicycles, all vying for limited road space. 

There is no 'slow season' on Isla anymore. 

Another challenge of driving on Isla is the abundance of drivers posing for ‘selfies,’ weaving back and forth in the lane as they try for the perfect shot of themselves and friends. 

Add a few cervezas and margaritas, and later in the afternoon, we hear the ambulances whizzing past our house, responding to yet another accident involving golf carts and motos, or golf carts and taxis, or golf carts and pedestrians.

Watch out for unmarked hazards.

One of our island-born friends recently lamented, “They think they are in Disneyland when they come to Isla.” 

Enjoy your visit to the island, and don’t become one of the accident statistics. 

It’s not the way to finish up your vacation in paradise.

Hasta Luego,

Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, & Max

~
Isla Mujeres Mystery series

Because everyone knows me ….no signage required!

Welcome to paradise!

So many of the island business folks that we deal with regularly don’t have signs for their establishments, and when we ask why not, the answer is usually something like, “Because everyone knows me,” followed by a shoulder shrug. That works for locals, but what about the newcomers?

Here are a few of our favourite businesses that we have found over the years – without the aid of signage.

Francisco Avalos, leather for our Mini Cooper

The first guy we found was Francisco Avalos of Tapiceria Caribe Tropic, according to the business card he gave us in 2007, but if you look for his sign, nada! Nothing.  

Francisco does upholstery of every kind imaginable. New cushions for sofas, new tops for boats, seats and tops for golf carts, totally new brightly coloured canvas for the big tour boats like Dancer and new leather upholstery for our Mini Cooper seats.  

Sofa and throw cushions - Francisco Avalos

When asked nicely, Francisco will even do girlie stuff like create tailored decorator cushions, although he prefers larger jobs. 

Francisco is located on Avenida Martinez Ross, south of Dental Splash, just before Delfino’s Veterinary Clinic on the same side of the road. His building is orange, as are some of his vintage dune buggies, and his favourite pair of shorts. We think he likes the colour. Francisco opens after ten-thirty in the morning and works late into the cooler part of the evening.  

Santiago Aguilar's appliance repairs and dentist!

Then, because we live in a hot, humid and salty climate, we occasionally need a mini-split air conditioner to help us sleep. Santiago Aguilar Junior and Santiago Aguilar Senior became our next BFF. (Best Friends Forever). Air conditioners have the nasty habit of expiring on the hottest night of the year, so having a reliable repair person on your phone contact list is extremely important. It’s right up there with a sufficient stock of wine to last the week.  

The Santiagos Sr. and Jr. will also repair washers, dryers, and other assorted appliances.  Santiago’s place is also unmarked and located further south on Avenida Martinez Ross. Recently, two dentists have rented the back portion of the property and their business is well signed: Dra Martha Navarro and Dra M.T.Gomez. If you can find that sign, you have located Santiago’s. But they are most likely out on a call. Here is Santiago Senior’s cell number:  998-895-3028.  We usually text in Google Spanglish as our verbal Spanish is still a bit awkward.  Okay, really awkward.

Canela greeting Lawrie at Orlando's Golf Cart

Also on the same street, on the same side, is Orlando. He keeps our golf cart running.  

Again, no sign.  He is just a few doors north of Santiago’s property.  Currently, the white-painted metal gate is about the only indication of where he is located, oh, and the collection of golf carts in his driveway or on the street.  

Canela (Cinnamon), the big watchdog, will loudly announce your arrival, but once the gates are open, she is very friendly.  998-259-8612 is Orlando’s cell number, and he is fluent in English.

Pepe Aluminium, windows, and glass

A little further on the same street, on the same side – do you see a pattern emerging here? – is our favourite window and glass guy, Pepe, otherwise known as Jose Alfonso Martinez Angeles.  He is the owner of Alucripepe Aluminios y Cristales.  

Both he and his son Pepe Jr. are delightful to deal with. Pleasant, fast working, and fluent in English, which makes explaining intricate details a lot easier. 

Pepe's guys delivered our refrigerator in 2015

They also operate a sideline of picking up heavy items in Cancun and transporting them to Isla, or moving furniture, or removing old appliances.  

You can find them across the street from the elementary school, past Isla Brewing, and the Comex paint store. Pepe Sr.’s cell number is 998-143-8825

And then there are the metal fabricators who are located on a corner lot nearer to the Super X-Press in the La Gloria neighbourhood. These folks can create or fix pretty much anything metal. Be darned if we can remember their names.  (His nickname is Pavon.) And we don’t have their cell number either. Usually, we just drive over with the piece or part that needs to be repaired or replaced, and the next day, drive back to pick it up. 

Metal fabricators in La Gloria colonia, Pavon.

Apparently, the no-sign thing does work for business owners; however, new islanders will have to do a bit of detective work to find the right person to solve a particular problem. 

Ask any islander, and we will probably all have different answers for the people we prefer. 

Hasta Luego

Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, and Thomas

Isla Mujeres Mystery series

Or

Death in the Vineyards Mysteries