Round 2 qustions...preparing for our first visit

First thank you everyone for your information, opinions and advice in my earlier post. My wife and I are coming down to check out the area for the first time in a few weeks and I have a few questions I thought I'd ask you knowledgeable folks.
We do not want to rent a car, want to stay in Ajijic and be able to get the flavor of the place on our first visit.
How would you recommend getting from the airport to Ajijic? Taxi? Private driver? Bus?
Could you recommend a good B&B or hotel that will allow us to walk to the important sections of town easily?
We will be taking Judy King's seminar, and CanuckBob has graciously offered to take us on a short tour of the area.
Is there anything you would recommend and a must see or do, knowing this is to look over the area, housing and/or rental scene, and of course, hopefully bump into a few of you .

Any help greatly appreciated

I've only ever stayed at one B & B in Ajijic and that was Casa Flores but it was great.

(I can't post links but type www(dot)casafloresajijic(dot)com into your browser to go to their website.)

I always take a cab from the airport. Since you don't know the area, it is a good idea to get whomever you decide to stay with, provide you with directions from the airport in Spanish, as some of the cabbies have limited English skills. You can expect to pay about 380 pesos for the cab ride.

Maybe we can have a "board meeting" while you are down......jaja.

Check out www.estrellitasinnajijic.com it is a beautiful B&B right next to Lake Chapala Society. Lorraine the owner is great to deal with. I highly recommend this place.


Tell her Big Daddy sent you!

Casa del Sol is a great location in Ajijic. And they even have Spanish/English driving directions for your cab driver from the airport!

Cathy the owner is top notch and the breakfasts are terrific. Nice dipping pool, too.

www.casadelsolinn.com

My friends stayed and aggreed.

There are plenty of nice B&B's to choose from. Depends on how long you are planning on staying and your budget. When we made our first trip, I wanted to impress my wife, so we stayed at Casa Tres Leones. It' more expensive, but extremely nice. Check out their mirador room. It's close enough in to walk most every place and they have a great view of the village and lake from the mirador. Owners are very pleasant and treated us well.

Have a great time.

too each his own... but... if you want to see something more than Ajijic... you might reconsider the car rental...
depends on how long you plan on staying.

Mark Turford... the local rent a wreck... great guy and he'll pick you up at the airport...

No shortage of Coffee Shops and Community Activities full of folks who would point things out for you...

Wow. You people are so fortunate you stumbled on this lot. You'll end up being coddled. As first time visiters I would recommend hiring a car and driver for excursions. I make my living driving. It's a focussed occupation. Focus on your objectives and leave the driving to another. Cost wise, in the end, it's chump change. There are bus tours around the Lake. Take one. Local bus transit is cheap. You want to experience the local flavour? Ride the bus from Chapala to the western end. Get off. Walk down to the Viva Mexico resto. EAT. The owner will either arrange return transpo or get you to the bus stop.

borderreiver wrote:Wow. You people are so fortunate you stumbled on this lot. You'll end up being coddled. As first time visiters I would recommend hiring a car and driver for excursions. I make my living driving. It's a focussed occupation. Focus on your objectives and leave the driving to another. Cost wise, in the end, it's chump change. There are bus tours around the Lake. Take one. Local bus transit is cheap. You want to experience the local flavour? Ride the bus from Chapala to the western end. Get off. Walk down to the Viva Mexico resto. EAT. The owner will either arrange return transpo or get you to the bus stop.

I second this option. Driving here for a first timer is not the best of ideas. There are quite a few super services. They'll even take you into Guadalajara for the day, ferry you around, then bring you home in one piece. Some are even licensed tour guides. We went to Mexico city with visiting family members using the tour guide/driver option.
Excellent service, and saved a lot of potential xanax consumption. Another option to the taxi from the airport is to hire a driver to pick you up at the airport. Some hotels such as the Nueva Posada offer this as an additional service. It is also very centrally located in Ajijic. Breakfasts seem to be pretty good, and last time I checked were included in the room rate. Dinner, well perhaps not, but you would be close to lots of good restaurants.
As for B&B's all the one's mentioned are very good IMO. I happen to be partial to Tres Leones, but have never stayed there, however friends have and their room was lovely. It's in a great location and quite luxurious. For our first visit we stayed at the Real de Chapala, and walked or took taxis.

I sent you a lengthy e-mail yesterday which included, among other things, the webbsites for three B and B's and directions on how to take a taxi from the airport. You did not receive it because one of the rules of this board, which I did not know, is that one cannot post an outside e-mail address until they have been a member of this board for a week. Lived here over 7 years, but not been a member for a week, yet. Hoping the moderator will pick up this message and post my reply from yesterday. Best wishes, chico

Thanks so much Chico...hope to see it soon
And Thank you everyone else, we'll be down JUne 19-26th or so and hope to bump into a few of you.
Thanks again for all the inside info, the board and its members are priceless
Not just for all the info but for the amazing flames too
Louis

LMarkoya wrote:...My wife and I are coming down to check out the area for the first time in a few weeks and I have a few questions I thought I'd ask you knowledgeable folks.
We do not want to rent a car, want to stay in Ajijic and be able to get the flavor of the place on our first visit.
How would you recommend getting from the airport to Ajijic? Taxi? Private driver? Bus?
Is there anything you would recommend and a must see or do, knowing this is to look over the area, housing and/or rental scene, and of course, hopefully bump into a few of you .

Welcome, you'll find that we are a surprisingly nice bunch in person, it's just hard to read the body language in a post. :-D

Take a taxi from the airport, it's actually about 50 bucks US and quite painless and you will whiz to Ajijic almost before you know it. Always ask ALL TAXIS how much it will be to blah blah town before you get in; it's just a good habit to get into in a country where everything is negotiable but less negotiable after you've consumed it. Assuming you arrive in the daytime, ask the driver if they will go "the scenic route" through Chapala to Ajijic so you can get the flavor of the different areas (Chapala, Riberas del Pilar, San Antonio, then Ajijic). I am sure you will be in love by the time you reach Ajijic this way. Normal tip is 10%, give more if they point out points of interest.

Taxis are crazy cheap here ($4 in town to $7 from say Chapala to Ajijic) and the excellent bus system has a bus running along the main highway (carretera) about every 5-10 minutes for 7 to 10 pesos (under a buck) from Chapala to Jocotecpec.

The easy way to get around is to borrow a cell phone from someone - many of us have an extra that we lend out to guests - and scroll down to say "AJIJIC TAXI" or whatever you want. No having to deal with pay phones. When you meet someone and want to call them, tell them to call YOU, when it rings, add it to speed dial. Now you have connections and you can get around without worrying about area codes, local codes, all that. Go into almost any convenience store to add more time to the phone, many locals plop down 20 pesos and buy it a little at a time.

If you get time, I'd hit a few movies at either theatre because they have Spanish subtitles and you will pick up some phrases. It's a fun way to learn something and you can practice right away.

I'd also recommend renting horses in La Floresta and take a long ride along the lakeshore. Since the lake is at its lowest of the year, you can go several miles without having to backtrack onto streets. It's a really pleasant experience (I have my own horse and am enjoying the last bit of shore before the rainy season). Basically go to the El Torito grocery store and head down towards the lake, when you get to a wide boulevard parallel to the lake you will see all the horses in the center of the boulevard. Or taxi there for a couple of bucks.

Kayaks are for rent in -- where, someone, Jocotepec? -- and there is also a cool boat ferry across the lake from the Ajijic Malecon (Boardwalk) on Fridays through Sundays. On the other side you get to San Luis Soyatlan in about 35 minutes; walk to the plaza and have a very very leisurely but excellent lunch at Los Crotos Restaurant. It is on the main road a few doors from the plaza but just ask someone, don't be shy!! You must ring the doorbell (TIMBRE) and they will open the door and let you in.

Those are my recommendations! Oh yeah meet us somewhere and have some great tequila. May I recommend my favorite brand, Cien Anos? It tastes like a $50US tequila but goes for around $8US here. I honestly believe it could stand up to a blind taste test to Don Julio Blanco.

Merry

Merry is Spot On about the Cell Phones.... never even occured to me...

but Herradura Blanco is the best bang for the Buck....

Should be a Must Have if'n you/re goin camping...:)

hockables wrote:Merry is Spot On about the Cell Phones.... never even occured to me...

but Herradura Blanco is the best bang for the Buck....

Should be a Must Have if'n you/re goin camping...:)

I DUNNO, Hockables,

sounds like we need a tequila shoot-off soon.

Merry

p.s. I keep a bottle packed in my camping gear box.

At the current exchange rate, taxis to Ajijic from the airport are about 25 bucks US (slightly higher at night). Airport cabs are NOT negotiable...there is a booth inside the airport where you buy a ticket for a cab, then you present the ticket outside at the cab stand.

Tipping cabs is not usually done here; they are considered professionals. However, if you have super heavy bags and they lug them inside your house/destination, a tip is in order.

I have never heard about the "no tipping cab drivers" thing. I always tip the cab drivers.

binky wrote:At the current exchange rate, taxis to Ajijic from the airport are about 25 bucks US (slightly higher at night). Airport cabs are NOT negotiable...there is a booth inside the airport where you buy a ticket for a cab, then you present the ticket outside at the cab stand.

Tipping cabs is not usually done here; they are considered professionals. However, if you have super heavy bags and they lug them inside your house/destination, a tip is in order.

Taxis drivers are NOT considered professionals. They never have been and never will be professionals. In some parts of the country they are involved with cartels etc.

They do like tips. Most Mexicans in the service industry like tips.

And at the current exchange rate, if you paid a Taxi driver $25 usd to go from the airport to Chapala, he would drop you off at Ixtlahuacan. LMAO

And all this is coming from the Taxi Driver right next to me. Oh ya, they are not called cabs in Mexico.

25.00 USD = 355.600 MXN so it would be a bit shy. The current rate is 380.00 MXN.

Now there's a great disclaimer for Mexico's Department of Tourism brochures fastrac:
The airport cab drivers are NOT professionals and may be involved with the cartels etc..

RoofBob wrote:Now there's a great disclaimer for Mexico's Department of Tourism brochures fastrac:
The airport cab drivers are NOT professionals and may be involved with the cartels etc..

Check out the link below. It is in print, so it has to be true, according to John's rules LOL

But I did mention in other parts of Mexico.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/gunmen-kill-7-taxi-drivers-northern-mexico-220312560.html

binky wrote:...Tipping cabs is not usually done here; they are considered professionals. However, if you have super heavy bags and they lug them inside your house/destination, a tip is in order.

Mr. Binky dear, please consider that you might be wrong.

Merry

Perhaps fares have risen....last few times (in 2011) it was 360p daytime and 380p nighttime. 360p = $USD 25.13 at today's rate. Not the 50 bucks Merry so generously pays.

I stand my ground on the tipping of taxis....none is due unless he does something out of the ordinary. Ask any Mexican who isn't a cab driver.

Yes, the fares have risen. The current rate at the taxi booth in the airport to Chapala/Ajijic is $380.00 MXN (plus tip....LOL).

Now you may be able to cut a better deal going back to the airport. I had a taxi driver at the Mercado Libertad in Guadalajara offer to take us back to Chapala for $300 pesos, 2 weeks ago. Obviously a slow day for him.

Whether Taxi drivers are professionals or not, it's common courtesy to tip a taxi driver. We tip $ 50 pesos.

We will NEVER use those taxi drivers in the small cars at the Airport because we value our lives. They drive like maniacs. No thanks! We ALWAYS use Francisco's son Luis who has several diffrent types of very safe vehicles for your needs. If he's 20 or 30 pesos more, so what. He drives very safely and carries on a conversation in English. He picks us up at the Airport too. I believe he charges $ 350 to go in and $ 400 to pick you up, but ask.
TAXI
FRANCISCO
Office Tel: 766 1142 & 766 4917
Luis Cell Ph: 045 331 307 8289
Email: miramontes-transfer@hotmail.com